Mission

Jeremiah 1:4-10

 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 
‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
 I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’ 
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. 
Do not be afraid of them,
 for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.’ 


Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,
‘Now I have put my words in your mouth. 
See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, 
to pluck up and to pull down,
 to destroy and to overthrow,
 to build and to plant.’

This text from Jeremiah is at the same time both comforting and terrifying.

It’s comforting that God knows us back even before we know ourselves.  Before our parents have even laid eyes on us.  It maybe should be scary that God knows us so well that we can’t hide anything, but instead that comforts me.  Honestly, there are times when I don’t know which way is up or down about myself, so it’s good to know God does.

For me the scary part is the consecrating and appointing part - especially here, before Jeremiah was born.  For Jeremiah it came early.  When God wants our service, God gets it.

No matter how ready – or unready – we are.

Jeremiah the child can’t use the excuse of childhood as a way out of service, so it’s unlikely that any feeble excuse I can come up with is going to work.

God’s mission comes first.  And it is sometimes scary to feel the weight of responsibility for that.  What if I mess up?  What if I'm not sure what to do or how to do it?  For the mission, God’s emphatic response is that God will be there to lead.  It is God who builds and plants, who plucks up and puts down.  

And that included plucking me up when I fail.  When I fall. 

When I put God’s mission front of me, the rest will follow.  "Do not be afraid," God says.  As I've said before, those words appear over and over in scripture - more than almost any other phrase.

It doesn't mean we will get it right all the time.  It doesn't mean we won't fail.  But it does mean that God is with us, and ready to pluck us up to start all over again.

We aren't all prophets like Jeremiah.  But we do all have God's abiding presence and strength, urging us on to carry out God's mission in whatever ways we have been gifted.

Gracious God, there are so many times I feel unprepared for the tasks ahead of me.  Help me to discern the tasks required for your mission to separate them out from busy work, and help me to reach into the deep well of strength that you provide to carry them out.  Amen.

The silent voice

Genesis 35:1-15 (NRSV)

God said to Jacob, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.’ So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your clothes; then come, let us go up to Bethel, that I may make an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.’ So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak that was near Shechem.

 As they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities all around them, so that no one pursued them. Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So it was called Allon-bacuth.

 God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. 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. God said to him, ‘I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.’ Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him. Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink-offering on it, and poured oil on it. So Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

Jacob’s story sometimes reads like an exciting, albeit violent, movie.  The Godfather’s got nothing on it.  This section, where God gives Jacob his new name, is sandwiched between some of Jacob’s most dramatic moments.  It comes after his wrestling with the angel and right before the birth of Benjamin and death of Rachel, leading to all that happens to his son Joseph (with his coat of many colors).

But almost missed, and often forgotten, is what happens immediately preceding this text.  It’s a story I’ve always wished I knew more about: the story of Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, who is raped and then married to her rapist, Shechem.  The reason Jacob is worried about being pursued is because of his sons’ revenge against her rapists.  As part of the marriage agreement, Shechem and all the men in his family and clan were tricked by Jacob's sons and agreed to be circumcised, and then, as they were recovering, Dinah’s brothers attacked and butchered them, taking Dinah back.

Jacob rightfully was worried about what the reactions of the neighboring clans would be!  So here, God protects him as he leaves the area and returns to Bethel.

But what about Dinah?  In all of this, her voice remained silent.  What did she think about all of it?  She’d been brutalized and then married off, and then watched as the man who’d raped her, but also her husband, was murdered by her family.  Yep, worthy of The Godfather.

When I read text like this it is the silent voice that stands out and it makes me realize that while this may be a story on a page for us and may seem worthy of the Hollywood, the truth is that women like Dinah were used as bargaining chips, were often brutalized, and didn’t usually get to be the ones to have their say in their lives.

Is there anyone in our lives today whose voices are hushed by the loud din of everyone else scrambling for their voices to be heard first?  Who are they and how can we make sure they get heard?  Over the centuries, sadly, the Church has sometimes engaged in silencing voices on both a large, as well as a small scale.  

We know that Jesus came to bring outcasts and outsiders to himself and into his fold.  He came so that voices would be heard and not silenced.

Is there anyone that needs listening to that isn't being listened to currently?

Lord help me to listen for the voices who need to have their say.  Let me actively seek out those who often get lost in the shuffle and remember their importance to you in your kingdom. Amen.

Praise

Psalm 29

 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,^*
 ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
 worship the Lord in holy splendour.


The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
  the God of glory thunders,
 the Lord, over mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful;
 the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
 the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.  He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.


The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;  the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.


The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,^*
and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, ‘Glory!’

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. 
May the Lord give strength to his people!
 May the Lord bless his people with peace!

 There is praise, and there is praise.  This “psalm of David” is praise.

I remember when I was learning about prayer – in Confirmation or Sunday School or maybe even in an adult forum – we talked about the ACTS prayer:  Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.  It was easy for me to stumble over the steps, worrying so much about whether I was covering every base and not skipping any important part.  Did I praise effusively enough?  Did I confess everything I needed to?  Did I remember everything I was thankful for?  Did I remember to ask for everyone I knew who needed prayer?

And here is David, whose Psalms of prayer and praise slip seamlessly from his lips and onto the page and through time.  And I remember…

I can pray this Psalm.  When I’m too broken, when the praises don’t want to come, and I’m feeling grumbly more than grateful, I can know that the Lord is still glorious and strong. 

I can know that the voice of the Lord still thunders over the mighty waters and flashes forth flames of fire.

I can know that the Lord still gives strength to his people and blesses them even when they feel broken, awkward, off, grumbly or when the praises just don’t fall naturally from their lips.  My lips.  

I feel blessed to know people who have the gift of prayer.  There are some for whom prayer is as simple as breathing.  For others it is more difficult.  If like me, you have those in your life who are prayer warriors, use their knowledge and faith.  Let them lead you and guide you.

But know also that God isn't counting the steps.  God is looking for time with you. Begin your day even in silence for some one on one time with your creator or use the words of prayer from someone else whose words strike you as meaningful - especially when you are feeling broken, awkward, off, or grumbly.

Lord I adore you.  I thank you and I confess that I am broken.  Lift me up and help me pray.  And when the words won't come, I thank you for the words of your servant David whose words of truth echo through the millennia.  Amen.

Road to Damascus

Acts 9:1-9

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

There have been times in my life I’ve wondered “why can’t I have a ‘Road to Damascus’ moment like Paul?”  As if the only way to be able to verify or be transformed by my faith is to have had faith blind me like a thunderbolt, with Jesus’ voice calling me from on high, scaring me into submission.  I’m sure I’m not alone.  I know others have wished that God would appear so suddenly - so irrefutably - that faith made sense to everyone, including ourselves.

But as I read this again and again, each time I see that the transformation of Saul, who breathes threats and murder, to Paul, who blind is led by the hand after an awe-striking encounter with the risen Christ, isn’t one for the faint of heart.  It isn’t, perhaps, the kind of transformation we really want, is it?

Most of us won’t have that Road to Damascus moment – that thundering faith transforming event that changes us without question.  So it’s easy to miss or forget or overlook that despite the lack of dramatic flair, transformation is nevertheless what’s happening to us.

Bit by bit, moment by moment, as Luther said, Christ drives out the old Adam in us.  That old self becomes the new creation, drowning daily to sin in the waters of baptism.

It’s so faint, I admit I don’t always notice it.  Especially when in my ongoing brokenness I mess up yet again.

I’ve always had a tendency to love drama, so admittedly sometimes bit-by-bit gets frustrating.

And yet there are moments when that voice from heaven, usually soft and tender rather than thunderous, makes an imprint on my heart, and like Paul I fall to my knees and get a glimpse of that new creation.

Lord of thunder and tenderness, forgive my impatience.  And forgive my not noticing that amazing transformation you create both in me and in the world around me.  Help me to live into that transformation, growing each day into my true, whole self.

Amen.

Equipped

Ephesians 4:7, 11-16 (NRSV)

7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ¹¹The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹²to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. ¹⁴We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. ¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Those who read my blog who are, like me, members of St. Paul’s Lutheran church, probably are familiar with this passage.  It is posted at the entry to the church office and has been quoted much in the past year by both Pastor Mark and myself.  It was the part of scripture in fact that got the ball rolling for me to be the Director of Equipping Ministries.

It’s good to have a focus – being equipped for ministry – but here Paul tells it is more than that.  We have to have a reason for being equipped - a reason even for ministry.  More than that even, a reason for building up the body of Christ.

That reason is for all to “come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.” 

Mature in the faith.  No longer children, tossed to and fro.  Our faith then is not a static thing.  It is an ever-growing thing.

It strikes me that as with maturing biologically, maturing in our faith is going to sometimes be uncomfortable.  It’s sometimes going to be awkward and strange and painful.  Growing is never a smooth process.

That means part of growing and maturing to this unity Paul is talking about means sometimes we are going to hear things that confront us and we disagree with.  It means we aren’t always going to get it right even if people we’ve known and trusted in our growing faith have assured us that we are.

It’s going to mean sometimes having our faith shaken.

Growing hurts.  Ligaments and muscles are knitted together and stretch and grow and it hurts.

Until it doesn’t anymore.

Equipping God, please remind me that pain means I am growing. Remind me that as I stumble and fall and get up again you are there, your truth always surrounding me with love until I am fully knit together as part of your new creation. Amen.