The Two Sides of Being Jesus' Mother

 

In the days following the Holy Night of Jesus’ birth, I think about how Mary must have delighted in seeing that her child looked and acted just like the other children.  “I can do this”, she thought. 

Then came the traditional trip to the Temple, presenting baby Jesus to the Father. Here Mary was so soon made aware of what must have haunted her the rest of her baby’s life. (Luke 2:22-40)

Being a mother means that you live with the happiness your child produces in life. But it also means living with the sorrow that your child produces in life. Mothers best relate to Mary’s shock upon hearing that her precious Infant Holy would also be the sword which would one day pierce her soul.

“Jesus was still in diapers when his parents brought him to the Temple in Jerusalem as the custom was, and that’s when old Simeon spotted him.  Years before, he’d been told he wouldn’t die till he’d seen the Messiah with his own two eyes, and time was running out.  When the moment finally came, one look through his cataract lenses was all it took.  He asked if it would be all right to hold the baby in his arms, and they told him to go ahead but be careful not to drop it.  ‘Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation’ he said, the baby playing with the fringes of his beard.  The parents were pleased as punch, so he blessed them too for good measure.  Then something about the mother stopped him, and his expression changed.  What he saw in her face was a long way off, but it was there so plainly he couldn’t pretend.  ‘A sword will pierce through your soul,’ he said.  He would rather have bitten off his own tongue than said it, but in that holy place he felt he had no choice.  Then he handed her back the baby and departed in something less than the perfect peace he’d dreamed of all the long years of his waiting.” (Frederick Buechner, Peculiar Treasures: A Biblical Who’s Who. Harper & Row, 1979, pp. 156-157. S. Hoezee, cep.calvinseminary.edu)

There are always two sides to saying ‘yes’ to God.

Like Believing in Santa Claus

 Do you believe in Jesus like you believe in Santa Claus?

 Or maybe you are like that little girl in the Meijer commercial, setting out her plate of cookies and milk in front of a perfect fireplace and Christmas tree while the voice says, ‘Believe. You have everything else.’  Are you missing your belief this Christmas season?

 You probably watched and sang along with the closing scene in the modern movie classic, Elf. You know, the one where Mary Steenberg is singing loudly off key as she and the assembled New Yorkers sing “You’d better watch out, you’d better not shout.’ Their singing, and the belief their singing represents, gets Santa’s sleigh off the ground just in time as they cause the ‘believe-o-meter’ to reach it’s critical point. 

 What is the ‘belief’ to which their singing points?  That they believe in the ideas that “Santa” represents, the ideas of kindness and sharing and love of people more than profit.  But I wonder, is that also a picture of how so many of us believe in Jesus and the Christmas story?

 We probably believe in the idea of a stable and an innkeeper and shepherds, and we relish the emotions tied to dark, starry nights. But is that it? Is that believing in Jesus? Or is that believing in Jesus just like believing in Santa Claus? Believing in Jesus is about believing in a person. A person who is God in human flesh. That is more than an idea. It is more than an emotion.

What gives flight to the angels wings and the shepherds feet on Christmas Eve is not a belief in sentimental thoughts but a belief that a long-promised, physical birth of Emmanuel, God with us, finally happened in Bethlehem.  To believe in that Christmas Story is to believe in a real birth, witnessed by only two people and a collection of barn animals, none of whom are talking.

 This Christmas Eve I invite you to consider with me whether you believe in Jesus, not like you maybe believe in Santa Claus, but like you believe in gravity, sunburn, electricity.  You cannot see those things happen, but you sure can see evidence they are real, right? Let us help you rediscover what you really believe. 

This Christmas Eve, worship the One in whom you believe.

Disappointment, Doubt and Jesus

 the mother who is hanging onto her last thread of hope for a "problem" child;

…the spouse who stares at the wall wondering what happened to the marriage;

…the sick person who wonders when, if ever, healing is coming;

…the child who struggles to find some way to understand that Mom won’t be here this Christmas;

...the survivors of the storms of life, who wonder why the tragedy happened, why their lost loved ones were there.

December, the church’s season of Advent, highlights the disappointments of life in a stark way.  The month in which we are supposed to celebrate Hope, Peace, Joy and Love seems to instead be filled with news or memories of just the opposite. And when disappointments persist to those locked in prisons of despair, the mind moves to doubt. Is Jesus really the Messiah we seek?

We can relate, a bit, to John the Baptist who was so fired up to announce the coming of the Messiah, but who finished his days in prison, waiting for the end of his life, which ended with a decapitation. How exactly was Jesus being the Messiah for his prophet, John?  Are you the One we have been waiting for, or is there someone else?  John’s inquiry of Jesus becomes our question.

The mission of Jesus, then and now, and the concurrent mission of the Church, is to encounter life’s disappointments and doubts with pictures and stories that people with eyes of faith can see. The child who was to die but now is scheduled to graduate from college.  The people with “incurable” cancer who instead become cancer “survivors.”  The poor being fed and clothed. The unjustly punished receiving justice.

Advent’s message is that if you look with eyes of faith, you will see just enough; just enough to see disappointment filtered through the lens of Joy; just enough to replace doubt with Hope. The almost hidden beauty of Advent is the promise that Christ is real, here still, and coming again.  Until then, the faithful, today's prophets, can be excused expressions of doubt generated by cruel disappointments, for staring at the empty manger and wondering, Jesus, where are you?  Until then the prophets need to still go and tell it on the mountain, Christ(mas) is coming. Just you wait...

Leticia's Oven

 Free oven! Free oven! The ad on social media offered our free wall oven to the first family who responded. 

Leticia was first in the virtual line.  As we loaded the oven into Leticia’s car, we chatted about life and family. Leticia was from the south of Texas, living in Wisconsin because of a temporary job her husband found. They would soon be going home, oven in tow.  As we talked about Leticia’s family and life, I thought about how a simple thing like giving away an oven became the one way in all of the universe for Jill and I to meet this lovely Texan, a woman I would be thankful to call my friend and neighbor.

As she was preparing to leave, Leticia looking at the new oven in the back of her car, said, ‘beautiful.’ To us it had been an oven we didn’t need. To Leticia it was a treasure found. I imagined Thanksgiving morning, Leticia waking up early, turning on the oven and counting the hours until her turkey, prepared in her beautiful oven, would be ready to parade in front of her thankful family.

On Thanksgiving morning I gave thanks to God for the blessing of Leticia, for making this big country seem just a little bit smaller. 

It doesn’t take a lot to tear down the fences that divide us, to remove bricks from the walls that separate people who might look or sound different from you, whose politics or religion might be different than yours. Meeting a stranger in your driveway and talking kids has always been a way to make friends, right?  Maybe the long journey to unity in this country begins in your driveway.

If you want to be an agent for change in this crazy, mixed-up world, you could do worse than finding something you don’t need which someone else will find beautiful, and then take the time to meet, to talk, to become friends.  Jesus said, “Whatever you did for my brothers and sisters, you did to me.”

Thanksgiving blessings are found when we learn anew how to give and receive with grace toward each other.

I don’t know if Jesus had free ovens in mind, but it seems like a good place to start.

 

A 'Civil Body Politic'

Before the Pilgrims got off of the Mayflower they had to agree upon how they would live together in the land they were about to enter.

‘How can we live together?’ is basic question which underlies every community’s government. The answer which the people agree upon becomes the fabric which holds a society together, that which allows it to endure over time.

Before the group of over one hundred people we now know as the Pilgrims departed the Mayflower, on November 21, 1620, all of the men signed an agreement which we now know as the Mayflower Compact. This varied group of people had a variety of motives for crossing the ocean to establish a new England colony. When they arrived and were required to choose some way of governing themselves, they notably chose a government of the people, by the people.

The Pilgrims agreed to form a “civil body politic” which would “enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices…as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.”  It would be a community governed by laws, not by the preferences of one or a few men. That which was enacted into law by the community would govern everyone in the community. No one was to be above nor beyond the law.

Our social compact rests on this idea: that in order for us to live together we all must submit and obey to the agreed upon laws of the land, even, or especially when we do not like how those laws affect us. Those who disagree with the law do not disobey it. Rather, they seek to change it as the laws permit. Thus the fabric bends but does not break.

Thanksgiving 2020 celebrates that we are still able to live together because we remain a ‘civil body politic’, in which the idea of a government of laws is stronger than the idea of  ‘getting my own way.’ Maintaining a ‘civil body politic’ requires good Pilgrims to rise up against those who would tear the social fabric which binds us.  Be a good Pilgrim, Pilgrim.

 

Christian Losers (and Winners)

How will you react if your candidate for President loses the election?

On the morning after the results are known, which could be days or weeks (Lord, I pray not months!), what will remain your greatest Christian obligation? To love God and your neighbor as yourself.

Here is a ‘Wednesday Prayer’: “Lord, help me to be humble in victory and gracious in defeat, displaying your love to everyone I meet. Amen.”  Practice that prayer today, before you know who won.                                                    

Tuesday will mark the 17^th United States presidential election of my lifetime.  I have a fairly good recollection of perhaps 15 of them, starting with 1964.  While every presidential election seems to be of world-shifting importance right before it happens, it seems like the election of 2020 is being taken more personally than any I can remember. Families and friendships and church communities are at risk of being broken for good because of the deep divide among us.

That should not happen among Christians. Elections are temporal. Friendships are eternal, or at least they can be if we obey the Great Commandment. Christian friendships should survive elections.

How should a Christian react to the outcome? First, be humble in victory. Don’t gloat. Celebrate, yes. Gloat, no.  Second, be gracious in defeat. Don’t pout. Mourn, yes. Pout, no.

You cannot love your neighbor as yourself if you transfer your feelings about your candidate’s loss to your feelings about your neighbor. The fact that they supported the ‘other candidate’ doesn’t make them a bad person. Really. They may be wrong (in your mind) but not bad. Humility suggests that when we confront those with whom we disagree we think,  ‘They might be right.’ 

Everyone who cares about our nation and its future believes that they have chosen to vote for the best person to lead it for the next four years.  You should be passionate about your political beliefs, but be more passionate about loving your God and your neighbor, especially those who celebrate victory at your expense. You don’t need a command to love people with whom you agree.

Be a Christian loser, or if God so ordains it, a Christian winner.  “Lord, help me to be humble in victory and gracious in defeat, displaying your love to everyone I meet. Amen.”

Don't Tell Me You Didn't Vote!

 

God doesn’t get a vote. You do. That is why God expects you to cast your vote by election day.  

Paul’s explains God’s instructions to us, “Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it's God's order. So live responsibly as a citizen.” (The Message)

Responsible Christians vote as a part of our call to be the salt that seasons society and the light that illuminates deeds done in darkness.

“Untold troubles can descend upon a country or an industry when Christians refuse to take their part in the administration and leave it to selfish, self-seeking, partisan(s)….” (William Barclay)

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., eloquently explains why Christians should vote:  "The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state and never its tool."

I do not believe any preacher is wise to suggest to you for whom you should vote. There is no way that Jesus would do that. Christians should seek to put into office those who align with their values and the values of God’s Word as best as you can understand them. But the minute the church tries to control the government by installing those it claims are ‘God’s candidate’, that is the moment the government will turn right around and try to control the church, demanding the allegiance that is reserved for God.

But, that doesn’t mean there is not a God-directed obligation to vote for someone who in your view will allow the church and society to peacefully co-exist and the people to flourish.

I can think of very few excuses for not voting which God would accept.  The worst possible excuse I hear is, ‘They are all the same, it doesn’t matter.’  Friends, you need only study the history of politics in your own lifetime to know how much every vote matters in determining what happens in your community, your state, your nation, your world.

Correct that, “God’s world.” That is why, if you choose not to vote, you had better expect your greeting at the pearly gates to include, “Don’t tell me you didn’t vote!”

Janet is With Jesus

 

Janet is with Jesus. That’s the title of the last chapter of her book.

 

I like to think about our lives as God’s story writ large in a series of chapters.  Dear Janet’s book is filled with fascinating and mundane chapters, just like the books about your life and like mine.  But as I thought about Janet’s life my understanding of our lives being lived in ‘chapters’ took on a new meaning. Janet is a Grandma and one of her two grandsons is named Jon. When Jon was a toddler, still learning to talk, Grandma would read stories to Jon.

 

When Janet read stories to Jon, she always finished the book by declaring, “All done.” If you know Janet you can almost hear her quiet, sweet voice go up a few pitches as she closes the cover, raising her hands from her lap, smiling at Jon saying, almost singing, “All done.”

 

Grandma was so persistent in her practice that these simple words became Jon’s first words as a child, “All done.” You can imagine him mimicking Grandma, sitting in his high chair having finished his cookie, smiling at his Momma and Daddy and for the first time saying the words in toddler speak,  ‘All done.’

 

Yesterday we bade farewell to Janet, a small gathering round her grave, family and pastors trying to make sense of life and death.

 

One is tempted, in our limited human understanding, to look at Janet’s body in her casket and say, almost sighing, ‘All done.’

 

But we would be wrong to do so. Because we know that the story we have been reading of Janet’s life is not over. No. God is still writing her unending story.  The next to last chapter, concluding at the graveside, is all done. But the last chapter, the really wonderful last chapter, the chapter than never ends, has just begun. For that chapter, which describes how Janet is enjoying her inheritance of the new heaven and the new earth, that chapter, is never all done.

 

Because Janet is with Jesus.

Good News Food

 Meet Amina. She is now a 12-year old girl. Since she was seven she has lived knowing these things are real: fear and hunger.  Amina lives in Yemen, where fifty per-cent of the children are stunted because of malnutrition (yes, 50% of the children!). Amina explains her life like this:

 

“The war can get you in many ways. It is not only the bombings. People suffer when their homes are taken away. People die of hunger and there is not enough water.” She also added: “The thing that worries me most is that the war will continue on and on into the future. It will be my future.” (https://insight.wfp.org/no-end-to-world-hunger-without-an-end-to-conflict-wfp-warns)

 

Who cares about Amina?  The World Food Programme, for one.  That is why the Word Food Programme was awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize: “The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 to the World Food Programme (WFP) for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.” (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2020/press-release/)

 

Today I write about Amina because my mind is in desperate need of something good and positive to focus upon.  The crises in which we live, the political campaigns of which we are the targets, the combination of these factors can cause the greatest optimists to give up hope.

 

So today I celebrate the good news about food. Someone is focused on helping Amina. Someone is trying to prevent food from being used as a weapon to influence political outcomes.

 

Perhaps that news can help me, and maybe you, see some light, offer some hope.  There are people who see the big picture and are doing something about it, seeking peace in tangible ways. Trying to give a 12-year old girl a future that is not lived in fear of bombs and a future in which there is food on her plate.

 

What is the call of God’s people? To pursue peace on earth by bringing the Good News.  And for millions of people, the beginning of the Good News is that there is enough food to feed their children.  Pray for food that produces peace.

Why I Pray for the President

 President Donald J. Trump is infected with the coronavirus and is in the second day of his hospitalization. He is among the 34.6 million world-wide (7.4 million U.S.) victims who have been infected. This virus has and continues to upend virtually every nation’s economic, political and social systems, perhaps none more visibly than those of the United States.

 

As the President receives medical care, and as those around him, including his wife, Melania, are also dealing with the rapid-spread of this coronavirus, how should the people of God react?

 

The President is no different than any other human being. In the sentiment of ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’,  when the bell tolls for the life of any human loss it tolls for me. We are a united humanity, at least at the most fundamental level. We should care about and pray for all victims of the virus.

 

But there is an even more specific reason for Christians to pray for the President, regardless of their political views:  “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (I Timothy 2:1-4, NIV)

 

This Sunday I will join thousands of leaders of religious groups in praying for the recovery of our President. It is not a political prayer; it is a prayer for a human whom God wants to be saved and it is a prayer for a person in authority, one who has the ability to permit the Church’s citizens to live peaceful and quite lives, enabling us to effectively  witness to the Good News for all humanity.

 

I prefer the prayer tradition which prays for those in authority by their first names only.  This demonstrates that we pray for them as human leaders whom we respect but to whom we do not bow.

 

For these reasons, I invite you to join me then in prayer for our President, Donald:

 

God, heal our President, heal the people, heal our land. Bring all people to the knowledge of your truth. Amen

Snacking in Heaven

 

This cannot be true! Black licorice is deadly.  Or so say the doctors who treated a man who died after eating almost two bags a day of black licorice for several weeks.

 

Why is this so distressing to me? Because I love licorice. I have kept a jar of licorice in my office my entire 41 years of working.  And now this. “The key message here for the general public is that food containing licorice can potentially be hazardous to your health if eaten in large quantities.” So says Dr. Neal Butala, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. (Source: Yahoo News)

 

With all due respect to Dr. Butala and his colleagues who authored the study calling out black licorice as the latest thing that will kill me, I wonder if the ‘key message here for the general public’ might not instead be, “Don’t eat two bags a day of black licorice, or anything, people!”  As a licorice-lover I rise to its defense, and argue the problem is not the candy but the candy-eaters. The doctors say that even two ounces a day for two weeks can cause heart trouble, so if that’s true, I can eat one ounce and live!

 

In the ancient church teachings gluttony was listed as one of the ‘seven deadly sins.’  It’s opposite, the virtue, is moderation or temperance.  In other words, it’s a sin to gulp down bags of licorice, but it’s not a sin to have a little at a time.  Isn’t that how most of life should be lived, friends?

 

The prophet Isaiah wrote, “Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight yourself in the richest of fare.” (55:2) That is one of my favorite passages to read at funerals. Heaven is not the absence of food. People in heaven, like this man who died from over-consumption of black licorice, I pray, still get snacks.  In fact, we get the richest of fare because God wants us to enjoy ourselves in God’s presence, worshiping God always, even while we snack.

 

I have a doctor appointment coming up. Maybe I will bring along my jar of licorice and ask her if I need to give up black licorice until I get to heaven. Or maybe I won’t.

One Thin Dime

 

We were standing in the hallway as the housekeeper was assuring us our hotel room was clean. She looked down, picked up a dime, and smiled. “Do you know what this means?” We told her we did not, and she said, “You should look it up.” I didn’t look up the meaning of ‘finding a dime’ then because, well, I don’t much believe in those theories.

 

About a month later we were dining outdoors at a restaurant with some dear friends. Eventually the conversation turned to our summer travels and I told my ‘finding a dime story.’  I said that I don’t put stock in finding meaning in things like finding coins, seeing a cardinal in the backyard, things like that. Our friend said, ‘I do. Every time I see a cardinal in the backyard I believe it is a visit from my Mom. It means a lot to me.’  ‘Hm. I replied. Well, I believe that God does speak to us in different ways, and that there are ‘thin places’ through which we could get spiritual insights. But,  I don’t know that God would use cardinals and coins to reach us.’  My wife shot me a look that said something like, ‘OK Mr. Grump. Lighten up’ as she explained her own belief in close encounters that happen through thin places.

 

I was feeling a little guilty the rest of the meal for having rained on the parade. I mean, who am I to tell other people they shouldn’t believe in cardinals and coins as notes from loved ones, messages from angels passed through thin places?

 

As we left the table following dinner I realized I left my jacket on the chair so I walked back alone to our table. As I reached down to pick up my jacket, there, sitting on  the ground next to where our friend was seated, I saw it. I bent down and picked up that thin dime.  I told the others as I caught up to them, and we all paused as I looked up and read to everyone the meaning of finding a dime.  They all smiled at me with a look that said, ‘See Mr. Grump. Open your eyes.’

 

Alright, God. Message received. Thin dimes. Thin places.  Heaven is closer than we know.

 

A Dog's Eyes

 

A Tribute to the Poet, Mary Oliver (1935-2019), who saw God’s wonderful theatre with exceptional eyes and reported it to us in beautiful words.

And in recognition of our grand dogs, those furry ones whom God has provided as blessings to our children and grandchildren, offering their parents a window of love as only their eyes can speak.

Enjoy, and share with someone who knows what it is hear “I love you” in the eyes of a four-legged creature of God’s design.

Remember, God speaks in all of Creation, even, maybe especially, in the furry ones.

 

“The Sweetness of Dogs” (by Mary Oliver from Dog Songs)

 

What do you say, Percy? I am thinking

of sitting out on the sand to watch

the moon rise. It’s full tonight.

So we go

and the moon rises, so beautiful it

makes me shudder, makes me think about

time and space, makes me take

measure of myself: one iota

pondering heaven. Thus we sit, myself

thinking how grateful I am for the moon’s

perfect beauty and also, oh! how rich

it is to love the world. Percy, meanwhile,

leans against me and gazes up

into my face. As though I were just as wonderful

as the perfect moon.

Giving Back the Baseball

Christian Lopez, a  23 year old phone salesman, paying off six figures of debt, held it firmly, admiring the baseball. Christian was in the left field bleachers of Yankees Stadium on the night that Derek Jeter accomplished one of the rare feats in professional baseball as he hit safely for the 3000^th  time. The baseball on the receiving end of the bat was an instant collectors items worth perhaps as much as one million dollars. 

As Mr. Jeter took his historic swing Christian was holding his camera in hand snapping a picture. He got more than the picture: he saw the ball coming directly toward him. As Christian puts it in one story covering this event, the ball just rolled in front of him and he dived on it.

Instant millionaire, right? Nope. Christian gave the ball back to Mr. Jeter.  When people started asking Christian how he could give away something worth so much money he said simply that the milestone baseball belonged to the man who made the milestone.  Some compared it to giving away a winning lottery ticket.  It didn't matter to Christian. He held it,  but it wasn't his to keep.  

The prophet Malachi passed along God’s simple request:  "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse...Test me in this...and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." (Malachi 3:10) 

Giving back to God some portion of what we have is just ‘giving back the baseball’ to the one to whom it really belongs.

I am blessed to be the pastor of a church filled with generous souls who are just like Christian. Their gifts each week, even though we were ‘closed’ to public worship, have been one of the many wonderful benefits of leading a church through the pandemic. Our story is not unique.

I know that some say the Church is dying. While some churches will die, I believe the ‘Church’ is alive and well. The people of God, like those I am blessed to be in community with, will not let the Church be another victim of the virus.

Thank you, dear friends, for keeping Hope alive.

Making Our Own Parade

Lest our children forget, history should note that today there are no public parades.  There are no municipal fireworks.  Today, this Independence Day 2020, is unlike any I have every known and, I pray, unlike any our nation’s next generations will know.

Today, instead, the children of the United States will hold their private parades, towing wagons and riding electric scooters down their streets, probably not really caring whether anyone comes out to watch their salute to freedom.  Because celebrating is fun. Families will shoot off their private fireworks because, well, loud noises and sparkling fire lighting up the night sky never fail to awaken our sense of pride, that we are part of a nation born from a revolution to gain freedom from a king’s rule to be replaced by a government of, by and for its people.

The celebrations are not happening in public places, at least not officially, but the American spirit still should be celebrated, even if from home. The ideals which the 4^th of July celebrations represent ought never to be left on the shelves of our minds.

President John F. Kennedy, on January 20, 1961, and following a bitter, razor-thin election held 60 years ago, said this:

“We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution.  Let the word go forth…to friend and foe alike, that the torch had been passed to a new generation of Americans…proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.”

“…whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice we ask of you. With a good conscience as our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”

The revolution birthed an experiment that continues today.  We are making our own parades because the revolution is not over, our purpose is not ended.  Because God’s work is still our own.

They Tell Me I am Old

    Even when I am old and gray,
    do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
    your mighty acts to all who are to come. Psalm 71:18

The government tells me that this coming week I will be officially old.  After about 50 years of paying into Social Security I am eligible to get my full share of it back. Because I am old and gray.

My body tells me that I am old too. A friend warned me that this was going to happen after I turned 60. I don’t know if it was a curse or a prophecy, but either way, it turned out to be true. I have problems in parts of my body I didn’t know existed before ‘the curse.’  The smell of menthol-infused rubbing solution has become my new daily cologne.  Because I am old and gray.

Even my words reveal that I am old.  I said to a man who told me he was feeling old at age 50, ‘Ah, still such a young man!’ I thought it odd when ‘old’ people used to say that to me. Now it’s me reminding people in their 50’s that they are entering the most productive decade of their lives.  I know this. Because I am old and gray.

The next generation tells me I am old when some young man might want to hear from me about how to stay married; some young woman might ask me about a secret to advancing her career; some child might like my ‘old man’ stories.  They ask me questions. Because I am old and gray.

I am not retiring, or letting my body keep me still, or letting my words stop flowing.  I will ask God to give me the wisdom and strength to keep on declaring God’s power. Because I am old and gray.

And to all of my readers in their 80’s, you are my new heroes, serving the Lord until the Lord says it’s time to come home. I want to be like you! Because you are old and gray. Thank God.

"Though It Linger..."

“For the revelation awaits an appointed time….Though it linger, wait for it…” Habakkuk 2:3

Juneteenth Was an Answer to Centuries of Prayer by Eric Washington

“The first celebration of Juneteenth began at the same courthouse in Galveston, on the same date where, one year before, enslaved people in Texas learned that the war was over and they were now free….Union Major General Gordon Granger had read, “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves. …” On this day, June 19, 1866, the Emancipation Proclamation was read out loud, and then those gathered progressed (to church) for a public prayer meeting.

“Theologian J. Kameron Carter writes,

“Juneteenth invites us to reflect upon the fact that during the two-and-a-half-year period between Emancipation Day and Juneteenth, there were still some people of color, people of African descent in the United States, who were still in bondage. They were still functioning as slaves, though legally they were free. Juneteenth, then, was for them a delayed celebration, a delayed enforcement of freedom. It represented a lagging liberation. This time lag of liberation is a metaphor of what it means to exist in the in-between of freedom, in freedom’s now-but-not-yet. In other words, Juneteenth points to the fact that liberation is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing project beckoning us to write the vision of freedom and issue renewed proclamations of “freedom now.” Juneteenth signifies the fact that freedom and liberation is both behind and ahead of us.

“In this long moment of anti-black racism that has manifested itself in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, and the long list of unarmed African Americans killed unjustifiably by police officers, including Eric Garner, Oscar Grant, Alton Sterling, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor, Juneteenth is a commemoration of African American suffering and overcoming. It is a recognition that the prayers of the suffering and the oppressed can be answered, even if it ultimately takes centuries.”

Eric Michael Washington, PhD, is associate professor of history and director of African and African diaspora studies at Calvin University, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The full article is found here: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2020/june/juneteenth-answered-prayer-slavery-emancipation.html?share=TXasTDkfcmj+a8TntR/MavIIFJtI89gf

Jesus and Protesters

Protesters were the parents of the United States.  Since 1773, we have been a nation of people who use protest to speak truth to power.  If you are drinking coffee as you read this, as opposed to tea, you can thank the protest born in Boston’s harbors for making tea the less-favored hot drink of a new nation being born.

Ever since then our nation has been populated by protesters.  Protest and protesters are as ‘American as apple pie’.

How would Jesus respond to the latest protests, today’s Black Lives Matters crowds, which have taken place in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., in over 2000 cities and towns?

The protesters gather in crowds large and small everywhere now, and I think that is where Jesus would send his disciples, into the crowds.

When Jesus saw crowds he didn’t get angry or walk away to a retreat. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” His compassion for the crowds led him to observe: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers to his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:36-37)

When you see crowds in action do you see a ‘problem’ or an ‘opportunity’?  

When you see protesters gathered do you see a harvest field?  Are you willing to be one of the few who will work in that field?

“We walk towards God’s inbreaking justice in the world, which is coming whether we are flying, running, or crawling. Our small acts of justice – those single steps that we refuse to stop doing, even though we can’t see how they’ll make a difference – are met by a generous, just God who is multiplying our small efforts into making all things new.”

–Laura Jean Truman, “Radvent – Day 11“ (Source: inward/outward.org)

Salt in Boiling Water

When the water you are watching boil reaches its boiling point too quickly what do you do? Throw in some salt. Salt reduces the tendency of the water to transform from liquid through evaporation.

Our nation is very near a boiling point, a point of permanent transformation. The temperature of the pot in which we dwell is too high. The heat in this cauldron is destroying psyches and lives.

How do we become salt?  Two actions: listen and speak. We pursue reconciliation through listening, and once we understand, we speak truth to power.

We listen to people of color explain why they are uniquely offended by the story of the murder George Floyd.  If, like me, you are not a person of color, then you cannot truly understand the visceral response of a person of color to the 8 minutes 46 seconds of a white uniformed police officer lynching a black man. The Church needs to become a forum for bringing together people of color and white people so that the white people can listen and learn.

What does it mean to speak truth to power? It means that you raise up the voices of trusted leaders like General James Mattis when he says,  "The Nazi slogan for destroying us ... was 'Divide and Conquer.' Our American answer is 'In Union there is Strength.' We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis -- confident that we are better than our politics." 

The voice of the Church must prophesy with words that unify rather than which divide the communities we serve.

It may seem counter-intuitive, to think that listening and speaking up will reduce our national boiling point. But, if we do not listen we will never understand the pain which drives the emotions of people of color.  To fail to speak, to be silent, to play along, to hide behind the fear of being shamed for telling the truth, allows the pot to boil rather than simmer.  

Listening quietly and speaking boldly are the ingredients, the salt which will keep our nation in a state of peace rather than allowing it to evaporate before our very eyes.

The Power of God's Breath

“God has shown you, O Mortal, what is good.

           And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly…” Micah 6:8

The fires burning around our nation in protest over the death of George Floyd are a stark reminder that the work of God’s people is never done. ‘America has witnessed a murder’ by a rogue white police officer who ignored warnings and cries for help by as he was suffocating a black man, Mr. Floyd, under the guise of an arrest.

How can we as a nation not be outraged? Our nation must rise up in a unison chorus of condemnation of this abuse of apparent authority. The acts of these officers do not represent the vast majority of our law enforcement personnel. The condemnation of those who killed Mr. Floyd and the calls for reform are directed at those who do not represent who we want to be as a society.  

The sad irony of this story unfolding on Pentecost weekend is that tomorrow, Sunday, we will be talking about life-giving breath, about tongues of fire.  The Church of Jesus Christ was born with the tongues of the Spirit’s holy fire, with the expiration of life-giving, mission-empowering breath, the breath of Christ’s Spirit. 

The Church has ever since that Pentecost Sunday carried the weight of every soul’s glory, as C.S. Lewis famously wrote.  It falls to the Church of God to rise up with passion and compassion, using its platforms to speak for those silenced, for those whose dying words are ‘I cannot breath.’  We pray for God’s healing breath to be spread over all races to the corners of the earth.

Justice is more than words. Justice is an action which God requires of us. Did you see that word, requires? 

The Church does not condone violence.  The accused are entitled to a fair trial. But those truths are not an excuse for a lack of action.

‘Rise up, O Church of God, be done with lesser things.’ The Church still carries the cleansing fire and the life-giving breath of the Spirit. It’s collective voice must now demand justice and reforms.

Let us commit to using the power of God’s breath to cleanse this land of hateful racial discrimination.

Gel In

When I visit to some dear soul in a hospital I take a moment to apply the gel at the doorway which has next to it a sign , “GEL IN”.   Sometimes I need to put on what we all now know to be ‘PPE’, personal protective equipment, consisting of a face mask, gloves and a body wrap.

 It is this last piece that often made me late for my visit, trying to tie the thin yellow cloth around a body size for which the cloth was not designed.  Sometimes a kind nurse would help, successfully suppressing a smile the whole time she was trying to make the ends meet.

Why go through this drill when I wasn’t worried about getting sick in the hospital room? The point of asking me  to ‘gel in’  and wear PPE was not to protect me, but to protect the dear sick soul from me.  I may think that I have the immunity system of the Pentagon, but I agree to ‘gel in’ because no matter how immune I am to disease, I may be a ‘carrier’ of something that would make the person I am visiting even more sick.

Churches will now be asking people to ‘gel in’ and to wear face coverings into their worship spaces.  Why? Not to protect the person wearing it but to protect someone with a weak immune system, someone who is vulnerable to disease, from contracting a disease that the person wearing the mask may unwittingly have and thus pass on.

When you choose to worship together during a pandemic consider whether you are willing to demonstrate your love for your neighbor in protecting their health. To love God is to worship God, and this is the first and great commandment. The second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus isn’t asking you to lay down your life for your neighbor in church. But, until we know it is safe to do otherwise, if you choose to gather with your neighbor to worship God in community then, just like you would do in the hospital, consider how to protect the health of the other ‘patients’ in the room who have come to seek the healing presence of the Jesus you represent.

Churches are hospitals too.

"A Mother and Child Reunion"

No, I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away           (Mother and Child Reunion, Paul Simon)

There once was a mother and child who lived in a one room abode. They were happy, but they dreamt together of the day they would share many rooms, still together, but free to be.

One day the mother’s fortunes changed in a most unexpected way.  She told the child that tomorrow she, the mother, must leave because she found the way to the place with many rooms, and that one day they could be there together. It would be a wonderful place, beyond the places they imagined together in their bed time prayers.  The child, though, was quite unhappy. ‘Don’t leave me, Momma,’ she said through her sobs and tears.  But the mother explained, ‘Mommy has to go to get your room ready for you to enjoy.  I am going to make it very special, painting it your favorite color, with a bedspread of your favorite hero. It is going to be so special, and we will both enjoy it together forever.’ So the mother promised the child a reunion in the place with many rooms. 

The mother departed, but not before making sure that grandma could stay with the child to protect and comfort the child.  Still, the parting of the mother and child was not easy, on either of them.

After a time and time again the rooms were ready. The child and the mother had both grown. Now, when it was time for the reunion, after she had finished all of the preparations,  the mother…

How would you finish this parable? Is how you wish it would end different from how you think it would end if you were the child? If you were the mother?  It’s all a matter of trust, of belief in the goodness of the mother, right? The child must either believe mother’s promise or not. The mother was telling the truth or she was not.  So it is in the Kingdom of Heaven.

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am.” (Jesus, John 14:3) I would not give you false hope. It is only a motion away.

To Touch Each Other

“I am drinking in the sun

and the lilies again are spread across the water.

I know what they want is to touch each other.

-----

and I am watching the lilies bow to each other,

then slide on the wind and the tug of desire,

close, close to one another.” The Pond, Mary Oliver

We have begun this physical-distance dance, learning how to be near each other without touching.  You meet a friend in the driveway and you ponder how to greet without touching?  It seems so foreign to pull back your arm’s attempt to extend a hand, to wave with arms that want instead to hug.

Two months ago, if you witnessed a scene of six chairs in a driveway in a circle wide enough to hold twelve you would have wondered what made them so upset that they sit so distant from each other. Now, in an instant, you know the reason.

Yes, we want to touch each other, even we introverts. We ‘slide on the wind and the tug of desire/close, close to another’ because it is in the nature of all living things to want to touch.  Is that what drives our anxiety, our anger, our sadness? That the God-instilled desire to be close together is gone, for a time?

God, restore to us soon our ability to touch each other, and until then help us to know that this tug of desire arises from our longing to extend the warm grasp of your hand upon us. Amen.

Viral Lessons from Downton Abbey

What exactly is one to watch when the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is cancelled and Major League Baseball never starts? That is the question which I, like millions of others, have asked these last many weeks of ‘physical distancing’, the prescription to defeat COVID-19.  My answer was to go in the entirely opposite direction from sports. I settled on several shows to fill the gaps in my late evenings, one of which was a well-known show set in the early 1900’s, Downton Abbey. This would be my antidote to my raging Badgers and Brewers fever.

In Season Two, the aristocratic owners and servants of Downton Abbey have more to worry about than whether the table is set correctly and tea is served at the proper time. Following World War I the household is beset by the onslaught of the Spanish Flu of 1918. It leads to misery and death, striking the wealthy and the poor alike.  They either didn’t know about or believe in ‘social distancing’ and the effects on the family and friends were devastating.

Watching it in 2020, the lessons from the Abbey jump off of the screen. We are going through the same devastation their world experienced. It affects the wealthy, the poor and everyone in between. People once secure in their station in life are now thrown into doubt and fear about survival, both economically and physically.

The television series moves on to new plot lines, but, just as in real life, the effects of the pandemic change the story for the rest of their lives. People’s lives are so intertwined that the death of one affects many.  Today, as we are trying to ‘move on’ with life in our nation and in the nations of the world,  it is tempting to ignore the lessons of history and to disregard science.

 I, for one, don’t want to spend the rest of 2020 watching Downton Abbey instead of the Brewers and Badgers. But it seems to me the lessons of 1918 are clear: we either respect and defeat the virus now by ‘taking our medicine’ or we ignore the past and watch the virus defeat us, changing the plot lines of our lives, again and forever.  Good thing I have a few more seasons to watch.

"Down Into The Darkness Of The Grave"

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.

So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind.

Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned

With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.

Since Cain killed Abel humanity experiences death and its aftermath, sorrow; loneliness; regret. We know that death remains the last enemy of us all.  Still, there are times when we as a world count death.  We live in one of those times, when the death toll is reported daily. The numbers are hard to grasp.  I live in a county of about 100,000 souls. The current COVID-19 death toll has surpassed that number. Try to imagine an entire county’s population being placed in the grave within a month. Staggering.

On this Saturday we remember that God is no stranger to death. One of the Holy Trinity died. Jesus was one of the ‘loving hearts in the ground.’  More important is this: on this Saturday some 2000 years ago the molecules stirred and the resurrection body of Jesus was created anew.  May this Holy Saturday stir the faith of the hundreds of thousands grieving the deaths we count.  May they come to believe that the rock which covers the hard ground shall on the last day be moved; that the trumpet will sound;  and up from the grave shall rise victory over the last enemy.

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave

Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;

Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.

I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

(Dirge Without Music, Edna St. Vincent Millay; Source: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52773/dirge-without-music )

"Saturday Night's All Right"

The party they threw for him on that Saturday night was a way of saying ‘thank you’, perhaps. Or, ‘we love you, friend’.  Maybe some of each. Martha served. Lazarus, the one Jesus had raised from the dead, reclined, along with his best friend, Jesus. Jesus’ disciples were relaxing in the house. Little did they know.

Mary had been saving her expensive perfume for a special occasion.  Tonight seemed like the right night, this Saturday night before Jesus headed down for his last ride into Jerusalem. Of course, no one other than Jesus understood that it was his last road trip. Just how close the end, and the beginning, were. Maybe Mary had an intuition that when Jesus left on Sunday morning there would not be another Saturday night dinner, not on this earth anyway.

So she poured out a pint of pure nard on his bare feet and wiped away the liquid with her long, jet-black hair. The smell filled the small house. People’s heads turned toward the dining room, wondering what the fragrance filling the air could be.  When they saw Mary’s shiny hair and Jesus’ drying feet, and the bottle lying nearby they understood what had happened. It irked Judas Iscariot to no end. “What a waste! That perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor (minus my thief’s cut).”

Jesus was having none of that noise.  “Leave her alone.” What Mary did that Saturday night before Palm Sunday was pure worship of Jesus. She understood who this man was, that he was the Messiah.  And if all of the rumors of the plots to kill him were true, well, perhaps he would not return.  There was no point in saving for tomorrow the act of worship she could do tonight.

We all have a little bit of Judas in us, wanting to save the good stuff for ourselves. We all have a little bit of Mary in us, wanting to worship our Lord and Savior.  Imagine Jesus at the dinner table tonight. You and your family and friends gathered round, one last time before Jesus begins the long walk to the tomb.

What could you do tonight to show Jesus how much he means to you?

(based on John 12:2-8; cf. Matthew 26:6-13)

Why Would They Risk Their Lives For You?

Mount Sinai West nursing manager Kious Jordan Kelly died from COVID-19.  Why would Mr. Kelly, in his 40’s,  have put himself in a place where he would be exposed to a highly contagious, deadly virus? You might say, “Well, it was his job?” But, ask yourself, if your job required you to knowingly risk contracting a deadly disease for which there is no known cure, would you? Why didn’t Nurse Kelly just walk away and call in sick? Take vacation? Find a new job?

There is something special about the character of people called to serve on the frontline of our nation’s response to a pandemic.  A frontline healthcare worker has no time to do a calculation of whether a person who cannot breath deserves the help of a nurse or doctor.  They serve those who lie before them gasping for air knowing that droplets could enter their own bodies and put them at death’s door.

So, today I ask you to pray for those who are called to this this dangerous work with this excerpt from A Blessing for Healthcare Workers in a Time of Pandemic--Kate Williams, © GIA Publications:

“Blessed are the ones who cannot be isolated.

Blessed are the doctors, nurses, chaplains, hospital staff. Blessed are the hands that are raw from scrubbing and sanitizing, the palms that glisten with oil of healing. Blessed are the shoulders that carry the weight of life and death. Blessed are the feet that are aching from standing at bedside and running between rooms. Blessed are the hearts that are frightened and breaking. …

Blessed are those who look upon this sacred work as gift . Blessed are those who have had enough. Blessed are those who are overwhelmed. Blessed are those who lack the space to process all that lies ahead.

Blessed are the ones who are found weeping in secret corners of an emergency room so that we might see a strong face to greet our need. Blessed are those who weep openly with us, so that even our tears have companions.

Blessed are you, O God:…come quickly, abide unceasingly. Love us while we see the worst, give us the hope we need to see our way out.”

When Fear Leads to Doubt, Sing!

God didn’t cancel spring.  The sun remembers how to shine.  Social connecting is happening in new ways.  Branches and dirt hold the promise of buds. Observe the Sabbath with a walk, sing a song.

I Worried
by Mary Oliver

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?

Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?

Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.

Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?

Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.

Responding to Fearful Threats

How should God’s people respond to the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic?  How shall we react to the ‘national emergency’ the President, Governors and Mayors have declared to exist?

After Jesus died and was buried his friends believed their lives were in mortal danger. Surely, they thought, they would be next in line to die a horrible death. Guilt by association. What did they do? They huddled together in a room, ‘the doors locked for fear.’  What happened next changed the history of the world, of the universe.  Jesus, he whom they saw die, showed up in their midst. They thought they were seeing a ghost.  But then Jesus spoke words that ring down through history, “Peace be with you!” The disciples were frightened at first, but as Jesus continued to comfort them their fright turned to joy.  They still might be targets of the powers that killed Jesus, but now they had Jesus with them.

The presence of Jesus changes fear to joy, not because the threats we fear go away, but because we see that ‘this too shall pass.’  Importantly, Jesus says, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  The role of God’s people, the work of the church, in the midst of a time of national emergency is to go into locked rooms and bring a word of peace. Sure, the threats of viruses are a real and present danger, but Jesus is with you and he isn’t leaving. ‘Peace be with you.’

A second obligation of God’s people in the midst of crisis is to honor the restrictions and guidelines the government decrees over our activities and lifestyles.  We are called to be faithful disciples first and good citizens second. Keep that order, but to the extent possible, do both.

Is it a necessary thing to close school and church activities? Opinions differ. But, a national emergency is declared. So, good citizens do what we are advised: wash our hands and practice social distancing because, in the long run, it is going to make our nation healthier more quickly.

What should you do today? Bring a word of peace to people who are huddled in fear.  Model good citizenship for your neighbors. “It is well, it is well with my soul.”

The Hardest Part of Being a Friend

“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not-knowing, not-curing, not-healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is the friend who cares.”  –Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude (source: http://inwardoutward.org)

If people were writing their life story would anyone write of you, ‘s/he was my best friend’?  What I am asking you is whether there is someone who views you as the one of whom they would write and mean that you really are their BFF (‘best friend forever’)?

It’s hard work being a friend. It takes time.  You go shopping. You attend the latest romantic comedy together. You find time to dine, swapping stories, sharing tales of your latest pains and woes. What else, in your mind, moves someone from the point of being a ‘friend’ to a ‘best friend’?

I am guessing that the ‘best’ part has something to do with the two of you having a history.  There is an old cartoon I remember in which the characters are sitting in a jail cell. The caption reads something like, “Your friend is the one who comes to visit you the next morning and says, ‘that was fun.’”  Being a BFF means you have some moments that the two of you can remember and smile.

The hardest part of being a friend, and the part where ‘best’ gets defined is perhaps the ability to sit silently, not trying to explain God’s apparent absence or abandonment. Just being there.

In today’s rushed world, full of endless distractions, it has become very hard to set aside time to be a ‘friend who cares.’  But that is what best friends do.  Do you care?

"Wash Me!"

How does a car get so dirty that someone finally decides they need to write in the automobile’s accumulated dirt, “Wash Me!”?

I discovered this question in Peter W. Marty’s column in Christian Century. (February 26, 2020, “Gradual Grime”)  Rev. Marty makes the point that it happens gradually. The owner of the vehicle may be too lazy or too frugal to wash a vehicle that is just going to get dirty again, especially in winter, driving on salt-laden roads.  It’s not that the owner wanted the filth there, but it gathered little by little.

You get used to the dirt after a while. You think, ‘I’ll wash it later, when it’s more convenient.” Then someone comes along who is embarrassed for you (I assume they are not feeling sorry for the car) and shames you with the infamous finger-inscribed plea to bless your car with some water.

Friends, I don’t want to be the one to tell you (or I guess I do, actually): we all badly need a bath! You should care about the accumulated grime. The dirt and grime of our sin accumulates, not necessarily because we want it to, but just because we live in a sin-infested world. Do something about it now. The longer you wait the less likely it is you will get it done.

Why bother with church during Lent? It’s like walking through a fountain flowing with water. It doesn’t’ hurt, I promise. You want to be clean for Easter, right? Now is the time to let the baptismal waters get to work on that grime.  Use Lent to write a message in the dirt: ‘Wash Me!’  Jesus offers free washes every Sunday!

And God Laughs

Why do the nations conspire
    and the peoples plot in vain? (Psalm 2:1)

As I watch the news unfold each day it is easy to conclude that the world has gone mad. It is difficult to know who is an ally with whom and who is an enemy. Historic alliances crumble. Who is friend and who is foe is difficult to discern from month to month. And, in the worst of all developments, ‘truth’ has become a matter of personal opinion, not fact.  Pilate’s question, “What is truth?” is one we still ask.  It is enough to cause me to despair of whether peace can ever be known again in our land, much less in our world.  How then, in the midst of all that we witness, can we find any hope?

I find hope in the words of the most ancient of songs, where the Spirit tells us that the nations and the peoples ‘plot in vain’. They are not in control of my destiny. They cannot stop the march of hope through history. We who believe in God have no need to fear the futile fantasies of the nations, for they are mere minions.  Or, as Artur Wieser compares the nations leaders to God:

“A race of pigmies is face to face with a giant!...It is only when we know the overwhelming power of God…that we achieve that inward superiority, fearlessness and serene confidence which is so graphically expressed in the magnificent picture of God who from his exalted throne smiles at the manikins and mocks at them.” (Psalms, A. Wieser p. 112)

The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
    the Lord scoffs at them. (Psalm 2:4)

While the nations conspire to pursue evil among us our God laughs, for he knows that all they do is in vain.  He who laughs last…