What's that smell? - Ephesians 5:1-2

Ephesians 5:1-2

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

I'm not going to lie. I've never been a big fan of Jesus as "sacrifice" language. It made sense perhaps for the Jewish population of first century Jerusalem. But for 21st century Christians? 

I think it can cause us all kinds of complications and isn't really something I think we can easily wrap our minds around. 

I won't give you a treatise on my problems with substitutionary atonement theory (if you want more information, here is something Richard Rohr wrote that I found very helpful:http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Richard-Rohr-s-Meditation--Love--Not-Atonement.htmlaid=iXa_UNn2YaQ&soid=1103098668616).

However, there is something about the sacrifice of the Jewish people here that is worth investigating. 

Sacrifice offerings were fragrant.

I can attest to that. Apologies to those of you who are vegetarian or vegan, but is there anything better than the smell of a good BBQ?

Or a steak thrown on a charcoal fire pit?

What does a really great smell do for you? 

What does it do TO you?

Imagine God just relishing the fragrance of the very best smell.

That's what we're being called to be. That great smell. That BBQ. Or steak.

Or if you prefer another great smell - a rose, or fresh baked bread, or freshly ground coffee, or fresh mountain air (hmmmm..."fresh" seems to be a connector here!)*

Be that smell, Paul is saying to the Ephesians. Be that smell.

Because a great smell does something wonderful to you. And whether you like sacrifice language or not, Jesus - like a great smell - does something for us.

So go forth and SMELL like you mean it!

Lord, let my praise and prayers rise up like incense. And let me scent be pleasing to you and to your people! Amen

* if you are interested, here is a list of the best smelling things in the world from Ranker. Is your favorite on this list? http://www.ranker.com/list/best-smells/jacob-shelton

Brought to our knees: Luke 5:4-8

Luke 5:4-8

When (Jesus) had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

What has brought you to your knees?

Maybe it was joy. Or grief. Or like Peter, repentance or shame.

For me it was grief. When my grandmother died I remember falling to my knees as if they gave out from under me. I couldn't stand. 

I felt demonstrably weakened.

What has made you feel weakened? Or vulnerable?

Being weak isn't a good thing in our culture. Being strong is what it's all about. And yet, when faced with the reality of who Jesus was and what he could accomplish, Peter gave into his weakness.

And acknowledged it.

And maybe that's what an encounter with Jesus the Christ is meant to do us. Reveal us in our most vulnerable state.

And then tell us that it is in that state - that vulnerable state - that we are strong. 

It's enough to bring you to your knees.


Lord, help me not to hide from my vulnerability, and help me to remember that even in weakness, you have given me strength beyond measure. Amen.

Sing a New Song: Psalm 40:1-3

Psalm 40:1-3

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

I waited patiently for the Lord; 
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the desolate pit,
    out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
    and put their trust in the Lord.

When I was 47 years old, I did something for the first time that most 47 year olds don't do for the first time: I got a tattoo. It was meant to mark the new place in my life in which I found myself. I was an Approved Rostered Leader of the ELCA and I was in my first call. This is my tattoo:

It is the title of a song that means a lot to my faith life: "40" by the band U2. And yes, it is based on Psalm 40. It is based, in fact, on these three opening lines of Psalm 40. The first verse of the song is: "I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit, out of the miry clay." And the refrain: "I will sing, sing a new song." And then the final verse: "He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm. Many will see, many will see and hear. I will sing, sing a new song..."*

I was in a place now where I was ready to sing a new song. Where my footsteps felt more secure. Where everything that had led me to this point began to make sense.

It's something to feel like God has got you. That struggles begin to make sense. That everything in the end feels worth it.

That the tears have been wiped away.

It doesn't mean there won't be more struggles, or more tears. That there won't be times that the earth begins to feel like miry clay again, and the rock feels less secure.

But when that happens, I now look at that "40" on my arm and I am reminded of the hope and the possibility and yes, even the certainty, that will once again envelope me.

It helps me remember.

You don't have to get a tattoo to remember. But I've found that having some kind of marking or symbol can be so helpful to help you sing a new song, when the old one just isn't working for you anymore.

I will sing a new song to you Lord! Amen.

*  credit to U2: Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullin, Jr. From the War Album - 1983.

No such thing as only: Jeremiah 1:6-7

Jeremiah 1:6-7

Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the Lord said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.

How many times have I said it? I can't do that. I'm new. 

Or I'm not experienced enough.

Or I'm not strong enough.

I'm only this. Or I'm only that...

God has a long history of rejecting the word 'only'.  Jeremiah here was only a boy. 

Isaiah was only a man of unclean lips, as was Peter.

Moses was only a man for whom speech was difficult. And David was only a shepherd.

Abraham and Sarah were only older folks past childbearing years, and Mary was only a young maiden who wasn't married yet.

What is it that you feel you are "only?"

What is it that God is telling you that you truly are?

God of all, I am capable because you have equipped me. You have formed me. You have blessed me. Help me to share what you've given me with the world. Amen.

What's in a Name? - Genesis 35:10

Genesis 35:10

God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall you be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he was called Israel. 

The fourteen year old (or there about) girl, sighed into her hand on the balcony, bemoaning her fate. To love someone with such a terrible, and yet wonderful, name.

Montague.

"What's in a name?" she asks. "That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."

What is in a name indeed! To have a name be so contentious is quite a thing, whether you are a young maiden or a shepherd and aspiring patriarch who has a tendency to trick people.

Jacob was such a man. And in the end, after wrestling with God, his very name came to mean exactly that: Israel means "God contended."

On the surface, such a terrible name.

A name that bespeaks fighting with God.

And yet such a wonderful name. Wonderful enough that an entire nation took that name from the trickster formerly known as Jacob.

Because that is what we do, is it not? We wrestle each and every day with this path that is before us. With this identity that God has given us. With our names being written on God's heart.

It is not easy, God tells us. And shows us.

We struggle.

And yet through each struggle, our name - who we truly are in God - becomes clearer and clearer.

What is in a name? What is in YOUR name?

Who has God called you?

Who is God calling you to be?

Lord of all, my name is written on your heart. Show me who I am. Amen.

Just getting started: Mark 1:1

Mark 1:1

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The gospels all have ways of beginning that are thrilling in their own unique ways, and the Gospel of Mark perhaps most thrilling in it's simplicity and brevity.

And yet in its expansiveness as well.

Because Mark's story is still going on.

He says so right there. Right in "the beginning."

Like the gospel writer of John, he begins at the beginning. But Mark's beginning is still in progress.

His short gospel he is telling us is just the beginning of a story that's still happening.

The ending of the gospel tells us that. The original ending of the Gospel of Mark is this: 

"When (the women) looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid."

What an ending! Talk about a cliff-hanger.

And maybe that's the point. We are living in the cliff-hanger. 

The good news is still happening. WE are in the story.

God is just getting started.

And that can and should bring us terror and amazement.

Lord, you have made me part of your story. Lead the way! Amen

Live: John 15:1-5

John 15:1-5

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

Why does a branch bear fruit?

Because it's alive.

It is alive because it is connected to the source. It is connected to the rest of the tree, and that great sap of life running through it. It can tap into the water it needs and the minerals from the soil.

I'm no botanist. Biology was not even one of my best classes in school. So admittedly, I may not know the exact way trees provide life to their branches. 

But I know what it means to be connected to the Source of life.

I know because I know what I feel when I am not connected to the Source. I know what it feels to be isolated, cut off.

As a New Year dawns, perhaps it is a good time to ask yourself what are the ways in which you are connected to the Source of Life? What are the ways you sometimes isolate yourself from it?

This goes beyond simply going to church. Being in a church community can be life giving and is certainly a way to connect to the Source of Life.

But even going to church every Sunday may not mean we are connected. We may not be getting the sustenance only others on their own faith journeys can give us. Or being a source of sustenance for them...

Just as sometimes we may find ourselves connected to the Source of Life in other ways: through service at a soup kitchen; in an intimate relationship with our spouse; coaching our child's soccer team; or experience God's glory in creation.

So, as you begin this year, ask yourself if there is something that can connect you to life - that can help you tap into something that can show that you yourself are a Source of abundant life.

Lord, help me to truly be alive. Amen