March 1
While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them;
and they were terrified as they entered the cloud…
Luke 9:34
Blessings to you this Saturday. Here is a reflection by Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes on our Gospel story for Sunday. Each year we conclude the season of Epiphany with the story of the Transfiguration.
I hope you can join us for worship tomorrow.
Pax, Pastor Phil
While Jesus was praying,
the appearance of his face changed,
and his clothes became dazzling white.
—Luke 9.29
He is an ordinary person,
also dazzling with light.
We are given clarity,
and also an obscuring cloud.
Jesus, no different from you,
is the Son of God.
Sometimes we see the light
that was always there.
Your neighbor, shabby looking
on Saturday morning, gleams with heaven’s radiance.
You are no one special
and everything you do matters.
It’s just bread
and also the body of God.
Creation and the end of time,
Moses and the life to come, are all present.
It’s as if we need to wear sunglasses all the time,
everything shining with God like that.
_________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
Transfiguration Sunday
March 2
I hoe you can join us for worship today at 9:00 a.m.
The service is posted online
The Prayer of the Day:
Holy God, mighty and immortal,
you are beyond our knowing,
yet we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
Transform us into the likeness of your Son,
who renewed our humanity
so that we may share in his divinity,
Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and forever. Amen.
March 3
While he [Peter] was saying this,
a cloud came and overshadowed them;
and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.
Luke 9:34
I know I shared a devotion from Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes a few days ago, yet this is also quite good. Blessings, Pastor Phil
Cloud
While Peter was speaking
a cloud came and overshadowed them.
—Luke 9.34
Ah, how we long for clanging revelations,
bright lights, yes, the special effects.
But even the light fades, the voice goes silent.
And instead God gives us a cloud.
Mystery. Unknowing.
We didn’t always see that light
glaring in Jesus, did we?—
but it was always there.
Sometimes our only revelation
is that an unseen presence
walks with us in the dark,
breathing, loving,
and that is enough.
We glimpse the good news
just enough to pass it on:
the darkness is friendly.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
March 4
So teach us to count our days
that we may gain a wise heart.
Psalm 90:12
I subscribe to the Daily Devotional of the UCC, and yesterday’s was so interesting to me that I printed it out to share with Laura. She told me I should share it with you. I had considered doing so, and now, by her prompting, I invite you to visit with this reflection by Pastor Yael Lachman...
Memento Mori - by Yael Lachman
So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. - Psalm 90:12
For many years, the route of my morning run took me along a river and through the grounds of an old cemetery. As I followed the cemetery’s winding paths, my racing mind would begin to settle. By the time I got home, I knew which items on my to-do list mattered most and which were actually not important at all. Maybe it was the fresh morning air, or the negative ions rising off the river. But I’m pretty sure that the clarity I found each morning had a lot to do with the cemetery itself.
Running past the graves of those who had once lived and worked and loved in that place, I couldn’t help noticing the dates on their headstones and doing the math in my head: this one lived nearly 90 years; this one only 38. Each morning, those gravestones served as a tangible reminder that our days are always numbered. Every day, that cemetery offered me a gentle invitation to count my own days, and to make wiser choices about how I spend them.
It’s not unlike the invitation we receive on Ash Wednesday, as we feel the touch of ashes on our forehead and hear the words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” This week, as we prepare to follow Jesus into the wilderness of Lent, we too are invited to reflect—as he does—on what is most important in this life. This Lenten season, we are called to decide what in this beautiful, broken world is truly worthy of our numbered days, our finite attention, our life’s energy … and what is not. May we choose well.
Prayer
Christ of the wilderness, remind us that we come from Earth, and to Earth we shall return … and that you go with us, always.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rev. Yael Lachman is a UCC minister and artist who leads contemplative retreats, art adventures, and worship for all ages, most often in wild places.
March 5
“Beware of practicing your piety before others
in order to be seen by them;
for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.…”
Matthew 6:1
In the Ash Wednesday service, the Imposition of Ashes begins with the “Invitation to Lent”
I invite you to reflect on these rich words
INVITATION TO LENT
Friends in Christ, today with the whole church we enter the time of remembering Jesus’ passover from death to life, and our life in Christ is renewed.
We begin this holy season by acknowledging our need for repentance and for God’s mercy. We are created to experience joy in communion with God, to love one another, and to live in harmony with creation. But our sinful rebellion separates us from God, our neighbors, and creation, so that we do not enjoy the life our creator intended.
As disciples of Jesus, we are called to a discipline that contends against evil and resists whatever leads us away from love of God and neighbor. I invite you, therefore, to the discipline of Lent—self-examination and repentance, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving and works of love—strengthened by the gifts of word and sacrament. Let us continue our journey through these forty days to the great Three Days of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The Prayer of the Day
Almighty and ever-living God,
you hate nothing you have made,
and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent.
Create in us new and honest hearts,
so that, truly repenting of our sins,
we may receive from you, the God of all mercy,
full pardon and forgiveness
through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen
March 6
In [Jesus Christ] you also,
when you had heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation,
and had believed in him,
were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit…
Ephesians 1:13
In our Ash Wednesday sermon a year ago, I took issue with the notion that the main symbol provided by the ash cross on our forehead was as a reminder of our mortality. (I said: “I have a suspicion that driving here tonight on the icy streets is a better reminder of our mortality than the cross on our foreheads…” That’s a good line. I wonder who I stole it from.)
I think the ashes can be an invitation to consider our creator.
Consider your creation by the hand of your Loving God, who has created you from the dust of the earth and breathed God’s Spirit into you, and will call you home to God’s self one day…
You have been created from the dust of the earth, and God has breathed you into life, and always, you walk by the grace of this God who has created you…
The ashes in the shape of a cross say that you have been baptized into Christ, and the life you now live, you live in God… They say that as you all belong to the same Lord, that means you all belong to one another…
And you are all called to live as those whose treasures are with God, who has claimed you, made you Gods’ own and now sends you out, marked with the cross of Christ forever, so that you might serve God always. . .
‘Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’ These are the words that accompany that cross. They speak of mortality - yes. And they speak of your creation, and they say that God is God and you are not. And this is great good news.
Remember that you are loved, and bear this love always, Peace, Pastor Phil
March 7
The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners —
of whom I am the foremost.
I Timothy 1:15
I have a suspicion that it is a big mistake to imagine that Lent is a season for us to make the most of ourselves and of our faith. As if Lent is a 40 day trip to the spirituality gym, or a second shot at New Year’s resolutions.
I like this, from Father Conor Gwin, an Episcopal Priest who serves in North Carolina… He spoke a little bit about how some traditions don’t observe Lent, but they will put together a “40 day challenge” to have you get better at some aspect of being a Christian. He says this isn’t bad, in itself, but it “can quickly become primarily about us and what we are doing and less about what Jesus has done…” There is a part of me that thinks he is being a bit too kind. When it becomes all about ourselves, that means we have taken our eyes off of Jesus, and we’ve placed ourselves where God belongs. That is an age old problem for God’s people.
Fr. Gwin concluded his reflection with these wise words:
Jesus doesn’t want the ideal version of you. He wants you.
God doesn’t require anything from you. The work has already been done.
The real 40 Day Challenge is this: Can you stop your running and your striving to be spiritual? Can you rest in the knowledge that God sees you at this moment and loves you more than you can ask or imagine? Can you let yourself truly believe that God loves you exactly as you are and not as you could or should be?
Let that truth saturate your being in the next forty days. Let that be your Lenten practice…
I like that. Lent is an invitation to let the truth of God’s unending love for you saturate your life.
Soak in that! Pastor Phil
March 8
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit,
returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness…
Luke 4:1
I set aside this call to worship prayer for the beginning of Lent a few years ago, and I am finally remembering to share it with you at the beginning of Lent...
Blessings to you this Saturday, Pastor PhilBlessings to you this Saturday, Pastor Phil
Opening Prayer – Into the Wilderness
O God, divine presence, wild spirit,
we enter into this season of Lent
aware of just how much wilderness can change us.
Some of us enter with trepidation,
some, with a sense of familiarity,
some, with exhausted, empty spirits,
some, with foreboding and resistance,
some, with anticipation and hope
eager, in a strange way,
to be laid bare
and broken open
by the wilderness.
Lead us gently by the hand,
Into this wide open,
fierce wilderness,
that we might be able to trust
where this journey may take us
and how it may change us. Amen.
Wendy Janzen (Canada), 2022. Burning Bush Forest Church
Together in Worship www.togetherinworship.net
First Sunday in Lent
March 9
I hope you can join us for worship today at 9:00 a.m.
The service is posted online.
The Prayer of the Day
O Lord God,
you led your people through the wilderness
and brought them to the promised land.
Guide us now, so that, following your Son,
we may walk safely through the wilderness of this world
toward the life you alone can give,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
March 10
Through him you have come to trust in God,
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are set on God.
I Peter 1:21
Lent is a season of repentance and renewal, a time to re-connect in our walk with Christ. This restoration is brought about by God reaching out to you and renewing your relationship. This is grace…
In many ways, Martin Luther pointed to grace alone, and brought a profound critique to the ways we seek to earn our way into God’s Kingdom.
Here is a very well known passage from a letter he wrote to his colleague; Phillip Melanchthon…
If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners.
Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world.
As long as we are here we have to sin. This life is not the dwelling place of righteousness but, as Peter says, we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells…
…Pray boldly – you too are a mighty sinner."
Martin Luther to Melanchthon LW 48
I believe that many, many Christians make the mistake of believing that in their life in Christ, they are to achieve a certain level of righteousness. Here Luther suggests that righteousness is a future gift, not something we could ever, ever accomplish.
Yes, some people enjoy (almost too much) Luther’s advice to “sin boldly.” We should hold tight to the second half of that advice as well; to “believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly."
Lent boldly! Pastor Phil
March 11
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,
humility, meekness, and patience.
Colossians 3:12
Tomorrow we will have our first midweek Lenten worship service. We will sing the Holden Evening Prayer liturgy, and we will be considering the words of Colossians 3:12-17. Worship will be preceded by our Lent Supper, and there our Transition Team will invite us to conversation about Trinity. I hope you can join in the conversation, and join in the song!
In some ways, the call to live our lives in Christ is a counter-cultural call. While the virtues named in Colossians 3:12 [compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience] are appreciated, I wonder how many would consider it wise for us to make them our life’s pursuit.
I’ve been going through quotes I have set aside, and I liked this by Henry Drummond. He lived from 1851 to 1897 and wiki says he was a Scottish evangelist, biologist, writer and lecturer.
Have you ever noticed how much of Christ’s life was spent in doing kind things – in merely doing kind things? Run over it with that in view, and you will find that he spent a great proportion of his time simply in making people happy, in doing good turns to people. There is only one thing greater than happiness in the world, and that is holiness; and it is not in our keeping. But what God has put in our power is the happiness of those about us, and that is largely to be secured by our being kind to them.…I wonder why it is that we are not all kinder than we are. How much the world needs it. How easily it is done. How instantaneously it acts. How infallibly it is remembered.
Henry Drummond The Greatest Thing in the World
The world needed kindness when this was written, in 1890, and it is needed as much today. As receivers of God's great kindness, we are empowered and sent to bear God's love and kindness to all.
May your eyes be open for opportunities to share kindness today.
Peace, Pastor Phil
March 12
I am confident of this,
that the one who began a good work among you
will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ
Philippians 1:6
In this season of prayer, I invite you to consider this reflection by Eugene Peterson:
Prayer is not a way in which we order things;
it is a way in which we become ordered.
The primary action in prayer comes from God,
and more often than not
God does not act in ways that we can duplicate,
often not even recognize at the time.
Eugene Peterson
Theologians will speak of “the hiddenness of God.” I like Rev. Peterson’s suggestion that God will act in ways that we might well not recognize at the time. Often, it is only possible to perceive God’s presence when we are reflecting back on what has taken place.
May God accompany you throughout the day today.
Blessings, Pastor Phil
March 13
At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to [Jesus],
"Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you."
Luke 13:31
Here is a reflection on Sunday’s Gospel reading by Pastor Steve Garners-Holmes
Uprooting evil
“Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”
—Luke 13.31
The hallmark of evil
is that it never creates, only destroys.
Evil never loves, only hates,
favors cruelty over kindness, lies over truth,
anger over mercy,
resentment over forgiveness.
Evil reaches for the curse or the sword,
and never risks its own advantage.
Easy as it is to name this in others,
how hard it is to avoid it myself.
To bless even those who curse,
to disrupt evil by creating, not destroying,
to share my advantage with those with less:
this is the great challenge.
Overcoming my own evil
uproots half the Empire's.
Beloved, may your reign of grace
overtake the kingdom of my heart.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
March 14
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom then shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1
The Psalm for Sunday begins with the proclamation that with God as my salvation, I have nothing to fear. I remember, years ago, hearing a preacher say that ‘the empire wants you to be afraid.’
I think he was suggesting that when we are fearful, we are more easy to control, and more likely to allow ourselves to be oppressed, and less likely to live by the power of God's love.
The fearlessness the Psalmist proclaims makes us citizens of God’s kingdom, and more loving neighbors to all around us.
A blessed weekend to you, may you know always that you have nothing to fear.
Peace, Pastor Phil
March 15
It's the ides of March, isn't it? hmmm...
A blessed Saturday to you.
Here is a prayer based on our readings for tomorrow. I hope you can join us for worship.
Sorry this is late. Blessings, Pastor Phil
Hope beyond all human hope,
you promised descendants as numerous as the stars
to old Abraham and barren Sarah.
You promise light and salvation
in the midst of darkness and despair,
and promise redemption to a world that will not listen.
Gather us to yourself in tenderness,
open our ears to listen to your word,
and teach us to live faithfully
as people confident of the fulfillment of your promises.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Reproduced from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers © 2002 Consultation on Common Texts admin. Augsburg Fortress
Second Sunday in Lent
March 16
I hope you can join us for worship today at 9 a.m.
The service is posted
The Prayer of the Day
God of the covenant,
in the mystery of the cross you promise everlasting life to the world.
Gather all peoples into your arms, and shelter us with your mercy,
that we may rejoice in the life we share
in your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
March 17
For as in one body we have many members,
and not all the members have the same function,
so we, who are many, are one body in Christ,
and individually we are members one of another.
Romans 12:4-5
A blessed Saint Patrick's Day to you!
Barbara Brown Taylor is a marvelous preacher, who has written at least two thought provoking pieces on yesterday’s Gospel reading. This is from about 30 years ago, and I thought it might serve to give wings to some thoughts about what it means for us to be Church.
More and more I am convinced that we miss something vital to our faith when we insist on approaching God one by one. Our individual relationships with God are very important, but they do not make us the body of Christ. It is our life together that makes us Christ’s body, a mysterious organism that is much more than a collection of individuals. When we come together to worship, we form a new being with a name and an address, which has its own life and reputation. We call it the church - not the building but the people - a phenomenon that has been around longer than any of us. When you or I identify ourselves as members of the church, we get credit for things we did not do.
We may also get blame for things we did not do, but the point is, the church is more than its individual members. We have a community identity and a community mandate. We stand for something, which it behooves us to recall from time to time. Do we, as a body, resemble Christ or have we taken on the characteristics of someone else! Are we true to our head or are we giving him a headache by yanking away and refusing to belong to him?
From Chickens and Foxes by Barbara Brown Taylor - from Bread of Angels pg.126
Peace to you Church, may you faithfully bear God’s love to the world this week! Pastor Phil
March 18
“I have come to call
not the righteous
but sinners
to repentance.””
Luke 5:32
I have spent some time with my list of quotes I’ve set aside over the years and I thought I would share this line on ‘repentance.’
When Jesus demands repentance, it is not that he wants to take something from us, to rob us, to make us poorer. No, he rejoices in offering it to us as a gift, which he gives in his great love for our souls. He wants us to repent in order to enrich us, to give us something to fill our souls with joy, and to make us blessed. He is the Physician who has come not for the healthy, but for the sick. He is the Savior who has come to call not the just, but the sinners, to repentance.
- Eberhard Arnold
Eberhard Arnold was an early 20th century German theologian and Christian writer. He founded the Bruderhof communities, which were related to the Hutterites until a break 30 years ago…
I think it is quite difficult for us to gain a positive vision of what repentance is about. I mention often, that the first of Luther’s 95 Theses is “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent'' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”
There is something quite revolutionary in Jesus’ call to repent.
May repentance give life to your faith this week!
Pastor Phil
March 19
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Isaiah 55:2
Most every Sunday I focus on the gospel reading for the sermon. This coming Sunday, we will hear Jesus call for us to repent in the face of the perils of our world. In the parable that follows, he challenges us to consider the grace that offers second chances and more.
Our First Reading on Sunday is from Isaiah 55. “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!”
This passage is wonderful, and invites our consideration.
The prophet Isaiah’s question in verse 2;
“Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?”
is, in it’s own way, a call to repent.
Perhaps you have heard that the word repent can mean “to change one’s mind” or “to turn around” or “to return.” While the dictionary will tell you that to repent is to feel remorse for sin, a biblical understanding of repentance is more active than simple regret. It is a returning to God.
Isaiah’s question, “why?” is the flip side of the call to repentance that is buried in threats of eternal punishment. Why pursue those errant paths, when God’s ways are so much higher than our own?
Why indeed?
Blessings to you today. Pastor Phil
March 20
Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9
Kallistos Ware was an English bishop and theologian of the Orthodox Church. Bishop Ware (1934-2022) also served as a lecturer at the University of Oxford.
I have seen a number of insightful, thought provoking quotes by him, and this is a very nice reflection on repentance
But what in fact is meant by repentance?
It is normally regarded as sorrow for sin, a feeling of guilt, a sense of grief and horror at the wounds we have inflicted on others and on ourselves. Yet such a view is dangerously incomplete. Grief and horror are indeed frequently present in the experience of repentance, but they are not the whole of it, nor even the most important part.
We come closer to the heart of the matter if we reflect on the literal sense of the Greek term for repentance, metanoia. This means “change of mind”: not just regret for the past, but a fundamental transformation of our outlook, a new way of looking at ourselves, at others and at God - in the words of The Shepherd of Hermas, “a great understanding.”
A great understanding - but not necessarily an emotional crisis. Repentance is not a paroxysm of remorse and self-pity, but conversion, the recentering of our life upon the Holy Trinity.
As a “new mind,” conversion, recentering, repentance is positive, not negative.
In the words of St John Climacus, “Repentance is the daughter of hope and the denial of despair.” It is not despondency but eager expectation; it is not to feel that one has reached an impasse, but to take the way out. It is not self-hatred but the affirmation of my true self as made in God’s image.
To repent is to look, not downward at my own shortcomings, but upward at God’s love; not backward with self-reproach, but forward with trustfulness. It is to see, not what I have failed to be, but what by the grace of Christ I can yet become.
Kallistos Ware
May we all look to God’s love! Peace to you, Pastor Phil
March 21
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,
humility, meekness, and patience.
Colossians 3:12
In preparing for worships the other night, I was looking at quotes on kindness. Interestingly, I have a number of quotes from Rabbis. They have honed in on kindness as important to human community. I know our culture doesn’t necessarily seem to value kindness especially highly. Maybe it is simply that this is a virtue that is easy to take for granted or to overlook altogether.
In Colossians 3 we are encouraged to clothe ourselves with kindness. In Titus Paul writes: “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us… …according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
Interesting.
Here is the quote I set aside, and then did not share on Wednesday evening.
“To be kind is more important than to be right.
Many times what people need is not a brilliant mind that speaks,
but a special heart that listens.”
Lubavitcher Rebbe - 1902-1994
God works through little things. May you find small ways to show God’s kindness today. Peace, Pastor Phil
March 22
Blessings to you on this Saturday. (I think its Spring!)
Pastor Phil
A prayer grounded in tomorrow’s scripture readings:
God of infinite goodness,
throughout the ages you have persevered
in claiming and reclaiming your people.
Renew for us your call to repentance,
surround us with witnesses to aid us in our journey,
and grant us the time to fashion our lives anew,
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
Prayer reproduced from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers, copyright © 2002 Consultation on Common Texts. Augsburg Fortress.
Third Sunday in Lent
March 23
I hope you can join us for worship today at 9 a.m.
The service is posted online.
The Prayer of the Day
Eternal God,
your kingdom has broken into our troubled world
through the life, death, and resurrection of your Son.
Help us to hear your word and obey it,
and bring your saving love to fruition in our lives,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen
March 24
[The Gardener] replied,
‘Sir, let it alone for one more year…’
Luke 13:8a
Yesterday’s Gospel story has the simple, yet powerful parable of the fig tree. Among the many excellent reflections I saw last week was this, by Pastor Barber Lundblad:
Into the [story], the gardener comes. ‘Don't cut the tree down. Let it alone for one more year.’
Jesus, the gardener, wants us to live. His passion marked for us by great urgency - ‘don't wait!’
‘Look at your life and dare to ask the hard questions:
Am I stingy in my love for others?
Am I withholding forgiveness for old wrongs?
Do I refuse to believe that I can be forgiven, carrying from year to year a growing burden of guilt?
Am I so busy making a living that I've forgotten to make a life?’
Jesus digs at us with questions like these. Jesus digs at our hearts in the outstretched hand of every homeless beggar on the streets, of every child not fed.
"What have you done?" Jesus asks, and "What have you left undone?"
Such questions, like the parable of the fig tree, move us toward repentance, a word that means to turn around, to believe things can be different, to trust that the one who calls us to turn around will be there even when we fail.
In this season of Lent, may our questions, and our repentance, lead us to Jesus’ loving arms, and may they send us to serve God’s people in need.
Peace, Pastor Phil
March 25
So he told them this parable:
“There was a man who had two sons…”
Luke 15:3, 11
This coming Sunday, we will hear the parable of the Prodigal Son. Of course, that is the title we’ve given to Jesus’ provocative and life giving story.
I love this story for many reasons.
One sort of odd reason that sticks in my mind is this… I remember, years ago, being thunderstruck by a preacher giving this parable the title: “The Waiting Father.” So often I heard this as a warning about the misbehavior of the young man, and I had failed to take note of the Father, waiting anxiously for the young son to return.
When we take our eyes off the prodigal wastefulness of the younger son, we might see prodigal (lavish, reckless, extravagant) behavior in the Father’s loving response to the return of his lost boy.
Seeing this as a story about the Father - or maybe seeing this as a story about an entire family - we might wonder at how God’s grace works in bringing reconciliation to all of our relationships.
May you have a blessed day, and may you wonder with me about the love of the Father, who welcomes with open arms, and rejoices when the lost is returned!
Peace, Pastor Phil
March 26
“Greetings, favored one!
The Lord is with you.”
Luke 1:28
I should have posted this yesterday - March 25th is 9 months before Christmas, and thus, it is the Annunciation of Our Lord.
Here is the Prayer of the Day:
Pour your grace into our hearts, O God,
that we who have known the incarnation of your Son,
Jesus Christ,
announced by an angel,
may by his cross and passion
be brought to the glory of his resurrection;
for he lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God,
now and forever.
Amen.
What an interesting prayer: “…we who have known the incarnation of your Son, Jesus Christ…”
In knowing the incarnation, we know the astonishing love of God, that brought Jesus to earth to redeem us and all the world. May that knowledge give life and joy today. Blessings to you, Pastor Phil
March 27
For to this end we toil and struggle,
because we have our hope set on the living God,
who is the Savior of all people,
especially of those who believe.
I Timothy 4:10
We are pretty close to half way through Lent, and I thought I would share this line from Dr. Craig Koester, New Testament professor at Luther Seminary. In a reflection for preaching on the Gospel story of the man with an unclean spirit who is healed by Jesus. He gave this intriguing insight:
“The spiritual is not the place of tranquility,
but the place of struggle.”
Your reflection on this statement could take you in numerous directions. What struggles in your life have you failed to perceive as spiritual places? Are there struggles you avoid that you might engage, if you were following a spiritual path? There are many more.
I think of this line by medieval mystic, Meister Eckhart (1260 –1328) or so
“Truly it is in the darkness that one finds the light,
so when we are in sorrow, then this light is nearest of all to us.”
May you know God’s never failing light today, Pastor Phil
March 28
But we had to celebrate and rejoice,
because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life;
he was lost and has been found.’ ”
Luke 15:32
This coming Sunday, we will hear the story that we have come to call the parable of the Prodigal Son. The 15th chapter of Luke begins with the parable of the Lost Sheep then the parable of the Lost Coin. Then we have, what we might well call the parable of Two Lost Sons.
Interesting.
Lost and found.
As you make your way through this weekend, may you contemplate this many faceted, wonderful and challenging story.
How are you lost? How are you found? When have you received such grace? When have you found yourself on the outside, feeling the unfairness of things? What do you make of this story that takes on quite a different hue, when you take your eyes off the younger son and his nonsense, and the older son and his distress, and se the gracious, world altering love of the father?
Pax, Pastor Phil
March 29
Then the father said to him,
‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.’
Luke 15:31
God’s blessings to you today, here is a prayer inspired by our Gospel reading for tomorrow, Luke 15:1-3, 11-32.
God of the lost, the least,
and all who long for home,
when we wander from your ways
and waste the gifts you have given us,
welcome us back, we pray,
so that we may celebrate and rejoice
in your presence forever;
through Jesus Christ your beloved Son.
Posted on the website of the Office of Theology, Presbyterian Church USA. http://www.pcusa.org/
Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 30
I hope you can join us for worship today at 9 a.m.
The service will be posted online
The Prayer of the Day
God of compassion,
you welcome the wayward,
and you embrace us all with your mercy.
By our baptism clothe us with garments of your grace,
and feed us at the table of your love,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
March 31
Then the father said to him,
‘Son, you are always with me,
and all that is mine is yours.’
Luke 15:31
Yesterday we heard Jesus’ wonderful parable about the man who had two sons who broke their father’s heart in quite different ways. We’ve known it as The Parable of the Prodigal Son, but since each of the characters is prodigal in their own way, there are all sorts of titles that might better describe Jesus’ brilliant story.
Yesterday’s sermon included a reflection written by a friend and colleague.
Looking at how each of the sons had gone astray, and considering how the father had ventured out to each to take them into his embrace, he wrote:
“I think this father is revealing God to us.
The broken-hearted God.
Part of the heart-break results
from the freedom he allows each son.
In their bondage to sin they misuse it.
And in the father's bondage to love
he can't give up on either of them.”
What a vision of God!
While we are in bondage to sin, God is in bondage to love, doing whatever is necessary to redeem us.
May you know God’s presence throughout the week to come!
Pastor Phil