Verse of the day
For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Do not fear, I will help you.”
– Isaiah 41:13
Voice of the day
Do not stop at the wall looming before you. Make a door. Make a door wide enough not only for you but for others. Keep moving.
– Maggie Smith, Keep Moving (2020)
Prayer of the day
Heavenly protector, be with us as we stand before the looming wall. Help us construct places of freedom for all.
Verse of the day
I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
– Psalm 121:1-2
Voice of the day
No hour is ever eternity, but it has its right to weep.
– Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
Prayer of the day
Sit with us in our anguish, Lord. Be our comfort in our weeping. Guide us as we do your will.
The trouble with much of civic religion and cultural Christianity is the lack of religious experience. People who haven’t had a loving or intimate experience with God tend to get extremely rigid, dogmatic, and controlling about religion. They think that if they pray the right words, read the Bible daily, and go to church often enough, it will happen. But God loves us before we do the rituals. God doesn’t need them, but we need them to tenderly express our childlike devotion and desire—and to get in touch with that desire. The great commandment is not “thou shalt be right.” The great commandment is to “be in love.”—The Earth Is the Lord’s; and, The Sabbath (Cleveland, OH: World Publishing Co., 1963), 75, 76–77.
“The only thing we know for sure about Jesus are that he did not kill and he opposed violence of any kind. He rejected violence of both oppressor and oppressed. He taught a third way—active nonviolent resistance to evil. He urged his followers to love God, to love one’s self, to love one’s neighbors, and most radical of all, to love one’s enemies.”—John Dear
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51) This is how the gospel reading for the Third Sunday after Pentecost begins. He set his fact to go to Jerusalem. What does it mean to set his face? The Greek word that is translated as set is estērisen. It means to be resolute, steadfast, or determined. Thus, Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem despite what he knew was waiting for him there. He knew the road ahead was going to be difficult and filled with challenges for him and for his followers yet, nothing was going to get in the way of him getting there. When the Samaritan villagers rejected him by refusing to offer him hospitality, James and John (the sons of thunder) asked if they could call down fire from heaven to consume the village. Instead of the violent response they wanted, Jesus rebuked James and John before moving on to the next village. His ministry wasn’t about retribution or damning others in the name of religion, it was about loving God and your loving neighbor… every neighbor.
Loving others isn’t always easy. Jesus often calls us at inconvenient times to do challenging work. In today’s lectionary we hear examples of our human nature in three encounters. One person said I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus said to that individual that following him wasn’t going to be easy. The foxes and birds have homes and stability, yet I have nowhere to lay my head at night. Are you willing to give that stability up to follow me? The next individual he asked to follow him wasn’t ready to follow either. Lord, first let me go and bury my father. The third wanted to say goodbye to his family before he followed Jesus. I can almost hear them saying: I want to follow you but…
How many times have we put qualifications on our response when we are called to do something for Jesus? I remember the first time I was called to go into a jail in Las Vegas to counsel a former Marine who was accused of murder. The call came into the chapel requesting a Lutheran chaplain to bring the prisoner communion. One of my colleagues said jokingly that I was closer to being a Lutheran than he was. Would I tell the Marine’s lawyer that I would love to help but I’m not Lutheran? I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be answering the call to follow Christ.
I heard the doors clang shut behind me as I entered the jail. I found myself locked into a small room with a table and two chairs in it. It was unnerving for me to say the least. At that point I could have looked back and wondered how I had gotten myself into this situation. I could have asked the guard to take me back to the entrance of the jail. However, in the words of Jesus, “I had put my hand to the plow,” and it was useless for me to look back. I was responding to the call “come follow me” by going into that jail and that small room where I would be face-to-face with an accused murderer. I wasresponding to the call of Jesus to come and follow him.
There have been other opportunities to follow Jesus into uncomfortable situations during life and ministry. In each of those situations I was called to be present to an individual or group that needed spiritual care. Sometimes you just do what you are called to do. Yes, it isn’t always easy, but the thing is, I was never really alone.
In a world that is so often divided and filled with fear, it can be easy to say “yes, but” to Jesus and walk away. A “yes, but” born out of frustration, hurt, fear, and anger is completely understandable. It isn’t easy to share a message of love, grace, peace, mercy, and hope when those around you are drawing up battle lines and saying hateful things. Despite those battle lines, we are still called to be Christ-followers and share the good news and shine Christ’s light in the darkness.
Verse of the day
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
– 1 Corinthians 3:16
Voice of the day
God’s presence can be felt and heard in the call to stand up for justice and mercy among the marginalized in this and every society.
– J. Jioni Palmer, “Put Your Shoes On. We Are Marching”
Prayer of the day
May your spirit move through our society with every act of justice and mercy.
When we honestly ask ourselves which persons in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not-knowing, not-curing, not-healing, and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is the friend who cares.
“Through nonviolence, courage displaces fear. Love transforms hate. Acceptance dissipates prejudice. Hope ends despair. Peace dominates war. Faith reconciles doubt. Mutual regard cancels enmity. Justice for all overthrows injustice. The redemptive community supersedes systems of gross social immorality.”—James Lawson
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
This has been a good day of ministry
It has also been a lovely evening with my sweetheart and our precious Stella
As I continue to find my “battle rhythm” in ministry
I am thankful for your guidance, Spirit
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
Verse of the day
For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.
– 1 Corinthians 3:9-10 (NIV)
Voice of the day
The United States is breaking, painfully, visibly but not irreparably. The cracks have always been there for us to study. Perhaps now we can create the place that holds us all.
– Ginna Green
Prayer of the day
May we repair the cracks in our communities. May we build a place that can hold us all.
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 