Parakalein

What a way with words, as Jesus introduces a different frame for how to think and act:
Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves!

Serpents are fiery manipulative dart throwers.  They sting and get stung.  They will do anything to win. They are slippery and sliding everywhere as they plot and plan how to achieve their goals. They are relentless and resilient in their dogged dedication to win. They think about getting there target.  They plan for it and scheme for it.   They are clever and focused.  They are willing to risk life and limb to get their mission accomplished.  They are wise planners, preparers, and perseverant.  So we are to be wise, in plotting, planning and focus, just like that but without the "win at any cost" part.  That part of the serpent is not wise for it sabotages itself. The wisdom of the serpent is to plan, persistently work, and persevere toward the goal of the highest calling.

We are also to be as harmless as doves.  Doves are sitting ducks for a fiery serpent.  They dive into the water and fly up to the sky.  They are vulnerable and versatile, vibrant and valiant.  The dove is a symbol of movement, of purity, of searching, and of surrendering.  The strength of the dove is to see and embrace its vulnerability as the strength in weakness.  They are harmless and in their harmless state they are vulnerable and victorious in their courage to be weak and strong.

Jesus is the Lion of Judah with the strength and courage of that image of a lion.  Jesus is also the Lamb of God vulnerable and sacrificing, with the strength that is willing to surrender and sacrifice.

In Native American thought we read:  "There is nothing so gentle as real strength, nothing as strong as true gentleness."

So be wise like a serpent and harmless as a dove and you will have the characteristics of a servant.

We hold these truths to be self evident:

All created beings are created with the right to exist and the responsibility to expand their world view to be maturely responsive and mutually respectful to all created beings in creative ways. Maturity and mutuality create a sustainable world by abstaining from the desire to win, restraining the deference to others and the preference of self and constraining the fear of
Loss.  Letting the higher Self be the balance for the human self creates a valiancy for all.

The inalienable rights of each must include the inalienable responsibility to others.  The prelude to true freedom is to give up the right to act irresponsibly.  

The inalienable rights are:

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.    


From the Jesus perspective:  that you might have life most abundantly


The inalienable responsibilities are:

Appreciate others while nor depreciating oneself

To be respectful toward all persons,places, beliefs, idiosyncrasies, ideas, and things.

I read a devotional this am on forgiveness and responsibleness. Instated that Moses had sinned against God by tapping the rock instead of just speaking to it. He would not be allowed to entered into the promised land because of this. Really. The author credited Moses with being responsible odor his actions and being forgiven but he was still not allowed into the promised land. This did not diminish His sense of the love of God for him or his forgiveness. True. It appears to me that his sin was that he modeled for the people a casual attitude about God's directive. When God in his grace offers us living waters there is nothing we have to do except drink. We ask for the living water and God gives it. When we think we have to do something was miss the flow of living waters. We miss the "promised land" of blessing. The people will go into Canaan years from now. They will do so not by their raising a stick but by walking in obedience to God's word. And years later (Deuteronomy 34) God told Moses to go to Mt Nebo, hike to the top, and you will die there. The Moses who learned to take God at his word did so. He was in for a surprise. God picked this spot for Moses so he could see in the distance the Land of Canaan, the promised land. Moses' heart was overcome with gratitude for the grace he was shown. Moses was thankful as this was the loving God of forgiveness and grace in action. Moses also knew it was not about Moses but about a faithful forgiving and loving God. Moses was delighted to see what The people of God had in store for them and that he had had a part in leading them to that point even if he did not go win. He rejoiced in the goodness of God and then died in happy contentment. Some have had the idea that God showed him the land to punish him and remind him that his sin had kept him from entering the land. Really? That is not my perspective Rather that God knew Moses would feel thrilled and forgiven if he s what he had led the people to. God's grace is amazing especially God leads us home. God is always leading us and his faithfulness and loving kindness is always at work. We all make mistakes and sometimes forfeit things in doing so. We are never outside of the loving kindness and the compassionate forgiveness of God.

Outrage is Powerful when it Promotes Peace and Love

What things are happening in your world that cause you to be indignant or just plain "outraged".

This morning as I was driving to work I listened to a spot in NPR on a new book rather a small pamphlet written by a 93 year old veteran of War and Life.  His name: StephanTime for Outrage! is the English translation of the bestselling tract Indignez-vous ! by the German-born French diplomat, member of the French Resistance and concentration camp survivor Stéphane Hessel.^[1] Published in France in 2010, it has sold nearly 1.5 million copies in France and has been translated into numerous[edit]

People get sad about lots of things.

Today I am sad again that we are again calling something that is understandable revenge.  We are calling justice.

Troy Davis was executed in the state of Georgia.  Regardless of apparent guilt or innocence, regardless of the presence or absence of reasonable doubt, and regardless of the emotional pain in the family of the victim no amount of justifiable homicide will ever heal the hurt and loss or appease the internal anger of this act of violence.  Nor will it deter future violence. Violence begets violence. Ignoring violence condones violence.  "Evil will never be overcome by evil.  Evil will only be overcome with a just society holds the perpetrators responsible but does not stoop to their willful and justified behavior.

The family of the victim declared that justice had been served.  Troy Davis last words were to ask God to have mercy on those who were killing him.

It is a crime against "sacred life" when any one person for any reason takes the life of another person. The sacred gift of grace and mercy are acts of compassion and kindness not acts of condoning or condemning.
In between the crime of condoning and condemning and the crime of murder and hatred is the road of compassion and kindness alongside of which are the trees of grace and mercy.  It is not about ignoring the wrong it si about not letting the wrong overwhelm the right.  Justice is present with truth and grace, accountability and responsibility are all embraced without vengeance or violence.

When God says, :Vengeance is mine, I will repay!" we assume that to justify vengeance when all it does is remove vengeance form our responsibility or right.  Justice is when all people are respected and held responsible to living in "faith hope and love" for these are the things that last forever.  Loving mercy and doing justice are inseparable.  To have them you have to walk in humility.

Humbly saddened I offer these thoughts of grace and mercy to all.

Paul admonishes us to "present our bodies ( I wonder if he intentionally meant to leave out soul and spirit) a living sacrifice, wholly and acceptable to God which is our reasonable act of Worship!"

What did Paul have in mind?  I wonder.  He had the idea of Stephen who sacrificed his body to be stoned as Jesus sacrificed his body to be nailed to the cross.  Bu they both literally died.  Is not that the nature of a sacrifice, to die.  They stopped living.  It is a proverbial oxymoron.  Either you are alive or you are dead.  You cannot be both alive and dead at the same time.

What if Paul meant you have to die to the things that weigh you down, burden you, keep you focused on dead things that either do not matter or that they matter just drag you down.  What if we learned to set aside or sacrifice the things that we so much want, that we think we need, but not really to embrace the freedom to live free and in faith both firm to our personal convictions but flexible in our compassion toward all others as well.  The well of living water will be in us and the weight of death will float up river.  The current of the rive of sacrifice will move all stones of stumbling and we will be free to Worship the God who is the Living Sacrifice, in whose steps we are to walk.  We bow in surrender and rise to live free of dead things which is our reasonable act of Worship!

Free to Worship and Free to Live and Free to serve all to the glory of God.

I often talk a lot or muse in my blogs. Today I just want to share a question or thought for you to muse on.  I will muse another time.

The Red Sox Yankee rivalry is huge in the field of sports.  Sports generally brings out the best and the worst in people.

Last week I was in Fenway watching the Red Sox lose to the Yankees.  There were a few Yankee fans in the stands.  They obviously had something to cheer about.  They also were respected by everyone around them in a good sportsmanship way.  A red sox player was up with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th.  They are always great games win or lose and this one was.  A hit would change the outcome of the game.  As the final out was made, one loan yankee fan began a cheer as he stood up:  "Let's go Yankees".

Everyone looked at him and in a few minutes he did sit down.  A red sox fan went up to him and said, "really, you think that is a good idea with all the craziness in the world and the reports of violence at sports events, did you really have to do that.  The young man admitted, "no".

What life and sports offer us to learn is how to win and lose, graciously and gracefully.

Provocative behavior is not always behind violence but often.  The Yankees had won but this behavior of a yankee fan was an in your face insult like rubbing the losing teams face in the mud.  Thankfully a red sox fan acted in a healthy and best way simply maturely and respectfully challenging the need for this kind of provocative behavior.

In sports as in life we all have the opportunity to act with a face of maturity and mutual respectfulness, the best,  or we can give in to the baser instincts of "in your face", the worst.

The Yankees won the game but that red sox fan won the game of life.

Jesus told the story of a Master who forgave his servant who owed him $10,000.  WIth great compassion he wiped the debt clean because the servant begged for grace and mercy.  Later that "forgiven servant" began to demand from a fellow servant the $10.00 he owed him.  He likewise asked for grace and mercy but the "forgiven servant" refused to forgive this smaller debt and put him in prison.  Some of the other fellow servants witnessed this and told the Master who was indignant.  He called the "forgiven servant" in and confronted him with "should you not have had the same compassion toward him that I had toward you?  He then put him in prison.  Jesus then said, "so shall your heavenly father deal with you if you do not forgive your brother in your heart!"

Forgiveness is a matter of the heart.  It is not that I forgive my brother in the sense that what he did is oaky.  It is that my heart is okay toward my brother.  When forgiveness transforms your heart then from and in your heart you have forgiveness toward your brother.  The "forgiven servant" was not transformed in his heart. therefore did not have a heart of forgiveness.  He was already in an internal prison of "un-forgiveness".  It is nice to have our debt forgiven but if we are not  transformed into being as God is toward all, "forgiving" then we are still in prison.  It is not just about being forgiven, it is also about having a heart of forgiveness toward all.  It is also about being released from "a heart of unforgiving" which is incongruent with a "forgiven heart".

In effect Jesus is saying to Peter and all of us, It is not just about being forgiven, it is about being transformed in the heart to a state of compassion toward all regardless of anything.  We are to forgive others just as God for CHrist sake has forgiven us.  How is that?  God forgives us by having a heart of forgiveness toward us.  We are nor truly forgiven until we ask for forgiveness, until we are transformed in our heart and offer that same compassion to all.

It is not about forgiving anyone what they did to us as if that is okay.  It is about having forgiveness in ur heart toward our brother regardless of anything because I do not regard their sin as against me but against them.  They are  in prison I am free of the prison of un-forgiveness and have the prism for forgiveness.  the prism fro forgiveness sees everyone with compassion and colors everyone as forgiven in my heart.  They are not fully forgiven until they are released form their prison.

Free to be compassionate is truly free.

Recently I preached in the flood ravaged area of the Schoharie Valley of New York State.  Flood waters to 10 feet and when those waters receded they left 2 feet of mud in their sanctuary.

It was also the 10th Anniversary of September 11th.   They were remembering the past devastation of the day and resilient under the present devastation of the flood.  The service included a tribute to the bravery and resiliency of both times, the loss of life in both tragedies, and the service of responders in both.  At the end of the service we sang a popular Christian song, "Shine Jesus Shine".  It includes a line, "flow river flow, flood the nations with grace and mercy".  I was asking them to do a hard thing: to set aside their experience of the rising river and the resulting flood that caused devastation, and imagine the river of God's eternal and everlasting grace and mercy flow like a river.

So imagine a "river of grace and mercy flooding all the nations of earth". All people of earth would experience what there heart yearns for the love and acceptance of a flood of grace and mercy.  Some would say that some do not deserve grace or mercy.  Is not that the definition of grace and mercy.  Grace is giving what a person does not deserve, unconditional and agenda free loving.  Mercy is not giving what a person does deserve, punishment.  Could it be that hidden in the obnoxious atrocities of hatred and the justified acts of withholding kindness and forgiveness is the scandalous and transformational truth that all of us benefit from and non of us deserve:  that "just as we are" we are loved and that transformational "grace and mercy" creates an overwhelming flood. Those flood waters wash away all the things that we think are necessary and important and leave behind the thick mud of God's transformation.  Could it be that that mud that Jesus put on the blind man's eyes would help us all to see each other not from the human assessment of deservedness but from the divine acceptance of "grace and mercy".  If we see all people as God sees us we would see all people as already forgiven and set free from their anger that directs them to hate and be unforgiving and set free of their fears that restrict them from loving or forgiving.

These flood waters offer to victims and villains of all nations of all people the same transformational grace and mercy.  All nations and all people and all victims and villains are welcome into the flood waters of acceptance that transforms the best among us into better and the worst among us into the best.

Flow river flow fill the nations (all nations, all cultures, all religions, all people) with grace and mercy.

I thank God for the experience of being with these courageous people and for the lesson God teaches the preacher from the people and all of us in the tragic events.  Maybe that is how God turns the worst into good.

There is coming a time and it is already here when the true Worshipers of God will worship not in a place, or a particular idea, on this mountain or in Jerusalem, but true Worshippers will Worship in Spirit and in Truth for God seeks such to Worship them.
                                                                                                        -Jesus

So what did Jesus mean when he spoke these words in the context of breaking all the religious rules in John 4?

In the flood waters of Middleburgh, NY the people are learning and living as they learn or is it, learning as they live.  THat what really matters is not the form, the frame or even the faith of the Worshipper that is important.  What is really important is that people let go of what they think is important and embrace the God of Love and feel God's embrace.  Then to offer that same experience to all and receive it from all.

So being in the Spirit of community and loving kindness toward all and to be truthful with oneself about what is important releases us to Worship in the Spirit of Love and in the Truth of internal honesty and humility.

Worship that tis free and formative is transformative.  In Worship we touch the hem of the garment of praise the God of love and power comes in and goes out.  The wonder of Worship is the witness of Wonder to the world.

We Worship in Spirit and Truth.

G K Chesterson said, "when tragedy and loss strike we are tempted to turn form God, In heaven's name to what?  This past weekend we were in MIddleburgh, NY which had been devastated by the flood waters of Hurricane Irene.    I was preaching in a Lutheran Church that as a testimony to their faith and to their community, gathered in Worship in the presence of the ravage of the storm. They turned to God in grace.

In Genesis 6 the account and goal of the flood was not to destroy the creation as destructive as it was, its purpose was to call people of faith to gather together and affirm their faith, love and hope as God's purpose always is.  Noah, saw grace in the eyes of God so he found grace in his day.  That is what worship is:  looking into the eyes of God and seeing God's grace greater than all the storms, destruction and trauma of life.

My wife and I were privileged to be part of the wonder and witness of Grace in this devastated part of the world.

God was full of grace before the flood, in the flood and after the flood.  As I spoke those words to this congregation I could see the pain of loss on their faces embraced grace in this place and space.  There are three things that last for ever and they are faith to see beyond the loss and pain, love to help one another in the loss and pain and the hope to know and experience the Grace of God in fullest measure.

Not only are these people demonstrating the faith of grace, they are acting in faith toward all around them.  True Christianity does not just receive undeserved grace but it extends to all regardless of what they may or may not deserve, Grace!  Grace in living and grace of living make Christ present in the darkest of hours in the most loving ways.

Grace to you all.