Walking in Love

 Ephesians 5:1-2 

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

Christ came into this world not only to provide us with a path of Salvation but also to provide us with an example of how we are to live our lives; how we are to relate to other people, people that we love and people that are hard to love.  Our dominant motivator in life is to be love.  Love is to be the driving force in our lives.  

Are we walking in love today as Christ loved us, or are we walking in fear, or anger, or apathy?  Reach out to someone each day and share the love of Christ with them.  

The Important Things

 March 23, 2020 The Most Important Thing

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”

The writer of Ecclesiastes had lived a long life and was looking back on his achievements and his failures; the things he had pursued and the things he had failed to pursue.  At the end of his life he had come to see things in their proper perspective.  He recognized that the things he thought were important were not very important after all.  And the things he had taken for granted may have been the most important things.  One of those things was his relationship with God, which he finally concluded was the most important of all his neglected pursuits.

Many things are getting our attention today.  One of our priorities should be God.

May the love of Christ be ever with you

Jesus is Near

 Jesus is Near

  Mark 6: 48-51

“He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them.  Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified.  Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”  Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down.”

Sometimes, when times are hard, it feels like Jesus has passed us by, or because of the chaos and swirl of events around us, we don’t recognize when Jesus is near.  The Disciples were caught in a terrible storm in a small boat on a large lake.  They were rowing in the direction they thought would take them to safety and to Jesus.  Jesus came to the Disciples from an unexpected direction in an unexpected way.  And he climbed into the boat with them.

In difficult times, have courage.  Jesus is near.

A Gift Full of Miracles

 Years ago, I found an article written by a man who used to receive letters from a man who was in prison for life and would never get out.   

This was his last letter that he received:

“I deserve to be here.  All I ask is the chance after I die to apologize to God face to face for wasting and ignoring His gifts.  

But maybe I would never have seen those gifs so clear if I wasn’t here.  

I now know now that God’s gifts are not necessarily the big things but the small things that I took for granted.   It’s those small things that I miss the most.

I miss gifts like a good rainy day, and being out in it and getting soaked to the bone.

I miss crawdads in streams and woodpeckers in trees.

I miss dragonflies over ponds, and fish jumping and making that sound on a hot summer day.

I miss fried trout with butter and sandwiches made by someone who cares about you.

I miss toast made in a toaster, and the smell of it when you walk into the kitchen.

I miss church bells and the lonely sound they make on Sunday morning.

I miss church choirs and people singing hymns in a church that really carries the sound.

I miss dirt with a point to it, like in gardens or farms.

I miss the smell of the fresh morning in the mountains or at the beach and the feel of the air.

I used to think the thing I missed most were dogs.  I sure have missed my dogs.   They love you no matter what you have done or what you don’t do.   

But now the thing I really miss the most is having kids around, underfoot, laughing and yelling and arguing and falling asleep in half a second right wherever they landed last.  If I ever do get to see God face to face and can ask one favor, I’d ask for kids around again.

All these small things, I took them for granted, I was in such a hurry I hardly noticed them, but when you add them all up, they are what heaven is, it seems to me.  They are heaven.  All these small things.

And what this really means then is that there are no small things, are there?  Nothing is little or insignificant.  Everything is huge and holy and so stuffed with miracles that the miracles leak out and give us hope for this world.

So, my friend, please remember each day is a gift, full of miracles, if you will take time to see them.”

My Father Comes Back to Me

 My father died in the fall of 1996.  But every year, in early spring, with the chill still in the air, my father comes back to me.  

He comes back whenever there is the smell of new mown grass.  

He comes back whenever I hear the crack of a bat or the smack of a baseball into a glove; 

whenever I hear the low murmur of a crowd of people gathered to watch baseball, he is there.

Whenever I wander upon a baseball field with the dusty infield and the green outfield, and a pitcher winding up to throw to a batter poised at the plate, with the loud dugout chatter, he is there.

Baseball was his religion.  He would talk endlessly of Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Joe Dimaggio, Mel Ott, Dizzy Dean, Pee Wee Reese and on and on.

He would take me to the nearest field on Saturdays and hit hundreds of balls to me in the infield and outfield.  Then he would pitch to me, correcting my stance and once in a while showing me his "real stuff" as a pitcher which included a curve ball that looked as if it was thrown right at me but would curve away and across the plate for a strike. He also had a knuckle ball that would not spin but would dance in and away then down.

In spring, with new mown grass, and the sounds of baseball my father comes to me. 

The Storm

Mark 4: 35-41

“35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Storms can be scary.   Even though I have lived through a tornado, hurricanes, and terrific thunder and lightning storms, I am still awed and occasionally terrified by the forces of nature.  They make me feel small and not in control.

The Disciples, even though they were seasoned fishermen and had encountered storms before, were still awed and terrified of the forces of nature that sent waves crashing over their boat, nearly sinking it.

Jesus was asleep on a cushion in the back of the boat.  The sea was churning, the waves were swamping the boat, the wind was blowing, the Disciples were in a panic, and Jesus was sleeping.  It is just human nature that, when you are afraid and someone with you is sleeping through the scary event, you get a little irritated.

The Disciples woke Jesus up, and they asked him if he did not care that they were about to drown.  When a boat is in trouble on a violent sea, it is all hands on deck.  No one is exempt from trying to save the boat and the lives of the crew.  No one gets to sleep through the storm.

Jesus calmed the storm.  And this terrified the Disciples as much as the storm itself.  It was as if they had discovered that Jesus really was who he said he was.

When we encounter the living Christ, when we first realize who He is, it is frightening. It is not until we experience His eternal, unconditional love that we realize the sea that he has calmed is in our hearts.

And we know His peace.

The Things That Matter

Matthew 11: 20-21

“20 Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”

I used to work at a University in an office with a window that looked out at the University library.  Each day a great number of students, professors, and other people walked by on the sidewalk in front of the library.  

One fall day, a woman and her child were walking by, and the child was following behind her mother, looking up at the colorful leaves on the trees, kicking the leaves that had fallen, shouting with joy.  The mother looked back at her and yelled for her to catch up.   She was late for whatever appointment she was marching to.  

The mother was so intent on the things of life, that she missed the miracle of her daughter, and the miracle of life that her daughter was witnessing.  She missed an opportunity of great love and  joy.

The people of Chorazin and Bethsaida did not understand the miracles that Jesus had performed and that they had witnessed.  They missed an opportunity of knowing the great love and joy of Christ.

One of our great tasks in life is to pay attention to the things that really matter, like  the miracle of life in Christ, and the miracles of love and joy.