Twelve Days of Christmas Reflections - Day 7

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 16-17

I'm going backwards today, maybe its appropriate since it is the last day of 2013 and everyone tends to look back. I have one more title given to Jesus by someone else and this was before He started His ministry. When Jesus was baptized the Spirit of God, our first look at the Holy Spirit, descended like a dove. At the same time a voice said that Jesus is His beloved Son. Matthew tells us the voice came from heaven so the presumption is that it is God speaking. What better authority than God? Do we need more?

What does it mean to be God's beloved son? According to Merriam-Webster "beloved" means "dearly loved" or "dear to the heart." Precious, favored and special are all synonyms. If something is precious to us we hold it close, protect it and put it above other things. So this means that Jesus is held close to God's heart above all others. Not only that but God claims Jesus as His son. In first century Jerusalem a son inherited everything the father owned; land, possessions, money, animals and people. To be a son was to be a representative of the father.

It's clear that God is telling those present at Jesus' baptism that Jesus is His precious representative.  In effect God is telling us the Jesus owns everything since God is the creator of the universe. If Jesus owns everything we are just using the gifts He has given us. We should be using those gifts according to His wishes. There is no question of what His wishes are in this matter; again and again Jesus told us to love God and love one another so we should use our gifts for that purpose.

I think that God chose to add the word "beloved" before son to let us know how important Jesus is to God. Not only is He important to God, but Jesus is to be important for us too. We are to treat Him as the precious Son. We are to hold Jesus dear to our hearts too. I think this is what God meant in Jeremiah when he said, "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts." (Jeremiah 31:33) If we hold Jesus close to our hearts we will know God's way.  

Twelve Days of Christmas Reflections - Day 6

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep."  John 10:14-15

We are half way through Christmas so I'm leaving the Nativity narratives and the beginning of John's Gospel. Thus far I have looked at what others have said about Jesus, now I am turning to what He proclaims about Himself. Who did Jesus say He was?

Jesus talked in parable and metaphor more than just proclaiming the truth. I think it was because we cannot truly understand His nature and to make us struggle and think about what He was teaching. If everything was simple would we really devote the time to get to know Jesus? Jesus proclaims that He is The Good Shepherd, those around Him must have realized that meant He cares for those who are not able to care for themselves. Let's face it sheep are not the brightest of animals and they wonder off quickly. I believe that some of the hearers of this might have been insulted or thought they didn't need Jesus because they could take care of themselves. How often do we think that way? I know I have told someone who was trying to help me, "I don't need your help" often. Of course when we finally give in and let the other person help we realize we did need the help and the burden was much lighter because of their presence.

Above the altar at St. Mark’s is a beautiful stained-glass window with Jesus holding a sheep, “The Good Shepherd”. As I was looking at it on Christmas Eve, I was struck by the fact that Jesus is holding the sheep, it is not next to Him, but cradled in His arms. Jesus says that He knows His sheep and that He lays down His life for the sheep. That means that He knows me, knows what makes me different from all the others and He cradles me in is arms. He cradles ME, despite my faults, despite my failure to love Him and others! Not only that, He lays down His life for ME. There is nothing to do but allow Him to love and cradle me in His arms, nothing is expected of me. He will carry me and ease the burden, whatever it is. All I need to do is accept His help!

*The above picture is the reflection of the stained glass window in the chalice of wine. Diane San Giacomo is the photographer of this wonderful picture.

Twelve Days of Christmas Reflections - Day 5

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 

“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29

John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, proclaims that Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” For the hearers of John’s words this must have been an astounding claim. The Jews gathered at the temple each year to sacrifice a perfect lamb as penance for their sins and John was saying the Jesus fills that role - that He is the perfect lamb. But note that John did not say the He takes away the sin of Israel or the Jews, but the world. 

John is clear from the beginning of his Gospel that Jesus didn’t come just for the Israelites, but for the world. That means every person that walks this earth. Jesus came for each and every one of us; the rich and the poor, the young and the old, the beautiful and the ugly, regardless of color. This is part of the hope of Jesus that He came for you, me and the stranger, to put us in right relationship with God. No sacrifice necessary, Jesus already paid the price.

Twelve Days of Christmas Reflections - Day 4

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Gospel of John doesn't spend any time with the birth of Jesus, he introduces Jesus as the Word. John is clear that Jesus is God and that he was at creation. The beginning of John's Gospel sounds a lot like the beginning of The Book of Genesis. The Book of Genesis starts by telling us that God created the universe by speaking. God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. John says that Jesus is the Word and the Word created the world. So, the Word is how God brings things into being - light, earth, sea, animals. Why did the Word come in flesh to earth at the time that He came? He didn't create a new planet, animal, plant or body of water? The Word creates but what did He create?

Perhaps He came to create a new world order. Jesus said over and over again that the poor would be rich and that the last shall be first. He consistently told anyone who would listen to love God and your neighbor; and He told them your neighbor is everyone. Jesus did not lead with a sword, He led with a message of "turn the other cheek." Jesus spoke and touched the outcast, the lonely and the unclean. He forgave sins while others wanted to stone the sinner. Jesus healed those who suffered in mind, body or spirit; He laid hands on the leper that no one would touch. Jesus went to the cross without a fight even though He had committed no crime. Not only did Jesus suffer the beating and humiliation of His persecutors, He asked God to forgive them.

How has the world changed in the past two thousand years? I'm not sure that we have honored His life, ministry and death. We are still at war, sometimes invoking His name to justify our actions. We still fail to love others, by lying to them, cheating them or gossiping about them. We seek revenge against those who have hurt them. We fail to feed and provide medical help to ALL people. We still consider certain groups of people as untouchable and we leave them to suffer alone. We look out for ourselves before others.

This leads me to wonder what I can do to live a life that honors Jesus' life, ministry and death. God's grace says that I don't have to pay the debt, because I never can. But this doesn't mean that I should just sit here and accept the grace without being changed by it. As Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthians, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" 

I have found over the last year I have been challenged to do new things, way out of my comfort zone. Maybe this is the start of the "new" me. Of course soon it will just be part of me and I'll have to grow in a different way. I think that is part of the reason the Word came in flesh, to remind us that we are constantly being created. 

Twelve Days of Christmas Reflections - Day 3

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; 

he is the Messiah, the Lord.     Luke 2:11

Today I am returning to Luke's birth narrative. There is no question of who Jesus is; from the beginning God's angels announce who Jesus is and His purpose. An angel is a messenger of God so it should be no surprise that God uses an angel to announce Jesus' birth. The surprise is that the angel doesn't go to kings or priests but to shepherds in a field. Again God is coming to the poor, everyday person not the privileged, educated or rich. And to be clear the angel announces that the baby born in Bethlehem, lying in a manger is the Messiah. Messiah means "anointed one". Being anointed by God means being chosen for a special purpose. Jesus' purpose is crystal clear, He is to bring the Kingdom of God to people on earth. His purpose, His mission has never changed in over two thousand years. During His time on earth, Jesus invited many poor, uneducated and insignificant people to walk with Him and to partner with Him in His mission. They received on-the-job training from Jesus to help spread the Good News, bring healing, forgiveness and grace to the lives of all who would accept it. He is still inviting us to be partners in His mission. The apostles are examples that Jesus can and will use anyone, regardless of station in life or education. I believe that He still provides on-the-job training as well. When I look back on my life, so many past experiences help me in my ministry today. My call to partner with Jesus is to bring the Kingdom of God to children and teens. My hope is that I am a good partner for Jesus and that the children and teens I work with encounter His healing, forgiveness and grace. How do you partner with Jesus to bring the Kingdom of God to others?

Twelve Days of Christmas Reflections - Day 2

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” 

(which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23

Today I am still in the birth narrative as I look at the name Immanuel. As Matthew tells us Immanuel means "God is with us." As I think of God being with me I feel His presence through His people. Recently so many people have stepped up to help me even when I didn't realize I needed it. Just a few examples: the friend who took over Children's Chapel a few Sundays ago so I could do other things I needed to do and take a deep breath; the Parish Intern who worked so diligently to put together the program she helped lead even while she worked full time and took exams at seminary; the Parish Life team who helped me serve lunch and hot chocolate to Kids’ Club despite the fact that I had previously assured them that I would do all the work and the friends who helped with the kids in the Christmas Eve program. (You all know who you are, thank you!!) There they were reminding me that I am not alone, that God is with me and God is with you often in was you don't realize.

Twelve Days of Christmas Reflections - Day 1

This year during the 12 days of Christmas I am reflecting on some of the names or titles given to Jesus in the Bible. Each name reveals something about who Jesus is, thus revealing something about God. Jesus tells us that if we know Him we know the Father. So who is the Jesus of the Bible? I hope that during these 12 days as I look at the names and titles used for Jesus I will encounter Him. Join me on my journey, share your reflections and thoughts so that we may find the true Christ this Christmas season.

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 

Luke 1:31 

It seems fitting to start at the beginning, with His given name - Jesus. The angel Gabriel gave Mary the name for her son, before she was even pregnant. The Hebrew version is Yeshua, which means “to rescue” or “to deliver”. For Jews in Jesus’ time names were very important, they revealed something about the person. So, Mary must have realized instantly that her baby would be different. Her baby would rescue her people, deliver them from bondage. I imagine the sound of a gasp escaping from her lips at this news. She was just a poor girl from Nazareth engaged to a carpenter! Who was she to be the mother of the Divine Deliverer? I sometimes wonder who am I that I should step forward and lead others in ministry. I have no special training, no formal Biblical or Theological degree yet there I am standing in front of a group of people looking to me to lead them. How did I get here? There must be some kind of mistake. Well, if God can choose a poor, young girl from Nazareth to be His mother, I guess He can choose me to lead people, to help people encounter Him. If Mary can be His mother, Jesus can use anyone to deliver His love and His grace to the world. I think that is one of the important messages of Jesus’ birth, not only did he join us in humble surroundings he chose a poor, insignificant girl to bring him into this world. Just as she delivered Him, He delivers her and all who come to Him.

Feeding God's People

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,

I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink…

Matthew 25:35

I was blessed today with an opportunity to serve God in a way that is outside my comfort zone...way outside! I'm in Columbus, Ohio for Group's KidMin Conference and I walked to Subway for lunch, which is about six blocks away. I got my meal and was on my way back to eat it where the conference is being held. I walked about a half a block when encountered a gentleman holding a sign saying hat he was hungry. Me being the incredibly generous Christian that I am handed him my bag of chips. Yup, a bag of chips, while I held on to my sandwich! Because I was hungry! Sure, I knew I would get dinner and have a warm, comfortable bed to sleep in, but I was hungry.

As I walked away I felt convicted. That inner voice said to me, "Really, that's all you can give? You are a professing Christian who gets frustrated when others don't share Christ's love through service. And you're going to walk away? Really!?"

I turned around and offered to by him a sandwich. We went into Subway and I paid for a sub and drink for him. He thanked me and blessed me before we parted ways. Being an introvert and not at all comfortable stating conversations I didn't get any of his story, but it doesn't matter he will eat today.

I pray that he finds the help he needs, but I am sure I was the one who was truly blessed by the encounter. Not only because he said, "God bless you," but because I grew spiritually because I loved my neighbor. I obeyed Jesus' command and learned that it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I stretched and went out of my comfort zone and it is in such moments that we grow.

I hope that the gentleman experienced God's love and grace in that moment. I know I did. I was reminded that to love others is to love those who are different than me. It was a reminder that every person has value, because God created us all. I was also reminded that even if I am not called to a particular ministry, that I am still expected to serve in whatever capacity God is calling me to at that moment.

What is God's call for you in this moment? Will you answer?

What Does God Ask of Me?

Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.  Micah 6:8 

This verse from Micah has come up a lot for me lately. I have seen it referenced in blogs that I subscribe to, I quoted it (after looking it up) to my daughter in a conversation on Saturday and then I quoted it again during Children's Chapel on Sunday. I began to think that there is a message for me here! It takes a lot to get through to me!

I've been thinking about what the message is for me. The blogs referenced doing justice. During my conversation with Cassie (my daughter) I quoted this for the love part. God wants us to love everyone - even those that we think sin more than we do. Then on Sunday the Gospel lesson was about Jesus telling people to be humble. Yes, I covered the entire verse! God is really subtle.

The conversation during Children's Chapel had us digging into what this verse means for the kids. We came up with our own paraphrase: Do right, Be a friend, Be helpful. I spoke to the mom of a six year-old girl after the service and said what a joy it was to have her in the group. She got the message; she was the one who came up with most of the words in our paraphrase. Mom said that her daughter needed the message this week. So, maybe I wasn't the only one this message was for, but this six year-old girl helped me to understand what this means for me.

Act justly - I started to think that I don't fight for justice much; I don't think its my calling but how am I suppose to live this out. Act justly means do right - which means that I am suppose to do the right thing in all circumstances. I experienced an example of this today, compliments of my husband, Dave. We decided to go to the Buffalo Zoo today; a bad choice, everyone else decided to go to the zoo today. So, we were stuck in a very long line of cars crawling towards the zoo. As you can imagine, many drivers were getting impatient which led some to make U-turns and others cut-off other cars. Dave said he wouldn't do that, since it wasn't right so he turned right and went around the block. We'll go to the zoo another day. This is a little thing, but Dave chose to do the right thing; he chose not to mess-up traffic because it was more convenient. So, for me this is not so much about fighting for equal rights or some other justice issue (as important as that is), but doing the right thing every day, in every circumstance.

Love mercy - Okay, I try to love everyone, I fail often but I think love is the most important thing I do. But, am I a friend to everyone? I told my daughter the people that I respect the most are those that think someone has done something terribly wrong but they still minister to that person. An example is a person that thinks that homosexuality is a sin, but still ministers to homosexual HIV/AIDS patients. That is a person who takes Jesus' command to love others and follows it completely! Do I follow Jesus' command so completely? I think I have lots of room for improvement.

Walk humbly - Am I humble? And do I walk with God? I think this not only about arrogance, but about humbling oneself to serve others. I serve others as part of my job and usually joyfully, but I don't think I serve my family as willingly. I need to remember that showing love and doing "my job" as a parent is humbling myself, and part of my walk with God. But it isn't just service that is part of my walk with God, everyday I should be walking with God. Everything I do is to be part of my walk with God. If I put God in the center of everything I do perhaps I will act justly, love mercy and walk humbly.

It comes full circle! And in case I had any doubt, the six year-old girl is writing a poem for me. I can't wait to read it!

Celebrating the Rainbow of Life

Team Erin - Before the Color Run

Last week a team from my church, St. Mark's, walked/ran in the Color Run in Buffalo. Our team name was Team Erin in honor of one of our parishioners battling lymphoma. I am happy to report this was a celebration of Erin's recovery and her husband and six year old daughter were part of the team. Our team had members 2 years old through 70 years old.

It occurred to me as we were standing among about 10,000 people waiting for the race - really 5K fun run - to start that the whole thing is a party. It's a celebration of life and what better way to celebrate life than with color! The organizers do a great job of creating and maintaining the party atmosphere from the starting chute through the finish line and beyond. You can't help but be happy, thus the title "The Happiest 5K on the Planet."

After the Color Run

We started out with white shirts and ended covered in color. After running through a rainbow of color, I started to think about rainbows and God's promise. God promised Noah that He would never destroy the earth again. As a reminder of that promise God gave us the rainbow. The promise is more than just a pretty splash of color in the sky; its that God will not desert us, that the rain will end.

Have you ever stopped to really think about that promise? No matter how bad or how long the rain lasts, God is there and we will see that beautiful rainbow. There may be lightening and thunder, but it will end and there will be beauty at the end. It may seem like we are all alone, that only ugliness surrounds us but we have God's promise. God says "hold on, the rainbow is coming!"

In order to see the rainbow and enjoy the colors, we must go through the rain. There is no rainbow, no color, without the rain. We see the colors because the water disperses the light to create the rainbow. I think the rainbow is worth it. I'll go through the rain for the opportunity to see all the colors!  I'm choosing to celebrate life with the knowledge that the rainbow is there, even if I can't see it yet.

The Ultimate Trust Fall

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

Hebrews 11:1(NIV)

Recently my daughter, Cassie, and I did a ropes course that included a giant swing. I was nervous, but decided to go for it. I wore a harness that went between my legs, up my back, over my shoulders and hooked in the front with big clips; it was clearly designed to support my weight and I knew that it was safe. A life-supporting rope was attached to the harness with a large clip that was locked onto a D-ring. The rope was attached to another life-supporting rope that I would swing from.

The scary part was sitting on the platform and having the staff member tell me to just lean to my left and "fall" off the platform. I just sat there for a minute. She told me to take my time and said a couple of times, "it's okay; whenever you're ready." My response was "uh-huh." Finally, I decided I needed to just take the fall or get up and chicken out. So, I leaned over and "fell" off the platform. Of course, I didn't fall to the ground, the rope stopped me and sent my swinging up one side and then up the other. 

Cassie later compared it to a trust fall. You know, stand with your back to someone and just fall back and trust they will catch you. It's scary, but it builds trust in relationships. I thought, yes that was the ultimate trust fall. If someone doesn't catch me, I only fall back on my rump from where I stand; if the harness failed I would have fallen about two-stories to the ground. Ouch!

Since then I've been thinking that the ultimate trust fall is not on a ropes course, but faith in Jesus. It is scary to "take the leap", we don't know what will happen or how are lives will be changed. But it is guaranteed our lives will be changed! Just like the safety equipment at the ropes course, there is safety in God. I think God is the big rope that supports the whole thing. Jesus is the rope that connects us to the big rope and the Holy Spirit is the harness, holding us together and up. I can almost hear the reassurances from the Holy Spirit, "it's okay, we've got you; take your time; whenever you're ready." 

I must choose to fall off the platform or turn back. God will accept either choice, but the Holy Spirit is there to give me the courage to fall. God is always patiently waiting for me to decide, but once I fall, God lifts me up and gives me the ride of my life. It just takes trust!

Faith is not a blind leap any more than my fall off the platform was a foolish, uncertain fall. Faith is trusting that you will be held-up; knowing that the harness and ropes are life-supporting. It's a bit scary and sometimes the movement is jerky, but you know that you won't fall. You know that you are safe.

Each time we decide to obey God and follow Jesus, we perform the ultimate trust fall. But unlike doing it with a human partner, we know that God will always catch us. And just like that fall where we can't see our partner, but we know he or she is there we know that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are there to catch us. Not only will they catch us, but they will lift us up so that we can soar!