Merciful, by Steve Parsons

Our Father, who is in heaven, holy is your name.

With one simple phrase, Jesus teaches us how to enter the embrace of One who is as close as a loving daddy and to honor the same One who is unimaginably more than we can name.  Our need for intimacy co-exists with a sense of awe at the core of our being. 

The One who feeds us, who tickles our toes and our nose with feathers and flowers, who provides guidance when we wander into dangerous territory....this same One creates all that is and yet makes a way for us, a tiny  part of that vastness, to come into relationship with Holiness. 

Scripture tells of only one irreconcilable sin, the sin against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29).After all, how can I be forgiven if I won't turn and face the source of forgiveness. How can holiness soak into my life if I harden my shell against the Holy Spirit?

Try this prayer exercise: 

Breathe an out the way you normally do for a minute, just notice how you breathe.

Now, breathe in deeply and slowly. 

And let your breathe out.

 Do  you notice how more effort is used contracting your muscles to breathe in than while letting the breathe flow out? 

Try taking a deep breathe and holding it.

Now when are you doing the most work?  Notice your need to release the breathe you've taken.  Its hard work not to!  Our bodies health depends on being able to breath in well, just as we need the Holy Spirit to flow freely into our lies, and on being able to exhale well, just as we need to let the Holy Spirit flow through us and into the world.

Try taking a shallow breathe in and then breathe deeply out.   We can only breathe out as well as we breathe in.

Try breathing with tense muscles instead of relaxed.  Which is harder work?  Which is more effective?

Richard Foster once wrote, “ Real prayer comes not from gritting our teeth but from falling in love,”  (Prayer:  Finding the Heart’s True Home.” )    

This week, ask Christ to teach you how to pray as naturally as breathing to the One who loves you and who opens a world of possibility to you.  You'll know that others all around the world and throughout time (that was, that is, that will be) as you pray, "Our Father, who is in heaven, Holy is your name....."

(Photo from John and Elizabeth Reinsborough, Dulac, LA, 2009 UMVIM trip)

Coming after winter, spring reminds us that life is not a done deal, there is more in us.  Following close on spring, summer brings us fruits born of  God's gifts.

 Spring brings dreams of what church can be.  Some of our own “lego  church" musings dreamed people, leadership fired up like the apostle Paul, worshippers (believers & non-believers), children learning, a meeting place (of serenity, of worship), bibles, faith,  joy, Holy Spirit, mission, thoughtful (with a creed or covenant of beliefs), power of communication, praise & music.  What would you add in the church God helps you imagine?

This Sunday we read Mark 5: 21ff.  Its two stories intertwined in one Jesus story.  Take a minute to read it.

Go ahead. (Visit biblegateway.com or unboundbible.com for the translation of your choice.)

 Don't you wonder what happened next?  Who did this little girl grow up to be?  What did this now whole woman go on to do?  What fruit developed from these powerful encounters with the living God?  Its hard to imagine that their personal experiences with Jesus wouldn’t change how they lived, the quality of their lives, how they chose to spend the time God had given them, not on loan, but as outright gift of love.  It’s easy to imagine that they would have born abundant, nourishing fruit for the kingdom of God as their faith matured, fruit that inspired others, in Corinth, Galatia, Rome, Ephesus, France, Ethiopia.

As Paul writes to the Corinthians, he is calling that fruitfulness out of an entire community, a community that had: 1) received the gift of the Gospel, 2) witnessed the Spirit’s work in Jesus’ followers who sought them out to tell them that good news, and 3) become part of the first generation Christian family.  

Now Paul asks, “who have you become?”    He reminds them of one of their core characteristics:  excellence, and urges them to excel in this goal he sets before them.

* 2 Corinthians 8: 7-15

 ........Everything you people put your hand to turns to gold. You seem to be the best at everything. You have outstanding faith. You’re articulate. You have great knowledge and insight. Your energy and enthusiasm seem boundless. Even in love you seem to outshine everyone else. So then, we are hoping that you will also come out tops in generosity, as you contribute to the relief fund for the church in Judea.

........I’m not trying to force you into anything. I’m simply telling you about the generosity of others so that you’ll know where the benchmark is. I will be watching to see how your love measures up. Of course, if you really want a standard to aspire to, think about the extravagant offering of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was rich in everything, but he gave it all up for you. He accepted poverty in order to make you rich.

........So if you want my advice on this matter, here it is: it is time to put your money where your mouth is. You talked big last year about how willing you were to help when you first heard about the need. Now it’s time to show that you’re not all hot air. It is time to dig deep and show everyone that you are as generous with your actions as you are with your promises. I’m not concerned about how much actually ends up in the hat when you pass it around. It’s more a question of how what you give compares with what you have. No matter how eager you are, no one expects you to give what you don’t have.

........Please don’t think that I am trying to make life a bed of roses for others by putting the squeeze on you. You have got plenty at the moment, and they’re doing it tough. Next time it might be the other way around. It’s like swings and roundabouts — it all balances out after a while. As the scriptures say,

“Those with the most let nothing go to waste,........and those with the least will not go without.” Paul of Tarsus

 Summer gets hot, that’s when produce ripens.  Christian life gets hot, that’s when spiritual fruit ripens.  Paul is lighting a fire under the Corinthians just as Jesus did under Peter when he said, "Feed my sheep." Jesus’ parting words to Peter, assume that the seeds of faith are tended and bear fruit to feed the hungry, body and soul.  Paul's challenge to the Corinthian church counts on the authenticity of their faith bearing fruit to share. 

When it gets hot we start to see whose faith endures and matures.

One of our favorite hymns, “Here I Am Lord,” springs to life from the compost of the prophet Isaiah’s life experience. Isaiah lived in hot times, listening for a word from the Lord while the kingdom of Babylon, rudderless with its tyrant king dead, reeled in political chaos.

Isaiah’s faith bore fruit, crossing the comfort zone.  “Hear I am Lord, send me” he answers God’s call. (Isaiah 6).

Peter Hawkins writes that Jesus is  “the troublemaker, upsetter of applecarts, the wild card in our ordered deck” (Christian Century 6-2-09). The little girl, the hemorrhaging woman, the Corinthian community, Isaiah, Peter, Paul all had their reality upended by Jesus’ intervention.  What did they do next?

Jesus modeled servanthood and had the audacity to call others to do the same, even though this resulted in harrassment, persecution, and death.  And he dares to call us to servanthood.  …. Christ’s yoke of friendship is not for privilege but for service.   Bill O’Brien, Christian Century 5-05-09 

That sounds hard.

It feels safer to stay here in the early days of spring, pressed up against the fence of doubt, clinging to the edges of from that seed.

When the Church of the Savior in Washington DC started up, its founding members  reached a plateau, a period when doubt crippled them.  Not doubt about God’s presence or love, but doubt about how God wanted them to grow and serve. What fruit were they to bear? 

“We decided that doubt is a dimension that oftentimes is there, and that there is a time to move on in spite of it.  (Elizabeth O'Connor,  Servant Leaders, Servant Structures, p. 25. )

But how do I know God is calling me?

Why don’t we stop right now and ask?

Take a deep breath and remember that God is right here with you. 

Take another deep breath, a breath that receives the Holy Spirit’s gift of life and love.  

Now, say these words,

            “God, you have blessed me.”

            “I know its because you love me.”

            “Now I want to grow as your child”

            “and bear fruit as your servant”

            “guide me to the work “

            “that will nourish my soul”

            “and bear fruit for your kin-dom.”

When we respond, “Here I am Lord,” in the fruit-bearing season, when it is hot,  things start to happen, not just  the “crazy talk,”  of spring, but the crazy, counter-world intuitive stuff that brings the kin-dom into exuberant bloom.

You are a community of personal excellence.  Here is the challenge I set before you today, bear spiritual fruit as an excellent community.If I am supposed to hoe a garden or make a table, then I will be obeying God if I am true to the task I am performing. To do the work carefully and well, with love and respect for the nature of my task and with due attention to its purpose, is to unite myself to God's will in my work. In this way I become His instrument. He works through me. -Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Coming after winter, spring reminds us that life is not a done deal, there is more in us.  Following close on spring, summer brings fruits born of  spring’s possibility, provided by God.

Spring brings dreams of what church can be.  Some of our own “duplo”  church musings dream a church with people, fired up leaders, worshippers (believers & non-believers), children learning, ameeting place (of serenity, of  worship), bibles, faith, joy, the Holy Spirit, mission, thoughtfulness ( a creed/covenant of beliefs), powerful communication,praise & music,

 Mark 5: 21ff   This week we read the intertwined stories of a girl and a woman healed by Jesus. (Mark 5: 21-31, you can read it in the translation of your choice at unboundbible.com or biblegateway.com). Don't you wonder what happened next?  Who did this little girl grow up to be?  What did this now whole woman go on to do?  What fruit developed from these powerful encounters with the living God?  Its hard to imagine that their personal resurrections wouldn’t change how they lived, the quality of their lives, how they chose to spend the time God had given them, not on loan, but as outright gift of love.  It’s easy to imagine that they would have born abundant, nourishing fruit for the kingdom of God as their faith matured, fruit that inspired others, in Corinth, Galatia, Rome, Ephesus, France, Ethiopia.

As Paul writes to the Corinthians, he is calling that fruitfulness out of an entire community, a community that had received the gift of the Gospel, witnessed the Spirit’s work in Jesus’ followers who sought them out to tell them that good news, and become part of the first generation Christian family.  Paul asks, “who have you become?”    He reminds them of one of their core characteristics:  excellence, and urges them to excel in this goal he sets before them.

* 2 Corinthians 8: 7-15

........Everything you people put your hand to turns to gold. You seem to be the best at everything. You have outstanding faith. You’re articulate. You have great knowledge and insight. Your energy and enthusiasm seem boundless. Even in love you seem to outshine everyone else. So then, we are hoping that you will also come out tops in generosity, as you contribute to the relief fund for the church in Judea.

........I’m not trying to force you into anything. I’m simply telling you about the generosity of others so that you’ll know where the benchmark is. I will be watching to see how your love measures up. Of course, if you really want a standard to aspire to, think about the extravagant offering of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was rich in everything, but he gave it all up for you. He accepted poverty in order to make you rich.

........So if you want my advice on this matter, here it is: it is time to put your money where your mouth is. You talked big last year about how willing you were to help when you first heard about the need. Now it’s time to show that you’re not all hot air. It is time to dig deep and show everyone that you are as generous with your actions as you are with your promises. I’m not concerned about how much actually ends up in the hat when you pass it around. It’s more a question of how what you give compares with what you have. No matter how eager you are, no one expects you to give what you don’t have.

........Please don’t think that I am trying to make life a bed of roses for others by putting the squeeze on you. You have got plenty at the moment, and they’re doing it tough. Next time it might be the other way around. It’s like swings and roundabouts — it all balances out after a while. As the scriptures say,“Those with the most let nothing go to waste,........and those with the least will not go without.” Paul of Tarsus 

Summer gets hot, that’s when produce ripens.  Christian life gets hot, that’s when spiritual fruit ripens.  Feed my sheep, Jesus’ parting words to Peter, assumes that the seeds of faith are tended and bear fruit to feed the hungry, body and soul.

 When it gets hot we start to see whose faith endures and matures. 

One of our favorite hymns, “Here I Am Lord,” springs to life from the compost of the prophet Isaiah’s life experience. Isaiah lived in hot times, listening for a word from the Lord while the kingdom of Babylon, rudderless with its tyrant king dead, reeled in political chaos.

 Isaiah’s faith bore fruit, crossing the comfort zone.  “Hear I am Lord, send me” he answers God’s call. (Isaiah 6).

 Peter Hawkins’ (CC 6-2-09) writes that Jesus is  “the troublemaker, upsetter of applecarts, the wild card in our ordered deck.”  The little girl, the hemorrhaging woman, the Corinthian community all had their reality upended by Jesus’ intervention.  What did they do next?

Jesus modeled servanthood and had the audacity to call others to do the same, even though this resulted in harrassment, persecution, and death.  And he dares to call us to servanthood.  …. we need to shed the world’s view of servants and slaves and remember that for some, bearing the title of slave was a high honor.  Moses, Joshua, David, Paul, and James counted a privilege to be known as a slave of the Lord……Christ’s yoke of friendship is not for privilege but for service.   Bill O’Brien, CC 5-05-09

That sounds hard.

It feels safer to stay here in the early days of spring, pressed up against the fence of doubt, clinging to the edges of the seed pod, resisting the son’s upward pull, not knowing what produce God intended to grow when that seed was planted.

When the Church of the Savior in Washington DC started up, its founding members  reached a plateau, a period when doubt crippled them.  Not doubt about God’s presence or love, but doubt about how God wanted them to grow and serve. What fruit were they to bear? 

“We decided that doubt is a dimension that oftentimes is there, and that there is a time to move on in spite of it.  (Elizabeth O'Connor,  Servant Leaders, Servant Structures, p. 25. )

But how do I know God is calling me?

Why don’t we stop right now and ask?

Please take a deep breath and remember that God is right here with you.  

Take another deep breath, a breath that receives the Holy Spirit’s gift of life and love.  

Now, say these words,

            “God, you have blessed me.”

            “I know its because you love me.”

            “Now I want to grow as your child”

            “and bear fruit as your servant”

            “guide me to the work “

            “that will nourish my soul”

            “and bear fruit for your kin-dom.”

When we respond, “Here I am Lord,” in the fruit-bearing season, when it is hot,  things start to happen, not just  the “crazy talk,”  of spring, but the crazy, counter-world intuitive stuff that brings the kin-dom into exuberant bloom,

 You are a community of personal excellence.  Here is the challenge I set before you today, bear spiritual fruit as an excellent community.

If I am supposed to hoe a garden or make a table, then I will be obeying God if I am true to the task I am performing. To do the work carefully and well, with love and respect for the nature of my task and with due attention to its purpose, is to unite myself to God's will in my work. In this way I become His instrument. He works through me.                    -Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prayers: