"The Lord's unfailing love and mercy never cease, fresh as the morning and sure as the sunrise." (Lam. 3:22-23)
You have to wonder if the women walking to the tomb on this morning thought about that promise, wondered how they would see unfailing love and mercy in a situation like this, let their grief spill over in tears as they made their way to anoint the body. The morning was fresh, the sun was rising, but I'm not sure they trusted at that moment in all the things they had been taught.
Read John's resurrection story here. The level of activity from disciples horrified that the tomb was open, that the body was gone...well, let's just say the frenetic pace of Easter services may have begun right there. But the question that haunts is "Why do you seek the living among the dead?"
Easter resurrection is not a ticket to heaven. It is not a place set far above other humans who are not "in." It's an opportunity for life together that places our hope in the unfailing love and mercy of God. That gives us the ability to live in this new community, people who are united in Christ, not in their political views or wealth or skin color or gender.
It is a lifetime journey to learn to stop seeking the living among the dead. But when we manage, through God's grace, to turn our eyes and hearts from what we expect and look at what can be, then we know "God's love and mercy never cease, fresh as the morning and sure as the sunrise."
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Faithful Pathways: Sovereignty
Today's passage begins "Who can command and have it done, if the Lord has not ordained it?"
It's a hard one for us to think there is consequence to our action, especially our bad actions. We love grace, forgiveness. Consequence, not so much. Blaming God or others is much more satisfying than blaming ourselves.
"Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord."
"Where is grace in these verses?" we demand. "There's always grace." Indeed, there is. But grace--God loving us because God loves us--is not permissiveness. We cannot use God's love to get our own way or do whatever we want because we belong to God.
The darkness of Holy Saturday is a result of our sin. God came wrapped in human skin. We killed him.
There is consequence for that. There is consequence for oppressing the poor. There is consequence for refusing to love our neighbor. There is consequence for preferring fear over relationship. There is consequence for the worship of consumerism, for the abuse of the earth, for the assumption that we can be our own gods.
The darkness is our creation. It is our consequence. It is not "their fault."
Today is a day for "lifting our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven..."
The book of Lamentation is a poem based on the Hebrew alphabet. Grief has a beginning and an end. The end is coming. "[God] has taken up our cause...redeemed our lives." Grief will end. Hope will return.
But today is for eyes flowing without ceasing.
It's a hard one for us to think there is consequence to our action, especially our bad actions. We love grace, forgiveness. Consequence, not so much. Blaming God or others is much more satisfying than blaming ourselves.
"Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord."
"Where is grace in these verses?" we demand. "There's always grace." Indeed, there is. But grace--God loving us because God loves us--is not permissiveness. We cannot use God's love to get our own way or do whatever we want because we belong to God.
The darkness of Holy Saturday is a result of our sin. God came wrapped in human skin. We killed him.
There is consequence for that. There is consequence for oppressing the poor. There is consequence for refusing to love our neighbor. There is consequence for preferring fear over relationship. There is consequence for the worship of consumerism, for the abuse of the earth, for the assumption that we can be our own gods.
The darkness is our creation. It is our consequence. It is not "their fault."
Today is a day for "lifting our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven..."
The book of Lamentation is a poem based on the Hebrew alphabet. Grief has a beginning and an end. The end is coming. "[God] has taken up our cause...redeemed our lives." Grief will end. Hope will return.
But today is for eyes flowing without ceasing.
Lamentations 3:37-58New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
37 Who can command and have it done,
if the Lord has not ordained it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
39 Why should any who draw breath complain
about the punishment of their sins?
if the Lord has not ordained it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
39 Why should any who draw breath complain
about the punishment of their sins?
40 Let us test and examine our ways,
and return to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands
to God in heaven.
42 We have transgressed and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven.
and return to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands
to God in heaven.
42 We have transgressed and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven.
43 You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
killing without pity;
44 you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us filth and rubbish
among the peoples.
killing without pity;
44 you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us filth and rubbish
among the peoples.
46 All our enemies
have opened their mouths against us;
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and destruction.
48 My eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of my people.
have opened their mouths against us;
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and destruction.
48 My eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of my people.
49 My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
50 until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees.
51 My eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the young women in my city.
without respite,
50 until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees.
51 My eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the young women in my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
have hunted me like a bird;
53 they flung me alive into a pit
and hurled stones on me;
54 water closed over my head;
I said, “I am lost.”
have hunted me like a bird;
53 they flung me alive into a pit
and hurled stones on me;
54 water closed over my head;
I said, “I am lost.”
55 I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
56 you heard my plea, “Do not close your ear
to my cry for help, but give me relief!”
57 You came near when I called on you;
you said, “Do not fear!”
from the depths of the pit;
56 you heard my plea, “Do not close your ear
to my cry for help, but give me relief!”
57 You came near when I called on you;
you said, “Do not fear!”
58 You have taken up my cause, O Lord,
you have redeemed my life.
you have redeemed my life.
Friday, March 25, 2016
Faithful Pathways: Unceasing
It's a different conversation than we usually hear when Americans are in this kind of grief. God gets blamed...then rejected. "I hate God" or "I can't believe in a God that would allow this" or some iteration of the two.
In the absolute worst kind of grief, "He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me; though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; he has blocked my ways with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked." In that kind of grief, we get this reply...
But we get it after the recognition that...
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases...a different kind of prayer.
The only kind of hope.
In the absolute worst kind of grief, "He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me; though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; he has blocked my ways with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked." In that kind of grief, we get this reply...
The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for one to bear the yoke in youth, to sit alone in silence when the Lord has imposed it, to put one's mouth to the dust (there may yet be hope), to give one's cheek to the smiter, and be filled with the insults.
But we get it after the recognition that...
This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him.It is good to be humbled after we have been so wrong. It is good to be reminded of the faithful path we should be on. It is good to be reminded that we are not God. It is God's correction that will heal us.
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases...a different kind of prayer.
The only kind of hope.
God’s Steadfast Love Endures
3 I am one who has seen affliction
under the rod of God’s[a] wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
3 against me alone he turns his hand,
again and again, all day long.
under the rod of God’s[a] wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
3 against me alone he turns his hand,
again and again, all day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away,
and broken my bones;
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me sit in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
and broken my bones;
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me sit in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has put heavy chains on me;
8 though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9 he has blocked my ways with hewn stones,
he has made my paths crooked...
he has put heavy chains on me;
8 though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9 he has blocked my ways with hewn stones,
he has made my paths crooked...
19 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
is wormwood and gall!
20 My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
is wormwood and gall!
20 My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,[a]
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for one to bear
the yoke in youth,
28 to sit alone in silence
when the Lord has imposed it,
29 to put one’s mouth to the dust
(there may yet be hope),
30 to give one’s cheek to the smiter,
and be filled with insults.
to the soul that seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for one to bear
the yoke in youth,
28 to sit alone in silence
when the Lord has imposed it,
29 to put one’s mouth to the dust
(there may yet be hope),
30 to give one’s cheek to the smiter,
and be filled with insults.
31 For the Lord will not
reject forever.
32 Although he causes grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve anyone.
reject forever.
32 Although he causes grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve anyone.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Faithful Pathways: Cry
Another bombing. More laws set in place to discriminate against God's children. The spoken solution from a front-runner for president that we should embrace water-boarding, because "they"kill, we should torture. Families whose children have been accepted to college face the real heartache of not being able to pay the bill. Another bombing. Another shooting.
How do people of faith deal with the grief that overwhelms? What response is acceptable when hope seems completely out of reach and our ability to effect is roughly equivalent to the ability to pick up our car?
Cry.
"Cry aloud to the Lord! Oh Lord of daughter Zion! Let tears stream down like a torrent day and night! Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite!"
There are times that is all you can do.
But crying to the Lord has accomplished great things. In the darkness that gathers for us this weekend, tears might be our greatest offering.
How do people of faith deal with the grief that overwhelms? What response is acceptable when hope seems completely out of reach and our ability to effect is roughly equivalent to the ability to pick up our car?
Cry.
"Cry aloud to the Lord! Oh Lord of daughter Zion! Let tears stream down like a torrent day and night! Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite!"
There are times that is all you can do.
But crying to the Lord has accomplished great things. In the darkness that gathers for us this weekend, tears might be our greatest offering.
Lamentations 2:10-18New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
10 The elders of daughter Zion
sit on the ground in silence;
they have thrown dust on their heads
and put on sackcloth;
the young girls of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.
sit on the ground in silence;
they have thrown dust on their heads
and put on sackcloth;
the young girls of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes are spent with weeping;
my stomach churns;
my bile is poured out on the ground
because of the destruction of my people,
because infants and babes faint
in the streets of the city.
my stomach churns;
my bile is poured out on the ground
because of the destruction of my people,
because infants and babes faint
in the streets of the city.
12 They cry to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers’ bosom.
“Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers’ bosom.
13 What can I say for you, to what compare you,
O daughter Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter Zion?
For vast as the sea is your ruin;
who can heal you?
O daughter Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter Zion?
For vast as the sea is your ruin;
who can heal you?
14 Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes,
but have seen oracles for you
that are false and misleading.
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes,
but have seen oracles for you
that are false and misleading.
15 All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
they hiss and wag their heads
at daughter Jerusalem;
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of all the earth?”
clap their hands at you;
they hiss and wag their heads
at daughter Jerusalem;
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of all the earth?”
16 All your enemies
open their mouths against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We have devoured her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
at last we have seen it!”
open their mouths against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We have devoured her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
at last we have seen it!”
17 The Lord has done what he purposed,
he has carried out his threat;
as he ordained long ago,
he has demolished without pity;
he has made the enemy rejoice over you,
and exalted the might of your foes.
he has carried out his threat;
as he ordained long ago,
he has demolished without pity;
he has made the enemy rejoice over you,
and exalted the might of your foes.
18 Cry aloud[a] to the Lord!
O wall of daughter Zion!
Let tears stream down like a torrent
day and night!
Give yourself no rest,
your eyes no respite!
O wall of daughter Zion!
Let tears stream down like a torrent
day and night!
Give yourself no rest,
your eyes no respite!
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Faithful Pathways: All God
In a time in which God is seen as the ultimate therapist, the consummate helper, the slot machine that fixes problems when you insert your prayer, in a time like this, we can't even fathom that God would do the things listed in this text.
A God who would punish? Unthinkable. If we believe God might hold us accountable, we might have to actually live as God's people. But a consequence of bad behavior teaches. And in the grief of destruction, looking at God's hand in the mix is a comfort to me. It reminds me that no tragedy is outside of God's power. No place is too dark. No sadness is without God.
If God is only a nice guy, a give-us-what-we-want-instead-of-what-we-need pushover, then how does God handle the worst grief ever. I remember being with my kids when they suffered the consequences of poor decisions. I couldn't make it better, but we were together, tightly bound in grief until life got better, until light began to shine a bit in the darkness.
God's greatness demands our humility. God nice all the time allows us to think we control God. We don't do well with that...playing God just tends to dig us in deeper.
I prefer all God...all the time.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Faithful Pathways: Humility
Today's reading catches me in a couple of ways. First, all the things the author thinks should be trusted, should be comforting, should be dependable--all have failed. Lovers, priests, elders...nothing can be counted on.
The other thing that catches me is the full acceptance the author has of fault. "The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word...See, O LORD, how distressed I am; my stomach churns, my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious."
I spend a lot of time reading the papers or listening to the news and feeling distressed, stomach churning, heart wrenched. But how much I blame my rebellion and how much I point blame on others is very different.
The author wants God to bring judgment on their evil the same as God has on his/hers. I want that too, only without full judgment of my own rebelliousness.
Perhaps that is the humility missing in so much of our talk of moral failures. Our practices are exempt instead of foundational.
Food for thought...though not food anyone would really want to eat...
The other thing that catches me is the full acceptance the author has of fault. "The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word...See, O LORD, how distressed I am; my stomach churns, my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious."
I spend a lot of time reading the papers or listening to the news and feeling distressed, stomach churning, heart wrenched. But how much I blame my rebellion and how much I point blame on others is very different.
The author wants God to bring judgment on their evil the same as God has on his/hers. I want that too, only without full judgment of my own rebelliousness.
Perhaps that is the humility missing in so much of our talk of moral failures. Our practices are exempt instead of foundational.
Food for thought...though not food anyone would really want to eat...
Lamentations 1:17-22New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
17 Zion stretches out her hands,
but there is no one to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should become his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.
but there is no one to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should become his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.
18 The Lord is in the right,
for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and behold my suffering;
my young women and young men
have gone into captivity.
for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and behold my suffering;
my young women and young men
have gone into captivity.
19 I called to my lovers
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city
while seeking food
to revive their strength.
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city
while seeking food
to revive their strength.
20 See, O Lord, how distressed I am;
my stomach churns,
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.
my stomach churns,
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.
21 They heard how I was groaning,
with no one to comfort me.
All my enemies heard of my trouble;
they are glad that you have done it.
Bring on the day you have announced,
and let them be as I am.
with no one to comfort me.
All my enemies heard of my trouble;
they are glad that you have done it.
Bring on the day you have announced,
and let them be as I am.
22 Let all their evil doing come before you;
and deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions;
for my groans are many
and my heart is faint.
and deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions;
for my groans are many
and my heart is faint.
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