Lent, a Few Temptations, and a Challenge

2012-10-05 15.51.53As we begin the season of Lent I have a challenge for us all based on the temptations Jesus faced. Satan tempted Jesus with the things we are all tempted by – appetite, control, and power. Of course, Jesus was able to resist these temptations and Satan left him alone “until an opportune time.” We live in a global wilderness. There is no place where uncontrolled appetites don’t ruin lives, the need for control does not oppress many, and a drive for power doesn’t destroy countless people. We are all susceptible to these temptations to one extent or another – as individuals and as faith communities.

So here is my challenge in response to these three temptations.  Don’t think about giving anything up. Instead, for the duration of Lent, commit yourself (individually and/or as a congregation) any or all of the following. Or come up with your own way of facing these temptations and strengthening your faith.

Uncontrolled appetite – Create Healthy Practices

Individual –

  1. Commit to a healthy change (join a gym, a Bible Study, a support group)
  2. Volunteer (in a shelter, at a hospital, in a library, helping an elderly neighbor)
  3. Spend some time every day “unplugged” (start with 10 minutes and see if you can get up to an hour of time without radio, TV, internet etc.)

Congregation –

  1. Do something new in worship each week (music, prayers, décor)
  2. Start or participate in a “hands-on” local mission (shelter, soup kitchen, other local need)
  3. Begin or continue a daily Bible Study or prayer time (gather together for this or members commit to it on their own)

Need for control – Accept and Celebrate Your Strengths

Individual –

  1. Try something new every day (a new food, a new walking route, a new game)
  2. Explore a new spiritual practice (journaling, painting, baking – anything that will center you and connect you with a sense of balance and well-being)
  3. Write a daily affirmation about yourself and your life

Congregation –

  1. Replace committee meetings with a time to worship together
  2. Celebrate your current identity and strengths as a congregation
  3. Worship in a different space (try visiting another congregation, make a change to your current worship space, worship outdoors)

Power – Opening Yourself to Possibility

 Individual –

  1. Start a daily gratitude journal where at least one thing each day has to be        something that you have not yet expressed gratitude for
  2. Forgive yourself or someone else; make amends if possible
  3. Learn a new skill or hobby

Congregation –

  1. Try beginning worship with individuals expressing their own gratitude (We do this in the hospital chapel services and it is a great lead in to lighting the Christ candle in gratitude, in invitation, in celebration)
  2. Let go of something that no longer meets a need
  3. Plan something new for the celebration of Easter

RCL – Year C – First Sunday in Lent – February 17, 2013

Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
Romans 10:8b-13
Luke 4:1-13

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory

This week I am taking a break from current events. This won’t be a sermon starter or anything else quite that practical. I’m going to share my personal reflections on this week’s lectionary.Cape Trip May 2010 064

I arrive at these readings with echoes of last week’s scriptures still running through my head. Somehow the convergence of the 1 Corinthians passage and the Luke reading created something new for me. As I was preparing to preach to my unusual congregation, I saw myself in those Corinthians or those Nazarenes. I have always wanted to be the one chosen, to be the best, to get noticed. But Jesus pointed out that God chose one widow out of many and one leper out of countless. It struck me very powerfully that there is nothing wrong with second place or third place or even last place. God does not need us all to be number one. God will not choose us all to be extraordinary in a standout kind of way. But, as Paul points out, we are to use and to celebrate our gifts and the gifts of those around us. Does someone else preach better? Rejoice and give thanks to God. Is someone else healed? Rejoice and give thanks to God. Does someone else receive recognition for a job well done? Rejoice and give thanks to God. Have I worked hard and done well without anyone noticing? Rejoice and give thanks to God. I don’t say this lightly. It was an eye-opening and spirit-freeing moment for me. I can be second place girl and God is well-pleased with me.

Now I read the transfiguration story.  And guess what? I feel the same yearning deep within me. I want that. I don’t want to be transfigured. I want to see it happen. I want to see the face of God and know for sure that it is God I have seen. But last week’s lesson was a powerful one. Others have had this experience. It’s okay. I will rejoice and give thanks to God. Because this story reveals a God who is close by, who invites me to open my eyes and see what I have not seen before.

So I take a deep breath and relax. It is highly unlikely that I will see Jesus in quite the same way that his first disciples did. I will not heal anyone in quite the way that Jesus did. It isn’t that I don’t have enough faith or that I have too many doubts, it’s just that Jesus isn’t in the world now in the way he was then. He’s still here, though. And I at this moment I’m pretty sure I’ve seen his face.

Just this week I have seen the glory of God in the psychiatric patients who seek God, seek hope, even in the midst of unfathomable pain. I’ve seen the wonder of God in all pictures my friends post of their beautiful, innocent children. I have seen God in the face of my beloved when I realized how close she had come to dying just yesterday, and how blessed I am to have her in my life. Words lose their ability to capture the intensity of the joy and gratitude I feel when I think of all the places where I have seen the glory of God.

It won’t take the yearning for more completely away. I will need further lessons in humility and self-acceptance. But today, right now, I can marvel at the display of God’s glory on that long ago mountain top. I will also take this story of transfiguration as a reminder to invite Christ into all my relationships that God’s face might be revealed in others. And maybe then I will be better able to rejoice in their successes and share in the burdens of their pain, all the while rejoicing and giving thanks to God for who I am, for those I am privileged to encounter, and for a God who is in this world waiting for me to open my eyes and see things just a bit differently.

RCL – Year C – Transfiguration Sunday – February 10, 2013

Exodus 34:29-35
Psalm 99
2 Corinthians 3:12–4:2
Luke 9:28-36 (37- 43)

God is Present: An Advent Prayer

montana_20080622_4_bgO Love Incarnate, wrap your everlasting arms around all those who mourn this day, and lift up the hearts of those who cannot see beyond the darkness. When we would lose ourselves in grief and anger, touch us with grace enough to turn to you. When anticipation of your birth is forgotten amidst tragedy, violence, and grief, draw us closer to you. We long for the surety of your love even as we tremble in fear.

Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine,
that we may be saved.

Light of the World, remove the shadows of our own sinfulness and selfishness. Your light shines even when our eyes are blinded by gun shots still echoing through our nation, and around the world. Human brokenness turns us from you and we go hungry and cold when you would hold us close. We search for answers and come up with angry impulses, forgetting that you speak loudest in the silence. When we would buy guns to protect ourselves from our neighbors, reveal yourself in the faces around us. We yearn to see you in our midst.

Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine,
that we may be saved.

Promise of Salvation, the star over Bethlehem has dimmed and we are in danger of losing our way to you. We want to protect ourselves and blame others for the ills of our society. We would rather not see you in those with mental illness or acknowledge our responsibility to care for those who cannot care for themselves. With every act of violence, we grow more distant from one another and more fearful of those who seem different. You would save us from ourselves. We have only to make it to Bethlehem and kneel before you, accepting once again that you are the Savior and we are not. Bend our knees. Calm our fears. Open our hearts. We need your saving love.

Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine,
that we may be saved.

Mighty One, your mercy is truly from generation to generation, including this one. Reveal to us, once again, your strength and your power. You are the one who can bring humility to the proud and powerful and lift up those who so often go unseen. We are all hungry in these days of war, violence, and death; you alone can fill us with goodness. It is your mercy we need on this Sunday of Love. It is your might that will bring us to our knees to honor your birth and to trust that you will guide us safely home. Lead us away from mourning into joy that we may honor you once again.

Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine,
that we may be saved.

RCL – Year C – Fourth Sunday of Advent – December 23, 2012

Micah 5:2-5a
Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 80:1-7
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45 [46-55]

An Advent Prayer for Peace

Persistently Entering-in God, come to us anew this Advent season. We long for a light that will show us the way of peace and justice in our world. In the busyness of our living, remind us that you came into this world in a very ordinary way – amidst the chaos, the crowds, the joys, the sorrows, the yearnings and desires.  And you come to us now, no matter where we are, inviting us to enter into a life of your abundance. Our desire is to come to you; touch us with your refining fire that we might be pleasing to you.

God of Promise, as much as we long to be a people of hope, peace, joy, and love, we often lose ourselves in despair, distress, complacency, and loneliness. The world is often an overwhelming place. Hear us as we lift up to you all the broken places in our lives and in the world around us. Shine your light of hope for the many peoples who are rebuilding their lives after storms and floods, especially for those in the Philippines after this week’s typhoon. Bring peace in Syria, Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan and any other countries, cities, towns, or homes where war, violence, or destruction have become a way of life. For all those who are devastated by loss, mental or physical illness, or addictions, we ask for healing, compassionate care, and a new possibility of joy. And for all those who are lost, forgotten, or unseen, open our eyes that they, too, may know your love. God of All Life, we pray for the day that all your children may shed their garments of sorrow and affliction and clothe themselves with your beauty and glory.

Merciful God, bring light to our darkness. Even as we have prayed for all those in need, we would exclude some from your loving kindness. Teach us to see with your eyes. We sometimes forget that you value all human beings and call us to do the same. Grant us the courage to confront our own prejudices and to stand against those who act in hatred. We long to recognize you in ourselves, in each other, and in all people we encounter. During this Advent season and throughout our lives, by your tender mercy, guide our feet in the way of peace.

God-with-us, we are in the wilderness and we hear the cry to prepare the way for you. You come to us in the ordinary, and extraordinary things happen – a baby in a manger brings salvation to the world. We are your people. We know that you are the God who is come, has come, and will come again. In gratitude we try to smooth away our roughness and wait for the day when all shall see the salvation of God.  Amen.

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RCL – Year C  – Second Sunday of Advent December 9, 2012

Malachi 3:1-4 or Baruch 5:1-9
Luke 1:68-79
Philippians 1:3-11
Luke 3:1-6