e-vo for week of July 2

Dearest e-votees-

This week's epistle text addresses the struggles we have to use the freedoms we have in Christ well.

The freedoms we have in this country and that were won on the cross came with an excruciating cost. How we use those freedoms can deeply honor that price or cheapen them.

Peace,
Karl

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[Paul writing:] 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.

Romans 7:15-20, NRSV
God calls us in the circumstance we are. We don't need to rise up to God on our own power (as if we could). God comes to us. That is what Jesus' incarnation is all about. The shepherd leaves the 99 and goes to the sheep. It is not about the sheep coming to its senses and returning to the flock. Even when we get close to that in scripture (son returning after squandering his share of dad's estate) it is the God figure (the father) who runs and makes things right. God always comes to us. That is good news. Let's not sully it by trying to add our meager efforts.

In response we are invited, with God's help, to move away from the sin that entangles us (and even dwells in us) into the place where God would rather have us be. But, as Paul says, this is excruciating. It takes a cross to deal with sin. The call on us is to take up our crosses and follow after Jesus. Perhaps that is some of the mysterious participating in the sufferings of Christ that Paul talks about in his letters.

As we gather with family and friends in worship and around patriotic displays in the days ahead may we all be mindful of the crosses that others have borne in order to secure our freedom. May we all be mindful that we are also called to take up our cross. As we have an abundance of choices as to what to do with our freedom may we, as God empowers us, follow after our Lord Jesus and seek to be like our master and teacher.


God, we are sinners without a prayer save what Jesus did. Help us abide in that freedom. Dwell in us and stir us to do that which is pleasing to you. Amen.

e-vo for week of June 25

Dearest e-votees-

Welcomes matter.

Who we welcome has consequences.

It is instructive to see who welcomes us.

We should pay close attention to welcoming.

Peace,
Karl

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[Jesus speaking:] 40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

Matthew 10:40-42, NRSV
Jesus talking to his disciples says that, because of their connection to Jesus, whoever welcomes them welcomes Jesus. And because of Jesus' connection with God the Father whoever welcomes him welcomes God the Father. If we are Jesus disciples then we too are connected as the apostles were. Whoever welcomes us welcomes Jesus and God the Father. We are conduits, if you will, of a divine welcome.

When we welcome prophets as a prophet there is a prophet's reward to be had. When we welcome a righteous person as a righteous person there is a reward to be had. Even in meeting basic needs of slaking thirst and offering hospitality there is a reward to be had.

It seems that Jesus is suggesting that in supporting others as they live into their vocations--callings from God--that we in a real sense participate in their work and are included in the consequences that come their way because of that work. God has a calling on our lives as well. As we grow in those there are consequences of that work. Those who love us and welcome us and support us become a part of living out the calling and into the consequences as well. Who supports you in the calling that God has placed on your life? You would do well to share with them the reward that is yours.

There is a song by Ray Boltz that is simply called Thank You. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFrdJ2V3r7Y The gist of the song is that because of this person in heaven who had lived out various callings (Sunday School teacher, supporter of missions, etc., etc.) many had been welcomed into the kingdom of heaven. They received the consequences of the gospel -- salvation in the name of Jesus. And they shared part of their reward with this kind and generous person. The truest reward comes not in the form of money nor fame nor anything else of this world. The truest reward comes in changed lives that are drawn into the glorious good news of the gospel. May our lives be so full of welcoming and being welcomed that our lives and those around us are changed for the better forever.


God, help us welcome all because all are made in your image. Help us share whatever rewards you may send our way. Thank you, Jesus, we are lives that are changed. We are so glad You came. Amen.

e-vo for week of June 18

Dearest e-votees-

When we give a gift we are yielding control to what becomes of it. The recipient gains control or liberty with said gift.

When God gives us salvation by grace God yields a measure of control as well. Grace is ours. What we do with that grace is our choice.

Paul has a few things to say about how we might employ the freedom from sin we have in Christ.

Peace,
Karl

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1 Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8 But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:1b-11, NRSV
When we are baptized we are connected with Jesus' death. As he died so we die too. As the consequences of sin exacted his life from him the power of sin is put to death in our lives. Because Jesus was bound, beaten and killed we are freed, healed and born anew. When death occurs sin loses its grip. When Jesus died sin could harm him no more. When we are baptized into Christ we are joined into his death and, therefore, into the freedom from the ultimate consequences of sin.

When we are baptized we are connected with Jesus' resurrection. As he lived so we live too. The power of God that worked his resurrection is at work in us too. Because death could not hold Jesus down we will not be forever weighed down with mortality either. When new life occurs sin loses its grip. When Jesus rose from the dead sin could harm him no more. When we are baptized into Christ we are joined into his resurrection and, therefore, into the freedom from the ultimate consequences of death.


God, because Jesus lives we live too. Help us enjoy and glorify you in the freedom have in Christ. Your grace is enough for us. Amen.

e-vo for week of June 11

Dearest e-votees-

This coming Sunday is the day of the church year where we emphasize the Holy Trinity.

God lives in the community of the Trinity and God is made known to us in the Trinity.

May God bless us as we gather in community and as we make room for others in our communities as well.

Peace,
Karl

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11 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13, NRSV
Verse 13 of our appointed epistle lesson is a familiar one. It is featured prominently in many of our liturgical settings. It is one of the relatively few places in scripture where all three persons of the Holy Trinity are mentioned in one breath. It is often one of the very first things we hear when we gather for worship.

We begin with grace which we experience through Jesus. We cannot merit God's favor. We can't do enough to earn God's love. On our own and left to our own devices we fail to live the holiness that is needed. So God comes to us. Jesus enters into our broken places and makes right what we cannot. Jesus brings salvation as pure gift. Because it is gift we cannot lose it by not living holy enough. God's grace is for us and for all. All we can do is accept that gift and offer it to others which is exactly what this invocation in verse 13 does.

We continue on to God's love. God has so many superlative traits but by far the most important is love. God so loved the world that Jesus was sent to us. God loves us and loves all. It is God's nature to love and to be in relationship. The Trinity is a relational reality. We are invited into that reality. There is a well-known icon of the visitors who came to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre and announced that Sarah was to have a child.

You can see it at:
http://www.acrod.org/ministries/youth/arena/readingroom/iconography/hospitality

Some see in this icon the Trinity. And in that Trinity and how they are sitting they see an invitation for us to take a place at the table with the three already seated. This is a loving invitation from a loving God. God's love is for us and for all. All we can do is accept that gift and offer to others which is exactly what this invocation in verse 13 does.

We finish this verse with the invitation into communion or fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Because God comes to us through grace we are assured of our acceptance. Because God comes to us in love we receive God's unwavering care. Because we are loved and accepted we can grow in community with God. We are ushered into the divine presence and community. God's community is extended to us and to all. All we can do is enter into that community and extend that invitation to others which is exactly what this invocation in verse 13 does.


God says to us "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you." God grant us ears and hearts to hear and to accept that incredible invocation. Amen.

e-vo for week of June 4

Dearest e-votees-

This coming Sunday is the day of Pentecost. It is an ancient festival that took on new meaning when the Holy Spirit came into the church deeply and broadly as recounted in Acts 2. We will look at the appointed text from 1 Corinthians as our devotional focus for this week.

Peace,
Karl

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...no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13, NRSV
It is the breath of God (the Spirit) that brings life to the dust in the garden of Eden and life to the dusty bones of Ezekiel's vision. The form and the pieces of the body might be present but it is the divine indwelling that animates us most fully into that divine image in which we were created. When we regard others as anything less than loved by God and formed in God's image we diminish God's body. When we disregard the beauty and the care that God has instilled into us we diminish God's body. When we try to show how our gifts or contributions are more valuable than those of others we diminish God's body.

The body needs all of its parts to exist and function and most fully convey the breadth of life God has given. The church--the community of saints--the spiritual body of Christ needs all of its parts to exist and to convey most fully the breadth of God's love that is for the world. It takes all gifts and passions, all perspectives and sensitivities, all stories and hoped-for futures in order to more fully bear the fullness of Christ.

The Spirit is for us and for all. We should drink of it deeply and invite others to do the same. This isn't to say that all things are equally good or acceptable to God. This isn't to say that we should be whoever our Old Adams and Old Eves imagine without restraint. This is saying that we should allow others to discern about and grow into God as they are moved by the Holy Spirit and we should do the same. We should take the plank out of our own spiritual eyes and let God remove they specks from theirs. If we know anything about God and the Holy Spirit we should know that God can make clear what God needs to say to individuals and communities when God so chooses.


God, blow into our lives again and again. Give us grace to see your body as lacking without others made in your image. Particularly stir us to reach out to those who perplex, annoy and scare us most. What we are not that they are surely conveys some of your majesty. Amen.

e-vo for week of May 28

Dearest e-votees-

This Thursday (May 29) is the day that the church celebrates Christ's ascension. It is the 40th day after the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus -- Easter. As mentioned in Acts 1:3 below Jesus appeared for 40 days with convincing proofs of his resurrection as well as speaking of the kingdom of God.

It takes some time and some on-going work of God for the reality of the life-changing resurrection to sink in with Jesus' disciples. We are no different.

May we all be open to however God chooses to reveal God's self to us. And may we be open to the requisite time and moving of God to make that revelation take hold in our lives. And may we be open to however God might reveal God's self through our own lives and witness.

Peace,
Karl

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1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2 until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Acts 1:1-11, NRSV
We use terms like "gravity of the situation" or "being grounded" as ways of acknowledging the importance of urgent, foundational truths. We might even speak of them with a certain gravitas. These truths can weigh us down, keep us from moving freely and responsively. We might even go a stow ourselves away in a safe place behind locked doors if things weigh on us too heavily. Fears, responsibilities and unwanted conflicts can beat us down into the pit.

But Jesus wouldn't stay in the pit. Jesus rose from the dead--overwhelming the gravity of the Good Friday situation. He came into the locked rooms and the cowering hearts and lingered with his followers for 40 days. He lifted theirs spirits and raised up truths into their ears. As if to punctuate all of this anti-gravitational behavior he ascended out of there sight. In Luke's parallel account in his gospel Jesus is blessing the disciples as he ascends.

The disciples are staring up into heaven. Perhaps they are in awe. Perhaps they are already starting to droop back into fear now that Jesus has left them yet again. Maybe Peter is about to suggest they build some shelters or something. But two visitors interrupt their stunned, upturned, gaping poses. The disciples are directed to go to where Jesus will meet them. They are promised that they will continue to experience Jesus.

Sisters and brothers, we are sent too. Jesus sends us into all the world (Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth) to share the same sorts of truths he did for 40 days after rising from the dead. We don't go alone but Jesus goes in us and before us. In a week we'll be liturgically reminded that the Holy Spirit dwells in us and moves in us as well. We will, of course, at times get weighed down, discouraged and perhaps intimidated by all these things and the challenges of living out the call. We might even find ourselves stunned, gaping upward but we can find encouragement in the words of the two visitors. But the good news is that God has done the work and is doing the work and will lift us when we fall and call us back when we gape. May our spirits be raised and our testimonies too. Amen.


God, continue to reveal yourself to us that you might not be unknown in our lives. Use us to reveal you to the world we inhabit. Amen.

e-vo for week of May 21

Dearest e-votees-

This coming Sunday is Easter 6. We have jumped 10 chapters in Acts from last week's reading and what a difference we see in Paul (our approving coat rack formerly named as Saul in last week's reading).

Peace,
Karl

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22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26 From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we too are his offspring.’
29 Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Acts 17:22-31, NRSV
Karl Barth is quoted as saying you should preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Paul had neither the Bible as we know it (he was still in the process of writing his portions) nor did he have a newspaper as we know it (which future generations might soon not have as well). But he did have the truth revealed to him by God (like the Bible) and an understanding of the context of the culture and the current events (like the newspaper).

Paul has an incredibly engaging hook for his message to the Athenians. As he wandered about he found an altar to an unknown god. He saw in the culture a desire to worship but perhaps a lack of clarity as to the best recipient of that worship. Starting from their self-expressed needs and desires he offers them Jesus.

All of us live in a world where people are searching. They desire to attach their worship and allegiance but often have difficulty discerning who or what is reliable and worthy. We can find ways to point people to Jesus as Paul did. We can proclaim the resurrection as Paul did. We can live lives of witness and service as God did. We can trust that God's grace is sufficient for us and that God's power is made perfect in weakness as was revealed to Paul.

We should seek to be students of our culture and allow scripture to shape us. With the Bible in one hand and whatever news conduit in the other and the indwelling Holy Spirit we can give very good news to a world that is longing to hear it.


God, continue to reveal yourself to us that you might not be unknown in our lives. Use us to reveal you to the world we inhabit. Amen.