Have you ever noticed, especially on TV sitcoms and soap operas that children will go from toddlers to teenagers in a matter of episodes? I have always thought about this passage in Luke the same way. In verse 52, one sentence is all that we hear about Jesus from his youth until his later public ministry in Luke's gospel. I have often wondered about all that took place in his life during those growing up years, as well as what experiences he had that Mary "treasured in her heart." What happened to Joseph during this time? Did he die, since tradition tells us that he was much older than Mary when they married? Any thoughts?
Remember, you can also engage me in conversation about this text at: paul@matthewsumc.org.
Until tomorrow, peace and blessings.
Pastor Paul
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Wednesday Luke 2:47-50
As was the case with Jesus' parents in today's text, I am often amazed at what I hear my children discussing. When they are not with me, I think they have much more mature conversations (most of the time) with other people than they do when I am around them. Perhaps that's the way with most of us--we discuss different subjects with our parent than we do with other adults. Maybe our kids feel less inhibited by the parental relationship and our expectations of them when they are around others of similar age. When you read today's text from Luke, what thoughts popped into your minds about the setting in which Jesus' parents discovered him? Any thoughts?
As I said yesterday, if you have trouble logging on to make comments on this thread, please fell free to email me at: paul@matthewsumc.org and engage me in conversation.
Until next time,
peace and blessings.
Pastor Paul
As I said yesterday, if you have trouble logging on to make comments on this thread, please fell free to email me at: paul@matthewsumc.org and engage me in conversation.
Until next time,
peace and blessings.
Pastor Paul
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Tuesday Matthew 26:17-30
Have you ever found yourself settling into your seat on Sunday morning , and then suddenly noticed that the table up front was set for Communion? What ran through your mind? Were you glad, or did you kind of groan inwardly that you were going to have to "sit through" that part of the service again?
I think how we approach communion has everything to do with our understanding (or lack thereof) with what it is and where it comes from historically. Today's text from Matthew outlines the transition Jesus made as he was completing his celebration of the Passover meal with his disciples. When he lifted the last cup on the table; as he broke the final loaf, he moved from the Passover ritual into something new. He was offering his friends a cup of wine and loaf of bread that were always left untouched as the Passover celebration ended. They represented the bread (body) and cup (blood) of the promised Messiah which were never to be shared until he came and offered them in person. The disciples must have sat up and suddenly realized that something very special was happening. Their teacher, who had struggled for so much of his public ministry to shun the crowds and the spotlight, even asking people to hide his identity as the Messiah, was now proclaiming that identity publicly.
That transition during the end of the Passover meal changed our lives forever. That's a brief history lesson on where our celebration of Holy Communion originated and why I love it so much. As I write this blog, I am listening to Nicole C. Mullins singing "I know my redeemer lives" on the radio. I think that's a good way to end my thoughts for today. Any responses from blog readers? If you can;'t post comments and want to discuss it further, email me at: paul@matthewsumc.org.
Peace,
Pastor Paul
I think how we approach communion has everything to do with our understanding (or lack thereof) with what it is and where it comes from historically. Today's text from Matthew outlines the transition Jesus made as he was completing his celebration of the Passover meal with his disciples. When he lifted the last cup on the table; as he broke the final loaf, he moved from the Passover ritual into something new. He was offering his friends a cup of wine and loaf of bread that were always left untouched as the Passover celebration ended. They represented the bread (body) and cup (blood) of the promised Messiah which were never to be shared until he came and offered them in person. The disciples must have sat up and suddenly realized that something very special was happening. Their teacher, who had struggled for so much of his public ministry to shun the crowds and the spotlight, even asking people to hide his identity as the Messiah, was now proclaiming that identity publicly.
That transition during the end of the Passover meal changed our lives forever. That's a brief history lesson on where our celebration of Holy Communion originated and why I love it so much. As I write this blog, I am listening to Nicole C. Mullins singing "I know my redeemer lives" on the radio. I think that's a good way to end my thoughts for today. Any responses from blog readers? If you can;'t post comments and want to discuss it further, email me at: paul@matthewsumc.org.
Peace,
Pastor Paul
Monday, January 5, 2009
Week 6, Exodus 12:1-20
Why in the middle of the Luke devotional series are we reading this ancient text from Exodus? As Pastor Brad and I were discussing this very same question, we realized that it explains why Jesus was in Jerusalem during this week's Luke texts. The Exodus scripture tells us the history of the first Passover, which commemorated the "passing over" of the Jewish infants while other infants were sacrificed. Each year, Jews were commanded to return to Jerusalem to re-tell the story, passing on the information from generation to generation, sharing and remembering why they were the people of God. Is this text and the explanation it offers helpful to you as you study the scriptures from Luke?
Pastor Paul
Pastor Paul
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Luke 2:33-40
I’m wishing I had another week to blog on this one text. (You’re probably glad I don’t!) There are two things that catch my mind and heart. The first is verse 34 as Simeon blesses them. We think of a blessing as having all good and pleasant things in it yet Simeon’s blessings harbors a chilling note. It’s what he said to Mary at the very end of his blessing: “And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
I don’t like blessings like that. I like Mr. Spock from Star Trek blessings “Live Long and Prosper”. The sound of that one’s much more appealing. The reality is that even if one lives long and prospers there will be some really hard places along the way.
For Mary, she would come to know not only unspeakable joy but unfathomable sorrow. Indeed at the foot of the cross watching her son die would have brought the pain of grief that now sword could equal. I wonder too if that piercing sword would have been present as she watched people turn away from Jesus’ offer of life and even turn on him with betrayal and denial.
At the moment of Simeon’s dark blessing another figure interrupts. It’s Anna. She’s another “goldie oldie” that hangs out at the Temple. It’s clear that she is one of those “saints of God” that every congregation has. She has a heart for God and God’s ways and wants nothing but God’s purpose to be fulfilled on earth. She’s heard about Simeon’s recognition of this child’s divine destiny and has come to see for herself. Giving thanks to God she then tells others about what she has experienced.
That’s the second thing that catches me. She shared her experience with others. It didn’t matter whether they believed it or not. What mattered was that she shared it. That was the faithful thing to do.
Simeon and Anna Both challenge me. Simeon challenges me to expect the “soul piercing sword.” Life is hard. Living a life faithful to God is harder still. There will be hard times, set backs, disappointments, discouragements, maybe even betrayals and denials. We aren’t promised that a faithful life will be easy. We are promised power to endure and overcome.
That’s where Anna came into view. She knew what it was to face the hard places and she didn’t deny them. She, in the face of them, still looked for what yet God would go. When she experienced it, she shared it. Maybe true faithfulness is sharing all of life: the good, the bad, and the ugly, and how we’ve experienced God in all of it.
Prayer: While I don’t pray for the challenge to come, I know they will. May I look first and always to you God and then share my journey – the good, the bad, and the ugly – that others may know God through me. Amen.
Blessings,
Ken
Luke 2:33-40
I’m wishing I had another week to blog on this one text. (You’re probably glad I don’t!) There are two things that catch my mind and heart. The first is verse 34 as Simeon blesses them. We think of a blessing as having all good and pleasant things in it yet Simeon’s blessings harbors a chilling note. It’s what he said to Mary at the very end of his blessing: “And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
I don’t like blessings like that. I like Mr. Spock from Star Trek blessings “Live Long and Prosper”. The sound of that one’s much more appealing. The reality is that even if one lives long and prospers there will be some really hard places along the way.
For Mary, she would come to know not only unspeakable joy but unfathomable sorrow. Indeed at the foot of the cross watching her son die would have brought the pain of grief that now sword could equal. I wonder too if that piercing sword would have been present as she watched people turn away from Jesus’ offer of life and even turn on him with betrayal and denial.
At the moment of Simeon’s dark blessing another figure interrupts. It’s Anna. She’s another “goldie oldie” that hangs out at the Temple. It’s clear that she is one of those “saints of God” that every congregation has. She has a heart for God and God’s ways and wants nothing but God’s purpose to be fulfilled on earth. She’s heard about Simeon’s recognition of this child’s divine destiny and has come to see for herself. Giving thanks to God she then tells others about what she has experienced.
That’s the second thing that catches me. She shared her experience with others. It didn’t matter whether they believed it or not. What mattered was that she shared it. That was the faithful thing to do.
Simeon and Anna Both challenge me. Simeon challenges me to expect the “soul piercing sword.” Life is hard. Living a life faithful to God is harder still. There will be hard times, set backs, disappointments, discouragements, maybe even betrayals and denials. We aren’t promised that a faithful life will be easy. We are promised power to endure and overcome.
That’s where Anna came into view. She knew what it was to face the hard places and she didn’t deny them. She, in the face of them, still looked for what yet God would go. When she experienced it, she shared it. Maybe true faithfulness is sharing all of life: the good, the bad, and the ugly, and how we’ve experienced God in all of it.
Prayer: While I don’t pray for the challenge to come, I know they will. May I look first and always to you God and then share my journey – the good, the bad, and the ugly – that others may know God through me. Amen.
Blessings,
Ken
Friday, January 2, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
Isaiah 42:5-7
Who let “those people” in here? It was a Wednesday night weekly church dinner that we had at that downtown church I was serving. It was usually a time of great community, good natured picking, excellent food and program. “Those people” were some homeless folks who had smelled the food from on the street and had come in to ask if they could eat. Now the price was $2 per plate and some good but misguided soul said “if you’ve got $2 you’re welcome to eat.” It was an awkward moment.
It was an awkward moment when Isaiah said it hundreds of years ago. In Isaiah 42:6 he says on behalf of the Holy One, “…I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles.”
The One Isaiah is talking about is the “the servant of the Lord.” The early church saw this passage as pointing to the Messiah who would come and did come in Jesus. In fact when Jesus taught the first time in the synagogue at Nazareth he used a similar text from Isaiah 61:1-2. What’s really radical about the Isaiah 42:5-7 text is that Gentiles are included! Gentiles are “those people.” In Jewish culture anyone not Jewish was Gentile and therefore outside the covenant with no hope. The Isaiah text blows that tight circle of construct apart.
“Those people”…you mean “those people” have a place? Yes and what’s more disturbing is that “those people” will be welcomed, treated as members of the family with respect, honor, and love.
There are a lot of “those people” in our world today. More than ever we seem drawn toward having our own little “tribes” with hard to cross boundaries, hard to climb walls. I not only see those boundaries and walls, I’m too often guilty of drawing and building them.
Prayer: How hard can it be, God, to turn a boundary drawer and wall builder like me into a “light bearer” for “those people”? It took a cross for you…what will it take for me?
Blessings,
Pastor Ken
Isaiah 42:5-7
Who let “those people” in here? It was a Wednesday night weekly church dinner that we had at that downtown church I was serving. It was usually a time of great community, good natured picking, excellent food and program. “Those people” were some homeless folks who had smelled the food from on the street and had come in to ask if they could eat. Now the price was $2 per plate and some good but misguided soul said “if you’ve got $2 you’re welcome to eat.” It was an awkward moment.
It was an awkward moment when Isaiah said it hundreds of years ago. In Isaiah 42:6 he says on behalf of the Holy One, “…I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles.”
The One Isaiah is talking about is the “the servant of the Lord.” The early church saw this passage as pointing to the Messiah who would come and did come in Jesus. In fact when Jesus taught the first time in the synagogue at Nazareth he used a similar text from Isaiah 61:1-2. What’s really radical about the Isaiah 42:5-7 text is that Gentiles are included! Gentiles are “those people.” In Jewish culture anyone not Jewish was Gentile and therefore outside the covenant with no hope. The Isaiah text blows that tight circle of construct apart.
“Those people”…you mean “those people” have a place? Yes and what’s more disturbing is that “those people” will be welcomed, treated as members of the family with respect, honor, and love.
There are a lot of “those people” in our world today. More than ever we seem drawn toward having our own little “tribes” with hard to cross boundaries, hard to climb walls. I not only see those boundaries and walls, I’m too often guilty of drawing and building them.
Prayer: How hard can it be, God, to turn a boundary drawer and wall builder like me into a “light bearer” for “those people”? It took a cross for you…what will it take for me?
Blessings,
Pastor Ken
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Luke 2:21-32
We made it! 2009…. Did you celebrate the ending of 2008 and the arrival of 2009? Celebrations are important to us human beings. They bring structure to our lives and make us pause from the “everydayness” to lift our hearts and voices in joy with one another.
Mary and Joseph were doing just that as they brought the infant Jesus to the temple when he was approximately one month old for consecration. That’s when it happened. An old man approached them. His name was Simeon. He is called a righteous man who had received a revelation that he would not die until he saw the Messiah.
It doesn’t say how long he’s been waiting but I can imagine him watching day after day those coming with their babies for consecration. Perhaps he goes to each one and with eager fingers pulls back the folds of the blanket revealing the baby’s face hoping to have a confirmation in his own spirit that at last the Messiah is among us. Each time, he is disappointed but he blesses each one. “He is a fine child.” May he have the strength of ten.” “May he have the courage of Elijah, the heart of David.” Each day he waits.
Joseph and Mary’s path is hindered by this dear man as he asks to hold their baby. Eagerly he reaches for the blanket and begins to pull back its folds. As he looks upon the infant face he knows….perhaps a lifetime of waiting for this moment….he knows….. Lifting both the infant Jesus and his own voice Simeon prays a prayer of praise and release.
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised let now your servant depart in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation….” Words from an old man with, for me at least, a profound message. Old Simeon would likely never live to see Jesus grow to be a man. He would never hear him teach, see him heal, or feed the multitudes. Simeon would not witness crucifixion nor glory in the resurrection, yet he could say it is enough that I have seen messiah among us.
We live in an imperfect world where the tenuous nature of good and the persistent nature of evil and all the shades of gray in between tend to make us cynical and sometimes fatalistic. Simeon I think had it right. If messiah is among us ultimately we can have a measure of peace. We do not grapple with the challenge of this world alone. Messiah is among us so let us live in hope and in the peace of a settled heart. Messiah will have the final say.
Prayer: May my celebrations be many and always include the faith that Messiah is among us. Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Ken
Luke 2:21-32
We made it! 2009…. Did you celebrate the ending of 2008 and the arrival of 2009? Celebrations are important to us human beings. They bring structure to our lives and make us pause from the “everydayness” to lift our hearts and voices in joy with one another.
Mary and Joseph were doing just that as they brought the infant Jesus to the temple when he was approximately one month old for consecration. That’s when it happened. An old man approached them. His name was Simeon. He is called a righteous man who had received a revelation that he would not die until he saw the Messiah.
It doesn’t say how long he’s been waiting but I can imagine him watching day after day those coming with their babies for consecration. Perhaps he goes to each one and with eager fingers pulls back the folds of the blanket revealing the baby’s face hoping to have a confirmation in his own spirit that at last the Messiah is among us. Each time, he is disappointed but he blesses each one. “He is a fine child.” May he have the strength of ten.” “May he have the courage of Elijah, the heart of David.” Each day he waits.
Joseph and Mary’s path is hindered by this dear man as he asks to hold their baby. Eagerly he reaches for the blanket and begins to pull back its folds. As he looks upon the infant face he knows….perhaps a lifetime of waiting for this moment….he knows….. Lifting both the infant Jesus and his own voice Simeon prays a prayer of praise and release.
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised let now your servant depart in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation….” Words from an old man with, for me at least, a profound message. Old Simeon would likely never live to see Jesus grow to be a man. He would never hear him teach, see him heal, or feed the multitudes. Simeon would not witness crucifixion nor glory in the resurrection, yet he could say it is enough that I have seen messiah among us.
We live in an imperfect world where the tenuous nature of good and the persistent nature of evil and all the shades of gray in between tend to make us cynical and sometimes fatalistic. Simeon I think had it right. If messiah is among us ultimately we can have a measure of peace. We do not grapple with the challenge of this world alone. Messiah is among us so let us live in hope and in the peace of a settled heart. Messiah will have the final say.
Prayer: May my celebrations be many and always include the faith that Messiah is among us. Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Ken
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