Cocoons

Today's image is a striking one to me. The fullness of the union with God and one another expressed by Ephesians as the result of the gospel is not yet present in the world.  But at their best, churches can be little cocoons of what is to come; of what is God's will for this world.  Places where glimpses of that loving unity is witnessed and experienced, however incomplete, imperfect, and tenuous they may be.

God with us.

"Many people have come to believe through their contemplation that Jesus desires their friendship and companionship even more than they desire his." 

This is part of the quote from William A. Barry in today's devotion. I am one of those people. I believe that one of the main functions of the cross is that it is God's "wooing" of us. Through showing the great extent of his love for us in this way, Jesus shows us that he would go to any length to be with us. To me, that is the core of the gospel. God has always wanted to be with us, but sin stood in the way. And so Jesus died to deliver us from sin, so that he might dwell with us for all eternity.

God is dying to be in relationship with you. What do you think of that?

Radical Community

In Ephesians 2 Paul envisions a church where groups of people who were formerly divided along social, political, economic, and religious lines now form one community, united in the love that God has for them and they have for one another. The section finishes with Paul saying that this community is the new temple, "a dwelling place for God."

The author of today's devotion says that "we cannot create such a community." What a great insight. When this type of community happens, it is not because of our own methods or ingenuity. It can only happen as an act of God's grace, the result of a collection of individuals in whom God's spirit is at work; continually breaking down dividing walls by the cross of Christ.

May we be such a community, by the grace of God.

Passing Peace

I really enjoy the time of passing the peace at Trinity. I know for some folks it's not their favorite time, as they're not crazy about shaking 20 people's hands in 60 seconds. But even if you are one of these folks (and honestly I probably would be if I were not the pastor), you have to appreciate the joy spreading around the room during this time of worship.

But even better than that, I am privileged to know that at certain times this part of the liturgy has in fact functioned for some people with its original intention: to be a time of reconciliation between two individuals who have had a disagreement.

Sharing peace indeed.

Walls

Ephesians say Jesus came to break down walls between us, and did so on the cross. The author of today's devotion says that this promise has not yet been fully realized, and that we still have to trust in walls today.  What do you think? Is it possible to live today without trusting in walls?  Or to do so less that you do now?

Lines

I would change one word in today's devotion. It's in the very last sentence before the prayer. The sentence reads,

"Christ stands outside the line, welcoming us all to holy space."
In the context of the rest of the devotion, I would change it to:
"Christ stands inside the line, welcoming us all to holy space."

This is incarnational theology. Christ doesn't stand outside of our human sphere calling us out of it, he comes into it - to redeem it. He comes into the our midst, into the realm of all of our divisions, breaking down those divisions to create a holy space right there where we are. This is the peace that Ephesians 2 talks about.

What lines has Christ broken down in your life or thinking?

Peace.

I'm a homebody. The most rejuvenating times for me is when I get to spend some time around the house. It almost doesn't matter what I'm doing - I can be working outside, cooking a meal, playing with my daughter, or watching basketball - just the fact that I'm home causes me to relax and let go. Home is my place of peace.

How does God give you peace?

A Bold Gospel

How might God be calling you to speak or live out the gospel with boldness?

Supplication and Thanksgiving

At Confirmation last week I asked the students, "what are the two most basic prayers?" It took a while and some hints, but eventually they got it: "please" and "thank you." We concluded together that our prayers should include as many "thank yous" as "pleases."

Supplication can be simplified to the "please" part of  our prayers. It's interesting to note that the word supplication comes from the same root word as "supply." God supplies us with all our daily needs - this is what we pray for when we pray for daily bread in the Lord's prayer. As Luther describes, "daily bread" includes "everything in the necessities and nourishment for our bodies, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, farm, fields, livestock, money, property an upright spouse, uprights children, upright members of the household, upright and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, decency, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like" (The Lord's Prayer in Luther's Small Catechism). That's quite a lot that God supplies! I'm sure you could add to the list.

Luther also writes that God gives these things "without our prayer, even to all evil people, but we ask in this prayer that God cause us to recognize what our daily bread and to receive it with thanksgiving." Take some time to today to recognize the daily bread God supplies, and give thanks.

Armor of God, Part II

Which piece of the armor of God from these verses in Ephesians is most meaningful to you, and why?

For me, I think it's the shield of faith, "to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one." Faith is knowing that with God on my side, nothing in this world (or any other world, for that matter) can do me any permanent damage. God holds me fast.

The Armor of God

In today's devotion Eugene Peterson says that the "armor of God" is a metaphor for who we are in Christ, not for what we do.  The "breastplate of righteousness" is then a gift we receive in our baptism, not an instruction to "live righteously." We simply live in to who we are, and who we are being shaped into.

What does this text mean to you?

The Powers

Today’s devotion touches briefly on a theological concept that perhaps we don’t talk about enough in the church. Walter Wink did a lot of work on the language and idea of “principalities and powers” in the New Testament. As the devotion refers to, Wink’s main thrust is that this language refers to the power of a system that takes on a life of its own, and can easily become a force that enslaves and oppresses. Political systems and parties, for instance, usually begin with a positive impulse toward freedom, or toward providing for those in need. But over time, the sum of many individual choices leads to corruption, and the system seems irredeemable. As the author mentions, school boards, corporations, and even families can become these types of oppressive structures, influenced and even held captive by the force of evil in a fall world.

Paul says that through his death and resurrection Jesus conquered these powers and principalities, which ultimately were the forces responsible for killing him.  Being raised from the dead, he showed they have no power over him. And that same victory Jesus won is extended to us.

When have you experienced the corruption of a system?  Were you eventually freed from it? If so, how? If no, can you imagine such freedom?

Power

For me, God's power always seems to be found in its apparent opposite. In weakness. When I'm at the end of my rope, when there's nothing I can do but depend on God's strength, it shows up. Or when I take a leap of faith to do something I feel unequipped for.

How or when do you experience God's power in your own life?

Teach your children well

Whenever I read this passage, this song pops into my head:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_hYdywoV_Q

I'm also reminded that this is something that needs to take place not only in the home, but in church. In our culture today most of our children don't grow up in a "village" to raise them. They remain fairly confined in a single-family home.  Church is one place they can experience this "village." 

• If you see a parent struggling to keep a child in line, don't just think back to when children behaved better in church; offer to help!
• If you are a parent whose children are grown, share your wisdom and experience!
• If you never had kids of your own, be a parent for an hour at church.
• Volunteer to teach Sunday School or work with our youth.

Children's and Youth ministry is the responsibility of all of us. Let's teach our children well, and let them teach us well too! 

How else can we do this?


We are not in this alone.

When have you experienced being made whole by community?

I find one of the blessings of community in saying the Apostle's Creed in worship. The Creed expresses not just my faith, but the faith of the church.  That means in the times when I have trouble believing certain lines in the creed, I can lean on the voices that literally surround me. When one of us has trouble trusting in, say, the resurrection of the body, or one of us has trouble with the virgin birth of Jesus, in that moment others can confess that belief for us. We are not in this alone.

Life in darkness

Sometimes our lives reflect the seasons of the earth. During winter, when the trees appear to be dead, beneath the surface there is actually unseen growth happening, in preparation for spring. The darkness is necessary for new life to come.  Sometimes in our lives we have periods of darkness, when it seems like new life will never come. And yet, even in that dormancy, God is at work, preparing us to embrace new life. When has your life reflected this process?

God's artwork

Today's devotion includes one of my favorite bible verses - Ephesians 2:10.  Other translations translate it this way: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand for us to do."  The word "workmanship" is a very interesting Greek word with layers of meanings: poiema.  (I once named my band after the verb form of this word, poiesis!) One of the uses in Greek for this word is for works of art. So we could translate this verse, "For we are God's artwork, created in Christ Jesus..." 

You are God's artwork - God's masterpiece! This reminds me of Psalm 139, where the Psalmist says we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." You are not a haphazard, thoughtless creation. You are God's masterpiece, uniquely and lovingly created to reflect God's image in the world.

Gift.

The quote from Martin Luther today reminds me of a time when I worked for a youth mission organization. It was our practice as leaders to always wait to the end of the line to get our food at mealtime. When the end of the year came and all the leaders from various sites were together in one place, at mealtime a group of us remained seated until everyone else had gone through the line, jokingly debating which of us was the "most humble."

True humility, of course, is not something you can strive for. It must be seen as a gift that one did nothing to earn. The same can be said of true faith. If a person has it, how did they get it? Can it be traced back to something they did? No. It can only be a received as a gift.

O God, give me the gift of faith, that I might trust that you give me all I need.

But God.

But God. These two little words that begin Ephesians 2:4 can be seen as the heart of the gospel. We were dead in our sin. But God. We live for our own selfish desires. But God.

What has "but God..." looked like in your life?

Curved in upon ourselves

When I read the quote from Martin Luther today, it strikes me how self-focused we are today. What is appalling to him in his time - that the sinful self would "seek God for its own sake" - seems to be the norm in our time. In our society, everything we do - including religion - seems to have as its goal self-satisfaction and fulfillment. I wonder, what would it look like if we didn't "do church" for our own satisfaction?

Sing!

I love today's picture. Unbridled energy and passion in children singing.

I remember as a teenager getting frustrated that my church felt like the "frozen chosen." Why can't we sing more energetic songs, and clap, and move?  And I admit that still today, I sometimes look around and wonder, "Do any of us actually believe what we're singing? We sure don't look like it!"

May God's grace and peace lead you to dance - whatever that looks like for you.

The Shining Light

Sometimes the only way for us to move in a more healthy direction is for our unhealthy habits or secrets to be exposed. And so when we are "found out," even though it's painful it is actually a blessing, because this will finally allow us to move forward.

May the light of Christ shine in your life and heart, even when you don't want it to.

Peace in, peace out

A song for you today:
When I breathe in hope
And breathe in grace
and breath in God
Then I'll breathe out peace
and breathe out justice
Breath out love       
- The City Harmonic, "Spark" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVzrCGM_ilI

May you "breathe well" as you begin this new week.

Imitators

We all have people in our lives who are examples for us of the self-giving love of Christ.

For me the last couple years, it has been my wife. She constantly puts aside her own desires to care for our daughter. She hasn't had a full, uninterrupted night of sleep for almost a year-and-a-half. Her constant self-sacrifice inspires me to give of myself as well.

Whose self-giving do you seek to imitate in your life?

Grace First

God always approaches us with grace first. Never demand. As Harry Wendt says, this is what we see in the Scriptures over and over again.

If you have a hard time approaching others with grace, perhaps its time to do some reflecting: Do I truly experience God coming to me with grace first?

Words of Grace

"...so that your words may give grace to those who hear."

There is power in words. That's why someone had to come up with the old childhood phrase that begins, "Sticks and stones may break my bones..." - to combat the power in words. Words tear down and words build up. What have the words you've spoken today done?

Unexpected Grace

Mary Demuth makes a great point in today's quote to ponder. The effectiveness of the gospel in people's lives often lies in how surprising it is. It is the opposite of what people expect. Grace instead of bitterness. Bearing with one another instead of complaining. Forgiveness instead of condemnation. Acceptance rather than exclusion.

I once heard a story of a woman who was a former Catholic visiting a Lutheran church. During the Confession and Forgiveness at the beginning of the service, the pastor said: "...I announce to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins..." and she burst out for everyone to hear, "THAT'S IT!?" As in, that's all it takes to be forgiven?

When have you experienced gospel - something opposite of what you might have expected?

This indeed, is the beauty of grace.

Truth

Today's verse gives us a trait of the "new self": speaking the truth. The old self speaks falsehood, but the new self speaks the truth in love (4:15). 

Which do you have a harder time doing - speaking the truth, or doing so in love?

New Self

Where or when do you have the hardest time putting away the "old self"?

Ligaments

In the imagery Paul uses for the church as the body of Christ in Ephesians 4, he says that the body must be "joined and knit together by every ligament with which it equipped." You are a ligament in the body of Christ. No matter how "small" or unimportant you might think you are, your gifts are vital to its proper functioning, and to its unity.

Are you a ligament that is working to keep the church knit together and built up in love?