Now that Lent is over, I was just looking back and realize I hadn't posted pictures taken at the Shrove Tuesday pancake supper. I was out of town, and lost track, I guess. These pictures were taken on Jill's camera - by Jill, Lilly, and maybe others?!?
Enjoy...
 |
| Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper |
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." -- Romans 15:13This verse alone speaks volumes to me. I read a few days ago a writers description of the rainbow. "When we look at a rainbow , we see light reflected in many glorious colors. The magnificence of the rainbow is a visual display of the power and the beauty of light."
Romans 15:1-6
The part of this passage that stuck with me is the last verse: "Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." As Christians we sometimes ignore the teachings of Jesus and fall into the trap of judging others. You sometimes hear debates about who is saved or whether someone is a "saint" or a "sinner". But the message from this passage is beautiful because it emphasizes that our duty as Christians is to act towards each other with the love that Jesus exhibited. The passage is even more specific and says that we need to act with patience and to provide comfort. I, for one, will do well to remember that the next time I reproach someone, even if it is a silent reproach.
by David Mulle
Romans 8:11-14
So I wrote this long reflection and pressed "publish post," then skipped off to celebrate my youngest sister's birthday. When I returned there was an error message saying "blogger" was temporarily inaccessible on line. I came back on before midnight to check if my post was saved somewhere on the site, but it is lost. The passage says, "you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep." This wake-up call really speaks to me, because I feel we are asleep most of the time. Sleep is actually a pleasant image. Most of us enjoy sleep and want more of it. (I know I do right now!). But Paul seems to be saying there is something better than being asleep and that is living honorably. There seems to be three ways to go through life--honorably, sinfully, or asleep. I don't fall under the list of sins Paul gives with drunkenness, debauchery, and licentiousness. But I do fall asleep--taking the path of least resistance, getting stuck in complacency, being caught in complicity from not taking action.
Living honorably each day is a lot more than not sinning, it is waking up and not shying away from the light.
Romans 13:8-10
Two things about this passage are striking. The first is that, in verse 8, our obligation to love one another is presented as a debt. The version of the Our Father that one of us grew up with asks forgiveness of trespasses instead of debts. Both are words that speak of owing something, but the difference between the two - in light of this passage - is striking. A trespass is stepping over boundaries and into space in which one does not belong. Debts are obligations which have not yet been fulfilled, based on a relationship between people. To say that we trespass implies we are all surrounded by fences staking out what is ours and excluding all others; a debt means we've come to agreements with others and have a sense of commitment.
The second phrase that resonates in the passage is verse 10 - that love does no harm and thus fulfills the law. Anyone who's had a crush in middle school could take issue with the idea that love never hurts others. The love that Paul speaks of, though, is a reflection of God's love instead of our more earthly conception of love. Early Christians defined the difference with two separate words - agape for the former and eros for the latter. Agape is unconditional and reflects caring for our fellow man as a fellow child of God; it makes no demands on others. It does, however, require of us the commitment to see the face of God in all people - a debt we owe to all, so to speak.
A practical instance of putting this into action happened during our commute yesterday, when a fellow passenger in the subway started to feel dizzy and sick during the ride. Those around her showed her care and concern, and made sure she reached stop safely. All of us would feel good about ourselves - even a little superior - for having done a good deed for the day; according to this scripture, though, we should actually feel humbled because we were simply doing our duty in helping our neighbor. Agape means we should concentrate on thinking of others before we speak or act, particularly in these passing daily interactions with strangers.
by the Sandifords
Romans 13:1-7 "Submission to the Authorities"
I believe, Romans 13: 1-7 speaks to us about choosing to do what is RIGHT in all the aspects of our lives. There are governing authorities in our lives, for instance, the U.S Constitution, Tax Laws, Criminal Laws etc. Though these laws may be governed by judicial authorities, these laws are also in place to serve God's Law and God's plan. Governing laws often mirror and uphold the morals that God Himself has set for us to live by. That is why we must choose to do the right thing in all the areas of our lives, whether this is a financial area, a spiritual area or an interpersonal area. For those that follow governing laws are pleasing God, because we are upholding his morals as well. When we pay our taxes we are contributing to society, when we treat others with respect we are setting the example for others to be inspired by and follow, when we pay our debts we are demonstrating we are keeping our promises and demonstrating honor.
Both God's Law and governing law are in place to do us good, not to harm us. It is in place to protect us, as God protects us each and every day. Those who choose to do the RIGHT thing on a daily basis are commended by God through his many blessings and should not fear the wrath of God. However, it is important that we choose to do the right thing because of our inner conscience and because it is what our heart and soul tells us to do, not merely because we fear God's punishment. If we do what is right with an open and honest heart, surely God sees this even if others are unable to recognize it.
If we Let Go and Let God direct our steps we would not have to fear God's wrath either. As humans we often want to take charge and make decisions on our own without consulting God through prayer. It is during these times we find ourselves in difficult situations and end up calling on God to see us through.
Have a blessed day.
by Stephanie Murphy
Romans 12:1-8
I find this whole area of Romans is very inspirational.
I read this as a call for us to try to follow the example of Jesus and to offer ourselves up as a living sacrifice; that is, to place every aspect of our life before God as a worshipful offering. We are fond of saying that Christ redeems us. But what does that mean? It means comforting us in our sorrow and healing the scars Breisen wrote about.
Paul tells us not to conform to this world. Every day we're bombarded with messages about what to buy and tips on how to use people for our own gain. In this letter we're urged to go deeper; to have lives of real meaning; to love God and each other.
(Sorry this is late...Joey and Ellie have been sick and it's taken a lot of my waking hours...)
by Paul Mowry
Romans 11:25-36
"33 O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34'For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?'
35'Or who has given a gift to him,
to receive a gift in return?'
36For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen. "
I got a call from my mom on Tuesday night that her youngest sister, my aunt, was in the hospital with severe pain in her abdomen, a week after doctors suspected she might have leukemia which thankfully she does not. She was doped up on morphine as tests were being run to find out what the problem was, but the pain only increased but the doctors could not find out what was wrong, and several times tried to release her to go home. Her stomach became distended, swollen, and my Dad, a physician of forty years, who thought she should go into surgery in the event of appendicitis or an infection from a past surgery had to threaten the 20-something resident, "if you don't take her into surgery now, I will call in my own team of surgeons to do it for you." To surgery she went where they discovered scar tissue from years ago that had begun to envelop a section of colon and threatened several other organs. The surgery was successful.
We all live with scar tissue, most of which is unseen, some of which can grow and fetter internally until it begins to hurt other organs causing great pain or worse, takes away our life. The conditions of our unfair planet and our unfair lives brimming with people who do us good and some who do us bad can scratch and tear at our insides and sometimes overwhelm us. Also this week my Uncle Johnny, who is as responsible for my existence as my own grandfather, passed away. In 1938 while teaching English at Charles University in Prague, he befriended my grandfather, his student, and was responsible for among other things, convincing him to return to America with him before the outbreak of the looming war and in the wake of the disappearance of his family to a Nazi concentration camp where they all were exterminated. My grandfather's scar tissue was so great, he never talked about it, it was only the ancient recollections of Uncle Johnny that we could try to understand what was buried there. Uncle Johnny was in his nineties and had lived for years in assisted living, but his loss still looms monumental and tragic for my family.
The wisdom and knowledge of God are like surgical scissors, forceps, and instruments to cut away at the scar tissue that weighs us down, but we often forget to implement these gifts perhaps because we forget that we can individually be both patient and doctor, with God's help. Healing is not a quick and painless process. My other grandfather, a Baptist missionary and preacher for many decades is fond of saying "When you talk to the Lord, no breath is lost, so breathe on. When you walk with the Lord, no strength is lost, so walk on. And when you wait on the Lord, no time is lost, so wait on." Amen.
by Breisen
Romans 11:11-24 reflection by Rev. Beth
"So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God."
God is kind and severe. This is how a life of faith can feel when I only experience God as my personal lord and savior and lose sight that most of the Bible is talking to the "you (plural)" and not just the singular me. One day is full of blessings, the next, random punishment. A faith journey can be such a pendulum swing when it is experienced alone.
Paul is a Jewish pharisee. He had respect and privilege among the Jewish people. He was blessed. But then he met the resurrected Jesus and he understood God in a new way. The thing was all his old friends didn't see it his way. He had to make new friends in the Gentiles. But he couldn't explain the rejection he felt from his old friends; the ones who first taught him about God and whom he knew God loved dearly. The more excited his new friends the Gentiles got about God and their new blessings, the more Paul understood his first family in his particular community of Jews. Whether you are born to faith or find it later, Paul felt it is all too easy to lose sight of God to pride. It is a much harder thing to keep living in awe--focused on God. Among his old community, Paul had lost that sense of awe, but he felt it again with the Gentiles. Still he worried about keeping awe alive.
He tries to explain this to the Gentiles with a metaphor out of everyday life--the tending to an olive tree. Sometimes, trees were pruned to keep the plant alive and other times branches were grafted back on to bring new life. Olive trees need pruning. Because the branches grow crosswise, they can create a thick canopy and block the sun from reaching the rest of the plant. This means some parts can get sun-burnt and others can wither from no sun. Olive trees also need grafting. Olive trees don't grow from seeds in the ground. Seedlings or other branches must be grafted back to an existing tree. This can bring new life to an old tree or even change the variety of olive growing there.
As a pastor, I can worry like Paul does here as old friends burn out on church and disappear for a while and as new friends come in with great zeal but no knowledge of the old friends and the olives we were growing. But I realize that the pruning and the grafting of the tree are not ultimately up to me. I admit that I worry about who has disappeared because they are experiencing severity and who is not coming because they've turned God's kindness into pride. Or vice versa, who is the fair weather church-goer and who is the devout despairer? Ultimately, I try to enjoy the fruit of the olive tree, which incidentally never bears fruit in the same place. I try to trust the Olive Grower with its pruning sheers and grafting thread. I try to remember that we are not singular seedlings, growing alone in a life of faith, but we are branches on a tree, experiencing together severity and kindness as we are pruned and grafted at different intervals. Although it feels imbalanced as an individual experience, we need pruning and grafting for our greater growth as we learn to live not alone and not by pride but together and in awe of the God who brings us there.
Romans 11:1-10
In the prior verse the Israelites are described as contrary and disobedient, and in Chapter 11 Elijah speaks of their destruction and his own imminent danger. The Lord did not turn His back on his people in their time of trouble; instead, He assured Elijah that His covenant had not been broken, and that faith in Him would still be rewarded.
Although Paul wrote this passage for his own time, his words apply equally today. They remind us that no matter how much we immerse ourselves in prayer and study, we still cannot know perfectly the will of God. What seemed to Elijah to be the end of his people and their covenant was only a troubled time that would be surmounted. In even the greatest tragedy there is a meaning, even if we cannot find it immediately. No matter how bad things may seem, we have not been abandoned to fate. Instead, through the grace of God those who embrace him will be saved. This means that no matter how often we stumble and are drawn away from God by the pleasures of everyday life, we will still be able to turn back to God and be welcomed like the Prodigal Son. There may be times in our lives when we think that God has withdrawn from our lives, but He is always for our return with open arms. What a comforting thought! No matter what we are going through, through his grace we are safe and will eternal life in heaven with Him.
by Katy and Matt Sandiford
Romans 10:5-21
I believe God is telling us that there is common judicial law that is set up in the world to judge one another's actions. However, we do not live only by this law. We live also and most importantly by the righteousness and law of God. However, God's law does not give us the right to judge one another; to determine who merits going to Heaven, and who merits going to hell. Instead, this law is in place to tell us to believe in the word of God, and to believe in our hearts and to speak the word of God with our mouths. Within God's law, everyone is eligible to be saved by believing that Jesus Christ is Lord and that he blesses us daily when we place our faith in his hands. Regardless of whether we are Jews or Gentiles.
In addition, I believe God is telling us not only does he want the Israelites to be blessed but all of his people to. And Jesus is the redeemer for us. The flesh is weak but the Holy Spirit is perfectly strong which Jesus is in us. When his chosen people failed and struggled with the law of Moses, they then received a second chance by believing and trusting in Jesus through faith which allowed the blessings to continue toward salvation. By having faith trusting and believing not only will God continue to bless you but love you and save you from the forces of evil and not pay the penalty of death through sin. God's closeness is as close as the very breath we breathe.
Each morning when I journal it is my daily belief that I trust, believe and have faith in God. No matter what challenges I may be faced with for the day or judgmental comments made toward me, for I know through the power of Christ all will work out in divine order. In addition, through the power of morning prayer and going with the winds of change through the course of the day I know that it is my Savior Jesus Christ at the end of the day who brings me through. Hope and trust you all are having a blessed and productive day.
by Stephanie Murphy
Romans 9:30-10:4
I'm not sure if this is cheating but I cannot do the reflection without skipping ahead a few verses.
The beginning of Chapter 10 has Paul praying that the Israelites will be saved. When discussing the Israelites Paul mirrors the criticisms that Jesus had of the pharisees. Namely, that they were too focused on the letter of the law rather than God's righteousness. "they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law".
God had entered into a convenant with the Israelites through Abraham and Jacob and despite any shortcomings, in Chapter 11, verse 1, Paul states "I say then, has God cast away his people? Certainly not!"
Even when the Israelites don't live up to their side of the bargain, God does not cast them away. I find that very comforting because even when I fail, God will not abandon me. I think this is also the reason why I am so comforted by all the mistakes the disciples make in the gospels. I can identify with that and even though Jesus becomes frustrated with them, he still trusts them to go out and proclaim his word. If there is hoe for them even though the fall asleep, are constantly doubting, and miss the point of the parables, then there is also hope for me.
By David Mulle
Romans 9:19-29
This can be an extremely difficult passage to interpret. It has led a lot of people throughout the millennia to try and figure out who is saved (that is, receive eternal life) and who is not saved. The thing about Christianity is, if you're in for your salvation, you're missing the boat. Jesus tells us the most important thing is to love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind; and to love our neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:36-40, Mk 12:28-31, Lk 10:25-37). You can't do that if you're obsessed with whether or not you're going to heaven. And if you love God SO THAT you'll go to heaven, well, that's not the point either.
There are many places in the Bible where God acts in such a way as to make people do what we all see as the wrong thing, like with the Pharaoh when Moses was trying to lead the Jews out of slavery in Egypt, mentioned by Paul earlier in this chapter. God "hardens" Pharaoh's heart. So, does that mean all the bad things we do is because God made us do it? No. Why does God act this way sometimes? We can ponder, but we will never surely know the mind of God.
What then can all this mean to me?
I believe to live in Christ is to live as much as I can in the radical compassion, forgiveness and welcome that Jesus did. I am not too concerned with WHY someone acts badly towards me, themselves, others, or society in general. I can only try to embrace the Holy Spirit and greet that person with compassion, forgiveness and welcome. Perhaps God has hardened someone's heart. Perhaps this was done so that I would have the opportunity to embrace the spirit of the living Christ by showing that person compassion.The next time someone really bugs you, try thinking that in bugging you they are providing you with an opportunity for your own spiritual growth by embracing what Jesus taught us about love, forgiveness, and acceptance.
In peace and love,
Paul Mowry
Romans 9:1-18
This morning there was an email from our HR director with funeral information for a co-worker's son. He was only three months old. I was thinking about Beth's scary story about James' hospital visit and I thought about the immense loss of losing someone who had a name, thoughts, connected with his parents through scent, touch, and the other ways parents connect with infants but had only a few breaths, never celebrated a first birthday, nor had the chance to do so many wonderful things that we as humans get to do on Earth. As I read the Romans chapter for today I was thinking about the mercy and compassion God shows every day and also of the senselessness and sadness of everday tragedies.
Ultimately we might not have control of everything that happens, life will bring joy and tragedy, but in communication and in faith with God, our journey is made easier, not to say that it is ever easy. The loss of a baby is extraordinary, my ability to empathize is limited because I have never had a child or personally know the loss of someone so young, but this verse reminds me that God's compassion is great and that even in the wake of death, we are not alone.
by Breisen Miller
 |
blog
