Hopes for the Donkey and You

 Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!  Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey…

 Dear Readers, as you approach your Palm Sunday and Holy Week,  I am hoping for you as the poet hopes for the donkey.  Be brave. Trust Jesus. Serve Jesus. Love Jesus.

 The Poet Thinks About The Donkey by Mary Oliver

                On the outskirts of Jerusalem

the donkey waited.
Not especially brave, or filled with understanding,
he stood and waited.

How horses, turned out into the meadow,
   leap with delight!
How doves, released from their cages,
   clatter away, splashed with sunlight.

But the donkey, tied to a tree as usual, waited.
Then he let himself be led away.
Then he let the stranger mount.

Never had he seen such crowds!
And I wonder if he at all imagined what was to happen.
Still, he was what he had always been: small, dark, obedient.

I hope, finally, he felt brave.
I hope, finally, he loved the man who rode so lightly upon him,
as he lifted one dusty hoof and stepped, as he had to, forward.

An Aroma Pleasing to God

 Numbers 28:24 In this way present the food offering every day for seven days as an aroma pleasing to the Lord….

 2 Corinthians 2:15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

 Name an aroma or two that is pleasing to you. What does just the thought of that aroma trigger in your mind?

 What aromas awaken in our minds pleasing memories and an invitation to all whose senses are awakened by them?  Buttered popcorn, freshly baked bread, a baby’s powdered skin, a brat fry.

 The aromas of Israel’s food sacrifices were ‘pleasing to the Lord.’ because they were acts of obedient worship.

 Christ’s obedient act of worship, his sacrifice on the Cross,  produced an aroma pleasing to God, reminding God of the salvation of God’s children.

 We are not the sacrifice. We are the aroma the sacrifice produces, a daily reminder to God of Christ’s sacrifice.  A daily affirmation to ourselves and those we meet that Jesus loves us.

 Is your life an aroma pleasing to God and inviting to your neighbors?

 May the pleasing aroma of Christ fill every room.

Seeing Grasshoppers

 Numbers 13:30 “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Numbers 13:33 “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

 When God offers you a blessing that requires a step of faith to receive there are two ways you can respond: in faith or in fear.

 The people of Israel were at the doorway to the Promised Land. The exploration team came back with two reports. The minority saw a land of milk and honey, just as God had promised (verse 30). The majority saw a land filled with giants, compared to whom the Israelites were grasshoppers. (v. 33)

 The majority’s bad report grew out of fear. The minority report was built on faith in God’s promise: God will deliver us.

 Because the majority saw grasshoppers instead of the Promised Land the Israelites wandered for 40 years in the wilderness.  Choices have consequences.

 When God offers you a blessing don’t consider yourself inadequate or unworthy. Grasp it with a courageous faith in God who is greater than your challenges.

 Go up in faith and possess God’s promise to you. You certainly can do it!

"When You're Smiling"

 2 Corinthians 8:2 “In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.”

 What are you smiling about?

 After 2 years of heavy blows to the world’s health,  political factionalism, economic uncertainty, and now a war that grips our senses, is there anything to smile about?

 Yes indeed! The United Nations issued The World Happiness Report and found these signs:  “’Donating to charity, helping a stranger and volunteering are all up,’ especially the help to strangers in 2021, relative to either before the pandemic or 2020, by a very large amount in all regions of the world,"  (https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-happiest-countries-2022-wellness/index.html)

 Generosity is a sign that you are, on balance, a happy person. Here’s your thought experiment for the day: Does being a happy person make your generous, or does being generous make you happy?

 If you are feeling like you have nothing to smile about in these days (years), may I suggest God’s ancient remedy to the ‘frowns? Give something away. Donate clothing; donate money; donate time. Find a way to make someone else smile.

 Be generous. Be happy. Start smiling.

 

Deliver Us From Putin's Evil

 Psalm 7:14-16

Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
    and is pregnant with mischief
    and gives birth to lies.
   He makes a pit, digging it out,
    and falls into the hole that he has made.
   His mischief returns upon his own head,
    and on his own skull his violence descends. ESV

 God of the heavens and earth, you who are holy and hate evil,

Today, as we witness the rise of evil birthed in the mind of Vladimir Putin, we implore you to destroy the evil to which he gives birth.

Stop in its tracks the violence and destruction created by this Putin’s wickedness.

We, your people, confess that our instinct is to be silent, but we have seen the result of the church remaining silent and weak in opposing pure evil: Hitler rises.

Give us the courage to use whatever tiny drop of difference we can make in the vast ocean of opinion to spur the world to persist in defeating Putin.

God of Mighty Armies, bring swift judgment on Putin’s head. Avenge the wrongs done upon the innocent people of Ukraine.

Deliver us from Putin’s evil.

For yours is the power. Show us your glory.

Amen.

(Inspired by Tish Harrison Warren, “Go Ahead. Pray for Putin’s Demise.” www.christianitytoday.com, March 8, 2022)

Tempting Shortcuts

 Luke 4:3-4 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

 Maybe you are a baker making bread today. This is not evil. Jesus loved bread and so do I.

The devil’s temptation is not about bread. It’s to solve Jesus’ problem with a shortcut instead of trusting God.

Jesus could have rationalized saying ‘yes’.  The temptation is to do something easy (for Jesus) and, in the process, prove to the wily devil that Jesus really is the Son of God.

But to do that would be to disobey God’s plan for his life. Jesus could be the chief baker for Israel but not the Savior of the world. Hence his reply: life is more than bread.

What shortcuts in life are you tempted to take? The world offers many paths to fill our hunger for money, power,  fame. But if we take those shortcuts, we frustrate God’s plan.

God has a plan for your life. Resist the temptation to follow the devil’s easier plan.

Stay true to your calling as a child of God. Don’t settle for shortcuts.

Sabbath Prayers in Kyiv

 Sabbath, February 26, 2022

“Outmanned Ukrainian forces are holding on to their capital after hours of street fighting that included explosions and bursts of gunfire. Smoke was billowing from the sites of some clashes, but as the Kremlin assault entered its third day, Kyiv was still in Ukrainian government hands.” The Washington Post

 As the battle unfolds outside, imagine the people gathering inside. Surprised. Thankful. Accompanied by the sounds of explosions and bullets, the worship leader rises and reads:

Psalm 31

²¹ Praise be to the Lord,
    for he showed me the wonders of his love
    when I was in a city under siege.
²² In my alarm I said,
    “I am cut off from your sight!”
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
    when I called to you for help.

²³ Love the Lord, all his faithful people!
    The Lord preserves those who are true to him,
    but the proud he pays back in full.
²⁴ Be strong and take heart,
    all you who hope in the Lord.

And they pray. Really. Hard. Prayers. All God’s faithful people, let us pray…