Hang with the Sheep, Not the Goats!

Matthew chapters 23-25 runs quite an interesting gauntlet.  It starts off with Jesus denouncing the Scribes and Pharisees, proceeds on to discussion about signs of the end of the age, and moves on into Parables about bridesmaids and servants and talents, and wraps up with Judgment.  Now I have heard dozens of sermons preached on individual parts, particularly talents (usually around the time that the Stewardship drive comes around), but I have never seen anyone connect the dots between these three chapters.  And yes, there is a connecting thread that weaves through the three chapters!

Let’s start at the beginning.  In chapter 23, Jesus blasts the Pharisees and Scribes!  Specifically, he sums up his point in verse 23:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law; justice and mercy and faith.  It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.”

In other words, they know the law.  They can tell you all about the “matters of law”.  But knowing and doing are two totally different things!  They practice and carry out the things that can be seen-the “look at me, I’m giving my tithe of rare and precious spices” but they don’t carry out the things that require an investment that is not always seen-justice, mercy and faith.  Jesus at the very beginning of the chapter tells the listeners to do what the Scribes and Pharisees say, just don’t do what they do!

We then move on to chapter 24-the signs of the end of the age.  A lot of people get hung up on the signs and miss the entire point, which is emphasized at the end-always be watchful!  Keep doing what you are called to do and do it well, because you never know when the end is coming!  Take the talents and multiply them!  Which brings us into chapter 25 and the judgment of the nations.

In chapter 25, what is the standard that differentiates the sheep from the goats?  Jesus sums it up in verses 35 and 36:

“for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

Justice, mercy, faith-live and in action, are summed up in those two verses!

Which brings me back around to the point of the talents that we hear so much about!  A talent can be money.  It can be your special gift and grace.  But to truly “invest” your talents means that you invest in people and relationships-the one on one daily, nitty gritty of living day to day!  It is not merely about investing in a building or a program!  It’s about investing in life!  It is the stuff that we do, day in and day out, that seems insignificant because, well, it’s simply the right thing to do!

Shall we put it in modern day parlance?  I had a flat tire and you stopped to help me change it in the freezing cold, on the side of the interstate.  My house was blown away by a tornado and you came to help me clean up and save what I could, even though you didn‘t know me.  I was with my children at the grocery store in the check out line and I came up $1.98 short and you pulled out two dollars from your pocket so I wouldn’t have to face the embarrassment of trying to pick what I needed to put back.  I did something stupid as a youth and had to serve jail time, but you didn’t forget me!  You wrote letters and came to visit when you could.  I was new in town and had no family and friends and you invited me over for lasagna dinner.  I could go on, I could list more and more examples, but I think I’ve made my point!

Tell me, what on that list involved some big mission program or involved a building???  Not one!  And only one on that list involved money!

Now, before some of you out there have a coronary and think that I am saying to not support your local church or some special mission program, take a deep breath and relax!  There are certain things that only a church or an organization can do really well and it is important to support those programs!  The Pharisees, even they did that!  My point is, it is only half of the story.  And if you go back and read what Jesus said, that was his point as well!  Do what they tell you, just don’t stop there.  Don’t do what they do, focusing only on those visible things.  If you only do what they do, then you miss this whole other realm of possibility!

Look around you.  There is a mission field right in front of your face!  There are countless possibilities and endless ways that you can help others!  Some may involve money but the vast majority involve hand holding and tear wiping and good old fashioned sweat!  It’s about people and relationships.  It involves sharing yourself with others.  It involves giving your time, not just your money.

In some weird and twisted way, we equate mission with some far off place.  Mission is what “the church” or “the organization” does.  We can give our money but we certainly can’t “do mission” because we are not equipped to do that sort of work.  Jesus, however, reminded us that mission is all around us!

Be ready, Jesus said, because you never know!  Be the servant always on the look out for the little opportunities.  Mission is all around you, if you will just open your eyes and look.  Tithe and support the big stuff, but continually be on the lookout for those justice, faith and mercy moments.  They are more abundant than you might think!  Hang with the sheep, not the goats!

The Extraordinary Ordinary Deborah!

The Book of Judges is such an interesting book!  In the very beginning we read how Israel does what is right as long as the generation that came into the land with Joshua was still alive.  But as it says in chapter 2, once that generation died, they started straying from the path!  So the cycle begins.  Israel strays, suffering comes about because of that, they call out to the Lord and a Judge is raised to deliver them.  Things go well as long as that Judge is alive, but once that Judge dies, it starts all over again!

We see this happening today as well.  Take the veterans of World War II for example.  There has been a great effort to record their stories so they can be told long after those vets are gone.  Why?  Because if we are willing to learn from them, perhaps we can avoid the same painful lessons that they had to encounter first hand!  But it is oh so easy to forget, especially if you are a few generations removed from the event!  This point is vividly recorded again and again in the book of Judges.

The other thing that is so striking about Judges, is God’s choice of Judges.  The least likely, the weakest, the most unexpected individuals are raised up to be the leaders!  Which brings me to Deborah!  She is, by far, one of my most favorite leaders in the book of Judges!  She gets two chapters for crying out loud, yet she is so commonly overlooked!  She is the woman behind the scenes making sure that God gets what God wants!

We meet Deborah in chapter 4.  We are told first that she is a Prophetess.  Then, we are told that she is the wife of Lappidoth and that she sits “under the palm of Deborah” where the Israelites come to her for judgment.  This was a woman, who had nothing to prove, because she had already stood the test of time!  Her counsel was considered wise enough, that she was trusted to be able to make decisions that were fair.  She was a highly respected woman in a culture that was dominated by the male status quo.  That, in and of itself, is a stunning accomplishment!  But there’s more.

She summons Barak to give him a message.  Staring at verse 6, in chapter 4 (Wesley Study Bible, NRSV):

“She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun.  I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’  Barak said to her, ‘If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.’ And she said, ‘I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.’  Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.”

Barak gets a divine message from God, delivered by the most trusted and respected Prophetess of Israel and his response is “I’ll go if you go”????  Wow!  Talk about lack of faith!  So what is Deborah’s response?  She tells him that she will go but he needs to realize that he’s not going to get credit for this deliverance, it will be a woman who gets credit!  Barak may not have enough confidence in the message from God, but Deborah did have confidence!

We read further on that the battle goes exactly as Deborah said, and Sisera flees on foot and ends up at the tent of Heber, the Kenite, where he meets Heber’s wife, Jael.  Here is a connection that often is overlooked.  Heber is descended from Hobab, the father in law of Moses.  Although they might have moved  a distance away, they were still connected to Israel.  Long story short, Jael has Sisera come in to the tent, she feeds him, gives him something to drink and a blanket to cover him so he can rest.  He falls asleep and she drives a tent peg through his temple and kills him.  Barbaric?  Yes.  But it wasn’t Barak that brought down enemy number one of Israel.  As Deborah said “the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.”  That woman, just happened to be Jael, whose family had ties to Israel!

Chapter 5 is “The Song of Deborah” where the story of the battle is recounted.  The song is very clear-deliverance came because of the Lord!  The Lord is the mighty warrior, who turned the tide and made victory possible!  Deborah knew this and understood this right from the very beginning.  She trusted in the Lord’s message and did what she had to do to ensure that it was carried out.  And that is what is so extraordinary and special about Deborah.  She trusted God enough to step beyond the established roles of society to become the leader that Israel needed, when they needed it!

This is just my opinion, but, I think Deborah probably didn’t see herself as anything but ordinary.  She didn’t go looking for fame or glory, she simply did what she had to do.  We hear a similar refrain from our heroes today.  Our soldiers who are recognized for courageous acts respond that they were “just doing my job.”  Or, an individual who rushes in to save someone from a burning building, or pull someone from a wreck, how do they respond?  “I don’t see myself as a hero, I just did what had to be done.”

For me, that is the great lesson of Deborah.  Ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things if they are willing to trust in the guiding hand of God!  These are individuals who are not looking for fame and glory.  They are individuals who just want to do the right thing!  It doesn’t matter who gets credit, what matters, is that, something good was accomplished from the effort.

John Wesley preached in the open fields in order to reach individuals that the church would not allow in the doors.  Florence Nightingale is responsible for the beginnings of the nursing profession as we now know it.  Clara Barton brought the ideas of the Red Cross to the United States.  Martin Luther King inspired us with his “I have a dream” speech, but it was Rosa Parks who simply wanted to be able to sit where she wanted to!  Mother Teresa, Princess Diana, the list can go on, but each of these individuals did not set out to gain fame and glory, they just wanted to do the right thing!

So you, darling, precious, ordinary, person, can accomplish great things!  You do it every day without realizing the fact!  You do this by simply choosing to listen to that still, small, voice and doing the things that need to be done.  Those small “right acts” that you do, unnoticed, everyday, can add up to extraordinary things in the long run.  We may not know God’s plan or even understand His plan, but as long as we trust Him, great things can happen!  If you ever need to be reminded of that fact, just go back to Judges and read about Deborah.  Deborah, an ordinary woman, who by the grace of God, was able to accomplish an extraordinary thing!  I sum up her philosophy by paraphrasing the end of verse 21, found in chapter 5.  March on sweet souls, be strong!  Trust the Lord and march on with might!  Sing your songs like Deborah, the extraordinary, ordinary, leader of Israel!  March on!

Joyous Days

Oh my darling readers, where to begin?!  These are the days that the Lord has made.  I will rejoice, and be glad!  Here it is, the last day of January, and I am busily doing laundry to hang out on the clothes line.  The smell of laundry fresh in from the line is utter bliss, in my opinion!  The weather over the last few days has been gorgeous here in Missouri!  Yesterday, we tied a record high that has been in place since the late 1800's!  I bravely decided to start some seeds for an early spring garden, my optimism running high.  Yesterday afternoon, after finishing up schoolwork, the children and I went outside for a raucous game of red light, green light and their favorite-Captain Midnight!  We took turns launching their Nerf Rocket into the blue sky (Kenny was home in time to join in on that fun) and Elizabeth and I took a walk in the woods on our property!  The birds have been happily cavorting around the bird feeders on the front porch.  The dogs have been joyously frolicking around the yard as though they had discovered childhood all over again!  These are the days when the soul and body sing joyously with creation, enveloped by the beauty that it has to offer. It has been a fabulous stretch of days!

The mail brought a pleasant surprise as well!  On Friday night, I had ordered a used copy of Leslie Weatherhead's book "A Private House of Prayer" and it came in the mail yesterday afternoon!  The book is even more amazing than the excerpt that I posted the other day from the book!  I'll be writing more about the book later on, but for now, allow me to highly recommend that you get your hands on a copy of the book, if at all possible!  It is a GEM!  I can not believe that Abingdon let the book go out of print years ago!

Sunday brought some wonderful surprises as well.  My friend Diana (who also happens to be our church secretary) mentioned that there were some old books in the basement that were up for grabs, so I went down to take a look, after Sunday School.  It was like finding the pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow!  I walked out of there with as many books as I could possibly carry.  I didn't even get through half of the collection that was down there!  One of the books is "The Other Side of Silence-A Guide to Christian Meditation" by Morton T. Kelsey and it has been a wonderful read so far.  I've already made it to chapter 4 and just in those few chapters, I have found some gems of insight worth writing about.  I also found a collection of Great Devotional Classics that Upper Room Ministries put together back in the 60's and although I haven't had a chance to read through them all, I have already found a gem to write about there, as well!  Add to that my daily Bible reading, which has produced some new insights and "ah-ha" moments, and I have about a months worth of blog posts floating around in my head!

Prayers, meditation, mystics, insights and joyous ordinary moments-it has been a splendid few days!  It's like somebody turned the tap from a trickle to a full blown gush!  I am breathless trying to keep up, and enjoying every minute!

Stay tuned, darling readers.  May you have a joyous day!

The Blah Night of the Soul

So, I have been reading David G. Brenner's book "Opening to God, Lectio Divina and Life as Prayer" ever since I got back from Leadership Institute.  In my opinion, my prayer life is one of my weak spots.  This book, for me, has been a slug fest!  I am literally trying to slug my way through, which is highly unusual for me, because I am a fast reader and I should have had this book finished in a matter of days!

The book is not the problem, it's a great book!  I am the problem.  In the first chapter, Mr. Brenner talks about Thomas Green's stages of love.  Writing about the third stage he says this:

"If you don't know about desolation in prayer, you haven't been praying for very long.  I have certainly known long periods when it felt like my prayers were simply echoing in my head but not reaching God.  But, as we shall see, even desolation has its divine purpose.  For, here, in these periods of dryness in prayer, we can learn to drink deeply from the living water in ways that are not dependent on our senses.  It is in these dark nights that our soul can learn to see by faith, not by sight."  

I can relate to this point because I have had those times in my life when I felt like my prayers were going nowhere!  What I am experiencing right now is a little different.  I wouldn't  call it a dark night of the soul but rather the blah night of the soul.  I've hit a dry spell!  Not just with prayer but with my Bible readings, with church life, with everything.  I'm in the blah zone! I'm not heart broken, I'm not despairing, I'm not depressed.  I'm also not overly excited or inspired.  I'm neutral.  Life is just humming along and I'm going along with the flow.  There are things that make me happy and make me laugh.  There are things that make me angry and sad.  But nothing seems to surprise or shock me or really grab my attention.  It's just...there.

I know it'll pass but right now it is driving me nuts!  I have been doing my daily Bible reading and I'm still making notes but it's like I am picking up on the same things that I have been seeing for the last six months.  I've been tracking my prayers for the last 31 weeks (due to Disciple Bible Study) and they have pretty much been the same things over and over for that period of time.  I finally got to the point a couple of weeks ago where I just simply put an arrow pointing up in the prayer concerns slot because it was the same as last week and the week before and the week before that!  On the one hand, I guess I should appreciate the consistency.  On the other hand, I'm thinking to myself "what is wrong with me, that I'm not seeing any change or break through???"

Blah, blah, blah, blah.  Oh so pathetically blah!

I'm spending a lot more time watching the birds in the front yard and the way the shadows play across the tree tops.  Logically, I know this is similar to hitting the plateau in sports or exercise.  Eventually you break out of the plateau and start making progress again, but it can be very frustrating waiting for that break to happen!  It is most definitely, the blah night of the soul for me.  I have a hard time with waiting and being patient!

For those of you who may be feeling the same way, take heart!  It's normal.  It's not a lot of fun.  Eventually though, you will break through.  It's the waiting that is the hardest part!  May you move beyond the blah night of your soul and may you encourage others who are experiencing the same thing!  Not only do I pray that for you, but I am praying that for me as well!

Seeds of Kindness

I like birds!  I like watching the birds in my yard and to bring them in closer I put out bird feeders.  Without fail, every spring, some stray bird seed ends up on the ground, missed by the birds, but happy to sprout!  These tiny seeds do this all on their own without any help from me and they pop up in the strangest places!  All I did was place the seed out!

This weekend was the kick off to a church wide project that we are calling the mustard seed project.  Jesus in his sermons talked a lot about sowing seed and the theme behind this project is "each one, reach one".  Each person who attended services received a card with mustard seeds glued on with the theme title and this scripture verse from Matthew 17:20:

"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you."

The idea is simple-take every opportunity you can to plant small seeds of kindness at home and out in the community.  Can you hold the door open for someone who has their arms full of toddlers and groceries?  Could you buy a cup of coffee for a stranger at a convenience store?  Can you wave to your neighbors as you drive by their house?  Can you say please and thank you to your waiter or waitress?  How many acts of kindness can you do as you go about your day to day activities?  How creative can you get with planting seeds of kindness? 

Now I know what you're thinking-this is just common courtesy and common sense!  You're right!  It is common courtesy and it is common sense but what happens when our lives get busy?  We tend to forget, don't we?  And sometimes we tend to slip.  It's no big deal if you cut off that driver, because it's not like you'll see them again, right?  But do you know for sure?  Are you certain that you won't see that individual again and that they will not remember you if you do happen to meet again?    Why do you think Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves?  Because what you sow, you eventually reap!

Loving our families seems like a simple task but sometimes we take them for granted.  What simple special things can you do for those you love the most?  It could be as simple as a phone call, an encouraging word, or those special cookies that they love!  Kindness starts at home.

Think of this as purposefully planting seeds.  You don't know which ones will sprout but it's worth the effort to try!  You can be as creative as you want, but remember the point is to plant these seeds of kindness as you go about your everyday routine.  After awhile, it'll become second nature, but for right now, the idea is to purposefully choose to plant some seeds!  You may be shocked and surprised which of those seeds sprouts and takes off!  If you connect with just one person isn't that worth the effort?

So my darling readers, let me extend an invitation.  No matter where you are in the country or around the world, feel free to join in on this project!  And if you would like to share what you have done, leave a comment here or, you can find the First Untied Methodist Church, Washington MO Face Book page and leave a comment there as well. 

Happy planting!

Celebrate! Time for Family and Friends

Today is another celebration day at our house!  My youngest son, Randy, turns 11 today.  My how time flies!  Not only does he pick his cake but he gets his choice of dinner as well!  It is a family tradition!  And of course, there are presents but the big event is the celebration, not the gifts!

When I stop and reflect, I am always amazed at the changes I see in my children.  Subtle changes perhaps, but there always seems to be glimpses of who they will become and who they might turn out to be.  With Randy in particular because of Asperger's even the subtle changes are huge victories!  A "normal" kid with "quirks" learning how to successfully cope with a world that doesn't think like he does and doesn't deal well with someone who isn't like everyone else-let me tell ya, those are hard won victories!  Any challenge that my children overcome is worthy of celebration because it is the small victories that keep us going and keep us sane!

I've been reminded of this as I have spent time reminiscing with former and current residents of my hometown of Waterbury.  It's not about things that we bought.  It's about places we went and times spent together.  And it is about celebrating the people who made these events possible.  Everyone is sharing their stories, their memories and even some photos for a wonderful trip down memory lane!  It's about swimming at the old swimming hole or roller skating in the school gym.  It's about the police chief who would take a young teen home instead of hauling them off to jail.  It's about the fact that if you did something, good or bad,  your parents knew about it before you got home because everyone knew their neighbors and they kept an eye out for each other.  This was and still is a community that cared about each other and cared for each other.  The stories that are told about places we used to go and events we used to attend reflect this subtle understanding of just how special this community has been in our lives.  They are connections worth celebrating!

Proverbs has a couple of wonderful gems on the importance of family and friends.  Chapter 17 in The message paraphrase says this:

"Friends love through all kinds of weather, and families stick together in all kinds of trouble"

Here's another one from Chapter 18:

"Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family."

 Our society tells us that we should obsess over what we do not have.  We should, by default, always strive for more instead of celebrating what we already have in front of us.  I would like to suggest that instead of striving for "things" how about striving for something that in the long run really matters?  How about striving to connect more with family and friends?  We all long for that sense of community and that sense of belonging!  Why not celebrate those connections with those we love the most-our family and friends!  And who says that it has to be a carefully planned elaborate affair?  Some of the best get-togethers happen when someone just stops by to say hello!  These are your friends and your family-they know what you look like without makeup and they know what your house looks like with a sink full of dishes!  These are people who have shared your joys and your sorrows.  They have been a part of your fun times and they have been in on the scrapes and bumps along the way.  Through thick or thin they have been there!  What you have doesn't matter to them.  What matters to them is you!  Give yourself permission to just enjoy being with them!

Share a cup of coffee or cup of tea!  Share a donut and a good joke.  Get a group together to go to a picnic in the park or Chicken Pie Supper at the local church.  Fire up the grill or roast marshmallows around the fire pit.  Take time to celebrate the simple ordinary things with those that matter most-your family and friends!  These are the moments that memories are made from.  The moments that count are the moments that you share with those who truly care! 

Make time to celebrate!

Unpacking

Well, I'm back from Vermont.  Dad's memorial service was beautiful and seeing family and friends who I hadn't seen in years was just awesome! 

I had actually planned on blogging while I was up in Vermont.  Packed the laptop and the portable Internet box and away we went.  Of course, you need a cell phone tower nearby to make it work.  There is one near Harvey Lake, brand spanking new as a matter of fact, has electricity to it and everything.  They just haven't turned it on yet!  It wasn't a question of not having enough bars on the cell, there were no bars to be had in the first place!

So I have lots to talk about this week but I need to unpack first!  We got home last night around 8ish and discovered an oven for a house.  The air conditioning had quit working.  The furnace was blowing hot air, not a window was open.  One small fan was running and the dogs were inside the house.  They are all okay, the cat is okay, every window in the house is open and we have as many fans running as we could lay our hands on!  Kenny's project for today-fix the AC AGAIN!  Me, unpacking and laundry and cleaning up after the dog romps through the house (no nasty stuff they just tore into the paper trash and ripped it into iddy biddy pieces).  All of this I need to do knowing that by noon today the temp is supposed to be somewhere around 96 with a heat index by the end of the day around 105.  And to add joy to all of this-the heat warning has been extended to Wednesday afternoon! 

Yeah, quite the welcome home.  Sigh...yup mama said there'd be days like this.  Think I'll daydream about Harvey Lake.

Extraordinary Ordinary

I was reading Proverbs 12 and one of its bits of wisdom is:

"Better to be ordinary and work for a living than act important and starve in the process."

One of the blessings (if you can call it that) of the latest recession is that people have had to get back to basics.  Ordinary is suddenly cool!  I think we tend to sell ordinary short.  There's a lot of value in ordinary, we just have forgotten how to appreciate those simpler things!  I would even go so far as to say there are extraordinary things to be found in the ordinary!

Why is it that when you buy your child the latest coolest gizmo the excitement lasts for a moment and then they suddenly start playing with the box?  Why do young children spot every ant, caterpillar, butterfly and bug on a simple walk outside?  Because kids intuitively understand that there is great value in the ordinary!

Think back to your childhood and your fondest memories.  Did they involve a "thing" or did they involve family and friends?  Now granted, that bike you got for your birthday may have been cool, but was it the bike itself, or rather the feeling you got from riding it or the adventures that the bike took you on that you remember?

One of my fondest memories is of my grandmother.  It was a beautiful late spring/early summer day.  Sun was shining, a breeze was blowing and the two of us were taking a walk to the brook.  I don't remember all of the details but what I do remember most was the feel of her hand, the warm sun and light breeze and feeling like all was right with the world!  I'm sure my grandmother thought nothing of it because we had done this a hundred times before.  But in my mind, that moment-that day was magical!  It was an extraordinary ordinary moment!  I have lots of memories like that, brief moments, snatches of time that in the scheme of things were very ordinary but they hold a special spot in my heart!

I still have moments like that-moments that take my breath away!  So ordinary yet I know deep down that they are more than ordinary.  Watching my children discover their first walking stick bug.  A hummingbird hovering gracefully by a feeder.  The burst of color from the Irises finally blooming.  Hearing the bells of the Catholic church gently toll across the valley on a misty morning.  Watching a deer pick it's way carefully across the front yard.  The cooling brace of the water when you first jump in to the pond on a hot day.  Making an ordinary meal and sharing it with family and friends.  Ordinary moments, yet they are the ones that I cherish and most vividly remember!

I think it's time to look for the extraordinary in the ordinary!  To value and cherish the common and everyday moments of our lives.  To look at the world like we did when we were young and everything was new and fresh.  Let's look for the joy and wonder in what is right in front of us!  Let's look at the ordinary things in our lives and find the extraordinary spark of specialness!  We have the ability, we just need to reclaim the skill!

In the meantime, I'm going to grab a cup of coffee and go watch the dogs chase grasshoppers!  Carpe Diem-seize your ordinary day!