Luke 19:45-48

Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said, “It is written,

‘My house shall be a house of prayer’;
    but you have made it a den of robbers.”

Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.



One of my earliest memories as a kid about Jesus was when my best friend and I spent one summer listening to the "Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack" over and over and over again (rather like I've been doing with the soundtrack to "Hamilton" these days!)

I remember being especially transfixed by the angry Jesus,  breaking into the chorus of the crowd singing the above: "My temple should be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. Get up! Get out!" Ted Neely's impressive range rocks any sense of calm or ease as his vocals scream in furious, righteous anger.

That Jesus stayed with me.

Not because he was so angry - although I was strangely comfortable with the idea of a Jesus who gets angry.

But he stayed with me because of how deeply he broke into that moment. Jesus wants to break into our moments. Our moments of comfortable assimilation.

Our moments of selfish ambition or greed.

Our moments of resignation.

This Jesus that I heard was passionate and unwilling to let things lie. Unwilling for wrongs to be left un-righted.

That Jesus came to bring fire as he said in the gospel this past Sunday.

He came to bring passion and move us out of apathy.

There was no way to be apathetic listening to Ted Neely's Jesus scream those lyrics.

There's no way to be apathetic to a Jesus who wants to break into our world and light it on fire.

Light us on fire.

Move us to that same passion.

Has Jesus broken into your world?

Lord, wake me up! Help me to see the passion you call me to! Amen

Psalm 32

Psalm 32

Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
    whose sin is covered.
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
    and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

While I kept silence, my body wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
    my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.Selah

Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the guilt of my sin.Selah

Therefore let all who are faithful
    offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
    shall not reach them.
You are a hiding place for me;
    you preserve me from trouble;
    you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.Selah

I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
    whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
    else it will not stay near you.

Many are the torments of the wicked,
    but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,
    and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Had a little trouble getting started this week with my devotions, and I realize that I just needed a break from Acts. It's a busy book, Acts, and while it has a lot of offer - as I hope I've shown - I needed to share something today that seemed a bit more spiritual, or devotional, in it's content. 

So for a bit, I'm going to return to the daily lectionary texts - especially the Psalms. It's been a while since I've done this and there is something about the randomness of the lectionary, as well as the theology and beauty of the Psalms, that felt like I needed to attend to.

And this Psalm seems a marvelous place to begin. "Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven."

Ain't that the truth?

God as balm. God as deliverance. God as a place of refuge. All made possible by forgiveness granted with love and grace.

But it is not simply the forgiveness granted that is balm.

It is, as the Psalmist makes clear, also in the acknowledging and confessing of the wrong. It is admitting the sin. 

Because it is there that you are able to live in truth. And truth is freeing. It is freeing for the person being forgiven and also for the person doing the forgiving.

Forgiveness is something that we don't often practice asking for or granting. I read recently an article that said it isn't enough to say: "That's OK" when someone apologizes. The freedom comes when to that apology we say, "You are forgiven." 

Those words are often hard to hear. 

But they are also life-giving. A source of glad cries of deliverance!

Lord, help me to find those places where I need forgiveness and give me the courage to ask for it. And in those places where I need to forgive, grant me the compassion which you have show to do so. Amen.

Moving On: Acts 18:24-28

Acts 18:24-28

Now there came to Ephesus a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria. He was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures. He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord; and he spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately. And when he wished to cross over to Achaia, the believers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who through grace had become believers, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus.

This text follows some back and forth by Paul. Originally accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila (this is one of those sections where Priscilla is named first), he has now left them behind in Ephesus to continue the work without him.

He's equipped them for ministry and they - both of them - seem to be ready to pass that on.

Equipping isn't the job of one. It's the job of all. Priscilla and Aquila followed Paul, listened to him, watched him in action and then he went on his way and they did the same for Apollos.

Equipping is passed on.

Ministry is also passed on.

Our jobs in ministry are transportable and transferable.

We don't own them.

We learn. We do. We show. We demonstrate. We pass on.

And we move on.

It's one of the hardest parts of ministry. Moving on. It's hard for leaders and it's hard for disciples. But each person is part of a moving system that has been operating for 2000 years. 

Our job is to keep moving. Keep passing on. Not to stay still.

To listen, to learn, to show, and then to let go.

Lord: Prepare me. Move me. Give me courage. Set me loose and then help me to move on to whatever comes next. Amen.

Letting Go: Acts 18:5-7

Acts 18:5-7

When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that the Messiahwas Jesus. When they opposed and reviled him, in protest he shook the dust from his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” Then he left the synagogue and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue.

How long do we hang on to things we should let go of?

It's a question that every individual, and every group, probably needs to address at some point or another. And if you haven't yet, it might be time to start thinking about it.

Letting go is difficult. Letting go individually and letting go communally.

We hold on to things we knew. Certainly, Paul probably knew more how to be Jewish Christian than how to convert Gentiles. Yet he also knew that his call was to be the apostle to the Gentiles. And here in this story, that becomes quite clear to him.

It might be easy to look at this as him just giving up with the Jews. But there were others still there for the task of preaching to the Jews.

Paul knew when to call it. When to move on. When to let go.

Do you?

Do we?

Gracious God, help me to see when it is time to shake the dust off my feet and move on. Amen

Pricilla: Acts 18:1-4

Acts 18:1-4

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together—by trade they were tentmakers. Every sabbath he would argue in the synagogue and would try to convince Jews and Greeks.

I have to admit that I did a little research for this one because something intrigued me as I was reading it.

Do you see what is said here: Paul went to see them...he stayed with them. And they worked together.

Paul with Pricilla and Aquila.

This husband and wife were a team.

They worked together.

And this is what I found out when I dug a little deeper. In the book of Acts, Pricilla and Aquila are always mentioned together. They are mentioned six times.

Three times Aquila is mentioned first.

And the other three, Pricilla is.

As a woman working in the church today, I am constantly surprised that the role of women in the church is still an issue. There are many denominations that still won't give women a role in leadership and clergy, and where patriarchy still reigns.

But here is a married couple who worked with the Apostle Paul together. Both as important to him as the other. Each one helping to birth this fledgling church.

So, I give thanks for women like Pricilla who led the way. Who served as a work partner to Paul, and as life partner to a husband who clearly saw her as having value and an important role to play in God's kin-dom.

Lord, thank you for Pricilla and women who have blazed trails in your church for all of us who have come after. Amen.

Resurrection: Acts 17:29-32

Acts 17:29-32

"Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 

The second readily familiar theme for Christians that pops up in this text is that of the "resurrection of the dead." As with repentance, it is paradoxically both ubiquitous and somehow overlooked.

We in churches who confess the ancient Creeds, say in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds that we believe in the Resurrection of the Body and the Resurrection of the Dead. 

We say it weekly.

But I know from experience that many people either say it in a state of confusion or in some cases disbelief. Because we seldom discuss what it means.

Nadia Bolz-Weber once wrote something that I think is enormously helpful for those who find themselves stuck. 

She said that at those moments when you struggle with believing the Creed, that those worshipping around you are believing for you.

She said don't wait until you believe to come to church and praise and celebrate God's activity. Let God's faithfulness and the belief of those around you lift you up.

I'm not going to lie. It's hard to understand or even believe in the Resurrection of the Dead or the body. I could give you lots of reasons why I believe in it. I could tell you how the fact that the Word became Flesh means that the body - and not just spirit or soul - is important to our Creator. 

I could tell you that ideas of flesh being bad and spirit being good come from Plato, not from our Judeo-Christian tradition.

I could tell you that even science is convincing me more and more of my belief through the things I'm reading about quantum mechanics. 

But mostly what I want to tell you if you have trouble wrapping your head around the Resurrection of the Dead is to be patient with yourself. If you aren't there yet, God's still got you.

Let God's faithfulness and the belief of those around you lift you up. Keep praising. Keep worshipping. Keep hoping. Keep sharing in God's meal.

Because the grace of God is bigger even than our struggles to believe.

Faithful God, help me to lean into your faithfulness. Amen

Repentance: Acts 17:29-32

Acts 17:29-32

"Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 

Two themes should be familiar to Christians at this point in our history, and both of them, I've noticed, are themes that we maybe aren't really all that comfortable talking about much - despite their ubiquity. 

Repentance and Resurrection of the dead.

First, today, a little bit about repentance. It's an uncomfortable topic that truly goes against almost everything our public and national discourse tells us. How often do the words "I repent" come out of our mouths? Perhaps in worship we dare to say them before God. But even then, not perhaps often. And what about other times?

Repentance here, and in other places in the New Testament, is from the Greek word "metanoia," which literally means a "change of mind" or a literal "turning around" to face a new direction.

It isn't about shame. It isn't about feeling guilty even. It is about starting over. Beginning again. Changing course.

In church we have a time during worship where we ask for forgiveness. That is certainly a part of what Paul is talking about here.

But repentance goes beyond this. It is literally beginning again in a completely new way. It is leaving the old behind and being new.

It isn't something we Western Christians - or we Americans in particular - show much public comfort with. This week, you can probably look in the paper at any news story - particularly in the Presidential race or in other political news - and see many opportunities where a change of mind or change of course - a repentance - would have been healing balm.

Can you think of a time where you repented in this "metanoia" way? A time where you changed course from one way of thinking or being to another more healthy, healing and holistic way of thinking or being? Was it easy? What was it that prompted you?

And if not, what does repentance mean to you? What might you being called to repent of? Where might you be asked to change your path or how might you be asked to change your mind?

Where do we even begin?

Lord of all nations, create in me a repentant heart and mind so that I may turn to you always. Amen.