You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
There are moments when we are filled with gratitude and grace, aware that God is real and has acted in our lives. Those are the times when our spirits swell and words of praise burst forth from us. One of the biggest such moments in human history may have been Mary’s, when Elizabeth delivered confirmation that the baby she was carrying was indeed the Lord of heaven and earth.
Who knows what she actually said – Luke was not there, after all. But he gave beautiful shape to the words she may have said, words that are both humble and grand, personal and global, rooted in Israel’s past and the glorious promise of deliverance to come, proclaiming justice and mercy: And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.”
The word “magnified” here puzzles me. I think of magnifying as something you do to make something appear bigger than it is, and God needs no magnification. If anything, God needs to be brought down to a scale we can reckon with (one way of thinking about the Incarnation…). It’s not Mary’s soul that magnifies God, but the Spirit that magnified Mary’s spirit, expanded it, filled it.
Sometimes our spirits feel very small and pinched, like a tire without air. We need that breath of life that comes from realizing – again – how very great God is, and how very near God’s love is; to refill our spirits and make them bigger than they were. Not for nothing are the words "pneuma," for spirit, and "pneumatic" related.
Events can happen which magnify our spirits. At other times we need to rely on our memory of how God has acted in the past, and our faith in the promise of restoration to come. That’s why we pray, setting aside time to remember and claim God’s promises, and allow that remembering and claiming to lead to proclaiming the Good News.
How about this for a spiritual exercise, today or this weekend: Write your own hymn of praise, your Magnificat. What would you say in praise? What great things has the Mighty One done for you? Where has God shown the strength of his arm? Where do you want to see justice break forth?
What a wonderful way to prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth, and to honor the woman who bore him into the world, in whom God was truly magnified in every possible way.
© 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.
12-18-24 - Believing
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted from trying to “do ministry,” especially at this time of year. Getting Christmas together for two churches, not to mention myself. Writing sermons and press releases, posting events and hosting meetings. Seeking discernment. The list is endless.
And all God really wants from me, and from you, is that we believe. That we believe God’s promises. That we rely on God’s power. That we trust t God’s eir presence and goodness and gifts.
One of the most powerful parts of the story of Mary and Elizabeth’s encounter that we explore this week is Elizabeth’s simple statement about what makes Mary blessed: “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
Simply taking God at God’s word is all we really need to do. That’s what garnered Abraham righteousness in God’s sight, according to St. Paul (Romans 4); not the things he did or said, but his believing God’s crazy promise about a son. Mary received a pretty crazy promise about a son too – even more outrageous than Abraham’s. But she said “Yes,” and she took action on that promise. Her coming to see Elizabeth was one of the ways she put believing into action.
What promises has God made to us? There are general promises we can find in Scripture – like the promise of peace in the midst of anxiety (Philippians 4), the promise of Christ’s presence always (Matthew 28), the promise of the Holy Spirit (Luke 11). Peace, presence, power – not a bad start.
And sometimes we discern specific promises. Perhaps you’ve sensed God inviting you into a particular ministry, with some clarity about what will unfold. If the Bible is any indication, these sorts of callings can often seem far-fetched. It might be easy to dismiss them, or try to ignore them, especially in an age when we are not surrounded by people of faith who can help us confirm them spiritually. If you do feel a nudging from the Spirit toward some ministry or expression of your gifts, start to explore that; ask others what they think; take one step and then another and see where you end up. You can’t steer a car that’s not moving.
When we don’t really believe that God will do what God has promised, God cannot work through us. It’s tricky like that. Acting in faith in such a way that our lives and priorities actually begin to be transformed is a matter of believing that what the Lord has spoken, that the Lord will bring into being. And sometimes we become the means through which God brings his promises to fulfillment. Blessed are we.
© 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.
I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted from trying to “do ministry,” especially at this time of year. Getting Christmas together for two churches, not to mention myself. Writing sermons and press releases, posting events and hosting meetings. Seeking discernment. The list is endless.
And all God really wants from me, and from you, is that we believe. That we believe God’s promises. That we rely on God’s power. That we trust t God’s eir presence and goodness and gifts.
One of the most powerful parts of the story of Mary and Elizabeth’s encounter that we explore this week is Elizabeth’s simple statement about what makes Mary blessed: “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
Simply taking God at God’s word is all we really need to do. That’s what garnered Abraham righteousness in God’s sight, according to St. Paul (Romans 4); not the things he did or said, but his believing God’s crazy promise about a son. Mary received a pretty crazy promise about a son too – even more outrageous than Abraham’s. But she said “Yes,” and she took action on that promise. Her coming to see Elizabeth was one of the ways she put believing into action.
What promises has God made to us? There are general promises we can find in Scripture – like the promise of peace in the midst of anxiety (Philippians 4), the promise of Christ’s presence always (Matthew 28), the promise of the Holy Spirit (Luke 11). Peace, presence, power – not a bad start.
And sometimes we discern specific promises. Perhaps you’ve sensed God inviting you into a particular ministry, with some clarity about what will unfold. If the Bible is any indication, these sorts of callings can often seem far-fetched. It might be easy to dismiss them, or try to ignore them, especially in an age when we are not surrounded by people of faith who can help us confirm them spiritually. If you do feel a nudging from the Spirit toward some ministry or expression of your gifts, start to explore that; ask others what they think; take one step and then another and see where you end up. You can’t steer a car that’s not moving.
When we don’t really believe that God will do what God has promised, God cannot work through us. It’s tricky like that. Acting in faith in such a way that our lives and priorities actually begin to be transformed is a matter of believing that what the Lord has spoken, that the Lord will bring into being. And sometimes we become the means through which God brings his promises to fulfillment. Blessed are we.
© 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.
12-17-24 - The Kick Felt Round the World
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
What must it have been like for a post-menopausal woman to be pregnant for the first time? Perhaps now, reproductive technology being what it is, some women have experienced that. But in the hill country of Judea in the waning days of BCE, it must have been a challenge for Elizabeth, so long childless and now suddenly, wondrously, filled with new life.
And here comes Mary, herself mysteriously, wondrously with child, and the unborn one inside Elizabeth begins to do somersaults: In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb.
And now another life stirs within her, more familiar than the one in her womb. The Holy Spirit of God fills her and she gives full voice to her praise: And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.”
If Mary came seeking confirmation of the angel’s message, God delivered that in abundance. And if Elizabeth had any doubts about God’s purposes in her own unlikely pregnancy, these too were laid to rest. Now she knew for certain that the child she was carrying had a holy destiny. Hadn't that angel said to her husband in the temple, "Even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit?" With great humility and gratitude, she praises the Holy One and confirms that the child in Mary’s womb is her Lord. What a moment. No wonder this encounter is among the most frequently painted of Biblical scenes.
Yesterday I asked us to consider what new life might be stirring inside us, what new purposes, plans, projects, passions. If we want these to grow and develop, we have to nurture them along, not ignore them until the time comes for them to be born. We have to feed them, and make room for them to kick, even leap and do backflips.
I wish I knew better how to make that room. Partly it means insisting on time for quiet and inactivity, as challenging as that can be in our 24/7 world. It means taking walks, and tea breaks, writing in a journal, and yes, committing to quiet prayer time each day. God may be speaking volumes, but if we never check in, how are we going to know? It's pre-natal care for the spirit. And when we do feel the kicks? When we feel ourselves filled with the Holy Spirit? Give voice with a loud cry and proclaim your blessedness!
© 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.
What must it have been like for a post-menopausal woman to be pregnant for the first time? Perhaps now, reproductive technology being what it is, some women have experienced that. But in the hill country of Judea in the waning days of BCE, it must have been a challenge for Elizabeth, so long childless and now suddenly, wondrously, filled with new life.
And here comes Mary, herself mysteriously, wondrously with child, and the unborn one inside Elizabeth begins to do somersaults: In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb.
And now another life stirs within her, more familiar than the one in her womb. The Holy Spirit of God fills her and she gives full voice to her praise: And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.”
If Mary came seeking confirmation of the angel’s message, God delivered that in abundance. And if Elizabeth had any doubts about God’s purposes in her own unlikely pregnancy, these too were laid to rest. Now she knew for certain that the child she was carrying had a holy destiny. Hadn't that angel said to her husband in the temple, "Even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit?" With great humility and gratitude, she praises the Holy One and confirms that the child in Mary’s womb is her Lord. What a moment. No wonder this encounter is among the most frequently painted of Biblical scenes.
Yesterday I asked us to consider what new life might be stirring inside us, what new purposes, plans, projects, passions. If we want these to grow and develop, we have to nurture them along, not ignore them until the time comes for them to be born. We have to feed them, and make room for them to kick, even leap and do backflips.
I wish I knew better how to make that room. Partly it means insisting on time for quiet and inactivity, as challenging as that can be in our 24/7 world. It means taking walks, and tea breaks, writing in a journal, and yes, committing to quiet prayer time each day. God may be speaking volumes, but if we never check in, how are we going to know? It's pre-natal care for the spirit. And when we do feel the kicks? When we feel ourselves filled with the Holy Spirit? Give voice with a loud cry and proclaim your blessedness!
© 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.
12-16-24 - Haste
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
In Sunday Gospel Land, we’re going backward. Having spent two weeks with John the Baptist (when Jesus was already a grown man), we zip back to both men’s pre-natal life. (My own churches have had the readings out of lectionary sequence, but more chronologically.) Back we go to Galilee, or rather to Judea, where young Mary has gone “with haste” to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Having received the rather alarming news of her impending pregnancy by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary is told by that frightening angel that Elizabeth, “who is in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
One piece of news or the other sent Mary quickly away from her native Nazareth: In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
What induced her haste? Was she anxious to verify the angel’s claims, to be reassured that she was not crazy, had not hallucinated the whole stupefying encounter? Was she eager to get away from prying eyes and nagging tongues, and gossip that could have exposed her to more than disgrace; were she found to have committed adultery while betrothed, she could have faced a penalty of death. Luke doesn’t tell us why she went “with haste,” but the phrase stands out in this season when we are invited to embrace waiting and watching. Mary didn’t wait – she just went. Perhaps guided by the Holy Spirit, perhaps by her own raging emotions, she high-tailed to the hill country.
There is a place and time for waiting in the life of faith. "Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength,” we read in Isaiah 40. “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage,” says Psalm 27. Certainly there is a lot of waiting during a pregnancy. Yet there is also a time and a place for action, for moving quickly to right a wrong, or to stand with someone under attack, to discern what exactly God is doing when you feel the Spirit’s nudge.
Discernment is a tricky business. Often we need to wait for things to unfold in God’s time. But when we do get a word or prompt, even a hint of where God is inviting us to serve, we can seek confirmation right away.
What stirrings of the Spirit are animating you these days?
What activity of God are you drawn to participate in?
What injustice do you wish you could set right?
What person or people do you feel called to encourage and support?
Do you feel called into a new job or vocation?
To pick up a new friend or pastime?
Whatever may be stirring, ask God to make it clear. That prayer doesn’t always get answered quickly, but we should not tire of asking it. And we should be ready to move with haste when we have a chance to find out just what it is God is up to now. For nothing will be impossible with God.
© 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.
In Sunday Gospel Land, we’re going backward. Having spent two weeks with John the Baptist (when Jesus was already a grown man), we zip back to both men’s pre-natal life. (My own churches have had the readings out of lectionary sequence, but more chronologically.) Back we go to Galilee, or rather to Judea, where young Mary has gone “with haste” to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Having received the rather alarming news of her impending pregnancy by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary is told by that frightening angel that Elizabeth, “who is in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
One piece of news or the other sent Mary quickly away from her native Nazareth: In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
What induced her haste? Was she anxious to verify the angel’s claims, to be reassured that she was not crazy, had not hallucinated the whole stupefying encounter? Was she eager to get away from prying eyes and nagging tongues, and gossip that could have exposed her to more than disgrace; were she found to have committed adultery while betrothed, she could have faced a penalty of death. Luke doesn’t tell us why she went “with haste,” but the phrase stands out in this season when we are invited to embrace waiting and watching. Mary didn’t wait – she just went. Perhaps guided by the Holy Spirit, perhaps by her own raging emotions, she high-tailed to the hill country.
There is a place and time for waiting in the life of faith. "Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength,” we read in Isaiah 40. “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage,” says Psalm 27. Certainly there is a lot of waiting during a pregnancy. Yet there is also a time and a place for action, for moving quickly to right a wrong, or to stand with someone under attack, to discern what exactly God is doing when you feel the Spirit’s nudge.
Discernment is a tricky business. Often we need to wait for things to unfold in God’s time. But when we do get a word or prompt, even a hint of where God is inviting us to serve, we can seek confirmation right away.
What stirrings of the Spirit are animating you these days?
What activity of God are you drawn to participate in?
What injustice do you wish you could set right?
What person or people do you feel called to encourage and support?
Do you feel called into a new job or vocation?
To pick up a new friend or pastime?
Whatever may be stirring, ask God to make it clear. That prayer doesn’t always get answered quickly, but we should not tire of asking it. And we should be ready to move with haste when we have a chance to find out just what it is God is up to now. For nothing will be impossible with God.
© 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.
12-13-24 - This Is Good News?
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
"So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people." That’s how Luke ends his reporting on the activities of John the Baptizer. I wonder if John's often harsh clarity (“You brood of vipers!”) sounded like good news to his listeners. Yet they went and told others who also came out to see him. Luke speaks of the crowds around John.
There can be something comforting about hearing the truth, being given a prescription for living in God’s way. But we tend to let those prescriptions lapse – the bible would be about a third of its length if people actually listened to God’s word and followed it. And what about us? We’re hardly a crowd in many churches, yet we show up faithfully. Are we listening faithfully? What might John say to us if we were gathered on that riverbank? It could sound like this:
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord” – that means, look out, folks. That means, repent! You think you’re exempt because you “try to be a good person?” You think you’re in the clear because you’re in church? You haven’t stolen, killed, cheated on your spouse? What we do is the least of it; it’s what we think that gets us into trouble.
And what we don’t do. How we don’t protect the poor and the powerless. How we don’t speak up for the voiceless in the richest country on earth – where some children die because they have no medical coverage. Do you live in a nice house in a safe neighborhood? How many TV sets do you own? How many times a week do you eat out? Do you know that there are places where people get maybe a bowl of rice or grain a day and sleep on the ground?
How much of your wealth are you sharing? How much trash do you generate? How much energy do you consume with all your cars and overheated stores and electronics? Do you benefit from privileges just because you may be white or wealthy? Where you have access to resources and positions because someone else is kept away?
You have a choice – you can participate in unjust structures – or you can stand against injustice. You can wring your hands, or really start sharing your wealth. You can keep eating too much and spending too much, or strip down your lifestyle to what you need and stop feeding the consumer culture.
Don’t want to hear this in church? I’ve got a part to play in your life, friend. I’m here to remind you that repentance is a year-round thing, an everyday, every week thing. I stand here to remind you that everything is not hunky-dory in your house – that there is a lot of clutter standing between you and your God.
Do you want more of God in your life? Do you want Jesus to hang out in your heart? Then make some room for Him! Clean up your houses, people! Jesus is coming. The only trick is – we don’t know when. So we need to keep the house cleaned all the time. That’s a drag, isn’t it?
But He sent me. He sent me to be your wake-up call. So here I am, people – WAKE UP! THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND. Turn away from your complacency! Clean it up!
Maybe we want to interrupt that barrage, say, “ Hey – give us a chance. Jesus is coming with fire, but he’s also full of love. Doesn’t it say somewhere that God “desires not the death of a sinner, but that they turn from their wickedness and live?”
And maybe John replies, I just want you to make it real. Real, from the heart. Real repentance, not just talk. That’s what God wants… I guess I’ll be on my way. See you next December, next time you guys take me out and dust me off.
Can we listen to John's good news all year round?
© 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.
"So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people." That’s how Luke ends his reporting on the activities of John the Baptizer. I wonder if John's often harsh clarity (“You brood of vipers!”) sounded like good news to his listeners. Yet they went and told others who also came out to see him. Luke speaks of the crowds around John.
There can be something comforting about hearing the truth, being given a prescription for living in God’s way. But we tend to let those prescriptions lapse – the bible would be about a third of its length if people actually listened to God’s word and followed it. And what about us? We’re hardly a crowd in many churches, yet we show up faithfully. Are we listening faithfully? What might John say to us if we were gathered on that riverbank? It could sound like this:
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord” – that means, look out, folks. That means, repent! You think you’re exempt because you “try to be a good person?” You think you’re in the clear because you’re in church? You haven’t stolen, killed, cheated on your spouse? What we do is the least of it; it’s what we think that gets us into trouble.
And what we don’t do. How we don’t protect the poor and the powerless. How we don’t speak up for the voiceless in the richest country on earth – where some children die because they have no medical coverage. Do you live in a nice house in a safe neighborhood? How many TV sets do you own? How many times a week do you eat out? Do you know that there are places where people get maybe a bowl of rice or grain a day and sleep on the ground?
How much of your wealth are you sharing? How much trash do you generate? How much energy do you consume with all your cars and overheated stores and electronics? Do you benefit from privileges just because you may be white or wealthy? Where you have access to resources and positions because someone else is kept away?
You have a choice – you can participate in unjust structures – or you can stand against injustice. You can wring your hands, or really start sharing your wealth. You can keep eating too much and spending too much, or strip down your lifestyle to what you need and stop feeding the consumer culture.
Don’t want to hear this in church? I’ve got a part to play in your life, friend. I’m here to remind you that repentance is a year-round thing, an everyday, every week thing. I stand here to remind you that everything is not hunky-dory in your house – that there is a lot of clutter standing between you and your God.
Do you want more of God in your life? Do you want Jesus to hang out in your heart? Then make some room for Him! Clean up your houses, people! Jesus is coming. The only trick is – we don’t know when. So we need to keep the house cleaned all the time. That’s a drag, isn’t it?
But He sent me. He sent me to be your wake-up call. So here I am, people – WAKE UP! THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND. Turn away from your complacency! Clean it up!
Maybe we want to interrupt that barrage, say, “ Hey – give us a chance. Jesus is coming with fire, but he’s also full of love. Doesn’t it say somewhere that God “desires not the death of a sinner, but that they turn from their wickedness and live?”
And maybe John replies, I just want you to make it real. Real, from the heart. Real repentance, not just talk. That’s what God wants… I guess I’ll be on my way. See you next December, next time you guys take me out and dust me off.
Can we listen to John's good news all year round?
© 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.
12-12-24 - Fire
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire… isn’t this the season for nice cozy fires? Well, not when we let John the Baptizer in. The fire he’s talking about, which he says Jesus will bring, is another force altogether, which will do more than warm us: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
That doesn’t sound like such good news to me – the ax, the winnowing fork, the unquenchable fire. I prefer my fires contained in a candle or crackling merrily in a fireplace. And unquenchable fire? Isn’t that an image of eternal damnation?
Yet fire is also one of our symbols for the power of the Holy Spirit. Our life in Christ begins with water, the transforming water of baptism by which we are made one with Christ and members of God’s family. And then God’s life is released in us as we are baptized with the fire of the Holy Spirit. That’s where we get the power by which God works transformation through us. We need water and fire.
I once had a prayer experience in which I fervently asked the Spirit to “set my heart on fire with love for you.” A good and holy prayer, isn’t it? But God shot right back: “Do you know what you’re asking? My fire consumes everything that is not of me.” The fire of God is a purifying flame, and if we let it, it will indeed purify us.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire… isn’t this the season for nice cozy fires? Well, not when we let John the Baptizer in. The fire he’s talking about, which he says Jesus will bring, is another force altogether, which will do more than warm us: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
That doesn’t sound like such good news to me – the ax, the winnowing fork, the unquenchable fire. I prefer my fires contained in a candle or crackling merrily in a fireplace. And unquenchable fire? Isn’t that an image of eternal damnation?
Yet fire is also one of our symbols for the power of the Holy Spirit. Our life in Christ begins with water, the transforming water of baptism by which we are made one with Christ and members of God’s family. And then God’s life is released in us as we are baptized with the fire of the Holy Spirit. That’s where we get the power by which God works transformation through us. We need water and fire.
I once had a prayer experience in which I fervently asked the Spirit to “set my heart on fire with love for you.” A good and holy prayer, isn’t it? But God shot right back: “Do you know what you’re asking? My fire consumes everything that is not of me.” The fire of God is a purifying flame, and if we let it, it will indeed purify us.
I once heard a story that describes this process beautifully. I have no idea how accurate it is, but it’s a lovely image of how gold was purified in olden times. The smelter would take the gold and put it into a pot and put a fire under it. As the gold melted, the impurities in it would rise to the surface, all that is known as “dross,” everything that’s not gold, that’s gotten mixed in, all of that would rise to the surface… and the refiner would skim it off.
And then he’d make the fire hotter, and more impurities would rise to the surface, and he’d skim them off. And then he’d make the fire hotter and more elements that were not pure gold would rise, and he’d skim them off. And then he’d make the fire hotter. Until there were no impurities left. Until, when the refiner looked into the pot, he saw his own image perfectly reflected back to him in the gold.
In this metaphor, we are the gold, of course. And you know the Refiner. But there’s something else: the pot which contains us is the Love of God, the One who was called Love. This pot has been fired in the furnace and will not crack. This Love bears the fire with us. This Love contains us as we are purified, and made ready to spend eternity with him.
If we want to open ourselves to a deeper experience of God’s love and power, we need to ask for a deeper filling of the fire of God, the Holy Spirit. There may be parts of our lives we don’t want to see scorched - can we offer God access anyway? Can we let God burn away the parts of us that are inauthentic, not true to who God made us to be? Can we let in the purifying flame? Can we become the fire of God that the world sees?
© 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.
And then he’d make the fire hotter, and more impurities would rise to the surface, and he’d skim them off. And then he’d make the fire hotter and more elements that were not pure gold would rise, and he’d skim them off. And then he’d make the fire hotter. Until there were no impurities left. Until, when the refiner looked into the pot, he saw his own image perfectly reflected back to him in the gold.
In this metaphor, we are the gold, of course. And you know the Refiner. But there’s something else: the pot which contains us is the Love of God, the One who was called Love. This pot has been fired in the furnace and will not crack. This Love bears the fire with us. This Love contains us as we are purified, and made ready to spend eternity with him.
If we want to open ourselves to a deeper experience of God’s love and power, we need to ask for a deeper filling of the fire of God, the Holy Spirit. There may be parts of our lives we don’t want to see scorched - can we offer God access anyway? Can we let God burn away the parts of us that are inauthentic, not true to who God made us to be? Can we let in the purifying flame? Can we become the fire of God that the world sees?
© 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.
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.
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.
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