We made it to May 22!

What were you doing May 21, 2011 – the supposed day of the rapture?

Isaiah 65 leaves us with the warm fuzzes ready to experience this reality of the New Jerusalem (The wolf and the lamb shall feed together). Then we read Luke 21 (Earthquakes, war, famines, plagues, persecution…). That doesn’t leave us with quite the warm fuzzes. As a matter of fact it leaves us with quite the opposite feeling. The people love their Temple – admire its beauty. They don’t want it to be rubble. Thrown down to pieces? This strikes fear into the people they need to know the outcome… they need to know when will this come to pass? As people long for the glory of their beautiful temple Jesus points out the reality of the broken world.

Earthquakes, war, famines, plagues, persecution, prison… all the things that as Christians we want to end - yet we can’t. These calamities happen every day and make us long for Isaiah chapter 65 to truly come to fruition.

I don’t believe that Jesus is trying to instill fear in the people, but I do believe that Jesus it trying to wake the people up to the reality of the world around. It’s not about the temple – it’s about God’s kingdom. Jesus sends the people with hope. Though the darkness of this world has not been overcome we can let our light shine through it – these calamities give us the opportunity to testify. Testify to the glory of God.

Out of the rubble comes new life. The same can be said of most disasters – in the wake of recovery, those who survive are often stronger and more appreciative than ever of the simple gifts of life.

Isaiah leaves us longing for the future the New Jerusalem – Luke leaves us fearful of the future. Isaiah say’s we’ll forget the past the pain – Luke says we’ll gain our souls.

Jesus came to declare the kingdom of God is at hand! Let’s stop setting dates for the “end” and start working for the kingdom today.

Holy Living Made Simple

Joseph Murdy, Intern

“As he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:16
What does it mean to live a Holy Life? I would think that for every person you ask, you are most likely to get a different answer. We cannot ignore the fact that the Bible does put forth guidelines for living holy lives. There are always some kind of boundaries, lines drawn, or demands made. The truth is the guidelines for holy living are gifts, ways in which God can keep us spiritually safe and in his constant care. The first of such guidelines are the Ten Commandments. These commandments are not meant to be a burden, but an opportunity to live according to God’s word. If you think about all the commandments, are they for God or for us? If you cheat on your spouse, who gets in trouble? If you lie, steal, covet, murder, who suffers the consequences? Consider the commandments to be God’s way of keeping His children safe. I give thanks that even though there are boundaries, when we step over them God always comes to get us.

Living a Holy life is about making the right choices and responding to God’s love. Jesus once summarized the entire meaning of the law, the Old Testament and pretty much everything else. If you want to live Holy lives, “love one another as I have loved you.” If you think about it, it’s really that simple. Consider all the areas of your life with wrapped with yellow caution tape reading “unholy.” What might you do to tear down those unholy walls, clean the unholy mess, and start living holy lives? If you are reading this and you want to begin living a holy life, start with Christ. 1 Peter says, “as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves.” Holiness starts at the cross. It starts by admitting we need Christ. The second step has to do with conformity. When we conform ourselves to the desires of this world, we begin to look like this world. When we decide to conform ourselves to Christ, we begin to look like Christ. It is in Christ that we are all made holy before God. Christ has done most of the work; all it takes now is a little response. The meaning of the commandments: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Just love, it’s that simple!

Decisions!

Synod Assembly was last week. One of the best moments at Synod Assembly was when it ended and Cheryl and I stayed a little later so that we could spend quality time in the lazy river. We were staying at the Omni Resort which had a pretty large lazy river by the pool. Cheryl and I forgot swimsuits, but the river was simply too tempting. We went to a JC Penny to get suits our first night at the hotel but hadn’t had a chance to use them yet. We had already checked out of the hotel, but went back to the car to pull our suits from the JC Penny bag and used the public restroom to change. Then we grabbed our tube and floated around and around, under the waterfalls, through the bubbles, and eventually went to enjoy a wonderful lunch together.

It was a peaceful moment in the midst of a chaotic life. The truth we are busy people and have daily decisions to make. It could be things as simple as what food to eat to how can our lives reflect Christ and do Kingdom Work to our family life at home. Decisions, decisions, decisions! These are not just for us to make but the church has some decisions to make too.

At the final session one of the resolutions on the table was to declare a moratorium on social statements. The fear was that we spend too much money trying to put together social statements. One clergy rose to the microphone first with a passionate speech. What he shared with the assembly is that if we no longer have social statements then all the world will hear is what comes out of Rome. Rome doesn’t offer for all congregations to send representatives to have discussion and vote on what they believe. Rome simply has a process in-house and declares a statement. We as the ELCA create a statement and invite the whole church to include voices in the decisions and statements we make. It may be tough for us to make statements, but the gift is that we get to be a part of the process. The resolution was defeated.

It would be easier, like floating down a lazy river, if we stopped making social statements. However, Jesus calls us to speak out in the world and this is one way that we do Kingdom Work. If you are unfamiliar with ELCA statements I hope you take time to check them out online: http://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-Issues.aspx

And as we work to bring God’s Kingdom here, we give praise for those peaceful moments in the midst of a chaotic life!

What’s there to stop him?

By: Joseph Murdy

When I started college every freshman was given an obnoxious key chain to hang from around our necks. We were told over and over not to lose our key, and to take it everywhere…even to the shower. Year after year, and speech after speech it made no difference. Dozens of us still found a way to lock ourselves out of our dorms. I was there no more than a week, and found myself stunningly surprised that I had forgotten my key as I was trying to get back into the dorm after a shower. There I was in my towel, holding my shower caddy, flip-flops and wet hair…with no key!

When I read John 20, this is the first thing that came into my mind. Instead of being locked out and unable to get in, the disciples locked everyone else out and secured themselves inside. Twice in this story about Jesus’ first appearance the doors were said to be locked and yet Jesus stood among them saying, “peace be with you.” When we are afraid, embarrassed, vulnerable, guilty, lonely, or terrified we tend to lock the door of our heart. We expect that no one will be able to hurt us there, in our safe place, or should I say…in our hiding place. When we feel ashamed for our sins, afraid of what the world will say, or afraid of what’s on the other side of the door we can rest in the comfort of knowing that Christ is always with us. In our pain, doubt, and disappointments, Christ is there. Sometimes we try to hide ourselves away from the world and even God, but the truth is God will never abandon us…no matter what. Even if we’ve been locked up for longer than we can remember, no door can stop God’s love. If Christ can conquer death and the grave, what’s there to stop him?

Grace

Who is this?

By: Joseph Murdy

“When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘who is this?’ The crowds were saying, ‘this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’”
“Who is this?” Is a question we still face today? We might get wrapped up in impossible questions over scripture, or we might get overwhelmed with theological debates. When the people of Jerusalem asked, “who is this.” They knew Jesus was from Nazareth, and they knew he was a prophet. What they wanted to know was “Who is this, and what are we to do about it.” Do we follow him? Or crucify him? The question of Jesus’ identity does not demand an answer, it calls for a response.

What do your actions say about who Jesus is? What does your life style, attitude, and relationship with friends, family and strangers…say about who you believe Jesus is? This week is considered the most sacred time of remembrance for the Christian church. In Holy week we encounter the answer to this age old question, “who is this?” As we journey through Holy week, be mindful of the question, “who is this?” Don’t take the story of Christ’s life, death, and promised resurrection for granted. Not only will you discover who Christ is, you will discover who you are because of who Christ is. Let us be mindful of the question, “who is this?” Because as the story of Christ’s passion unfolds we shall see how deep the love of God really goes. When you discover who Jesus is, how will you respond?

Braille on elevators...

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” John 9: 3

My only encounter with Braille is on elevators. I always notice the dots below the numbers that we press to choose which floor. Because I haven’t grown up around someone born blind there are a lot of things I’ve never thought about. I was out to eat with Tyler (who was born blind) and Bethani the other day and realized I have never wondered until today if menus come in Braille.

Often we are “blind” to things until we have a reason or insight to see.

Braille is a worldwide system is used by the blind and visually impaired to for reading and writing. It was created by a man named Louis Braille. Louis was not born blind. He was blinded by an accident that happened while he was young. According to Wikipedia, “At age three, he scratched his right eye while making holes in a piece of leather with a pruning knife that was too heavy for him. There was nothing anyone could do except patch and bind the affected eye. The wound became severely infected and spread to his left eye causing his blindness.”

One of the powering forces behind Louis creating a system of raised dots (made by the same tool that blinded him) was that he wanted to read the Bible. As a matter of fact most the contracted words in Braille are the most common words found in the Bible.

Here is a man who was blinded after birth and he brought the Word of God to all the visually impaired who followed. Talk about a man who God worked miracles through…

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”

Sometimes the things we claim hold us back are the very things that guide us to follow God’s call.