2-19-26 - Power

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

Who has more real power – the emperor or the counselor? The president or the chief of staff? The CEO or the COO? In the third temptation Jesus faces, the devil is willing to put him in charge of all the kingdoms of the world – as long as he acknowledges him as the real power behind the scenes: Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’"

This has always struck me as a really dumb temptation – didn’t the devil know that Jesus had no interest in temporal power? Of course, this Jesus, in whom more divine power resided than the world had ever seen in a human being, was even less interested than most in world domination. He cared more about demonstrating the power to be gained in giving away our prerogatives.

There are at least three ways to wield power – there’s “power over,” when we have dominion over others, and use it to control them. There’s “power under,” the indirect, passive aggressive power seized by those who use their sacrifices and victimhood to try to control others. And then there’s the kind of power Jesus wielded, what I would call “power with.” This comes from a true sense of who we are, joined with an awareness of the power of God alive in us, so that we use power in a way that empowers others.

As we read the Gospels, we see Jesus constantly empowering people who had been robbed of power, whether by the Romans, by the religious authorities, by illness or prejudice or poverty. This was ultimately what made him such a threat to those who thought they had power over him. It’s what makes him such a threat to the Evil One – because Jesus is still alive, still in the business of empowering us. And empowered, we can resist evil.

When you look at your life, what kind of power is most often at play in your relationships, in your work, in your health?

• Are there things and people you’d like to dominate?
• Are there things and people whom you feel have power over you? Neither is a good position to be in.
• Are there ways you employ “power with” in a way that allows you to be true to yourself, true to God, and empowers others to be the same?

This is part of what it means to participate in God’s mission to bring wholeness to the world. When everyone exercises “power with,” the power of God overwhelms the power of evil. That old devil really never had a chance.

© Kate Heichler, 2026. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

1-23-26 - The Power We Have

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

When we look at the magnitude of challenges in our world, in our country, sometimes in our families and churches, it is easy to feel powerless. Yet, as apostles of Christ, his witnesses, powerless is one thing we need never feel. We carry within us power that made the universe and conquered the grave, and we are invited to use it. And how do we do that, you ask? Just do what he did: Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

If we substitute “our communities” for “Galilee” and “gathering places” for “synagogues” (that's what the word means…), we get a nice prescription for how to live the Good News: “We go through our communities, teaching in our gathering places and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.”

Wait a minute, every disease? Every sickness? That’s what it says. We don’t hear of Jesus meeting a disease he couldn't transform into wholeness. It’s what he did, and what he taught his followers to do. And it’s how he demonstrated the Good News he proclaimed. What we call miracles were simply Jesus showing how things work in the realm or "energy" of God when it’s released into our present reality. In Jesus, both realms were present, God-life and human life. When we invoke his name and his power, both realms are present in us too, “On earth as it is in heaven.”

In the realm of God, molecules obey the command of their creator and realign if they’re out of whack. Cells that don’t function as they were intended to can reassume their purpose. Tired limbs and bodies are renewed by an infusion of power from the source of all power itself. It’s not really so complicated. It’s just that we don't understand it. We like being able to see how things work.

God’s healing power can be visible in outcomes, but rarely in the process. We pray and “give thanks by faith until our faith gives way to sight.” And sometimes when we don’t see the fruit of what we’ve prayed for, we turn away from the whole enterprise.

Instead, we are invited to persist and release the results to God, knowing there is mystery to healing and what looks like not-healings. We are invited to release God’s power and love into a given situation, and to continue to trust in that power and love even while we don’t see transformation. Why let apparent “no’s” stop us from exercising our faith?

When, where and how do you find yourself proclaiming the Good News of God’s love and power? Hmmm. If you don’t know, there’s a prayer task. Ask God to show you. Is there a situation or person you know for whom you might offer healing prayers? “For all things are possible with God…”

Following Jesus means, in part, doing what he did. So let’s get out there, in our communities, teaching in our gathering places, proclaiming the good news of God’s power and love – and yes, healing every disease and every sickness, be it global or personal. We just invoke Christ's power - the rest is up to God. But God seems to want us to do the invoking.

© Kate Heichler, 2026. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

2-11-25 - Christ the Transformer

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

When trying to come up with a name for a church newly formed out of two parishes, I knew I wanted “Christ” in it. People have heard of Christ, even if they’ve never been introduced. The rest of the name also needed to be something people could connect to, a word in use nowadays. “King” seemed too monarchical and male-centric; “Redeemer” not particularly relatable – these days we only redeem points and coupons. We ended up with “Christ the Healer,” which was great. But what I really wished we could have used was “Christ the Transformer.” They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

Electric transformers take energy running on one current (say, that used in North America) and transform it so it can be used by appliances wired for a different current (such as in Europe or Africa). Jesus was a Transformer extraordinaire. He took the energy current that birthed the universe and translated, mediated, made it usable for God’s creatures in this earthly realm. More than once the gospel writers refer to Jesus’ power being something that people could feel, that came out of him. Here we see a whole crowd trying to touch him, just to get a dose of the power Jesus was mediating to the world. This bible passage, and others, suggests to me that God is pure energy, of a frequency we could not withstand were it not transformed for us.

That power coming through Jesus didn’t just “zap” people – it healed and restored. It cast out “unclean spirits,” whether demonic forces, or mental or physical diseases, or both. It forgave and released people. God’s power coming through Jesus transformed body, mind and spirit – and healed individuals become transformers in their communities.

We are called to be transformers as we grow into Christ's likeness and ministry. We receive the power of the heavens and transform it into a current that “runs appliances” – lifting up the lowly, feeding the forgotten, healing the infirm, forgiving the unforgivable, loving the unlovable. As we grow in faith, exercising the power of God in prayer and ministry, we become able to withstand and channel a higher and higher frequency, or voltage, of spiritual power. God’s power has not weakened from the time of Christ to now; it is as strong as the wiring able to carry it.

Every single time we exercise faith in the name of Christ we mediate the power of the heavens to bring transformation and life to the things and creatures and people of this world. The more we channel God's power and love, the stronger and deeper our capacity grows.

Christ the Transformer is alive and eager to work through us, his Body in the world. How much can your wiring take?

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

12-11-24 - Power

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

Every day seems to bring a fresh outrage, reports of words or actions by people in authority that demean others or diminish their civil rights. From police shooting unarmed citizens, to hyper-wealthy financiers and huge corporations using legal loopholes to avoid paying their share of taxes, to Christian leaders using the rhetoric of hatred and violence, it’s hard to trust anyone with power.

And, once again, John the Baptist is up to the minute: Even tax-collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do.” He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

How are we to respond to abuses of power as people of faith called to humility and love? Much of what is being said and done publicly is so contrary to what Jesus proclaimed and lived, it seems to demand a response from anyone with a Christian conscience. We need to stand against distortions and demagoguery – Jesus did a lot of that. And yet he also said we are to love those who would persecute us. How?

What John did was to call people back to their true selves and remind them of their charge as public servants. He told them to be satisfied with the compensation they were receiving, not to crave more. Now, he was speaking to people who came to him. They were open to counsel on how to live more righteously. A lot of the people who cause my blood pressure to rise don’t think they need to be taught anything about humility or how to be a bearer of Christ.

The most powerful thing we can do, really, is to pray for those who speak and act destruction. Pray for the most abusive and outrageous. That is exactly who Jesus told us to pray for. And for terrorists. And for destroyers of wildlife. And for those who game the system. The whole lot.

Every time we hear about a new outrage, how about we stop and pray for the perpetrator? Pray for God to bless them and recall them to their true selves. And sometimes pray that God would clog their chariot wheels…

Imagine what changes could come about if we wielded the only weapon we’re given: the spiritual power in the name of Jesus to transform even the coldest heart. My Facebook feed is going to inspire an awful lot of praying!

© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

1-11-24 - Greater Things

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

One measure of maturity is learning to adjust expectations – usually downward. We learn through trial that the world does not owe us anything, and neither do the people to whom we look for attention, affection and affirmation – the Triple A team that can run my life if I let it. Spiritual masters teach us to let go of wanting, of having an agenda; to accept what comes, not always try to make it happen.

And yet, here is Jesus, maybe the greatest spiritual master of them all, saying, “Expect more! You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” In the face of Nathanael’s new faith, ignited by Jesus’ knowing something about him he could not have known in the natural sense, Jesus replies, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

In response to his followers’ astonishment at his works of power, what we call miracles, Jesus always invited them to think bigger, to increase their estimation of what God can do as we invite the power of the Spirit into this earthly realm. The healing and transformation that Jesus brought about were not miracles at all, but simply normal operations in the Realm of God. And when the disciples did step out in faith and exercised authority in Jesus’ name, they found that demons and diseases and even death yielded to their commands. So it has been throughout history, and into our own day among churches alive to the work of the Spirit.

Yet many Christians have become people of tepid faith. Why? We don’t see such miraculous power exercised in our midst, so we adjust our expectations downward, and then we expect less and hesitate to wield the authority we’ve been given as followers of Christ, and thus we see fewer things we would call miracles. It’s a sad little cycle of reduced investment leading to diminished returns.

When did you last ask God to reveal something big, bold, scary? Did you see an answer to that prayer? Sometimes we’re afraid to pray big because we’re afraid of what it will do to our faith if we are disappointed. Well, guess what? Your faith is more robust than you think – and like the muscles in your body, can only get stronger when it's exercised. What do you want to exercise faith for today?

Try this: "Okay, God - release your power and love and healing in me, in so-and-so, in this situation or that country." If you want, you can add, like a father whose son Jesus healed, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief." You do not have to add, "If it be your will." It is God's will that the power and life of the Kingdom be revealed.

The “greater things” Jesus talked about aren’t only answers to prayer. He was also telling Nathanael – and, by extension, us – that he could come into the very presence of God through closeness to Jesus. If we spend more time opening our hearts to the power and love of Christ, we will find ourselves encouraged to believe in those greater things. Lord, open the eyes of our hearts to see.

© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here.  Here are the bible readings for Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

9-26-23 - Who's In Your Wallet?

You can listen to this reflection here.

In yesterday’s reflection I wandered into one aspect of the word “authority,” the “Who’s in charge?” sense. But the temple leaders interrogating Jesus in our Gospel passage meant more, “Who’s backing you? Who is ultimately responsible for what you’re saying and doing?”

We all carry bits of paper and plastic around with us, which we use to buy things. These derive their value from what backs them up. The dollar bill is only “worth the paper it’s printed on” because the U.S. Treasury has issued it. A letter of introduction to someone who might give you a job has value because of the person who signed it.

Jesus’ teaching and miracles had value because they were evidence of the power of the God who backed him. Those who believed that he represented the Living God were fine with that. Those who thought they knew God better had their doubts. Hence their question, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

It’s a good question for us as we seek to offer love, peace, healing and justice in God’s name. We know our world is full of people doing all kinds of things in the name of God as they understand God – how do we justify our ministries in the name of a force no one can see or prove?

Well, the first answer is – we can’t. Not fully. Not to someone who is sure there is no God, or no creator who interacts with his or her creation. And we don’t have to try to “prove God.” We are only to bear witness to what we see and know, and to help generate evidence for others to respond to – and then be around when their questions burble up.

Beyond that, we should speak and act in the name of God often – that’s what it means to bear witness to the Jesus we know. So when we serve a meal at a shelter or spend time with a sad friend because we feel called by God to do so, let’s say so. When we hear of a situation over which we are powerless, let’s offer to pray, and say it’s because we believe God’s power is at work in the world.

How do we evaluate actions that are justified as reflecting God’s authority? Christians have been given criteria. One is, do we see evidence of the Holy Spirit? Do we see good fruit? That’s a mark of the Spirit. Is there more peace? That’s a mark of the Spirit. A religious organization that sends out hate-filled communications is not moving in the Spirit and authority of God. What spiritual fruit is being borne?

Another criterion: Is a given action consistent with the revelation we received from Jesus, or in Scripture? This last is a pretty wide field – our scriptures contain all kinds of things that don't look to me like fruit of the Spirit. So I’d lean toward the Jesus side of that equation – is it consistent with what he did and taught? If you’re unsure, ask a brother or sister in community to help you discern.

By whose authority do we do the things we do? If it’s by the authority of God in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, let people know it. We have been given access to an incredible inheritance already, here and now – immense spiritual power. God didn’t mean for that to stay in a bank vault. We carry the cards, the cash, the checks to spread that spiritual wealth around, backed by our all-powerful, all merciful, omnipotent God. Let’s use it. Who’s in your wallet?

To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here.  Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

2-23-23 - Power

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

Who has more real power – the emperor or the counselor? The president or the chief of staff? The CEO or the COO? In the third temptation, the devil is willing to put Jesus in charge of all the kingdoms of the world – as long as he acknowledges him as the real power behind the scenes:

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’"

This always struck me as a really dumb temptation – didn’t the devil know that Jesus had no interest in temporal power? Of course, this Jesus, in whom more divine power resided than the world had ever seen in a human being, was even less interested than most in world domination. He cared more about demonstrating the power to be gained in giving away your prerogatives.

There are at least three ways to wield power – there’s “power over,” when we have dominion over others, and we use it to control them. There’s “power under,” the indirect, passive aggressive power seized by those who use their sacrifices and victimhood to try to control others. And then there’s the kind of power Jesus wielded, what I would call “power with.” This comes from a true sense of who we are, joined with an awareness of the power of God alive in us, so that we use power in a way that empowers others.

As we read the Gospels, we see Jesus constantly empowering people who had been robbed of power, whether by the Romans, by the religious authorities, by illness or prejudice or poverty. This was ultimately what made him such a threat to those who thought they had power over him. It’s what makes him such a threat to the Evil One – because Jesus is still alive, still in the business of empowering us. And empowered, we can resist evil.

When you look at your life, what kind of power is most often at play in your relationships, in your work, in your health? Are there things and people you’d like to dominate?
Are there things and people whom you feel have power over you? Neither is a good position to be in.

Are there ways you employ “power with” in a way that allows you to be true to yourself, true to God, and empowers others to be the same?

This is part of what it means to participate in God’s mission to bring wholeness to the world – when everyone exercises “power with,” the power of God overwhelms the power of evil. That old devil really never had a chance.

To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Next Sunday’s readings are here. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

11-18-22 - The Power In Weakness

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

What’s the good of a monarch who has no power? Sure, she or he might be effective as a symbol, or as a focus of resistance, but in stories, unlike in tabloids, kings have ultimate power. We claim God does too. So what kind of God allows his son to die a horrible death, in utter defeat? A God who knows that weakness can provide the best cover for strength, vulnerability the best ground for true power.

This theme runs all through the Bible – over and over we see God triumph through the younger, the weaker – Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David. Again and again God gives victory in battle to the smaller, weaker forces – if they will follow his instructions. Gideon overthrows Jericho with just a trumpet; David vanquishes Goliath with a mere slingshot. Keep your armor and weapons – the battle belongs to the Lord.

This principle is most powerfully displayed in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, who had no earthly power or resources beyond his God-given charisma and absolute authenticity, yet built a movement that has endured for over two millennia. The theme recurs in the church's birth, as the Book of Acts shows us a small band of apostles able to spread the Gospel and plant churches through a vast geographical area in the face of persecution and hardship. It is from this experience that St. Paul speaks the insight he received when God told him, “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

This caused Paul to go on: “So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.”

This has helped me when I've felt daunted by some challenge or defeated in some endeavor in which I hoped to prevail; eventually I remember, “Oh yeah! When I am weak, it makes room for God’s strength. And this needs to be God’s work.”

Let’s uphold this principle now, as climate calamities becoming ever more frequent and people continue to refuse to prioritize saving the earth for our grandchildren; as poverty persists in a world of plenty; as gun violence grows ever more rampant; as political fault lines continue to deepen. What on earth can we do in the face of challenges so massive? Remember, when we are weak, God is strong.

Can God’s strength be made perfect in our weakness, God’s love revealed in our vulnerability rather than our militancy? Can we stand up to injustice without calling everything a fight? What does reconciliation look like in this time? How are we to be "ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us?"

God has given us strength, as individuals and as communities. Yet we are never so powerful as when we lay down our own strength and make ourselves vessels for God’s power and might. That takes faith, so much faith. Yet, as Isaiah 40 reminds us:
But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary, walk and not faint.

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6-15-22 - Demonizing

You can listen to this reflection here.

Our country is once again in the throes of processing its latest eruptions of gun violence. (I first wrote that sentence six years ago and nothing has changed…) The drill has grown numbingly familiar – we learn about the shooter and his motives; we honor and remember the victims; support the survivors; call for action; pledge to pray; opine on social media. As the rhetoric flies, it is very easy to demonize different elements involved, especially the perpetrators of violence and those who enable them.

That is not what Jesus would do. This week’s story, among others, shows that he had a gift for separating disease, sin and evil from a person afflicted by them. He did not confuse people with the problems they manifest. Confronted with this terrified and terrorizing man, Jesus sees what’s wrong and addresses it head on. In this case, that means dealing first with the demons oppressing the man.

Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

This man’s neighbors were not so discerning. They took the human approach – they saw the problem, not the human being. They sought to control him, subdue him, ultimately to enchain and isolate him. It didn’t work – he was at the mercy of evil run rampant, beyond his control – and theirs.

Am I suggesting that people who manifest evil are not responsible? This story does not yield such a conclusion. We are not told that this man was destructive to people other than himself. But even in the case of mass murderers and hate-mongerers (and Jesus would put these on the same moral level), we do well to remember what Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “Our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Remembering that our battle is with the powers of evil – and that it has been won by Jesus Christ, who gives us his power to wield in further skirmishes – is the key to approaching evil with love. Whether we are dealing with a person bent on destruction, or someone in the grip of addiction, or simply someone who annoys the daylights out of us, we are called to separate the person from the condition they bear or the problems they bring. We are to do our best to build up the person’s spirit, weak as it may be, while working to free them from the ills that beset them.

Does anyone in your life come to mind when you think about this? Has anyone done this for you, seen you apart from what was wrong with you? Sometimes that is the key to opening hearts so healing can begin.

It has become so easy these days to demonize other people, those whose values or behaviors or actions or opinions strike us as unholy and destructive. Technically, though, only one entity in the universe can actually demonize someone, and that is the Devil, the enemy of human nature. We don’t want to be doing his work for him, do we?

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5-19-22 - Walk

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

I was privileged to know Canon Jim Glennon, an Anglican clergyman from Australia who had an extraordinary gift and ministry of healing. We corresponded quite a bit before he died, and I invited him to lead a healing mission I organized at my church in New York. I will never forget his clear, simple teaching about God’s healing: plant the seed of faith, in Christ; give thanks for God’s activity, even before you see it (“first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn…” he’d quote); and don’t be afraid to test it.

At that healing mission, to demonstrate his teaching, he asked if someone with severe back pain would come up for prayer, and a man did. The process by which Jim prayed, then checked in, then responded to the feedback is an incredible story in itself; it included the man’s realization that he needed to forgive the person who’d caused his injury. But after he prayed to release that, and we prayed some more, Jim asked the man how his pain was now, and he said, “It’s gone! It’s been with me for 15 years, and it’s gone!” “Well, twist around,” Jim said. “Move your back. Try it out. Get up and walk.” One of the ways we accept the healing God offers us is by moving into it.

Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Sometimes we pray for healing or transformation, and think God has not answered. And why do we think that? Because we haven’t moved! We’re still sitting in our dis-ease and sometimes despair and mistrust, still seeing the matter from the same angle, perhaps influenced by disappointments in the past. But as we get up and move around, we have to see it differently, for our position changes. (Not to mention the physiological benefits for our brain chemistry of moving…).

We can assume that God has heard our prayers, and assume that the God who loves and desires freedom and wholeness for us is indeed acting in and through us. So we give thanks even before we see the fullness of the healing we desire. We begin to walk, to move ourselves into the healing stream of God’s love and power. Maybe we limp at first; maybe we move cautiously; but we are to move toward that freedom and wholeness, our attention fixed not on our remaining symptoms but on the unwavering love of God in Jesus Christ.

God’s healing stream is that Living Water Jesus promised would well up inside us to eternal life. And God’s healing stream is that mighty river of God Life that flows around us as we move in the Spirit. If the flow is impeded by anxiety or anger or unforgiveness or unhealed trauma, we invite the Spirit to help remove those obstacles. It is remarkable how much healing can happen even as we’re getting free of some of these impediments.

Today, pray for healing in whatever area you’ve been considering this week. (Or pray with another – the faith of two is stronger than one). Believe that God desires wholeness and freedom for you, whatever that will look like. Give thanks for God's activity even before you see the fruits. And then begin to walk in faith, into healing. First the blade, then the ear, then the fullness of life!

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5-18-22 - Another Way

You can listen to this reflection here.

I once knew someone whose life had become a living hell. So many traumas and losses had accrued, exacerbated by and exacerbating physical and mental illness, family and financial troubles, she was like a fly caught in the web of a very busy spider. Listening, I didn’t know where to begin; she was sure no good outcome was possible.

Isn’t there always a good reason to lose hope? We don’t have the support we need; something came up that derailed us; we’re in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong people. The sick man in this week’s gospel story laid the blame for his continued infirmity on the other sick people around him who, he said, never let him get into the healing waters when they were stirred.

The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.”

I love Jesus’ response: he says nothing about the pool. He doesn’t tell the man to stop feeling sorry for himself. He doesn’t advise how to compete with the other people. He simply gives a command that has the power to effect what it commands: “Stand up, take your mat, walk.”

I wonder how these words landed on this man, so sure there was only one dim possibility for reversal, if he could get into that pool at the right moment. Did he think Jesus was mocking him? Crazy? Or did he feel a sensation in his body and limbs that told him something was awakening, something had changed? Did he worry what people would think if he attempted to stand? We don’t know; we’re told only that he did stand and began to walk.

This man did not heal himself. He did not change his attitude and become more open to healing. This was Jesus’ work entirely. That’s important for us, both as we seek healing for ourselves, and as we minister to others. We don’t have to put ourselves or others into the right frame of mind. We only need to bring Jesus into the picture and believe in his presence. And if we hear a command – we may not always – act on it.

If you were to tell Jesus in prayer today about the most “stuck” area of your life, the one about which you feel the most despair, what would it be? Try it, and try listening inwardly for a response. It might come through a word that fixes in your mind, or an image or scene, or you might find yourself sitting or walking with Jesus in your imagination. Whatever unfolds, go with it. Do you think Jesus will discuss your reasons for stuckness with you? Or will he just command you to be free?

In the life of God there is always another way healing can come. It may come through prayer, or medical care, or new information, or none or all of the above. We are to take the actions before us, but not get tied to them. At any moment, even thirty-eight years later, Jesus can come into our picture and set us free. He doesn’t have to unbind the spider’s web; he has only to command it in love, and the bonds fall away. As we invite him in, healing can come that much sooner.

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2-22-22 - Dazzling

You can listen to this reflection here.

The word “dazzling” doesn’t appear enough in the Bible. Nor do “marvelous,” “enchanting,” “super” or other movie poster adjectives. No wonder some people think it’s a dull book, full of platitudes and proscriptions. But we do get dazzled in this week’s story – blindingly so.

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.

It’s funny how you can read a story a hundred times, and on the next reading see it in a new way. I’ve always thought Jesus was glowing, radiating light from within, as though the veil of his human body became translucent and revealed his form as pure light, pure energy. Maybe. But then why would his clothes become dazzling white? How would light from within do that?

Now it occurs to me that maybe he was reflecting the light of God, suddenly revealed up there on that mountain, that God was both within Jesus and without, all around. The Exodus story (our Hebrew Bible reading Sunday) tells us “Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.” Maybe Jesus was reflecting light, not generating it; enough light to make Jesus’ face look different, to make his whole being dazzle.

What difference does it make whether the light came from within or without? I’m interested in whether and how we might reflect the light of God, and what it might do to our faces. I don’t mean that our faces will light up like Christmas trees in the presence of God – though that would surely get some attention. But what if others could see that we are reflecting a holiness, a power from outside us? I’ve been told that sometimes when I sing or lead worship, my face glows, and sometimes when I pray for healing, I feel an exhilaration that must show on my face. Is that a tiny, tiny bit of what Jesus manifest that day?

Perhaps you’ve known someone whose outward aspect changed when they began to center their life on Christ. Our “default expressions,” which we sometimes catch in store windows or mirrors, often reflect care, anxiety, weariness, or bitterness. What if they reflected the love and grace and assurance of God?

How might that happen? By catching the God-reflection off holy people and holy places. By spending more time intentionally in God’s presence, and letting that relationship shape us. It always seems to come back to that. Shedding our human nature and taking on God-Life doesn't come from a book or a building; it comes from relationship with Jesus. All spiritual practices exist for that: to deepen our relationship with Jesus.

I don’t know that we will see Jesus lit up this side of glory, but I do believe that his light reflected on us can be dazzling. So dare to dazzle!

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1-6-22 - Empowered

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

When John the Baptist was asked if he was the Messiah, or Elijah returned, he demurred:
“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. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Baptism in water is only the visible part of the gift. It is our unseen baptism in the Holy Spirit that changes everything. Too often churches neglect this greatest of all gifts, so dazzled by the play of water we don’t notice the fire at work. But fire is promised, and the Spirit is given to us, just as Jesus was anointed by the Spirit in his baptism.

The question is, What happens to that gift if we never use it, if we leave it wrapped up in a closet somewhere? I don’t believe the Spirit leaves us, but neither will the Spirit make his presence felt if we don’t invite her and exercise her gifts. Most of us have the ability to run a marathon, but unless we train and exercise, we lack the capacity. Similarly, many Christians leave the gifts of the Spirit unexercised. Then, when we’re confronted by what feels like a big prayer, a big need for healing or peace or reconciliation, we feel daunted and lacking in power.

Well, guess what? We have the power! We are given the power at baptism and it is confirmed in us at confirmation (that’s what “confirmed” means – confirmare,to strengthen). The power that made the universe and raised Christ from the dead lives in us. Will we exercise it or leave it on the shelf?

Like the other gifts of baptism we’re exploring this week – adoption, forgiveness, inclusion, belovedness – the gift of the Spirit’s power gets stronger when we remind each other it’s there. We can build our power-paks is by asking for prayer more often. I know people who always say, “I’m fine,” when asked how they might be prayed for. That denies the Christians around that person the chance to exercise their spiritual gifts. Don’t say, “No thank you.” Tell people where in your life you’d like to see God’s power and love manifest. Don’t hold back or just ask for easy things. Be bold in prayer.

When you ask another person to pray for you, you’re more likely to pray for them. When we have a whole community exercising its faith in prayer, we get an empowered church, and nothing can stand in its way. On this day when we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, the showing forth of God's revelation, let’s celebrate the unseen gifts of baptism and make Christ known in the way we display his power and love.

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12-8-21 - Power

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

Every day seems to bring a fresh outrage, reports of words or actions by people in authority that demean others or diminish their civil rights. From policemen shooting unarmed citizens, to hyper-wealthy financiers and huge corporations using legal loopholes to avoid paying their share of taxes, to Christian leaders using the rhetoric of hatred and violence, it’s hard to trust anyone with power.

And, once again, John the Baptist is up to the minute: 

Even tax-collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do.” He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

How are we to respond to abuses of power as people of faith called to humility and love. Much of what is being said and done publicly is so contrary to what Jesus proclaimed and lived, it seems to demand a response from anyone with a Christian conscience. We need to stand against distortions and demagoguery – Jesus did a lot of that. And yet he also said we are to love those who would persecute us. How?

What John did was to call people back to their true selves and remind them of their charge as public servants. He told them to be satisfied with the compensation they were receiving, not to crave more. Now, he was speaking to people who came to him. They were open to counsel on how to live more righteously. A lot of the people who cause my blood pressure to rise don’t think they need to be taught anything about humility or how to be a bearer of Christ.

The most powerful thing we can do, really, is to pray for those who speak and act destruction. Pray for the most abusive and outrageous. That is exactly who Jesus told us to pray for. And for terrorists. And for destroyers of wildlife. And for those who game the system. The whole lot.

Every time we hear about a new outrage, how about we stop and pray for the perpetrator? Pray for God to bless them and recall them to their true selves.

Imagine what changes could come about if we wielded the only weapon we’re given: the spiritual power in the name of Jesus to transform even the coldest heart. My Facebook feed is going to inspire an awful lot of praying!

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11-15-21 - Powerlessness

You can listen to this reflection here.

Oh friends, if we wanted to hide from the pain of the world in the embrace of our religious texts, we would be sorely disappointed, especially this week. For we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of a political fight with religious undercurrents – sound familiar? Within a day of the interview at the center of this Sunday’s gospel story, a man revered by thousands will be dead, brutally killed at the hands of the secular ruler, under urging from the man’s own religious leaders. His followers will have scattered, hiding in terror of being arrested themselves.

We can’t get away from blood, power and violence in our Christian story. That intersection is exactly where God’s incarnate Son landed as his mission in this world culminated in his humiliation and execution. But the governor who ordered his death did not want to see him die. He questioned his prisoner closely, hoping to find a loophole that would allow him to save Jesus. Jesus did not make it easy:

Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me.”

This week we wrap up our liturgical year before resetting the clock on the first Sunday of Advent. On this final Sunday in “ordinary time,” we celebrate Christ as King. But the only images the Gospels give us of Christ as king show him as a helpless child, honored by magi; humbled, riding on a donkey; powerless, under arrest and trial; or nailed to a cross. Vulnerable, humble and powerless – is that what kingship looks like for Christ-followers?

I cannot but think of the seventeen missionaries kidnapped in Haiti nearly a month ago, or the many incidences of brutality some Christians around the world suffer for their faith. Persecution is not unique to Christians, of course – in fact, worldwide, Christians have it better than members of other religious traditions, and in our country people of Muslim, Sikh and Hindu traditions are more apt to be targeted. Yet risk and sacrifice are part of the package if we desire to follow the One who went to the Cross for us. Vulnerability and humility and service can look an awful lot like powerlessness.

The Way of Jesus was to prevail through humility and powerlessness in the temporal realm. The power he exerted was spiritual – a force so strong it could raise the dead, but not discernible to those who refused to see it.

Can we be bold enough to wield that power, given to us through his Holy Spirit? Can we dare to stand against hatred with love, against violence with generosity? That’s what Jesus did – he stood calm in the face of the man who had the power to end his life, and spoke nothing but truth. He walked into death itself and rendered it impotent. That’s how you respond to evil.

God, give us the grace to comfort, to seek justice, to forgive – and to wield love in the power of Christ.

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7-22-21 - Master of Molecules

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

It can be hard to fathom the pressure Jesus was under, from his celebrity, notoriety, people’s expectations. After the miracle of the loaves and fish, the stakes got even higher: When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.” When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

As people began to grasp Jesus’ messiah-ship, the danger went way up. There were divergent views about who the messiah would be and why he would come. In times of war and hardship, messianic hopes became conflated with dreams of military victory, a restoration of Israel’s autonomy. Jesus could see how quickly people might make the leap from “the prophet who is to come” (i.e, Messiah) to king – and he wanted to be very sure not to get caught in that crossfire. So he went off alone to pray and recharge.

Ironically, what happened next demonstrated how much more power Jesus had than any prophet or king before or since. Needing to catch up with his disciples who’d gone ahead in the boat, Jesus simply exercised the authority he had over all of creation, molecules and all, and took a shortcut across the water:

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

But wait, there’s more – not only did he walk on the water; when he caught up with the boat, it immediately reached its destination: Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going. No more battling the head winds – Jesus said, “We’re going home,” and that was it. Home they were.

Jesus didn’t often circumvent the laws of nature with the laws of Spirit – but on this day, he did it many times. Last week I quoted a definition of faith: “Faith is a spiritual force that becomes a catalyst to activate spiritual laws that have authority over natural laws.” That’s what Jesus was doing, multiplying molecules of food, solidifying molecules of water, teleporting a boat to the shore. He was activating spiritual laws that have authority over natural laws.

So… can we do that? I believe we can do a lot when the faith moving through us is strong enough. The apostle Peter took a few steps on the water (in Matthew’s version of this story). Agnes Sanford, a healer, exercised faith over storms and earthquakes, and tells stories of commanding wild animals and being obeyed. Madeleine L’Engle remembers as a child routinely going down stairs without touching them. There are many stories. Yet I know that it is very, very hard for us to disconnect from all the data that says “impossible” and open ourselves to the Power for whom all things are possible. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t stroll on the waves. Today, anyway...

But I can build up my faith with prayers for healing and guidance, and the occasional rebuke of wind and weather. Our faith is a spiritual force, and like our muscles, it gets stronger as we exercise it.

 

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7-2-21 - On the Job Training

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

Those who would carry forward the ministry of Jesus’ apostles as ordained leaders today must often go through a great deal of discernment and training and formation. In the Episcopal church, discernment can take 3-5 years, involving parish committees, diocesan committees, bishops, psychologists, often more than once. Training usually means a three-year seminary education, learning about church history, theology, practice of ministry and how to interpret the Scriptures. Formation includes field education, chaplaincy, spiritual direction, mentorships, retreats…

And a person can emerge from all of that and still not feel equipped to cast out demons or cure people of illness! By contrast, the original apostles of Jesus did all that on their first foray, learning as they went: So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

This is astonishing, when you think that these men had no formal instruction, and had until recently been living ordinary lives with their families, engaged in livelihoods like fishing and tax collecting. But we don’t need training to allow the Spirit of God to work through us – we need to learn how to get out of God’s way. We can see, following this band of Christ-followers through the pages of the New Testament, that it took them a lot longer to get that down. But here, at the outset, they are already competent at demonstrating the healing and authority over evil that are prime markers of God’s realm.

Do you feel equipped to be an apostle of Christ in your surroundings? Do we even know what that means for us? It’s not complicated; “apostolic” just means doing whatever Jesus’ apostles did. And they did this: proclaimed God’s reign, invited people to open themselves to God’s love (repentance), and demonstrated that love through curing the sick and casting out evil wherever they encountered it. They did this not on their own, but by God’s power working through them as Jesus gave them authority. That’s all.

We too have been given this gift of Spirit and this authority over evil. We don’t need any more training to be apostles than the original ones did. We too can learn on the job. Yet, as strongly as I believe this, I find it hard to get out there. It’s so counter-cultural for us to go out in public, or even to people we know, offering prayer and healing. We’re timid, and it’s easy to let other organizational and ministerial projects keep taking priority.

I am truly grateful for all the formal education and training I received, and I hope my communities benefit from it. I also know that all I really need is the power of the Holy Spirit alive and working through me, and the courage to let her flow. You too!

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6-23-21 - Christ the Transformer

You can listen to this reflection here.

I once served a congregation which was the result of a merger between two parishes. They had just stuck the two names together, resulting in one that was long, theologically confusing and hard for many to remember. I suggested that we choose a new name to reflect our new life. The question then became: what? On the way to “Christ the Healer,” which is what we became, we went through quite a few. The name I wished with all my heart we could have chosen, would it not have required so much explaining, was “Christ the Transformer.”

In this week’s gospel story, when the unseen woman who suffered from incessant bleeding touched Jesus' clothes in hopes of being healed, he says he felt power go out from him: Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"

It is amazing that Jesus could feel something had happened to him in that moment, and knew someone had touched his clothes. His disciples are incredulous, saying to him, 

"You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?”'"

Beyond that awareness, though, is the fact that he felt energy transfer from him to another person. This is yet another of the bible passages that suggest to me that God is pure energy, of a frequency we could not withstand were it not mediated for us. And that is what an electric transformer does: it takes energy running on one current and transforms it so it can be used by appliances wired for a different current. Transformers were common in my house when we lived overseas.

Jesus was the Transformer extraordinaire, taking the energy current that birthed the universe and translating, mediating, making it usable for God’s creatures. Even so, we can sometimes find the current too strong; that’s why sometimes people rest in the Spirit during Pentecostal services, or we feel heat or tingling when we pray. Part of what it means to grow in faith is to build up our capacity to hold and channel a higher and higher frequency of spiritual power.

For we too are transformers, as we grow into the likeness and ministry of Christ. We too receive the power of the heavens and transform it into a current that “runs appliances” – lifting up the lowly, healing the infirm, forgiving the unforgivable, feeding the forgotten. Every single time we exercise faith in the name of Christ, we are mediating the power of the heavens to bring transformation and life to the things and creatures and people of this world.

Where have you been a transformer lately? 

Where are you called to mediate the power of heaven into someone’s life?

Every time we invoke the Spirit of God in prayer, in worship, in witness, we bring the heavenly into the earthly. We allow God to redeem, renew, revive, restore all things to wholeness. Even this broken world. Even our broken hearts. The power of God has gone out – can you feel it?

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6-9-21 - The Power In Small

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

I know two people who started a school in a challenging inner-city neighborhood. They wove Christian principles into its operation, delighted in diversity, and had a huge commitment to helping the under-served, often under-privileged children of that city learn and thrive. They called it The Mustard Seed School, because they knew that things - and people - that look too small, too poor, too shabby to amount to much, can achieve greatness. That is how things work in the realm of God.

Jesus also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

This is one of many ways in which the values of God’s realm run counter to the values of our culture. We often think big is better, strong is mightier, talent prevails. There is nothing wrong with big, strong or talented, but those labels don’t tell the whole story about a person or a community – or a church. Some people are big because they come from large stock; some are gifted because they’ve been treated to a great education. These are not the values by which we are to measure one another, and certainly not the values by which we are to measure the effectiveness of our churches. But it takes a lot of prayer and reordering our values to truly look for the power and greatness in what appears small or weak.

When have you seen greatness in something that appeared small or less than desirable?
When has someone seen greatness in you at a time when you felt you had little to offer?
Where do you appreciate “small" and "unimpressive?”

There is a realm in which our culture has come to appreciate the small: technology. The smaller the item, the more we prize it – as long as it can pack a huge amount of data and deliver it at lightning speed. So maybe if Jesus were telling this parable today, it would sound like this:

“With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a processor chip, which, when implanted in a device, is the smallest of all the components; yet when it is activated, it becomes the most powerful of all operating systems, and powers many apps and puts forth many gigs of data, so that whole networks can benefit from its bandwidth.”

Does that work for you? If not, try this:

“With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a person of faith who seems pretty ordinary, who, when rooted into a community of other ordinary people, is the smallest contributor; yet when s/he is filled with the Holy Spirit, becomes the most powerful of all ministers and reaches out so lovingly, whole communities are blessed in ways they cannot number.”

Yeah. You and me. On our worst days. At our weakest. We provide shade and branches for whole communities. THAT’s how the kingdom of God works!

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5-21-21 - Peace, Power, Presence

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's principal reading is here.

This week we have explored the ways the Holy Spirit helps us pray and praise, live “pneumatically,” be like pie with the Spirit’s fruit and filling, and accept the Spirit’s gifts for ministry (can’t think of a “P” word for that…). Let’s end by looking at the way the Spirit brings us supernatural peace, presence and power, through prayer (phew, four more Ps!).

I can think of nothing we need more in our multi-faceted, out-of-control lives than peace and power. And though both are states we can try to achieve on our own, something extraordinary kicks in when we ask them of the Holy Spirit.

When we are in turmoil and pray for God’s peace, and we feel ourselves begin to settle, that is the Holy Spirit at work. Paul calls this peace from the Spirit “the peace that defies understanding.” It comes in profoundly unpeaceful circumstances and is all the more wondrous for being beyond our ability to reason or meditate ourselves into. He told the Philippians to pray in times of anxiety, making petitions, with thanksgiving, and then trust that this peace of Christ will fill us.

Similarly, the power of God comes into us most fully when we are at our weakest. Paul wrote that he heard God say, in a moment of crisis, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”(II Corinthians 12:9) This is so counter-intuitive, it can be hard to remember at those times when we’re at a low ebb. Sometimes, when I am facing a deadline or an event and I think, “I got nothin',” I am reminded (by the Spirit?) of this principle. If I remember to ask for inspiration when creating a sermon or a flyer, ideas soon come to me.

Paul – and Jesus before him – also relied upon that power of the Spirit revealed in what look like miracles to back up the message of radical forgiveness and transformation in God’s love. It is not our power or our persuasiveness or our gifts that reach another’s heart – it is the power of God's Spirit working through us.

The Holy Spirit is right here, as close as our breath. In fact, we need only stop and breathe in with intention to begin feeling the Spirit’s presence. If I pray in tongues for a moment, I am dropped into the Spirit's presence. Though praying in tongues is unfamiliar to some, who associate it with the fervor and occasional emotional excess of Pentecostalism, it is a great gift of the Spirit, one intended as a prayer language. It allows us to allow the Spirit to pray through us. In that way, the prayer begins and ends with God. We are just part of the loop, though an integral part, for if we don’t add our faith and intention, then God’s own desire may not be realized.

Hmmm…. Did I just say we could thwart God's desires? Maybe... but here's Paul again: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for 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.” (Romans 8:22-27)

We don’t even have to pray on our own strength! Nothing we do as Christ-followers needs to be done alone. God is with us in all of it, all the time, or wants to be. And how do we experience God with us in it all, all of the time? Through the Spirit of the Father and of the Son – the Holy Spirit of God.

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