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3/24/2022 0 Comments

Ministers of Reconciliation

Beloved of God,

Our Good Friday service is still several weeks away, but I have space for four people of any age to join us in reading Scripture. Most of the service is an opportunity to meditate on Christ’s sacrifice for us by letting Scripture guide our thoughts. Please email me if you would like to help lead us in this way.
Spring Break will be in full swing by week’s end, and I will be praying for those of you who are traveling. I do hope that you will make a special effort to join us on Sunday, April 3rd as we get a special opportunity to hear from our Mission and Outreach team during and after the service. God is at work among people far and near, and we will have a chance that Sunday to consider how we might take part in that work.

Our Scripture reading this week comes from 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. It relies on the metaphor of an ambassador, bearing news that the world has changed.
We don’t run into performative language as often as other types of speech. Performative language is the way that speaking can really and truly change the world. It can take a boyfriend and girlfriend and make them husband and wife. It takes students and makes them into graduates. It makes foster children sons and daughters. And yes, it takes loyal subjects and turns them into ambassadors.
We who are in Christ are a new creation, signs of a new world. We are not merely declared to be ambassadors, we are transformed into ambassadors and ministers of reconciliation. The old thing has gone. The new thing is here…and we’re it! Beloved, live your life as the new thing you are. Let God use you, a living sign of a new creation, to make His appeal to a world desperate to be renewed.

Please join me this week in praying for:

An end to this pandemic.
Those of us who are facing or recovering from medical interventions.
Those of us who will be traveling over Spring Break.
Those who respond to emergencies on our roads, in our wildlands, in our communities, and even in our homes
In praise for the good gift of late snowfall.
In joy over the arrival of spring.
The young people we know and love, especially those facing big changes or big decisions.
Mercy when we need it, and wisdom where we lack it.
Each other (please email [email protected] if you’d like to be added to our prayer list).

You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world,

Marshall

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3/17/2022 0 Comments

God's ways are not our ways...

Beloved of God,

    We are still a good bit away from Easter, but may I invite you to consider whether you might serve as a reader in our Good Friday service? It is open to folks of all ages and may be a wonderful way for you to help lead us as we remember Christ’s sacrificial death for the love of the world. We will be reading much of the passion narrative from the Gospel of John and will benefit from lots of different voices. Please email me if you would like to serve this way on Friday, April, 15.

Our Scripture reading for Sunday starts with a powerful economic metaphor. Many of us will have had a moment where we go to check out at a store and realize we don’t have the cash we thought we did. Or you try to pay out and your card gets declined. It’s a terrible feeling. Did a big payment clear and leave less than I realized? Did somebody get access to my account and go on a spending spree? I could have sworn there was more money in that account. What happened?
Throughout most of history in most places, the norm has been that people live their lives right up against this reality all the time. So when a word like this arrives, it is enough to disarm, and bewilder:
Come, all you who are thirsty,
        come to the waters;
    and you who have no money,
        come, buy and eat!
    Come, buy wine and milk
        without money and without cost.
    Isaiah 55:1-9 tells of a total repentance and forgiveness without account. God calls to His people and invites them into a restored relationship with Himself. He tells them to repent so that he can forgive them entirely, with all the lavishness of a shopping spree where money is no concern. And almost in anticipation of somebody objecting, we hear this:
    Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
        and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
    “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
        neither are your ways my ways,”
                declares the LORD.

How often have we heard folks talk about how God’s ways are not our ways to each other, or to children? How often do we recall that these words are referring specifically to God’s lavish, unaccountable forgiveness? What if repentance was a habit in our lives, and amending our ways was our way in the world precisely because we knew our God desires to restore us?

Please join me this week in praying for:

An end to this pandemic, and in praise for signs of improvement.
Doctors, nurses, PA’s, paramedics, and others working to keep us all well.
Those who are suffering the ravages of war, especially our Christian siblings.
Our new neighbors from Afghanistan, and for the possibilities that exist in our relationship with them.
Those of us who have had or face medical procedures; for the medical staff that will give them care and for quick and complete convalescence.
Those in positions of public trust at the federal, state, and local levels.
Those who respond to emergencies on our highways, in our wildlands, in our communities, and even in our homes.
In thanksgiving for the good work of missionaries, like Patrick of Ireland, who made sharing the gospel with a beloved people the work of their whole lives.
Each other (please email [email protected] if you’d like to be added to our prayer list)

You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world,

Marshall

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3/4/2022 0 Comments

The Temptation of Jesus

Beloved of God,
     I want to make sure you are planning to spend time with us a week from Sunday as we have our monthly “Standing Lunch Date Potluck”. There are rumors that we will be thinking green for lunch that day, but stay tuned for more detail. It will be wonderful to fellowship with you.
I’m excited for all of the opportunities for study and discipleship that are available through Lent as we approach Easter. Please feel free to reach out to me if you are looking for a way to grow or recenter over the next 6 weeks.
Our Scripture reading this week comes from Luke 4:1-13. As the Accuser tempts Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus finds his strength in exactly the place we should: the Word of God in Scripture. He will not perform a miracle to meet his own needs because:
“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
Jesus will not offer his worship in exchange for authority, because:
“It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
But of course the most tense moment is the final temptation, where Jesus is taken to the pinnacle of the temple, and the argument is this: If God loves you, then you will not suffer harm. And the Accuser doubles down on this argument by pointing to Scripture:
    …it is written:
     “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you
        to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands,
        so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
We notice that even Satan quotes Scripture, and we notice also that this is especially nefarious. This is fighting dirty; using something incomparably good for wicked ends. I’m struck by Jesus’ response to this, because one fascinating change in his response pattern:
Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
It is said. Not, “It is written” but, “it is said”. It is not simply that the Scriptures float alone on a stream of meaning that can be turned in any direction. The Scriptures are most at home not on the written page, but in our lives. Scripture is most powerful not when it is recited, but faithfully lived. “It is said ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” In that moment of temptation, Jesus was strengthened not only by the written Word of God, by the lives of those faithful enough to believe it, live it, and say it.
Please join me this week in praying for:

Justice and Peace in central Europe, especially for those fleeing invasion.
An end to this pandemic.
Doctors, nurses, PA’s, paramedics and others working to keep us all well.
God’s grace as we seek to love others.
God’s strength as others try to love us.
Wisdom for those facing big decisions for themselves and those they love.
A sense of call and creativity as we bear witness to friends, neighbors, and coworkers about our faith.
In thanksgiving for the graces and gifts we imagine we have earned.
Each other ( please email [email protected] if you’d like to be added to our prayer list).