1-31-19 - Religious Rage

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

We see it too often, religious people screaming, ranting, protesting, attacking, their faces contorted, eyes bulging, fists raised. And here is such a scene at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, in the synagogue in his hometown, after he announces he’s unlikely to work any miracles there.

When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.

A bit of an over-reaction? Did they feel he had blasphemed, claiming to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy? Or did he offend them, reminding them of times when God’s favor had rested upon outsiders rather than the people of Israel? We don’t know what so infuriated them, but surely it had something to do with their hopes being dashed. I suspect that when people’s religious hopes and expectations are not met, they experience a more profound let-down than other disappointments cause.

Why else would our congregations so often be the ground for bitter conflict? People bring to faith communities unspoken, unnamed, often unconscious expectations of finding the perfect family, the one in which you are perfectly seen and accepted and affirmed, and all your needs are met. God is supposed to do that for us, right? And when people don’t experience that in “God’s house,” they often get angry, and direct that anger at clergy, fellow-congregants, others who share the building. Beneath all that is anger that God has disappointed them.

Jesus’ fellow townsfolk acted out more clearly and obviously the rage many feel toward a God who doesn't intervene as we ask, who allows suffering to go on, evil to flourish, peace to fail. We want God’s miracles, damn it! As well we should. Jesus invites us to pray for God’s power to be unleashed "on earth, as it is in heaven."

The key is to pray and release. Pray with fervor and know there are many factors involved in how the answers to our prayers will be manifest. I do not believe God will undercut his gift of free will. Humans are free to choose their course, and that inevitably inhibits the realization of God's will. We might say the miracles are when people are enabled to choose the good, to choose against their own self-interest. That’s how God’s power to transform gets worked out.

Let’s not judge those rage-filled congregants of Nazareth; at some time or other many of us may have been in their shoes. We can only wish they could have seen past their own desires and expectations to discern the Holy One in their midst. But he was too familiar; they couldn’t see him as God. Let’s not make that mistake.

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1-30-19 - Unpredictable God?

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

If our prayers were never answered in ways we can discern, we might be okay with it, though perhaps we’d stop praying for things. What is challenging, often maddening and sometimes heart-breaking, is that sometimes it seems God answers in ways we want, and sometimes it seems that God does not. I suspect it’s the unpredictability more than the disappointments that inhibit our faith.

The people of Nazareth, having heard reports of the wonders Jesus was doing, expected that he would do the same and more in his hometown. But he says the ways of God are not that predictable:

And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

This sent them into a murderous rage. Was Jesus saying God is capricious? That God cares more for Gentiles than for the chosen people? Why was only one widow helped during a three-and-a-half year famine? Why only one foreign leper healed? Does God intervene only when there’s a larger purpose? Why does God interact at all with God’s creation?

If I knew the answers, I’d be much holier (or maybe richer…) than I am now. Why God seems to respond in some cases and not in others continues to perplex us. And none of us has a very full data set from which to draw conclusions. We have some stories in the bible, we have some experiences of our own or other people’s, but no one knows what God’s record is. We only know that when we pray, sometimes we see remarkable outcomes, and sometimes we do not.

When remarkable things result, and we feel they’re connected to our prayer, we should give thanks and tell people about it. It helps increase our faith and builds that of others. And when it seems we have no response, or not the one we want, we should also talk about that – talk to God about it, and to other people, because one definition of faith is to believe despite evidence to the contrary.

Remember, the purpose of prayer is not to ask for things and see what we get. The purpose of prayer is to communicate openly with the God who made us and loves us and knows us better than we can know ourselves, and through that communicating to come to know God more fully. And when we invite God’s Spirit to pray through us, we'll pray for what God already intends to accomplish.

I have a feeling God’s prayers have a 100% response rate. Let’s figure out how to join ours to God’s. It's as simple as "Come, Holy Spirit..."

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1-29-19 - Connected

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

I always feel a little more powerful when I meet someone who can hook me up to things I need or people I should know. (I get an even bigger kick when I can be that person for others.) Connections are how we get ahead. So imagine how excited Jesus’ neighbors in Nazareth were when their "homie" became a religious sensation, known not only for his wisdom but for his amazing miracles and works of power. This was the ultimate connection, someone who channeled the power of God! And he was one of theirs!

Then imagine their disappointment when he indicated he was unlikely to exercise much power in his own town. He said to them, “...And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.”

He cited examples of prophets who were unable to address the needs of their own communities, only helping outsiders. They certainly did not want to hear that. Their response was quite violent, probably more intense than if a stranger had said he couldn’t help them. No one expects much from a stranger. But one of your own? You should be his first priority. How dare Jesus say he was not accepted there, that his powers would be somehow inhibited?

I find in their angry response an invitation for us to examine our own hearts when it comes to Jesus. I dare say anyone who has ever prayed fervently for something has at times experienced disappointment in the outcome. If that disappointment is acute, or experienced too often, we can find ourselves angry. And since the church does not offer many outlets for expressing negative emotions about God, that anger can get pushed down and calcify into a polite estrangement. We don’t try to push Jesus off a cliff, but we stop trusting or asking or hanging out with him.

If this has been your experience (and I’ve had bouts of it from time to time…), it’s so good to recognize that, and begin to process it in prayer, and maybe in pastoral conversation. Not for nothing is the rite of repentance in our tradition called “Reconciliation.” The greatest damage done when we turn away from God is to that relationship itself.

I believe that God is always, like the father in Jesus’ story about the prodigal son, out there in the road waiting for us to return. Can we walk back to that place, walk back through the hurt we encountered, the anger we experienced, the loss we suffered, and let God heal it? Is our relationship with God worth it to us?

We don’t need people with “connections”; we are already hooked into the most powerful network in the universe, the power and love that flow from the throne of God. If that connection needs strengthening, let’s put time and energy into repairing that breach. God's arms of love await us.

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1-28-19 - Hometown Hero

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

I had a friend who grew up in Springfield, Missouri and went to high school with Brad Pitt. It’s a huge deal whenever he comes back to visit family. “We know this guy!” people think.

Everybody grows up somewhere, goes to school, plays sports, makes friends – and enemies. For Jesus, after he and his family returned from exile in Egypt, that somewhere was Nazareth. And his townspeople were pretty sure they knew him. Even as his fame grew, and he manifested very different skills than those needed for carpentry, they were pretty sure they knew him.

All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

“Joseph’s son” was how they knew him. Joseph’s son was predictable. But this man had another father, and that paternity was now being revealed. When he said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” Jesus was owning his divine identity, his messianic mission. That identity would not prove so predictable.

How do we feel when the Jesus we thought we knew turns out to have another side or dimension, when he bursts out of the box in which we (or our families or churches) have placed him? Those of us who have grown up as Christians have heard about this guy our whole lives. We know his life story, teachings, miracles. He’s a stained glass window. How can he surprise us when we’re so used to him being around?

My approach is this: go back to the beginning. As many glimpses as I may have caught of Jesus over the years, I know I don’t have a clue. So I pray, “Let me know you, as you know me.” Occasionally I get words in my mind which I feel are him speaking; they reveal a little – and often have a sarcastic edge, as we hear in the gospels. I ask him for inspiration in ministry, and sometimes am flooded with ideas. That shows me a little about who he is. Prayer, the gospels, ministry, worship – these are some of the best ways we have of getting to know Jesus for real. What's your strategy?

This Jesus, who lives in us and through us and around us, is not completely knowable in this life, and yet is much more than a stained glass saint. “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened,” he promised (Luke 11:10). As we seek him, we find him - and find he isn’t quite what we expected.

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1-25-19 - The Way of Love: Pray

(You can listen to this reflection here. The Way of Love gospel passage is here.)
This season my congregations are exploring the Way of Love, with different gospel readings. Each Friday, Water Daily takes up the week's Way of Love practice – today that is the third one: Pray:

I have likened the Way of Love to deepening an existing relationship. Relationships require regular conversation. In the Christian life we call that prayer. At the most basic level, to pray is to talk to God – and learn to listen.

Just as we Turn again to Jesus, and regularly Learn about him, Pray is best as a daily practice. We often pray through the day – small requests and “thank you’s” and “help me’s.” We pray together in worship each week. But to Pray as a dedicated practice can renew our hearts and transform our lives. We gain not only a deeper connection to God; we reap benefits of deeper peace and joy, a sense of God’s presence, and sharper awareness of our purpose.

Such a prayer practice requires intention and discipline. If we are to offer God this kind of space in our hearts each day, it is good to set aside a regular time; a dedicated place (prayer room, or chair); a bible and perhaps a candle, journal, icon or prayer beads, if those help you center.

You don’t have to start with silence. Read some scripture, and then voice (or write) what is taking up mental space – things that worry you, or you have to get done, people you love, hopes, dreams, sorrows, blessings you’re grateful for. If you find structure helpful, you can use a pattern like ACTS – Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication.

• Adoration – taking time to praise God, which is not the same as thanking. Praise is naming the qualities we value in another. Praise expands our spirits and makes more room for God’s life in us.
• Confession – naming the ways we have been less than who God made us to be, how we have hurt ourselves or others, failed to honor the humanity of others or the gifts of this beautiful earth. We get real about who we are, and return to God’s loving embrace.
• Thanksgiving – naming what we’re grateful for so we don’t get complacent, It reminds us that God is in the business of blessing, no matter what is going on.
• Supplication – asking God’s transforming love to be at work in situations and people in need of it. It’s good to ask after being reminded of God’s love and mercy.

Communicating to God what’s going on in us is only the first part of the practice of Pray. The second is to leave equal time to become silent and listen for God. The child Samuel was told to say, when he heard God calling, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” This is a good phrase for us to use as we turn to silence. We might feel a message of intense love and encouragement. We might have a question on our hearts and sense God’s answer. We might sense a calling to do something small – or life-changing. We might feel nothing. Listen as peacefully as you can, perhaps saying a word or phrase to occupy your mind (“Jesus,” “Peace,” “Be still and know that I am God…”). Sometimes we’ll perceive an answer later. We offer ourselves in discipline regardless of our experience on a given day. Often we'll discover in our lives more peace and focus, an abiding sense of God’s presence, and grace that transcends our circumstances.

Try on such a prayer practice for a time. You might keep a journal, to write what you experience. You can learn ways to get centered and still, from praying in tongues to mindful-ness techniques. A spiritual director or friend can help listen with you for what God is saying and doing in your life. If you hit a dry patch, keep going. It’s not all up to you.

For prayer does not begin with us – it originates with God. It is like joining a conversation that’s already ongoing on in the triune life of God and deep in our spirits. Paul writes, “We do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” In fact, Jesus said God will not withhold the Holy Spirit from those who pray.

So there’s no way to do it wrong – except not to do it.

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1-24-19 - Fulfilled

(You can listen to this reflection here.)

It can be hard to understand what we read in the Bible. Scholars have developed many lenses through which to approach the task of interpretation: who was the writer or writers; to whom were they writing; what were their historical and/or theological concerns and emphases; what was going on in the time and place in which the writing originated; the literary style used, and others. And there are other layers, such as the concerns of the communities who collected these writings and included them in the canon of scripture; the angle taken by translators – it never ends.

And the “meaning” we derive can vary according to the society in which the scripture is being read, its assumptions and preoccupations. We read references to slavery or the role of women very differently than did communities one hundred or thousand years ago. We don’t have the writers in front of us to ask them, “What did you mean by this?” We have to guess, using clues from history and theology, geography and archaeology, similar literature, and tradition.

Among the most difficult parts of the bible to comprehend are the writings attributed to the prophets. Some of these are very specific, dealing with historical events that have clearly come and gone – or have they? Others seem more cosmic and apocalyptic, dealing with the end of time and final judgment – or do they? There’s a lot of “eye of the beholder” in what we perceive when reading the prophets.

So imagine how shocking it must have been in the synagogue in Nazareth that day, when Jesus finished reading this part of Isaiah’s prophecy, sat down to comment on it, and said simply, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." A more definitive interpretation could not be. “This is what that means, and now that I’m here, it has been fulfilled. No more waiting.” Did they find that good news?

How do we hear these words? As Good News, that redemption has been proclaimed, and secured in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? I hope so. And we can go deeper, to the simple “Today this has been fulfilled.” That “Today” encompasses every day, the eternal present in which God operates. All of God’s promises have been fulfilled today, because they have been fulfilled in Christ, and their power is available to us through his Holy Spirit, by faith.

It requires faith to proclaim, in the face of injustice, that the promise of justice has been fulfilled; to believe, in the face of brutality, that evil has been vanquished; to claim, in the face of hunger, that enough has been provided; to declare, in the face of death, that life is ours forever. Yet that is what it means to live by faith – to live in the “already” future life of God that is all around us and becomes more accessible the more we believe and proclaim it. When we speak and act in faith we pull that future reality into our present.

Today these promises have been fulfilled in our hearing. In one sense, that is the “correct” interpretation of any piece of Scripture. The promises of God are already revealed. It is up to us to help make them fully known.

1-23-19 - Aqueducts

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

When I read Scripture with a group, I remember why we need to hear the Word of God and not just read it. Diverse voices bring out different aspects of the text, lending it color and nuance and texture. The practice of reading Scripture aloud in the assembly of the faithful goes back thousands of years – it was already a feature of weekly worship when Jesus began his ministry. In fact, he was a lector:

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.

The shock of what happened next we’ll leave for tomorrow; today, let’s focus on reading scripture aloud. Hearing the Word read is yet one more way the revelation of God is mediated through human beings, which happens at each stage of scripture’s development. People were inspired by God, told and retold, shaped and reshaped stories about their encounters with God, wrote down those stories and received teachings, collected and shaped those writings, and translated those collections. Countless human beings were involved at each of those stages, making the Bible a rich tapestry of ideas and enthusiasms – as well as distortions.

And each time we hear a passage of Scripture read, it is mediated through the intellect and voice of another person, giving it new life and new interpretations. Just try reading a passage aloud, emphasizing the verbs, and then read it again emphasizing the pronouns. You’ll get two very different readings.

God's Word comes through differently when we hear it rather than just reading it for ourselves. I recommend that you read it aloud even when alone, just to hear the cadence of the words, the way the ideas go together or seem to clash, the wit and wisdom that are often to be found just below the surface. Just as can happen when we read poetry aloud, we often find scripture easier to understand when we hear it.

The ministry of reading Scripture in church is that of an aqueduct – a vessel carrying the Living Water to the people. I invite lectors to read as if they are reading a bedtime story. That day in the synagogue, Jesus was the Living Water. We carry him as we read his stories to each other.

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1-22-19 - Spirit-Filled

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

The gospels tell us that there were times when Jesus was “filled with the Spirit.” Does that mean he was not always filled with the Spirit? Or were there times when that anointing was stronger than others? Luke writes that, after his baptism and 40-day testing in the desert, Jesus was filled with holy power: Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.

If Jesus, whom we believe was at once fully divine and fully human, needed to be filled with the Spirit of God – his own Spirit – to be effective in ministry, what does that say about us? So often I find myself trying to minister on my own steam. If you have a lot of energy and ideas, your own steam can take you a ways. But nothing like when we’re powered by God-Spirit. I’m at my best when I realize “I got nothing” in the face of a given challenge, and invite God’s power and love to be realized through me.

How can we tell the difference? We all need to learn to discern that. We can start with, “Did I ask the Spirit to fill me, or guide me, or help me?” The Spirit of God blows where it will, Jesus said, but rarely seems to show up uninvited. God honors our free will. When we develop the practice of inviting the Spirit into our ministries we will find ourselves empowered in a new way. We might even pray through our calendar at the beginning of each day or week, asking the Spirit to be present with us in the tasks ahead. (We need also pray that God remove obstacles to the free flow of Holy Spirit in us – that’s the work of repentance and healing.)

We can learn to attend to how we feel in our bodies when the Holy Spirit fills us. We might feel a discernible energy, sometimes an excited joy, sometimes a deep peace that clearly comes from beyond us. I feel it when I’m praying with someone for healing, often when I am singing, or when I’m preaching or leading worship. There can be an effect on our minds too – most of the time, if I pray, “God, I need an idea for…” an insight or idea pops into my mind almost immediately, almost as if dictated. Why I don’t always ask?!

Sometimes we know the Spirit's filling after the fact. I can feel incredibly energized, buzzy, especially when I know the Spirit has been present and people have felt more connected to God and each other. If I feel drained, I’m pretty sure I was trying on my own. If I feel lifted up and full of joy, there’s a good chance God was working through me. Exhaustion may come later; we’re human; but we don’t feel drained.

And when it’s the Spirit, we know by the fruits. Lives are transformed. Systems are unjammed. Creativity and joy flow more fully. I was blessed with such a day Sunday, with one church filled for a baptism in the morning, followed by a creative annual meeting full of good ideas in the afternoon. A huge part of my ministry as a pastor is to increase my congregants’ capacity to be filled with the Spirit. For when the Body of Christ is filled with the power of the Spirit, you can be sure that reports about him will spread through all the surrounding country.

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1-21-19 - The Spirit is Upon You

(You can listen to this reflection here. This week's gospel reading is here.)

When Jesus began his public ministry, his reputation spread quickly as he went from synagogue to synagogue, teaching. When he came to his home in Nazareth, he showed all his cards. Reading from Isaiah, he sat back and said, “This prophecy is fulfilled in me. Today.”

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’

Anointed to bring good news. To those most in need of it – the poor, the captive, the blind, the oppressed. This, he was saying, is what God is up to, has always been up to, is doing among us even now. Today.

We who bear the name and life of Christ share in this anointing, whether or not we choose to live it out. Today we celebrate the life and ministry of one who did not shirk that anointing, but embraced it, gave himself to it even unto death, in the footsteps of his Lord Jesus. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew that the Good News had not yet gotten around to everyone. There were still plenty of people mired in poverty who needed to hear it; plenty of people held captive by systems of racism and white privilege that hold resources and opportunities for the few; plenty of people blinded by greed and power and lack of insight; plenty of people oppressed by injustice and cruelty and the legacy of slavery.

And so he went with his anointing and preached Good News, not only proclaiming release but working And so he went with his anointing and preached Good News, not only proclaiming release but working tirelessly to bring it about. He worked and preached and wept and dreamed until he was silenced. His dream of racial harmony and equality is not fully realized – the last few years have made that abundantly clear. God’s dream of racial harmony and equality is not yet fully realized in our world.

Today I invite you to read that prophecy of Isaiah that Jesus claimed in the synagogue so long ago, and ask the Spirit to renew this anointing in you. Allow the Spirit to work through you to bring to visible completion the Good News Jesus proclaimed and won for us. Let's open ourselves to God’s dream of wholeness for all of creation, of blessing for every child of every race in every place.

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.'
Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Join Jesus in living it out.

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1-18-19 - The Way of Love: Learn

(You can listen to this reflection here. This week's Way of Love gospel reading is here.) 

My congregations are exploring the Way of Love during the season of Epiphany, with different gospel readings. On Fridays, Water Daily will take up the Way of Love topic for the week – today that is the second practice: Learn:

What do we do after we’ve turned to Jesus? We grow our relationship with him – or rather, discover a relationship that’s always been there. From God’s side, it has been.

Think back to a time when you fell in love. Didn’t everything about the other person fascinate you? You could talk endlessly about this new love; there was no limit to the time you wanted to spend with him, finding out everything you could, what made her what she is. That passion to know, to go deeper, is at the heart of the spiritual practice of Learn. It involves study, not in a dry or dutiful way, but the way we focus on something or someone that intrigues us to the core.

How do we get to know someone who intrigues us? We talk to them, to people who know them, perhaps google or read up on them. So:

• We talk to Jesus – This is prayer. To really know him, we have to talk to him... and listen for his reply.
• We talk to people who know Him. I cannot overstate the importance of spiritual conversation in the Christian life. If we keep our faith to ourselves, and never find out how other people experience God, we impoverish ourselves and limit our growth. 
• We read about him. We can’t take study and reading out of the practice of Learn – we are people of the Book. Our “book” is really two distinct collections of writings. The first, which we self-referentially call the “Old Testament,” is better termed the Hebrew Bible, as it has a full identity apart from us. This contains stories, poetry, drama, law codes, histories and prophetic writings conveying the history of God’s interaction with humanity from the beginning of time to shortly before the era of Christ. Some of it speaks to us directly, some of it reads like letters to our ancestors, but all of it is our root-stock. The shorter collection of stories, letters and treatises that we call the New Testament is the most vital for Christ-followers – the gospels telling of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection; Acts and the letters in which we witness early leaders struggling to articulate the beliefs and ethics of this new community of believers in Jesus Christ, as the movement became organized, systematized, ritualized and institutionalized.A serious Christ-follower will engage the Scriptures each day. It might be in a small way –a devotionwith a verse or two, short prayer or comment; a longer reading like Water Daily, in which we chew all week on the Gospel for Sunday; systems that guide us through the Bible in a year, or our own daily office lectionary; or just reading chapter by chapter. It is good to have a guide, even just a study bible with explanatory notes (ask your clergy leader to recommend a version with reliable scholarship and theology). Weekly engagement can include a group Bible study, where insights are shared and multiplied beyond what we glean ourselves.

An ancient and beloved way to Learn is called lectio divina, divine reading, a contemplative engagement with God’s Word in which you read a verse or paragraph and sit with it in silence, reflecting on it, noticing what word or phrase snagged your attention, what questions arise, what invitations from God you hear.

The daily-ness builds the relationship. Just as you crave daily interaction with your beloved, so God seeks daily encounter with us. God’s Word is not the only way to know Jesus more deeply, but we cannot know him without it.

Above all, this practice means cultivating an adventurous orientation toward learning, to know that we have never “arrived,” will never plumb the depths of who God is. Our assumptions about God can hold us back and keep us from being open to what God wants us to see and do. The more we Learn, the more we discover what we don’t know, and the more joy we experience in exploring this One who made us, knows us and wants so deeply to be known by us.

This practice is like one who found a treasure in a field, hid it and then bought the field so she could always go back to it. I wish for you tremendous joy and depth as you Learn and grow in this love affair with God.

To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Sunday’s readings are here. 

1-17-19 - Transformation

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

Should it surprise us that Jesus could cause vats of water to become wine of the finest order? No more than that he could walk on water or speak palsied limbs into wholeness. As far as I’m concerned, the One who made the molecules that we know as matter can order and reorder them as She likes.

When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

This was the first BIG way that Jesus revealed the Life of the Kingdom he came to invite humankind to live in. This Life of God is a grand and cosmic reality; it is also manifest on a sub-atomic, micro level. And one of its most fundamental principles is transformation. That is how God-Life becomes visible, wherever one thing is transformed into another.

In this story, we see water transformed into fine wine, the ordinary into the extraordinary. At our communion tables, we experience ordinary wine transformed into the blood of Christ. Whether or not molecules are altered in that transaction is immaterial (as it were). A spiritual transformation occurs which catalyzes an even deeper transformation: ordinary people are transformed into carriers of God’s Life. The Bread becomes the Body, and then the corporate Body becomes the bread broken again to be shared with the world.

As we allow that Life to take root in us, we experience the deep transformation of our spirits being reshaped by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the One who took water and made something delicious out of it, even more delicious than pure water, which is pretty amazing itself.

However you are feeling about yourself or your life today, remember this: This Jesus has taken us at our best and our worst, our most faithful and most self-centered, our most creative and least inspired, and has already turned us into wine of rarest vintage to bring life and joy to the people around us. Let’s not only attend this party – let’s bring the wine of life.

To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Sunday’s readings are here. 

1-16-19 - To the Brim

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

Sometimes I wonder if God shakes his God-head at the tiny scope of my prayers. “Please, let me be on time!” “Please, heal this cold.” “Please, tell me what to preach.” The Maker of heaven and earth invites us to pray for hurricanes to subside and wars to cease, and most of us don’t even pray about cancer and terrorism. Do we think we’re only worth the small stuff, or that God is finished doing big things?

If we based our prayers on what we read in the gospels, we’d pray about big things all the time – abundance beyond measure, even beyond need. Twelve baskets of leftovers, fishnets full to bursting, and here, Jesus’ first miracle, more excellent wine than the people of Cana could get through:

Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim.

Did he use those jars because of their size? Or because of their purpose, for ritual baths? Are we to link purification with the wine that is to be manifest in these vessels? Those who take an allegorical approach to biblical interpretation would say every detail, especially in the Fourth Gospel, is fair game. Today, let’s focus on size and capacity. Jesus wasn’t making only a little bit of table wine; he was crafting vats of the finest vintage. Because that’s how God rolls.

The Realm of God is not a place of "just enough." “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap,” Jesus says later, exhorting his followers to generosity. (Luke 6:38). But sometimes "just enough" is our experience – often enough, it would seem, to dampen our expectation of God’s radically abundant provision.

We need to recall those times when we’ve experienced more than enough, when the jars were filled to the brim, when the gift was completely out of proportion to our sense of deserving or ability to respond in kind. (Just looking out my windows does that for me… I’ll never know why I am so blessed to live here.) Remembering those times can help raise our expectations of God’s power and love.

Another thing that does that for me is reading books about the healing ministry. Those stories of God’s power to transform situations, sometimes against all natural hope, inspire me to greater boldness in my prayers, and bolder prayers lead to bolder participation in God’s mission.

The next time you feel the pinch of scarcity – or even just the fear of it – call to mind a large stone water jar, filled to the brim with water, a little sloshing over. And then realize it’s not water at all, but thousands of dollars worth of precious liquid, all for the taking and sharing.

And then realize God wants to fill us to the brim with Life, transformed into grace for the world. Do we have enough capacity for what God wants to give us? Do through us? There’s a prayer…

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1-15-19 - Follow Instructions

(You can listen to this reflection here.)

In addition to many other charms, this story of the wedding feast and the wine gives us a glimpse into Jesus’ relationship with his mother. He had no problem saying “no” to her when she nudged him to use his super-powers to address the wine shortage – and she had no problem ignoring his “no.”

When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’

Despite his demurral, Jesus does give the servants orders, and somehow vats filled with water become vats of finest wine. His instructions to the servants are two-fold: Fill the giant jars with water, and then draw some off and take it to the chief steward. It is Jesus who “works” the miracle, but it is accomplished through ordinary servants who follow his instructions, as daft as they may seem.

When God is up to something in this world, it is generally done through ordinary servants like us. And the bigger and more transformational the “something,” often the whackier the instructions seem. Quit your job. Sell your house. Leave your country. Call that person. Join that movement. Raise thousands of dollars. Give away thousands of dollars.

I wonder, is God always asking outrageous things of us, and we just aren’t getting the message? I do know that the instructions usually come one at a time. We have to do the first thing before we find out what the next is. Fill the jars, all the jars. All the jars? With that much water? That’s crazy. But we have to do that before the next instruction: draw some off. And it’s only after the chief steward has tasted that we know just what a crazy thing Jesus has just done through us.

Can you recall a time you felt prompted by the Spirit to do something odd, bold, even controversial? Did you do it? What happened? Are you receiving such promptings in your life now? What instruction are you being given?

Sunday, we had to cancel church because of snow and ice, and I thought about sleeping in. But I felt a nudge to offer “church by phone,” using a teleconference number. And it ended up connecting a group of us to a beloved parishioner who’s in the hospital, gravely ill, as her husband dialed in to the call – she could hear us as we prayed for her. I could not have foreseen such a wondrous development; only God could have arranged that, through a holy nudge.

If, like me most of the time, you draw a blank when asked what God is prompting, try asking God straight out: “Where do you want me to serve in your plans today? What purpose can I help fulfill?”
Then pay attention and see what develops – and while you’re waiting, enjoy the party!

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1-14-19 - When the Wine Runs Out

(You can listen to this reflection here.)

An Episcopal Church, running out of wine? It could never be. Yet I’ll never forget the Easter Sunday at a New York parish that shall remain nameless, when the Altar Guild inexplicably failed to put out enough communion wine. Alerted to this crisis while distributing communion, the Curate, who lived onsite, ran up to his apartment and fetched several bottles of Rioja, and no one was the wiser. Except that those seated in the back half of the 1000-seat sanctuary thought, not unlike the steward in this week’s gospel story, “Wow – they really get out the good stuff at Easter.”

Jesus, enjoying a festive wedding reception with his crew, had no intention of coming to the rescue when the hosts ran out of wine: On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ 

I love the way it says, “When the wine ran out,” as though it were a given that the wine would run out. It is often our experience in life that the good things don’t last, romance fades into the ordinary, abundance dwindles to “just enough,” and sometimes not enough at all. Yet the record of the New Testament – and much of the Hebrew Bible too – is that “running out” is never the end of the story. Things run out, and somehow more is found, oil and flour, wine and water, bread and fish, time and energy - even life.

Our invitation, in those moments when it seems the wine has run out, is to widen the lens and see where in the picture abundance might be found. Instead of getting paralyzed with fear or forlorn with despair, we can ask God to show us where provision is. We can pray for an infusion of hope, which fuels our creativity and openness to new ways of thinking. And we can share our concerns with people around us, and see what their perspective on the matter is.

One message of this funny story about Jesus at the wedding is that nothing is impossible where God is concerned. We don’t always know how things will be transformed, but the effect is that there is enough and more than enough. In my experience, the more we trust in that, the more often we see it manifest.

Wine may run out, but God’s grace never does. And more often than not, it turns out that someone has a stash of a good Spanish red nearby…

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1-11-19 - The Way of Love: Turn

(You can listen to this reflection here.)

My congregations are exploring the Way of Love during the season of Epiphany. Most weeks the gospel readings will differ from the Revised Common Lectionary. So on Fridays this season, Water Daily will focus on the Way of Love topic for the week – today that is the first practice: Turn.

In the gospel my congregations will read on Sunday, John the Baptist points to Jesus and calls him the “Lamb of God,” saying, "The one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”

Two of John’s disciples go after Jesus to see what he’s about. And Jesus turns. "Jesus turned and saw them following, and said, 'What are you looking for?'” They confess their curiosity, and he says, “Come and see.” By the end of that day they have made the choice to follow him and Andrew has fetched his brother Simon to meet Jesus. And the next day Jesus meets Philip and says to him, “Follow me.”

Jesus says that to us each day, and each day we can choose again, to turn and follow Jesus, turning both toward him, and away from sin.

The heart of this practice is to turn toward Jesus, as we turn when someone calls our name, or when something catches our attention. Some of us have known a definable moment of turning to Jesus; others have always walked with him, with moments of more intense awareness. All of us are invited, each day, to pray, “Where will I see you today, Jesus?,” to actively watch and listen and turn when we sense him near.

Turning toward Jesus, toward the Life of God, also means turning away from things, patterns, even people who draw us away from God's love. One Hebrew word for repentance means literally to “turn again.” In some early Christian baptismal rites, the candidates for baptism faced toward the west when renouncing Satan and sin, and then turned to face east (toward the rising Son…) to accept Jesus as their savior and Lord. So we are invited daily to turn away from things that distract us from God-Life and diminish our full humanity, or that of others. (I did it in the car yesterday!)

Turn can become a daily spiritual practice that helps us focus on Jesus. In the morning, before you get too busy with activities, design a movement or ritual that enacts turning toward Jesus. Say good morning to him. Give thanks for all that is blessed. Talk about the day ahead – invite his help with the things that are worrying you. (You’ll find you're doing the third practice, Pray.)

And each day think about what you’d like to turn away from. Offer those things up, in the forgiving love that flows from God’s throne. Because, as we turn toward Jesus, we find him turning toward us. Remember what happened to Peter after he denied knowing Jesus? “At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter.” (Luke 22:54-62) I feel sure it was a look of love, for Peter felt immediately repentant. To paraphrase John, we turn because God first turned to us.

Many years ago I wrote a poem, when I felt the need to turn again to Jesus, which I share below. I am so blessed that I did turn to him, and can do so all through the day. You too!

My heart is but a quarter-moon, three-quarters turned away;
A harp too badly out of tune for even You to play.
But you, unceasing, ever pull me back from darkest night
Until I shine, all silver, full, another’s path to light.
And you, Creator, who can wring from cold, damp earth a song:
So tighten, Lord, I pray, each string, that I might sing along.

1-10-19 - The Oil

(You can listen to this reflection here.)

In the so-called “sacramental” traditions (Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran and Orthodox), we use two materials when we baptize someone. The most obvious is water. No less important is the oil.

We don’t use oil in the same quantities as we do water – though, in some ancient church communities, a candidate’s whole body was anointed with oil, while in others oil was poured into the font along with water. In some places, the baptizand’s hands, feet, face and head were anointed as part of the baptismal rite.

It seems likely that St. Paul knew this rite of baptism in the earliest days of the Church. In Ephesians, he writes, “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit...,” that marking probably referring to the same liturgical action we make when we trace the cross in oil on the forehead of the baptized and say, “You are sealed with the Holy Spirit in baptism, and marked as Christ’s own forever.” Paul likened that anointing with the Holy Spirit to a down-payment of sorts: “…the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession.”

It is the oil, chrism, that gives us the word “christening.” That’s how fundamental this part of the baptismal ritual is. For the oil is the Sign, or symbol, for the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ baptism, it was the anointing with the Spirit that revealed him as the Anointed One, or the “Christ” (same root word as chrism). Luke describes the moment like this: "… when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove." Until that moment, Jesus was Jesus of Nazareth in Galilee. From this point on, he is Jesus the Christ.

John the Baptist is an even more specific witness: And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” (John 1:32-33)

We might even say the oil is more important than the water. The water symbolizes the cleansing, forgiving, dying and rebirth realities of baptism. But it is the gift of the Holy Spirit uniting us with Christ that makes us Christians. That’s where our new identity comes from, the birth of a new person, you plus Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit we are just strivers; with the Spirit of Christ in us we are carried along on the Mission of God – and that cannot fail.

Do you feel you’ve received the Holy Spirit? If you’ve been baptized in the Church, you have. And this is the original understanding of Confirmation – from the Latin word confirmare, to strengthen. The bishop would come and lay hands on the baptized to fill them with the Spirit.

Yet our churches can be awfully quiet about the Spirit, so that many are barely aware of this Life Force by which we are renewed to be most fully who we are, and empowered to do more than we can “ask or imagine.” If you don’t feel very well acquainted with the Holy Spirit, there’s some spiritual work to do. We can begin with the simplest of prayers: “Come, Spirit of Christ, fill me. Come, Spirit of the Father, renew me. Come, Holy Spirit, empower me.” And then see what happens. We have been sealed. The deposit has been made. We can start collecting our inheritance.

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1-9-19 - The Water

(You can listen to this reflection here.)

There’s a fancy name for teaching about sacraments: mystagogy, the study of the sacred mysteries. Mystagogy flourished in the fourth century, when the Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, causing a flood of would-be converts to seek baptism. A few bishops – Ambrose of Milan, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Jerusalem and Theodore of Mopsuestia (say that three times fast!) offered instruction about the sacraments to catechumens before they were baptized. They tried to explain what the rites were all about. I’d like to focus on the elements involved – and begin with water, the most fundamental of fluids for baptism - and for life.

Sometimes I think we belong in the water – we begin life and we end it in a sealed, watery place. We spend our first nine months of life floating in a sac of amniotic fluid, with embryonic arms like flippers. And then we’re born – which is freedom, but also makes us fish out of water. Some people spend their whole life trying to get back to that warm enclosed place – to live in the water.

Do you like a nice, hot bath when you’re tired? Easing in slowly because it’s just a little too hot, letting the water close over your tired feet, your aching muscles, letting your back settle in, enclosed in warm water.... Or are you a shower person, standing for minutes on end in the flow, letting it wash over your face, your shoulders and neck….
We can go bigger: walking into a cool lake on a hot day, the smooth, gentle water enveloping you… And when I swim in the ocean I feel the most freedom of all. It’s bracing, it’s vast and refreshing, you can dive down and float on the waves... Sometimes I think we belong in the water.

The Bible is full of water, from Creation to Ark, the Red Sea to the Jordan River. And there, symbolically, is where we all begin our life in Christ, going with him down into the water, letting the merely human person in us die and be reborn as a new creation who emerges with Christ from the depths. That’s why water, lots of it, is so important in the sacrament of baptism – it is symbolically enough water to drown in, and enough to birth us into new life. That’s why some early baptistries were built to look like wombs or tombs or both.The baptismal water is where our eternal life truly begins.

And whether you were sprinkled, toe-dipped, dunked or half-drowned, you got the whole thing. You went down and were laid in the watery tomb with Christ. You got up and were raised to life eternal with Christ. You were baptized in the waters of life for ever and ever! Amen!

If we want to feel more alive as Christ followers, we might practice remembering our baptism every day. We are surrounded with reminders – the water we drink, bathe in, wash dishes with. What if we cultivate the habit of remembering our baptism every time we feel water on our skin? Remind ourselves that we were washed and cleansed and reclaimed and reborn in water? Maybe we’d remember how beloved we are, which might make us more loving.

We begin Life in the water. And according to the book of Revelation, there’s water waiting for us at the end of days too, in that heavenly city, the new Jerusalem. And guess what? A river runs through it.To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Sunday’s readings are here.

1-8-19 - Sacramental Epiphanies

(You can listen to this reflection here.)

There are a number of bible passages associated with the season of Epiphany (like Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, it is both a day and a season…) – Jesus’ birth, his first miracle at Cana, the wise men and their star – and the story we are exploring this week, Jesus’ baptism, which gave rise to the premiere rite of initiation into the Christian church. Holy Baptism is one of two main sacraments accepted by most Christian traditions (and the other is...?). Epiphany is a good time to talk about sacraments – for they are Signs which reveal the hidden realm of God and make it discernible in our day-to-day world. They allow for multiple epiphanies.

The major sacraments of the Church are those rites which we believe Jesus himself instituted – the eucharistic meal at the Last Supper (“Do this in remembrance of me…”), and baptism in the Great Commission(“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”). I’m pretty sure he also commanded his followers to wash each other’s feet regularly as a mark of servanthood and union with himself (John 13), but alas, only the Moravians do that more than once a year.

The Prayer Book catechism defines a sacrament as “an outward and visible sign of an inward, invisible grace.” Something is enacted on the outside – what liturgical scholars call a “Sign Event,” and we believe by faith that the Holy Spirit accomplishes transforming work within us as we move through that rite. The material “signs” in baptism are water and oil, as well as the baptismal candidate and the gathered Body of Christ. The “signs” in Holy Communion are bread and wine and the gathered Body. In both, the Holy Spirit is the one doing the work. We just show up with our faith.

The ancients referred to sacraments as “the Holy Mysteries,” because in them the unseen reality of God is made known in human flesh, as it was more fully in Jesus’ incarnate life. Sacraments are ways we can touch and taste and feel God, to draw so near to the presence of the divine. We assert that they are effective for us whether or not we’re conscious – but how much more powerful when we open ourselves to experiencing God in them!

How do you experience sacraments? In addition to the two major ones, some churches include confirmation, marriage, anointing the sick, confession and rites at the time of death. Can you recall a time when you had a transcendent experience during baptism or communion or another rite? What were the circumstances?

If your experience is not earth-shaking (mine rarely is), what feeling do you associate with these holy rituals? We might pray before we participate, “Jesus – make yourself known to me.” Or “Holy Spirit, fill me.” Or “God of heaven and earth, draw near to me.” And trust that God has showed up, whether or not we felt it.

Martin Luther defined sacraments slightly differently: "Rites which have the command of God and to which the promise of grace has been added.” Grace is God's unconditional promise to us. Sacraments are an invitation into an encounter with the grace of God. Our epiphanies dawn as we become aware of just how powerfully that grace has made us whole.

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1-7-19 - Down To the River

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

We’ve been here before, this river. I don’t just mean every year when we revisit Jesus’ baptism. 

I mean a few short weeks ago, with John the baptizer doing his thing, 

“…and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”

We heard his prediction about the one coming after him: "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals.”

Soon enough, some thirty years after the birth we just celebrated, Jesus showed up at that river:
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ 

All four gospels reference this event, the water, the Spirit’s descent, the heavenly voice of acclamation. Jesus’ baptism becomes the pattern for Christian baptism to our own day. We will explore the rite and rituals of baptism this week; today let’s immerse ourselves in this story. Let’s go to that river, among the crowds, imagine the stir when John reacts to Jesus’ presence, the hush that falls as he enacts this ritual of repentance for one who has no need of it.

Close your eyes and see Jesus lower himself into the water until it closes over his head, and then, as he emerges, a dramatic play of clouds and light, and what looks like a dove coming upon him. Maybe you hear a sound from the skies, like thunder or a loud wind, perhaps a sound like words that you can just make out… “You are my Son, the Beloved. With you I am well pleased.”

How would you feel as an eyewitness to Jesus’ baptism? I’m sure some thought they were seeing things, hearing things. Others knew they’d witnessed a divine intervention into the human sphere, and they told the story and told the story and told the story, until it became one of the foundations of the Christian movement.

How has baptism changed your life? Give it some thought. Baptism is one of God’s great gifts to us. We will explore this rite of initiation which is so simple yet carries so much power. Perhaps we will get in touch with the Spirit’s anointing of us, even if the sacrament that enacted this happened decades ago, or when we were barely conscious.

Faith and even ministry may not always begin with baptism, but each Christian traces our membership in the Body of Christ back to that river Jordan, back to that water of life. Let’s go down to the river again this week.

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1-4-19 - The Way of Love

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

My congregations will be delving into the Way of Love during the season of Epiphany. Most weeks the gospel readings will differ from the Revised Common Lectionary. So on Fridays this season, Water Daily will focus on the Way of Love topic for the week – today that is introducing a rule of life.

The Way of Love is an approach to intentional Christian living developed by the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Reverend Michael Curry. Anyone who heard his sermon at the royal wedding last summer knows how joyfully he expresses the love at the heart of our Good News. He developed this set of “spiritual practices for a Jesus-focused life” in response to a growing sense that many Episcopalians had yet to experience God’s love for themselves – as he has said, “You can’t give away what you don’t have.”

The Way of Love – seven spiritual practices, each honed to one word – is what monastics call a rule of life, a plan for how one will focus and grow spiritually. A rule of life, which can be corporate (as in the Rule of St. Benedict) or individually developed, allows us to be intentional about our spiritual lives, rather than drifting. Just as we benefit more from exercise that is planned, so that in a given week our whole bodies get a workout; just as we eat more healthfully when we plan our meals; just as we work more productively when we set goals and plan tasks – so it is with the life of the spirit. We grow more loving as we cultivate habits of the heart that open us to the love and power of God.

Some of the practices contained in the Way of Love – Turn, Learn, Pray, Bless - can be embraced daily. Some, like Worship and Rest, may become part of a Christian’s weekly rhythm. The remaining one, Go, might be lived daily or weekly, or involve travel or major life changes. Together, they help us maintain a balance between interior spirituality and external mission, and focus us on following Jesus.

As we prepare to engage this Way of Love, to learn and internalize these practices so that they become automatic, we are in a sense preparing for a journey. So let’s go back to those Magi we’ve been walking with all week and see what wisdom they might share with us:

Discern – Notice what God is up to. Those magi studied the heavens and knew when a new star arose (perhaps a supernova). They were intrigued and explored what it might mean. So we need to be awake to what snags our attention – perhaps a need around us, a passion within us, joy, pain, outrage, tenderness – where has God set a star for you?

Chart a course – How will you get where you are going?
What route is best for you – fast, scenic, with or without tolls? Even when we’re not sure of our destination, like those magi, that star we’ve seen gives us a direction.

Pack – What do you need for this journey? A time set aside each day? A place? A journal? A companion to travel with, someone to share insights and pitfalls as you go? Gifts to bring when you arrive? 

And what might you choose to leave behind? Distracting activities or people? Disappointments in faith? Previous attempts at spiritual discipline? Patterns that no longer serve you?

Dare - those magi came to Bethlehem from a faraway land, risking injury, robbery, danger, losing their way. As we embark on this spiritual adventure, let us pray for some of their courage, to be open to what lies ahead, trusting God’s presence with us in challenges and victories, trusting God’s gifts that sustain us on the way, trusting God’s guidance as we move closer to God’s heart. Andiamo!

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1-3-19 - Getting There

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

Until you’re there, you’re not. This is a truth of journeying I relearn every time I am late, impeded by speed limits, traffic lights, other drivers. I want to be through the miles, onto the next leg of the route, arriving – but I can only be where I am at each moment. Until you’re there, you’re not.

The sages who had come so many miles in search of the new king whose star they’d seen rising in their night skies had reasons for wanting to get there. They had invested a great deal in making this trip, in trusting the stellar guidance as they read it. Maybe people at home had called theirs a fool’s errand; they might have read the stars wrong. This Herod fellow certainly hadn’t known anything about a new king; he just sent them off toward Bethlehem. They didn't even know where "there" was, but until they were there, they weren’t.

But they had that star as a beacon: “...they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.”

Imagine what these star-followers felt when the guidance held true! Real men or mythic figures – or both – these sages were overwhelmed with joy when they were led to a simple house. And if they were surprised to find there an ordinary young family, we see no indication in their actions: 

“On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

What a way to greet a king, even one who didn't t look like one: in a house, not a palace; attended only by his mother. Our wise travelers were unfazed. They knew they had arrived where they needed to be. They had come with three goals – they wanted to see, they wanted to honor, they wanted to gift. And when they had done what they came to do, they went home, guided by the wisdom that had brought them to Bethlehem, to be ready for the next adventure.

Maybe we can find in their goals a guide to our devotion:

To want to see Jesus. Make that a prayer; ask the Spirit to expand your faith vision to see Jesus wherever he might be in your life this week, in prayer, in worship, in his word, in the poor, in other people…
To want to honor Jesus. Offer Him praises, adoration in your heart, with your voice, in your actions…
To give him precious gifts. What that is precious to you do you want to offer Jesus? Your time? Energy? Relationships? Maybe ask what he would like you to give… you might be surprised at the answer.

This journey of seeing, honoring, giving is one we make over and over again, arriving “there” only to leave again. Each time we arrive we are strengthened for the next trip, which might be in five minutes, or five weeks, and on each journey we see the sights somewhat differently.

Until we’re there, we’re not.

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1-2-19 - Star Chasers

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

They knew their stars, these wise men, magi of scripture and legend, astrologers or astronomers from east of Judea (how far east? Everything’s relative…). They knew they had observed a new star in the night sky, and they knew how to interpret what they saw. According to their calculations, this one indicated a new king for the Jewish people – and this discernment induced them to leave home, undertake a lengthy journey of uncertain destination, find this new monarch and offer honor. Were they cultivating an alliance with a powerful new figure, or simply paying their respects?

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”

Their predictions got them to the right country, if not the precise location where this new king could be found. And so, logically, they began their search in Jerusalem at the court of the current king, Herod. Bad idea – but that’s how great stories come about. (More on that later in the week…).

Today, let’s rest with these travelers. I am touched by their priorities, by their attention to the movement of the heavens, by their conviction that they’d read the stars correctly, by their willingness to put aside their daily lives and duties to travel to a foreign land and pay homage to a monarch they’d only learned about through astrological charts and observation. They are models of faith in action.

Is there a star you are chasing? Another way to ask that is, 

Have you discerned a movement of God in your life or in the world around you? 

Has it included a call to action for you? Have you explored this with wise people in your life?
Have you been able to act on your conviction and discernment?
Have you been part of someone else’s discernment, been a “wise one” for another?

What divine action do you sense around you at this point in your life, in the infancy of a new year? This is often a time when we pay special attention to new movements in the greater arc of our lives, as the magi scanned the heavens for changes in the stars.

We have an advantage over those eastern sages – we already know the king they were seeking, or at the very least, we’ve been introduced. We don’t need to scan the heavens – we need only seek the light of Christ in and around us, and move toward that. That Star will give us all the direction we need.

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