Podcast

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophets:
‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.'”
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:1-11

Intro: I was young and foolish the first time I visited Bethlehem

I was not prepared for the Church of the Nativity
– an ancient cathedral built over a cave
• the guide told us this was the shelter where Jesus was born
– a large icon screen stood behind the altar reaching almost to the top of the vaulted ceiling
• brass candle-holders and incense censers hung between the pillars
• an assortment of meaningful symbols dangled from the ceiling,
◦ including bulbs that looked like gigantic Christmas tree ornaments
– you see, this is what we do
• we decorate Christmas with symbols that are meaningful to us
• for instance, we have painted the magi into a warm and cozy scene
◦ in reality, the mood Matthew describes was tense and dangerous
◦ and in spite of the danger, the magi found Jesus and worshiped him

This is the second Sunday of Advent
– and this morning we light the “Bethlehem candle”
• different meanings have been attached to it
• you and I might as well attach our own meanings
– for me, this year, the candle represents the light that led the magi to Jesus,
• and the faith that enabled them to persevere until they found him

In the movie, “Jesus of Nazareth,” Peter Ustinov played Herod the Great

He was an excellent choice! I remember him fuming,
“King of the Jews? King of the Jews? I am the king of the Jews!”
– we know from history that “When Herod ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy”
• Matthew handles this rather delicately,
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him
• Herod consulted the biblical experts
◦ where did the prophets say the Messiah was to be born?
◦ they answered, “Bethlehem,” and supplied a quote from Micah
– so at this point in the story, who all knows where to look for Messiah?
• the chief priests and scribes, King Herod, and now the magi
◦ but of the three, only the magi go off to find him
• this is the first lesson I learn about the faith of the magi:

It belongs not to the person who knows,
but to the person that goes

Many books have been written on what Christians believe
– and arguments over our beliefs have raged for 2,000 years
• but beliefs do not necessarily bring us to faith
– beliefs are static–that is, they do not live, change, or evolve
• we can pick up new beliefs or throw out old beliefs, but they stay the same
◦ they can be discussed, analyzed, defined, and repeated
◦ they can branch out, but they don’t reproduce
• James points out the limits of belief with a measure of sarcasm,
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe–and shudder! (Jas. 2:19)

Faith, on the other hand, is dynamic – it moves, grows, and changes
Helmut Thielicke, “. . . faith does not consist in ‘believing something is true’ . . . . It consists in a struggle, a conversation with God.”
– I am convinced that you have to struggle with faith to make it your own
• beliefs that have been handed down to us belonged to someone else
• faith, however, can only belong to us

Faith is a journey or quest – like that of the magi

Faith moves toward what it believes
– and once faith begins to move, it sets other things in motion
• faith makes other things happen
• the magi’s journey of faith was not an easy one
T. S. Eliot imagined their journey in poetry
One of the magi narrates:

‘A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.’
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelter,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
(T. S. Eliot, “Journey of the Magi” — first stanza)

– but I do not believe our journey is much easier
• for them, Bethlehem was hundreds of miles
◦ for us it is thousands of miles
◦ and even more, it’s thousands of years away
• we have to travel the distance of credibility
Helmut Thielicke, “Are we to entrust ourselves and our questions about life to a man who road a donkey in a legendary far-off time in a [distant] corner of the world?”
◦ of course, the answer is yes
◦ only Jesus did much more than just ride a donkey

On Wednesday night, our Lexio Divina meditation was John the Baptist’s question to Jesus, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? John had struggles of his own when it came to placing his faith in Jesus. Perhaps he expected a Messiah who would drive Rome out of Israel, restore the ancient dynasty of David, and establish Jerusalem as the super power and political center of the world, bringing peace to God’s people and all the nations.
Jesus’ answer to John’s disciples was, “Just go back and tell him what you’ve seen”
– then he added a caption to the picture they would paint for John
And blessed is the one who is not offended by me (Lk. 7:23)
• to be offended is to be “stumbled,” “put off,” or “disappointed”
– Jesus was saying,
“This is who I am. These are the things I do. The blessing I bring is for the one who will accept me without disappoint me, but take me for who I am”
– this is the struggle of faith — we are at times struggling with Jesus

Faith is what links us to God

There is a verse of Hebrew Scripture at heart of Paul’s theology
– it is a statement about Abraham
And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6)
• again, righteousness means right-in-relation to the other person
• faith in God is what makes a person right with God
◦ all through the Scriptures, God is saying, “Trust Me”
– some students are good at taking tests
• but there’s one test no one enjoys taking
◦ it’s what James called the testing of your faith (Ugh!)
. . . for you know that the testing of you faith produces steadfastness (Jas. 1:3)
◦ Peter says the genuineness of our faith is tested because it’s
more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire (1 Pe. 1:7)

Jesus tested the faith of his disciples more than once
– and when it broke down, he called them on it
• when he calmed a storm at sea,
Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? (Mk. 4:40)
• when they asked why there were unable to cast out a demon
Because of your little faith (Mt. 17:20)
– God doesn’t test our faith in order to break us
• to show us that we’re hypocrites, that we didn’t make the cut
• if school tests merely reveal what students don’t know,
◦ they’re worthless
◦ if they’re tools to help us learn, they’re invaluable
God’s purpose is to deepen, strengthen, and increase our faith

Conclusion: In our list of Christmas preparations,

Do we need to include a trip to Bethlehem?
– Can’t we just say,
“I have all these other things to get done.
And I still have presents to buy,
cards to address, dinners to attend.
And I know all that stuff about Bethlehem already.
Is it all that important that I think about it–again? ”
– Yes, it is, because there is where our faith was born

Faith can come to people in different ways
– sometimes it comes spontaneously, as in crisis when people cry out for God
• or it comes naturally, in times of desperation
◦ as when parents will try anything to save the life of their child
– sometimes it comes as the last or only solution to a problem
• many people have to be talked into surgery
◦ or driven to it by pain
◦ “I don’t trust doctors” or “I don’t trust hospitals”
• but one day they have to go, because there is no other hope

Our day to day faith in Jesus, the faith we live by, Paul says
comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ (Ro. 10:17)
• hearing again, we create a path for faith in our brains
Andrew Newberg and Mark Walden, in How God Changes Your Brain, tell us, “When you intensely meditate on a specific goal over an extended period of time, your brain begins to relate to your idea as if it were an actual object in the world by increasing activity in the thalamus, part of the reality-making process of the brain. The concept begins to feel more obtainable and real.”
• what is the goal we’re stretching for here?
◦ to build ourselves up in our faith
But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God (Jude 20)

This week there will be plenty of reminders of Jesus’ birth
– slow down, press the pause button on your day, and think
• not your typical busy brain thoughts
• but quiet reflective thoughts

The sort of thought that is rooted in awareness
and gives you new eyes to see,
and opens you up to the touch of Jesus
Be with Jesus in that present moment
in such a way that you allow yourself to be changed

Podcast

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Romans 1:18-23

Intro: Growing up, in my hope, we gave thanks for every meal

My parents had us bow our heads and close our eyes
– if my brother tried to rat me out–“Chuck didn’t close his eyes!”
• Mom would ask him, “How do you know?”
– a prayer of thanks before eating is not a bad habit,
• so long as it is heartfelt

One year we were at my grandparents’ home for Thanksgiving. A football game played on their old black and white TV, but the volume was turned down when the time came for Dad’s prayer before dinner. Suddenly, in the middle of Dad’s prayer, Uncle Bill shouted, “Touchdown!” After the “Amen,” Grandpa told Bill, rather sternly, “Never interrupt a prayer!” Then he added, “Besides, there was a penalty on the play and the touchdown was called back.”

Last week I suggested November would be “Thanksgiving month”

Paul has a lot to say about giving thanks in his letters
– in fact, he sums up God’s will for us with these basic practices:
. . . always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thes. 5:15-18)
• in our passage, Paul says something about not giving thanks
• he sees ingratitude as the beginning of a downward slide
◦ in fact, a sign of the last days is that people will be ungrateful (2 Tim. 3:2)
– the problem wasn’t that unbelievers did not know about God
• the universe reveals him–even his invisible attributes
◦ the problem was that knowing about God,
they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him
• for Paul, this is a serious spiritual malfunction
◦ one that sent society in the wrong direction
◦ he illustrates its downward spiral in a list of worldly vices that includes envy, murder, strife, deceit and maliciousness
◦ these are symptoms of the wrong turn taken by society

There may be a variety of reasons people are not thankful

Years ago, watching the Italian Westerns,
– it bothered me that Clint Eastwood never said ‘Thanks’
• not even when someone saved his life or shared food with him
– he was too cool, or tough, or independent for that
• he wasn’t a polite cowboy–he was a hired gun

Us ordinary people have different reasons for lacking gratitude
– there are some people who seem to feel entitled
• they deserve what is given them or done for them
• they don’t think to say “thank you” to people who get paid to wait on them or check their groceries
– then there are those who take credit for all they have
• why should they be grateful?
◦ didn’t they work hard for the comforts they enjoy?
• it doesn’t occur to them that no one who comes into this world
◦ is guaranteed health, strength, and energy
– other people don’t think they have any reason to be grateful
• they have experienced so much abuse,
◦ or so many losses, or so many illnesses, or failures,
◦ that being thankful doesn’t enter their minds
– I suppose there are people who have been left in the dark
• who never learned the social rhythm of “please” and “thank you”

Giving thanks is not just a courtesy–a proper and polite habit

Most of us learned to be polite when we were still small children
– but polite does not touch the heart of gratitude

It has been suggested, there are two movements to giving thanks
– in first movement we acknowledge God and what he’s done
• we thank him for ordinary blessings:
◦ food, shelter, good health, family
• and we thank him for extraordinary blessings:
◦ kindness and compassion, mercy, comfort in our sorrows
– the second movement is deeper and comes through reflection
• what kind of God is this,
◦ that shows me such kindness, compassion, and mercy?
• or, in the words of C. S. Lewis,
“One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun.”

People who have spent much time thinking about gratitude tell us
– giving thanks wakes us up to our world and its many joys
(Ann Voskamp demonstrates this well in her book, One Thousand Gifts)
David Steindl-Rast who wrote, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer
• in his introduction tells us this is a book about waking up
Rast, “We run the risk of sleeping through life, of never waking up at all. Or else we wakefully rise to the risk of life, facing the challenge of life, of love.”
C. S. Lewis, says that to praise and give thanks “is simply to be awake, to have entered the real world; not to appreciate [the Object admired] is to have lost the greatest experience, and in the end to have lost all.”
• when he first thought about praise as it appears in the Psalms,
he had thought “of it in terms of compliment, approval or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise . . . . I had not noticed how the humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious, minds, praised most, while the cranks, misfits and malcontents praised least.”
– what do we hear Paul saying about this?
• either you wake up and give thanks, and then wake up some more
• or you do not give thanks and you go blind
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened (vv. 21-22)

I am going to run through this again
– the first movement of gratitude is noticing and saying thank you
• For instance, I’m walk the dog and hear a bird-song
◦ thoughts immediately come to mind:
◦ what kind of bird is that? where is it perched?
• there’s something more comes to me – not thought, but a feeling
◦ the pleasure of that song, or the sound of a wind chime or a wave breaking on the shore
◦ it is the pleasure I feel that prompts me to give thanks
– the second movement is turning my attention to the Source of that pleasure
• this is what the Psalms of nature are constantly doing
◦ looking from creation and creatures to their Creator
– I could miss all of this
• I have a busy day and I’m rushing to be on time
◦ I don’t notice beauty, so I don’t feel its joy, and I don’t give thanks
◦ I don’t wake up, because, “I’m too busy for that right now”
• if anything, I just put a label on every site and sound
◦ “Oh, a tree,” “a child,” “a sunset–that’s nice” — and I hurry on
◦ a heart not filled with thanks is frequently filled with anxiety

We can wake ourselves up by practice
– for instance, we can start giving thanks for little things
• even if the small grace is not a miracle or direct act of God
• merely a natural event – clear traffic on a busy morning
◦ Mom would give thanks for parking spaces near the entrance of a store

Conclusion: Jesus was once traveling between Samaria and Jerusalem

Entering one village, he heard voices shouting from a distance. Ten men, who because of their leprosy were not allowed to go near other people, where shouting to get his attention. When he looked in their direction, they begged him, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” All Jesus did was speak a single sentence to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”

According to the Law of Moses, if people with contagious skin conditions that had healed, they had to be examined by a priest to verify that they were “clean” and could re-enter society.

As the ten men hurried away, they sat that their skin had become clear. One of them came to a dead stop. He held out his arms and examined both of them. He looked back at Jesus, then looked at his arms again (okay, I’m embellishing this part of the story a little). He turned around and ran back to Jesus, “praising God” with that same loud voice he had used earlier to get Jesus’ attention. Falling on his face at Jesus’ feet, he began giving him thanks. (Lk. 17:11-19)
– Luke makes a point to tell us the one who gave thanks was a Samaritan
• Jesus remarked on this fact too
◦ and he wondered why he was the only one to give thanks
• then Jesus told the leper, your faith has made you well
– I believe the one who gave thanks received more from Jesus than the others
• all of them were cleansed and received their certificate or whatever
• but this one man was made well–translating the word that means saved
◦ it also means healthy, sound, or whole

Giving thanks takes us to a fuller spiritual experience of life,
of God’s love and grace
This does not mean we receive more love or grace,
but we perceive more
and perceiving more, we have a richer, fuller experience of it
Giving thanks is a pivot point in our daily relationship with God
In giving thanks,
we make a sharp turn in our day,
and find our way back to Jesus
We wake ourselves up to his presence
again and again

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many of of myself as well.
Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. [The list of names and what these people have meant to Paul and others goes on for ten more verses] Romans 16:1-12

Intro: Thirteen years ago, I stopped going to church

That summer, our church was listed in a survey of Christian ministers
– we rated among forty of the most creative and influential in the U.S.
• but I was broken, burned-out, feeling alone and like a failure
– Barbara was with me and helpful through a slow process of healing
• conversations with Fr. Romuald steered me closer to Jesus
• Barb and I spent Sunday on long walks
◦ we were refreshed as we followed a trail near the ocean
– towards the end of 2006, I found myself missing my church friends
• people, who for thirty years had been my life
◦ a few of them had written to say, missed my teaching
• a year later, I began sending a handful of people Reflections
(personal meditations from my daily reading in the Scriptures)
◦ two years later, Reflexion began with meetings in our home

Romans 16 shows us that Paul never lost sight of the people he loved

In Romans 16, Paul is signing off
– but in doing so, he affirms his connection with his readers
• he mentions names, like Phoebe, Prisca and Aquila
◦ and he adds personal comments:
a servant of the church – my fellow workers – my beloved
◦ he also makes reference to various “churches”
• all the churches of the Gentiles and all the churches of Christ greet you
◦ and churches that met in the homes of Priscilla and Aquila, and Gaius (v. 23)
– it’s obvious that for Paul, “church” was not a building
• at least, not one made of brick and mortar
• You have heard this before:
◦ the church is not an organization, it is an organism
◦ Paul’s favorite metaphor for the church is the body of Christ

When I woke up that one morning, realizing that I missed my friends,
– I realized there was a very clear distinction in my mind
• I missed my community, but I did not miss the institution!
◦ in fact, when I thought about the institution we became, I felt oppressed
• last year, I met up with a close friend from long ago
◦ back then, I glommed on to him for his brilliance
◦ when we talked about my departure from my church, he said,
“I wondered how you lasted so long. You were never cut out for that”
– he was so right

Institutions form naturally within large or growing groups of people

A team, a club, a corporation needs a certain amount of organization
– once organization begins, a structure forms (and an infrastructure)
• systems are needed to maintain the structure
◦ for instance, facility upkeep and formal lines of communication
• then the organization has to be staffed and capitalized
-institutions take on a life of their own
• church institutions initially form to serve the community
• but it does not take much to turn that around
◦ then the community has to maintain and pay for the institution

Why is that a problem?
– first, because community is what defines church, not “business”
• second, institutions must be managed – people must be led
◦ for people to be led, they have to give their consent
◦ managers assign jobs and employees do the jobs they’re assigned
• third, the institution’s goals are survival and not spiritual
◦ in our culture, institutional goals tend to be financial
◦ it’s a tragic day when that gets confused

For example, someone gets in front of the church to “sell” the spiritual value of an event to guarantee a good attendance so the income from the event meets the budget.
Helmut Thielicke, “. . . there is not institutional structure which is in complete accord with the nature of the church. Just as we cannot be justified through works so the church cannot become pleasing to God through institutional perfection.”

– church management became big deal in 70s through 90s
• books and articles were written on it
◦ the job of the Senior Pastor was equivalent to being a CEO
◦ some people assume you manage your way to any goal
Thielicke, “The kingdom of God can use any form of institution as its opportunity if its people are sufficiently quick to hear. The devil too can use any institution as his chance if its members are deaf, indifferent, or too blindly and trustingly content with its well-oiled machinery.”
• Thielicke says this became clear to him when visited America
◦ at first he thought we had the solution to growing large and lively churches
◦ that is, until a closer look revealed the soft underbelly of the beast
Thielicke, “This too, of course, is an opportunity for God. For here he can test the faithfulness and steadfastness of his servants. But, as we said, it is also a chance for the devil: the temptation to be opportunistic, to compromise, and to cover up is always near.”
◦ his conclusion:
“So we should do some thinking about the institutional structure of the church. Their importance, however, should also not be overestimated, for we must remember that they are human ‘works’ on which our salvation does not depend.”

This is why I’ve wanted to avoid using “church” to describe us

Not because of it’s biblical meaning, but because in the larger culture,
– “church” is inevitably linked to “institution”
• institutions are all about the three M’s
◦ Management, Marketing and Money
• the way I see the church in the New Testament is all about
◦ a spiritual community that
◦ glorifies God, builds up its members, and is a witness to the world
– church in the New Testament existed in relationships and interactions
• two Greek words may be helpful here
◦ ekklesia, translated church: a group of citizens called to a public assembly
◦ koinonia, from koine, “to share in common”
◦ translated fellowship, partnership, communion – community
◦ koinonia (community) defines ekllesia (church)
. . . that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship [koinonia] with us; and indeed our fellowship [koinonia] is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ (1 Jn. 1:3)

Loving and serving people, Paul also works to protect them

In verses 17-20, a danger comes by way of troublesome people
– the problems arise from what they “cause” and “create”
• they cause divisions
◦ they exploit disagreements – or invent them

There as six things that the LORD hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers (Pr. 6:16-19)

• they create obstacles (sometimes translated “stumbling block”)
◦ they make it difficult for others to live simple life of faith

A few weeks ago, Esther mentioned “high conflict people”
– I learned that term from Jim in our first conversation
• as Paul indicates, these people tend to be charismatic personalities
◦ their smooth talk and flattery are deceptive
◦ though they are charming, there’s venom in their bite
• these characteristics can make them difficult to detect
◦ but when we do detect a high conflict person, then what?
◦ what is the best way to deal with them?
• best way to deal with them, “avoid”
– Paul says, avoid them
Martha Stout, in The Sociopath Next Door says, “The best way to protect yourself from a sociopath is to avoid him, to refuse any kind of contact or communication.”
• these people deceive the naive
• I think we tend to make ourselves naive
◦ we want to trust those who call themselves Christian
◦ but these others create chaos, stir up suspicion, ruin relationships

“Shouldn’t we love everyone?” you ask,
– Yes, but love has a big toolbox, with lots of tools

When I first met Jim it at a coffee shop. As we got to know each other, he told me about his work in anger management, conflict resolution and reconciliation. In the process, he made reference to high conflict people. Everything he said made sense; in fact, I felt like he had been reading my mail. He explained that some of my burnout had come from not having sufficient boundaries for dealing with this type of person, that I had allowed them to get too close to me. Jim spent seven months consulting with Barb and I, teaching us how to discern the of high conflict people. At the end, he said, “Okay, we’ve pretty well covered the profile and behavior of high conflict people. Next week were going to talk about loving them.”
I was shocked. “What?! You’ve been telling us all about these people, how the wreck churches and ruin the lives of pastors. You’ve also helped us learn how to establish firm and healthy boundaries. Now your telling us we need to learn how to love them?”
“Of course,” Jim replied, “we have to love them. But what do you think love is? Do you think you have to be best friends with them? give them whatever they ask? trust them? High conflict people require a certain sort of love. For instance, many of them have never learned to respect boundaries. So by setting boundaries for them, you are loving them by helping them to learn something socially and spiritually important and useful.”

• I’ve met Christians, devastated by a church that split
◦ it was traumatic, like a painful divorce
◦ disillusioned, they vowed never to get involved with another church
• eventually, God will deal with those charming deceivers
◦ he will put an end to their activity it at the source (v. 20)

Let’s leave that unpleasantness and jump to the end of the chapter

Now to him who is able to strengthen you
according to my gospel
and the preaching of Jesus Christ,
according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages
but has now been disclosed
and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations,
according to the command of the eternal God,
to bring about the obedience of faith—
to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ!
Amen. Romans 16:25-27

Paul ends his letter with a “doxology”
(a doxology is praise of God and usually includes the word doxa, “glory”)
– this is what worship does – it glorifies God
• Paul loads his worship with theology
◦ perhaps the best we can do with theology is turn it into worship
• theology without worship is like
◦ a lab full of research papers and dead specimens
◦ worship without theology is like the Samaritans
You worship what you do not know (Jn. 4:24)
or the Athenians who built an altar to the unknown god (Acts 17:23)
– notice that three times Paul says, “according to”
• this shows us how he tracks his message back to its source, the command of the eternal God

Conclusion: If you’ve ever been in a group photo before–

Perhaps your team, you and your coworkers, a graduation class–
– when you got a copy of the photo, did you look for yourself in it?
– I wonder if the when the believers in Rome received this letter,
• hoped to hear their names when this last chapter was read

Your names are known here in this little community
You are wonderful people – you live and demonstrate love
And because of you,
I have never enjoyed ministry more than I do now
So, as we move on together in our spiritual journey,
out of our love for God, let’s continue to
know and worship him,
love one another, caring for and serving each other,
as witnesses to God’s love for the world,
To God our Father be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ
Amen

Podcast

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is only one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:1-6

Intro: Several times in the last few weeks I have quoted Johann Hari

Hari is an author and journalist who struggled with depression
– eventually he realized antidepressants weren’t helping him
• so he began researching other options and interviewing experts
• he found anxiety and depression have less to do with a chemical imbalance in the brain (as pharmaceutical companies have told us)
◦ and more to do with environmental factors and lost connections
– the first half of his book explores how we have been cut off from:
• meaningful work
• meaningful values (for which we have substituted “junk values”)
• status and respect (apart from our position in social hierarchies)
• the world of nature
• a hopeful or secure future
• other people
– Hari tells stories of people who have re-connected with what we’ve lost
• in doing so, their anxiety or depression has diminished significantly
• more so than if they had been taking prescribed medications

If you were looking for happiness, would your chances be better in
– Japan, Taiwan, Russia, the United States, or Britain?
• the answer: Japan, Taiwan, or Russia—definitely not the US or Britain
Hari, “. . . our Western version of happiness doesn’t actually work . . . .”
◦ if you pursue happiness here, you do it for yourself
◦ you accumulate things, status and experiences for yourself
• in Asia or Russia, people pursue what’s best for the village, group, or tribe
• happiness is a shared experience
– sadly, in recent years our culture has become increasingly individualistic

We need to add a chapter to the brain’s owners’ manual

We can title it, “Christian Community”
– we have a picture of Christian community here in Ephesians 4
• Paul had prayed for the Ephesians
◦ that God would bring them into his infinite love
◦ and that they would experience the fullness of its dimensions
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge (Ep. 3:14-19)
• now, with the Ephesians building on that love,
◦ he wanted to see the Spirit of God form them into a community
◦ to do this, some old brain circuits had to be pruned

v. 1, walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called
v. 17, you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do
v. 22, put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life
v. 24, put on the new self, created after the likeness of God

– Paul writes about Christian community–a lot!
(for starters, see Rom. chapters 12 & 14; 1 Cor. 12-14; Col. 3)
• we have seen that to be a whole person requires neural integration
◦ various brain structures have to be in sync
◦ these harmonious functions must be in sync also with the body
• for the last two weeks we’ve gone over relational integration
◦ after God and close relationships, the next step of integration
is a spiritual community
◦ notice how Paul emphasizes “oneness” in verses 4-6:

The same theme appears in 1 Corinthians: For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:12-13)
Martain Laird says a helpful image of community is a wheel
“The hub of the wheel is God; we the spokes. Out on the rim of the wheel the spokes are furthest from one another, but at the center, the hub, the spokes are most united to each other. . . . The image was used in the early church to say something important about that level of life at which we are one with each other and one with God. The more we journey toward the Center the closer we are both to God and each other. The problem of feeling isolated from both God and others is overcome in the experience of the Center.”

In mid-July I read through Ephesians
– waking up one morning, someone came to mind
• a person from my past
◦ immediately I relapsed
◦ into old familiar feelings of resentment and disgust
• I thought my heart had been purged of those feelings
◦ but my nervous system was still holding on to them
You know, it is never just the event–the argument, the abuse, the betrayal–that we remember and buzzes in our minds, but our commentary on the event. We have stories about what happened, conversations that we repeat and new conversations that we rehearse, perhaps with the hope of unleashing them on our abusers one day. We do this to try to make ourselves feel better in the moment. And it never works; it just carries the bad feelings forward.
◦ anyway, what I felt was not right – at all
– once I was fully awake and reading this chapter, I came to verse 31:
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice
• the very feelings that had been triggered in me!
◦ and then verse 32:
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you
◦ that seemed impossibly out of reach – until . . .
• I sat with Jesus – then my soul found a safe shelter in him
◦ nothing anyone has done to me can touch me there
◦ he holds me in his kindness and tenderness
(he knows my sore spots)
• any bad feelings toward anyone else dissolve in his presence
◦ Jesus again enabled me to forgive – to love

The target we are aiming for is love

The aim of our [mission] is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (1 Tim. 1:5)
– this is what needs to be written into our brain’s owner’s manual
• love is an integrating energy, a psychological and spiritual glue

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony (Col. 3:12-14)

– Daniel Siegel lists types of communication for healthy relationships
• reflective conversations
◦ that help others listen to their feelings and their bodies
“. . . reflective conversations can create new states of mindful awareness.”
• attuned communication – we went over this last week
◦ the neural resonance with another person; the experience of empathy
• interpersonal and integrative communication
◦ each person respects the different experiences of the others
◦ this results in forming a link or re-connection between them
◦ similar neural pathways are formed among participating members – we can add to this list Susan Smalley and Diana Winston’s
• mindful communication (or compassionate communication)
◦ it looks for information from those involved in the conversation
◦ it thinks through and discusses issues from a positive perspective
◦ it accept the fact that there are “multiple perspectives”
(not only multiple opinions, but perspectives behind the opinions)
◦ those involved are able to describe their thoughts and feelings
◦ each one acknowledges what all the others have to say
◦ each one is a participant in a conversation with other participants
◦ the participants take turns

When I read about the kind of conversations that build community,
– I can’t help but think of our experience with Lexio Divina
• first it brings us together–in prayer
• then it takes us into the Scriptures
• we allow the Spirit to take a word down into our souls
• we hold it within and allow it to awaken what’s there
◦ then we share – our thoughts and our souls
◦ this doesn’t mean we tell all our secrets
– lexio divina cannot just “happen” – it requires special conditions
• as Johann Hari has said, “To end loneliness, you need other people—plus something else. You also need . . . to feel you are sharing something with the other person, or the group, that is meaningful to both of you. You have to be in it together.”
• I think Paul states it perfectly:
. . . speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love (vv. 15-16)

To speak the truth in love doesn’t mean we tell others,
“I need to tell you something. I’ve never really liked you . . .”
“I was deeply offended by what you said”
“What I have to say is for your own good”
“No one else will tell you this, so it’s up to me”
– I don’t know the truth about anyone else!
• I barely know the truth about myself (see 1 Cor. 4:5)
• but what I do know about myself is the truth I can speak
– some people are guarded
• they talk in generalities, “Christians need to be more loving”
• or talk doctrine, or “What the Bible is saying here is . . .”
– in guarding themselves, they make others feel unsafe

To speak the truth in love is to:
– create a safe place – our souls won’t show up if we don’t feel safe
– listen – with our ears and attention of course, but also with body
• what am I feeling? it may be empathy with what someone else has shared
– share – what is yours, what you feel most deeply

Conclusion: What if there’s someone in the community who irritates you?

“I can’t just make myself love someone”
Explore your brain’s owner’s manual – what in you gets triggered?
– what is the commentary you’re brain has written about it?

Try a daily compassion meditation:
“May God let me feel his joy today”
then, for someone you love, “May God let _________ feel his joy today”
then, “May God let my family feel his joy today”
then, “May God let my friends and neighbors feel his joy today”
then, “May God let every stranger I see feel his joy today”
then, “May God let those who have hurt (or annoy) me feel his joy today”
then, “May God let everyone, everywhere feel his joy today”
– at first it may be difficult to bless those who have hurt you
• but praying this prayer every day will begin to change you
• it will help to form new synapses in your brain
◦ and eventually you will be free, well, whole regarding that person
◦ you will have the heart of Jesus toward that person

There will be bumps and struggles
but if we don’t give up,
there are also great rewards

Podcast

Matthew 3:1-2 and 4:17

Intro: These were the first public announcement of both John and Jesus

This is the “short form” of the message they brought
– their “elevator speech” that contained three points:
• the kingdom of heaven is finally arriving
• you are not ready for it
• get ready
– the world Jesus entered was not ready for HIM
• many people in Israel were waiting for a Messiah
◦ but their concept of a savior was imperialistic and nationalistic
◦ certainly not a Savior who would suffer and die for the world
• they looked for a Messiah who would change things
◦ Jesus came as a Messiah who would change them

In his parables, Jesus talked about the last part of this message:
the kingdom of heaven
– but in the Sermon On Mount, he elaborated on the first part: Repent
• in his sermon, he turned their world inside out
You have heard that it was said of old . . . . But I say to you . . . (Mt. 5:21, 27, etc.)
• it was as if he said,
“What you have thought about the Messiah is only partially true. What you have thought about God is only partially true. And what you have thought about religion is only partially true. You have lived with these illusions, but I have come to show you what is true. The reality of God and the truth about yourselves.”
– it is not easy for us to see why this was so difficult for them to hear
• but this is not the sort of message we want to hear either

I am not very fond of the word “repent”

Like most of my dysfunctional thinking, this has to do with upbringing
– to repent was to see myself as the worst sinner who ever lived
• to wallow in guilt, to be ashamed and disgusted with myself
• to feel hopeless, because a holy God could never love someone like you
– every Sunday night there would be an “altar call”
• I would beg and beg for forgiveness, but never felt forgiven
◦ because I knew following week I’d be back there again observing the same ritual of failure and shame
• I never felt the guilt leave me
◦ never felt God’s full acceptance or unconditional love
– I’ve learned that always feeling bad about the person I am does not change me
• never being released of guilt sabotages repentance
◦ instead of making progress, you get stuck
• all my angst was based on a faulty conception of repentance

Repentance isn’t a psychological collapse into self-loathing

It isn’t about punishing yourself for your sins
– or groveling before God to win his forgiveness
• very simply, it is about change
• I believe Jesus prefers having calm and rational discussions with us
◦ about where we go wrong
◦ and what he wants from us
– in the Old Testament, another way to talk about repent is turn or return
• when Israel returned from exile, the heard law read and wept
◦ it was a natural response to realizing what their sins had cost them
◦ but their priests and leaders wouldn’t let them get stuck in sorrow
. . . this day is holy to our LORD. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength (Neh. 8:10)

I think this is one of those times when a Greek word is important
– repent is metanoeite – a compound word
• meta: a preposition “with” or “after”
• noeo: – think, understand, perceive
◦ so repent is to think after think after,
◦ to have second thoughts, to change your mind
– in classical Greek, repentance engaged not only intellect
• it was coupled with a feeling – regret
◦ regret is not wallowing in guilt and shame
◦ and regret without change is not repentance

The first word we hear Jesus tell us is the command, “Change”

Maybe there’s someone here, so satisfied with life, they wouldn’t change a thing
– for the rest of us, we can think of a few healthy changes
• typically: better diet, more exercise, learn more
◦ be a better spouse or parent, have more self-control
◦ be less anxious, be a happier person
• Jesus’ command to change doesn’t have to be bad news
– but start moving toward change and we discover our inner rebel
• we have more resistance than motivation
◦ we want to change, but we drag our feet when it’s time to begin
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Mt. 28:41)
• I don’t think we’re convinced we want all the changes Jesus does
◦ “Change my life, but leave me the same”

Psychologists have observed,
– people don’t enter therapy unless problem drives them to it
• we wait until the pain of staying same is greater than the pain of change
– imagine residents in neighborhood petitioning a city for a stop sign
◦ they have seen several collisions at one of their intersections
◦ but stop signs are expensive and require traffic control studies
◦ so the city drags its feet–until there’s a fatality at the intersection
• many married couples avoid therapy at the first realization of trouble
◦ by the time they arrive in counselor’s office, it’s too late

The Psalms describe the wicked as people who
do not change
and do not fear God (Ps. 55:19)
– Jeremiah described the sin of the nation of Moab like this:
Moab has been at ease from his youth
and has settled on his dregs;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
nor has he gone into exile;
so his taste remains in him,
and his scent is not changed (Jer. 48:11)
– usually we resist change not because we are content,
• but because we are complacent

Repentance begins with a change in perception, thought, and attitude

What we know about the human person today tells us,
– repentance means making changes to our brains
• it wasn’t always believed this was possible
◦ it was thought that once a person became an adult,
◦ the old dog could not learn new tricks
• now we know it is possible for the adult human brain to be changed
◦ and that changes are ongoing
– but the sort of changes we want to make are not easy

Every human brain writes an “owners manual”
– this is written by experience and education
• everything we experience traces a path across brain cells
◦ a single thought travels from one cell to another,
◦ connecting tens of thousands of them in a single cluster
• the owner’s manual is written through repetition
◦ always thinking same thoughts and feeling the same feelings,
◦ cement the connections between the same brain cells
◦ this becomes the brain’s default setting
– our nervous system runs our body according to this owner’s manual
• our brains do not judge if our thoughts and feelings are healthy
◦ the just recognizes triggers and send signals down the same path
• this results in repeatedly reproducing the same psychological and physiological state
◦ perhaps the same negative thoughts and emotions
◦ and yet we wonder,
“Why do I keep making the same mistakes?”
“Why can’t I control my temper?”
“Why do my anxieties always get the best of me?”

To repent is to rewrite the owner’s manual
– that’s what we’re going to venture into this summer

Conclusion: When Israel returned from Babylon to Jerusalem,

They delayed rebuilding God’s temple
– the project seemed overwhelming for their meager resources
• God sent the prophet Haggai to challenge them to get to work on his house
◦ his message to them was, Consider your ways (1:5, 7)
• the first thing they needed to do was practice self-observation
◦ watch themselves – what they were doing and what they were thinking
The philosopher Adam Smith had this to say about self-observation, “When I endeavor to examine my own conduct . . . I divide myself as it were into two persons; and that I, the examiner and judge, represent a different character from the other I, the person whose conduct is examined into and judged of. The first is the spectator. . . . The second is the agent, the person whom I properly call myself . . . .”
– I have found this happens naturally in contemplative prayer
• it’s as if God’s Spirit reveals to my flawed thinking and illusions
• I become aware of what was written in my owner’s manual
◦ these insights show me what needs to be changed
◦ and those changes usually begins with slowing down and deep breathing
– repent is an invitation to get unstuck – an invitation to freedom

This week, I would like for you to consider your ways
– take some time to sit in quiet with God
• be still and listen for what he wants you to see about yourself
◦ what you’ve been accepting as “normal” or putting up with
◦ what you’ve done over and over without purpose or benefit
• and begin your quiet time with the following prayer:

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting
Psalm 139:23-24

Podcast

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Intro: Today is Pentecost Sunday

A word derived from the Greek language
– Pentecost refers to an event fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection
– the story of Pentecost is told in Acts chapter 2
• the apostles were in Jerusalem per Jesus’ instructions
◦ he had given them a mission,
◦ but first, they had to be equipped and empowered
• that happened in one of the most dramatic scenes in the New Testament
◦ God’s Spirit descended on them in a way that looked like fire
– those believers who experienced this became something else that day
• the new people of God
◦ when God chose Israel to be his nation, this is what he had in mind:

I will … confirm my covenant with you. … I will make my dwelling among you …. And I will walk among you and will be your God and you shall be my people (Lev. 26:9-12)

• on Pentecost, this did not happen to select individuals,
◦ but an entire community
◦ some people refer to Pentecost as the birth of the church

Although it is Pentecost, that is not why I’m going to talk about
– this last week, I was reading in 1 Corinthians
• when I came to these verses, something happened in me
• I felt them – I knew that God meant this to be true for us
◦ that I could meet him here today with you
– we may not see it, we may forget,
• but this time we spend here together is sacred

Your first reaction might be, “Who, me?” (or “us?”)

Paul was not writing to the premier church
– much of this letter and the next tell them what they were doing wrong
• they got off to a good start – had a lot going for them (1 Cor. 1:4-8)
◦ but Paul begins this chapter with the news that they had not made much progress
• the weren’t as spiritual as they assumed
◦ they were mere infants in Christ
– this is not uncommon – it’s easy to become religious or pious
• nor is it difficult to learn doctrine
• but to undergo fundamental changes in our lives is a difficult process
◦ we must work at letting go of old prejudices and habits
◦ Christian love takes a particular kind of work
◦ and it looks different from working at being religious (1 Cor. 13:1-3)

How could Paul tell that their spiritual life was shallow?

For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? (v. 3)

– the community had become divided and formed “tribes”
• they had taken polarized positions regarding individual personalities
• but the leaders themselves were not divided
He who plants and he who waters are one (v. 8)
– 5-10, Paul explained how to regard those they placed on pedestals
• not as celebrities, but servants – fulfilling their assigned tasks
You are God’s field, God’s building (v. 9)
◦ first he uses an agricultural metaphor
(plant and water, two different tasks but devoted to one goal)
◦ then a construction metaphor
(one laid a foundation, another built on it)
• that their roles were different did not entail conflict, but cooperation

In verses 10-15, Paul adds a serious warning to the sub-contractors
(he illustrates why it doesn’t pay to cut corners)
– every building is eventually tested by natural elements
the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house (Mt. 7:25, 27)
• in regard to the church, the foundation is solid–it is Jesus Christ
◦ the problems start with the sub-contractors
◦ and the use of inferior building materials
• many Christians do not realize, they’re not well cared for
◦ they’re entertained, brow-beaten and bossed around, and exploited
◦ they’re kept busy building a house of straw
– 16-17, Do you not know …? – this was the missing piece
• the Corinthians Christians did not know who they were
• they had not discovered their collective identity

Verses 18-20, the wisdom that works in the world, doesn’t work here
– the way governments, corporations, and other institutions run
• there we encounter contenders, competition, and conquest
◦ faith draws something else from us
◦ love requires something else
– 21-23, Paul’s advice: Do not get pulled into one of the cults of personality
• all these sub-contractors are not special
◦ if they’re the real deal, they work for you
◦ God has provided them for your spiritual development

The Corinthian believers were messed up–same as we are

Yet they were God’s temple
– if we dig into the past for the primary purpose of the temple,
• we come to the God’s instructions to Moses for the sacred tent

. . . let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst (Ex. 25:8)
There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory. . . . I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God (Ex. 29:43-45)
◦ “sanctified” means to make holy or sacred
• primarily, the temple was a place where people encountered God

One thing have I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to inquire in his temple (Ps. 27:4)
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory (Ps. 63:1-2)
– when these messed up Corinthians met together,
• they were the church – God’s temple
• Jesus Christ was present among them (5:4),
◦ and God’s Spirit lived in them
◦ in other words, God manifested his presence in and to this spiritual community

Do you not know that your are God’s temple?

We do not always know that – or we forget
– one reason may be, that when we see each other,
• we look on the outside only
◦ we see clothes, and mannerisms, and personality quirks
• we don’t see God’s image, because we’re not looking for it
◦ we’re not asking,
“How is Jesus revealing himself through this person?”
– it’s possible to never know all God has for us

I defined sanctified, because I want to emphasize the sacred

Sacred is at the root of the word “sacrament”
– a sacred ritual God uses to pour grace into us
• a sacrament can also be an object or an action
Leonardo Boff, describes a sacrament as an object or action that is real in this world, but opens up to another dimension – something God uses to manifest his presence to us
• Boff says there are three dimensions to a sacrament:
◦ immanent: the object or action is physical — present and tangible
◦ transcendent: the object or action reveals another dimension of reality
◦ transparent: we see through the object or action
– the sacrament is not isn’t magic, but evokes an inner vision
• we see through the sacrament, as if a window
◦ and the light of God’s grace pours through it
• a sacrament is a gate that opens between time and eternity
• a sacrament is meant to wake us up,
◦ to bring us out of our forgetfulness (“remembrance”; 1 Cor. 11:24)
• a sacrament invites us to have eyes that see, ears that hear, hands that feel, and so on

Conclusion: On the day of Pentecost, the church became a sacrament

God formed the church to be a witness to the world
– he desires to manifest himself to the world through his church
• not through the church as an institution
• and not through the doctrines of the church (that doesn’t work)
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to [them], and [they] are not able to understand [these things] because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14)
– it is the church as a community of people
• people who are no better than we are
◦ it’s not about being “nice” to each other – polite or friendly
• it’s about listening, and caring, and being safe and available
◦ we have a Christ-effect on each other

What got to me when reading this passage,
is that we have opportunities
to immerse ourselves in the experience of being together in Jesus,
to have a strong sense of his presence,
and to rely on him to be among us.
Let’s know this as our lived experience;
let’s remember it whenever we meet.
We are God’s temple

Podcast

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest (Ps. 22:1-2)

Intro: Friday I was driving three of my grandchildren home from school

Six year old Calum was in the back seat, singing lilting, repetitive lyrics
– I wasn’t paying attention at first – then, when traffic cleared I listened
“This is a distraction song, distraction song, distraction song,
that makes it hard to think”
ME: “Calum, what’s that?!”
CALUM: “It’s a distraction song. Do you get it?”
ME: “Yes I get it! It’s so distracting, I can’t think”
CALUM: “Aha, it works!”

Psalm 22 is a song for when distractions make it hard to think

There are two things we get wrong about this psalm

First, frequently it is referred to as a “Messianic Psalm”
– that is to say, the whole psalm is a prophecy of Jesus’ crucifixion
• it does contain prophetic statements,
◦ but that was not how it was originally read
• like most everyone who suffers, the psalmist felt abandoned by God
– that Jesus quoted this psalm from cross reveals his heart
• how deeply he was plunged into human suffering (cf. Heb. 2:9-10, 17-18; 5:8)
• Jesus shared with us an agony so deep, he too felt abandoned, forgotten

Secondly, it looks like a psalm of despair– at least begins like one
– but it is actually a song of hope
• in it, the poet tells his story – not in detail, but with broad strokes
◦ that actually makes it more valuable for us
• we don’t have to know what he meant by bulls of Bashan
◦ we can think of our own adversities and obstacles
– as we read his story, we learn how he worked his way–
• or “prayed his way”–from abandonment to embrace,
◦ from anxiety to serenity, from distress to peace
• have you ever wished that prayer could change your mood?
◦ maybe there’s a way to approach prayer that does change us
◦ and perhaps God will even change us without changing our circumstances

A quick overview of Psalm 22

The poet begins with a “Why” question
– this is not always the best place to begin, and it is often useless to ask
Daniel Siegel refers to “Why” as “the [brain’s] left hemisphere’s favorite pursuit of exploring . . . . The left side of our cortex appears to specialize in the cause-effect explanations of logical reasoning that is so coveted in science, and in schools, and perhaps in modern society in general.”
• some events defy cause and effect explanations
◦ if there’s an answer to Why?, only God knows it

In the face of a devastating loss, would it really be of much help to learn why it happened?

– nevertheless, like the poet, in deep grief we cannot help but ask why
• the question pushes its way up from our soul

We could title the first two verses, “When prayer doesn’t work”
– or doesn’t seem to work
• the problem may be, we expect prayer to produce a specific effect
◦ that it is supposed to change something in the world
◦ it doesn’t occur to us, prayer is meant to to change something in us
– how can the poet jump from his unanswered prayer to verse 3?

Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.

• maybe he is saying, “The fault is not in you; you are holy”
◦ this is how the system has worked in the past

In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried and were rescued;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame (vv. 4-5)

• so the conclusion drawn by the poet is,
“I’m not like my ancestors. They were heroes, but

I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people (v. 6)

◦ this thinking is not unusual, and it is wrong!
◦ it is as wrong as assuming God had abandoned him

Shame does this to us, it undermines our confidence
– before God, in ourselves, and with others

All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
“He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” (vv. 7-8)

• those who make fun of him, ridicule his failed system
– again, like in v. 3, he bumps into this contradiction, Yet [9-10]

Once again, as in verse 3, the poet jumps to what seems like a contradiction

Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust in you at my mother’s breasts.
On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God (vv. 9-10)

Verses 11-21 repeat the request as the poet describes his affliction
(notice the animal metaphors he uses to describe his enemies)

Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.
Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
I am poured out like water
and all of my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax within my breast;
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
But you, O LORD, do not be far off!
O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog!
Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

– here is something that amazes me regarding biblical writers
• the incredible way they read their bodies
◦ he describes emotional distress in physiological terms:
◦ bones out of joint, heart melted like ways, strength dried up
– one of the lessons we’ve learned from neuroscience:
• situations that are:
◦ extremely hurtful emotionally,
◦ intensely painful physically,
◦ unavoidable or inescapable,
◦ life-threatening,
◦ or simply overwhelming,
• cause communication in the brain to breakdown
◦ the mind goes blank, logic warps, we lose control
(in sports we say someone “choked”)
◦ people say, “I feel like I’m falling apart,” “My mind is scattered”
– if trauma disintegrates, healing integrates – makes whole

In v. 22, it looks like the poet has made a dramatic turn

I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.
From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the LORD!
May your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
For the kingship belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the LORD to the coming generation;
the shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it (vv. 22-31)

– it seems like everything now is good, right?
• but that is not exactly what these verses are saying
• this form of speech is referred to as a “vow of praise” (cf. v. 25)
◦ its typical form is: “If you do this for me, I’ll do that for you”
– what it does for the poet, is enable him to be confident
• he is able to feel in the present, a victory that will come in the future
• he can even praise and worship as if his salvation had already come

One more thought
– even though this is one person who prays,
• the presence of others play a crucial role in his life before God
• in both his breakdown and his recovery (v. 22)
– there is a type of communication that links human hearts and minds
• when people feel safe enough to talk without fear
◦ and others are compassionate enough to listen without judgment
◦ a primary ingredient in these conversations is is empathy
• for Paul, life in community leads to having same mind (Ro. 12:3-16)
◦ he encouraged the Philippians to be of one mind (Php. 1:27; 2:2)

When a community (or family) has this sort of integrative conversations
– each individual’s mind is moved toward integration and wholeness
This has happened for us in our weekly practice of lexio divina
(sacred, prayerful reading and sharing of scripture)

By the end of his song, the poet is no longer alone
– he has rejoined the people of God in the worship of God
• he is on his way toward integration and wholeness

Conclusion: Yesterday morning I was feeling stressed over today’s message
(I didn’t have one!)

Also, my granddaughter, Addison, added a little extra stress
– for a couple of weeks she’s been begging me to attend her dance recital
• I’ve explained that Saturday is a workday for grandpa
◦ I promised to be there, providing God worked a miracle
◦ and I had a sermon outline completed in time
• but my mind kept going to all the kids who have no one to who shows up for their little league games or exhibitions
◦ and also how important it must have been to Addison that I be there
– I took a deep breath and loosened my grip–physically and mentally
• I felt a certainty that all would be well
• and that the outcome did not depend on me,
◦ as God has been faithful to show up for me over so many years
So I went, and Addison and her sister Adrianna were the stars of the show

When I first began practice of contemplative prayer,
– God lifted a depression that had lasted for decades
• most of my old anxieties disappeared
• but what I did not anticipate was all the new anxieties!
◦ or that my nervous system is incapable of achieving trust as a steady state
◦ I assumed my mind would have the flexibility to deal with every new anxiety
• yesterday, this psalm walked me back into trust
(notice how many times the poet mentions it in the poem–three times in just two verses; 2 & 3)
◦ trust changes everything – not because it’s an effective psychological tool
◦ but because there really is Someone present who is trustworthy
In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted and you delivered them

After meditating on trust in vv. 3-5 and 9-10, and during my contemplative prayer,
– I realized that God gives us “trust moments”
• when all we have to do is rest in him and enjoy the experience of trust
• an infant at its mother’s breasts is just such a trust moment
◦ this particular example evokes a feeling (comfort, security, nurture)

But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me (Ps. 131:2)

– in those trust moments we:
• learn the feeling of trust
• are receptive to grace and what it brings into our lives
(this is what we mean when we pray, Give us this day our daily bread)
• bond with the One in whose arms we rest
– a trust moment may be sitting on porch during a break from our chores
• or when you allow another person’s words or arms to hold you,
reassure and comfort you
• it can happen in the time you spend in contemplative prayer,
◦ allowing God to breathe his love into you

Trust moments clear our heads,
calm our emotions,
renew our strength
Trust moments recollect pieces of our minds
when they have been scattered by headlines and deadlines
Trust moments integrate mind and body
in a concentrated focus on our Lord Jesus Christ

Podcast

Luke 10:21-24; 22:31-32 and John 17:1-9

Intro: Today it will feel like we’re moving backwards in time

Last week we jumped to the end of John’s gospel, because it was Easter Sunday
– today we return to night of Jesus’ arrest prior to his crucifixion
• think of what we are doing this way:
◦ some films include flashbacks to events that occurred prior to the current period
◦ flashbacks supply explanations or fill in important details
• so this week and next, will be like flashbacks for us
◦ scenes of events leading up to Jesus’ resurrection
– the “Church Calendar” is an ancient tradition
• it divides the year into seasons attached to specific events
◦ it also provides daily scripture reading to keep those events in mind
• according to the Church Calendar Easter is not a day but a season
◦ it goes from Easter Sunday up to Pentecost Sunday
◦ so it is fitting to return to the cross and resurrection during this “season”

Jesus and his disciples are on their way out of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives
– they have not yet crossed the valley that separates the two mounts
• Jesus has said all he had to say to them
• now he concludes his final teaching with a prayer
– there is too much to his prayer to go over in detail this morning
• it is like the entire gospel has been compressed into one chapter
• find a time when you can come back to it and read it slowly

There is nothing like this prayer in the Synoptic gospels

We know Jesus prayed – and he prayed a lot (especially in Luke’s gospel)
– he sometimes prayed for his disciples
• as when he chose the twelve to be his apostles (Lk. 6:12-13)
• he also prayed specifically for Peter (Lk. 22:31-32)
– but except for once when he praised God and then in Gethsemane,
• the Synoptic gospels did not record the contents of his prayer
• even though he taught the the disciples to pray,
◦ and even told them what to request,
◦ the words of his prayers are not reported in Matthew, Mark, or Luke

John takes us into this particular prayer of Jesus
– and doing so, he takes us deep into the heart of Jesus
• he allows us to eavesdrop
• to hear what were Jesus’ concerns in this last hour with the disciples

Key themes from the story of Jesus appear in this prayer

For example:
• Jesus frequently addresses God as “Father”
(also, “Holy Father” in verse 11 and “Righteous Father” in verse 25)
• Jesus again refers to his “hour”
– this first instance was to his mother, My hour has not yet come (Jn. 2:4)
– but now his the hour has come (Jn. 17:1)
• Related to his hour is glory
(and that he glorified the Father and the Father glorifies him)
– from beginning of John, God’s glory has to do with his self-revelation
◦ this is how God had manifested himself to Moses (Ex. 33:18; 34:5-7)
◦ and his presence to Israel (Ex. 16:6-10)
– in John, this is how God manifests himself to the world through Jesus
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:14)
– in regard to Jesus’ glory, John sees through the Synoptic vision of cross
– he sees the suffering and shame, but he also sees beyond that
Andreas Kostenberger tells us that in Mark’s gospel “the cross is . . . a place of shame, humiliation, and suffering for Jesus”
◦ the soldiers mocked him, the priests mocked him,
◦ bystanders mocked him, even the thieves next to Jesus mocked him
Kostenberger says, however, that in John, “the cross is . . . the place where Jesus will be glorified,” and he explains that “John enlists Isaiah to show that, contrary to the world’s perspective, the cross was not in fact a place of dishonor, humiliation, and shame, but instead constituted the location where Jesus was exalted for his willingness to die for the sins of the world as the lamb of God and obedient Son of the Father.”
• Eternal life
• Believing and knowing (Jn. 17:8, 21 and 23)
• The world
– as a force of resistance and persecution
– in verse 9, Jesus said his prayer was not for the world
◦ at least not at this point
◦ however, he does not exclude the world from his prayer
◦ reaching it is his end goal
• The oneness of all his followers
– a oneness he shares with his Father and with us (Jn. 17:21-23)

Jesus also covers:
• The past:
– I have manifested your name
– I have given them the words
– I have guarded them
– I have sent them into the world
• The present:
– I am praying for them
– I am no longer in the world
– I am coming to you
– I am not of the world
• The future:
– keep them in your name
– keep them from the evil one
– sanctify them
– that his followers will be with him
– and he prays for those who in the future will come to believe in him

A chain is formed from these themes in Jesus’ prayer

For example, his glory
– verses 1-5, the Father shares it with his Son, Jesus
– verse 22, Jesus shares it with his disciples
– verse 23, the disciples reflect it to the world
God the Father to Jesus — Jesus to his apostles — the apostles to the world
– the same chain is formed with:
• the Father’s name (v. 11), and words (v. 8)
• the Father sending Jesus into world (v. 18)
– Jesus includes in his prayer, every link in the chain
• through the centuries, all the way down to us

Now that we’ve seen some features of prayer, I have a confession

Reading through this prayer has always been confusing for me
– I quickly lose Jesus’ train of thought
• the prayer jumps around from one subject to another
◦ it jumps ahead, and then it jumps back, and then repeats itself
• I have trouble seeing the logical connections between his thoughts
◦ and I feel like I have to hold onto too many ideas at once
◦ I have not been able to find a structure to Jesus’ prayer
– it’s like reading the mumbo jumbo in a legal document
• perhaps we don’t have to hang on to all the pieces,
◦ or carefully track all of its twists and turns
• if not, then how else could we read it?

Technically, Jesus was not talking to his disciples
– this was not another discourse or lecture – it was a prayer
• Jesus was talking to his Father – and at a very stressful time
◦ he opened his soul and poured out what was in it
• the prayer did not have to be organized and neat
◦ its style was not logical, but emotional
◦ and that, I believe, is what we are supposed to feel
– if you spend enough time with this prayer,
• you will feel its depth and beauty
• and the you will find the depth and beauty of the one who prayed it
◦ the strong emotion of Jesus prayer leaves its impression on us
◦ this is what we are to receive from this prayer — its impression
◦ so that our inner lives are shaped by it
– these are all the things Jesus wants for us
• but it is important to feel the intensity of his desire (e.g., v. 24)
• that is what will move us to align our wills with his prayer

Just to be clear, although this is a prayer, Jesus was still teaching
– as before, he was teaching by example
• and his example was that they were to keep their eyes on the goal
◦ keep themselves close to God and all his resources
• they were never lose sight of the big picture
◦ and the picture in Jesus’ prayer is very big
◦ the scope of his concern is worldwide

Conclusion: Before praying, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven

Turning our heads and line of sight is how we orient ourselves,
– and how we move, how we turn our whole bodies
• that John takes note of our Lord’s gesture is significant
◦ we do not pray with our bodies,
◦ but we cannot pray without them
• posture makes a difference
◦ to pray with our whole person is to present our bodies to God

What drives us? Sometimes we don’t even know
– perhaps you hate losing your temper,
• promise yourself you never will again — and then you do
– I think we’re drawn by desire, but driven by something else
• if we drop our guard and let what’s deep inside come up,
• I think we will discover a great emptiness
◦ even Christians feel it –a longing for something that isn’t there
◦ a need that’s never been met
• it’s there, but we don’t want to face it
Anthony de Mello was right when he said, “And when the emptiness surfaces, what do you do? You run away, turn on the television, turn on the radio, read a book, search for human company, seek entertainment, seek distraction. Everybody does that. It’s big business nowadays, an organized industry to distract us and entertain us.”

The more distractions, the more blockages we create
– preventing the light of God’s glory from reaching that deep emptiness

Jesus prayed for us
He is still praying for us,
that God’s glory will reach us,
reveal God to us
and that he is with us here and now.
He prays for us to be healed
and to be filled–with his joy (v. 13)
and with his love (v. 26)
and that every day we will
reflect his glory to the world

Podcast

Luke 24:1-12 and John 21:1-12

Intro: Since the first Sunday of the year, we’ve been looking at the Gospel of John in relation to the Synoptic Gospels

Here in the last chapter of John, we find an interesting correlation
– in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, at beginning of Jesus’ ministry,
• he encounters four fishermen whom he calls to follow him
◦ Andrew and Peter are casting their net into the water
◦ James and John are in their boat mending their nets
• the Gospel of Luke tells us Jesus saw two empty boats by the shore
◦ he explains that the fishermen were washing their nets
▫ Jesus stepped into a boat that happened to belong to Peter
▫ from there he taught the people crowded on the shore
◦ after dismissing the crowd, Jesus said to Peter, “Let’s fish!”
And Simon answered him, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! (Lk. 5:4-5)
▫ but at Jesus’ word, he went back out into deep water and dropped his nets
▫ soon his nets so full they were breaking
▫ Peter called to his partners for help
▫ soon their boats were so full, they began to sink
• that’s when Peter’s eyes were open
◦ he fell at Jesus’ knees and said,
Depart from me, for I am a sinful man
◦ Jesus answered,
Do not be afraid, from now on you will be catching men
– so in the Synoptic Gospels, the story of Jesus first disciples is about fishermen and their nets

At the end of the Gospel of John we are taken back to Sea of Galilee
– here we find the disciples last encounter with Jesus (that John records)
• again, Peter, James and John have fished all night and caught nothing
• again, Jesus instructs them to do something that makes no sense
◦ and again, their net fills so that they cannot haul it into the boat
– So John brings first disciples full circle
• they’re back to where they began with Jesus in the Synoptic gospels
◦ John adds a footnote in verse 11
And although there so many [fish], the net was not torn
• Why did John bother with this detail? were nets flimsy and prone to tear?
◦ I wonder if John saw another significance in this fact
◦ not long after, Peter would preach his first sermon’s first sermon,
▫ and 3,000 people would be added to their spiritual community
▫ a couple of chapters later, another ; 2,000 had been added
they would be able to handle these large numbers
and their net would not tear

It may be helpful to pay attention to the grammar in verse 1

After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way.

The verb tense of “revealed” is active indicative
indicative means this was an actual event, not merely a possibility
active means Jesus was taking the initiative, the action was intentional
– when we look at the people to whom Jesus revealed himself after his resurrection
• it seems he was rather selective
◦ the women who came to the empty tomb; then then disciples
◦ then individuals: Mary, Thomas, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus
◦ now, in this instance, it is Peter
• it seems Jesus had a specific purpose in each encounter

John says Jesus revealed himself to the disciples,
– but the story features one particular disciple – “Simon Peter”
• Jesus definitely has Peter in his cross hairs
• Jesus chose Galilee for the conversation he wanted to have with him
– John opens this scene, and the first disciple mentioned is “Simon Peter”
• the first one to speak was “Simon Peter,” I am going fishing
(there may be layers of meaning beneath that statement)
• the first disciple to recognize Jesus was one whom Jesus loved,
◦ and he identified him to “Peter”
• so it was “Simon Peter” who jumped into water
(this wasn’t the only time he was the first out of the boat)
◦ he could not wait for the boat that had to drag the net full of fish
• when Jesus spoke to one specific disciple, was “Simon Peter”

John has carried us this far, mostly using Peter’s two names

The name he was born with and the name Jesus had given him
– Simon was how people knew him before Jesus
– Peter was the name Jesus gave him

But when Jesus began this conversation, he addressed him as
Simon son of John
– this entire name was Peter’s old identity, before he met Jesus
• and it was exactly how Jesus addressed Peter the first time they met
. . . one of the two [disciples of John the Baptist] who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” …. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter) (Jn. 1:40-42)
• I think this was Jesus’ first deep cut
◦ it may have sounded to Peter like Jesus was disowning him
◦ or that after all these years he had not made any progress
– do you love me more than these? – here is that famous Greek word
• in John, agape refers to a love of deep devotion and affection
◦ it was if Jesus asked, Do you love me as I have loved you
• Peter answered, Yes, Lord; you know I love you as a friend
◦ it seems Peter could not bring himself to use agape so he substituted phileo
◦ Jesus instructed him, Feed my lambs
– Jesus again asked the same question
◦ I think this was the second deep cut
◦ Peter gave the same answer
◦ and the instruction of the Lord, Tend my sheep
– a third time Jesus asked the same question
• only he changed it, from his word to Peter’s word
◦ Do you love me as your friend?
◦ and I imagine this was the third and most painful deep cut
Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you

What is happening here? Why is Jesus doing this to Peter?

Jesus’ intention was not to condemn or shame Peter, but to restore him
Daniel Siegel, clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA School of Medicine is especially interested in the neurobiology of interpersonal relationships. He explains that every relationship, no matter how close, experiences rupture–things break, people disappoint, misunderstandings occur. If the rupture is not repaired, distance can grow between the people in the relationship, whether couples, friends, parents, children, etc.
– to hold a relationship together does not mean there’s never a rupture
• but that the rupture is followed by an effort to repair the relationship
• this isn’t easy – we have to let ourselves become vulnerable
◦ we have to face the part we played in causing the rupture
◦ we also have to discover our own deep needs and hurts

From the start, Jesus knew the work he could do through Peter
– Peter also had glimpses of it – flashes of brilliance
• but before Simon could become Peter,
◦ he had to get out of his own way
◦ he had to fail–like Moses, and like Paul later on
Daniel Siegel, “The key [to repair] is to embrace the humility of our humanity …”
– in scripture, the fundamental rupture is in our rel with God
• the fundamental repair is reconciliation
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18)
For in [Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross (Col. 1:19-20)
• both rupture and reconciliation affect human physiology
◦ Jesus is concerned with healing the whole person
Daniel Siegel, “The great news is that the inner sanctuary from which repair can be initiated is always available to be nurtured and can bring important reconnections in our relationships.

Jesus did not ease into this conversation with Peter
– he went straight to the heart
• Peter was right, Jesus does know all things
◦ he knew that Peter loved him,
◦ he also knew that Peter had to say it to be healed
• and Jesus opened that door for him
– this is how Jesus took a fisherman and turned him into a shepherd

We’re coming to the good part – but first the dark before the dawn

Not everyone in Jesus’ culture loved being out on the lake
(lonely deserts, mountain tops, lakes and oceans represented danger and chaos)
– even in the gospels, the Sea of Galilee can represent futility
• they toiled all night and took nothing – that night they caught nothing – nada!
◦ also, storms on the sea prevented them from making headway
◦ returning to the sea was a regression into a fruitless and futile life
– it may be significant also that they had been fishing at night
• in John, night and darkness have negative connotations
1. Inability to get work done (Jn. 9:4)
2. Tripping, stumbling around, and falling (Jn. 11:9-10)
3. Ignorance of not being able to see what’s right there (Jn. 12:35)
4. Crimes hidden by cover of night (Jn. 3:19-20)
• and John remembered a detail from that last meal, when Judas got up and walked out: And it was night (Jn. 13:30)

Life gets difficult, complicated – it can be painful – overwhelming
– temptation can come at us fast and forcefully
• we fall and perhaps wonder, “Am I really cut out for this?”
• then what?
Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore

Conclusion: This is why Easter has always been a big deal

Every sunrise is resurrection – and we share it with Jesus
– we’re no longer stumbling in futility, no longer distant from God
• perhaps I cannot tell Jesus, “Lord, I love you as you love me”
• maybe I cannot even say, “Lord, you know I love you as a friend”
◦ I can at least say, “Lord, I want to love you as you love me”
◦ and that is enough

Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee can be spectacular
Most mornings, ripples sing quietly on the shore
The sun rises over the mountain range that separates Israel from Syria
Its light streams to the western shore before reaching the water
And as the day breaks,
the world comes back to life
Just as the day was breaking . . .
the light from the western horizon fell on Jesus
He is risen!
And with him, we rise
into light, into love, and into hope everlasting