July 20, 2008

What do we do with our hands when we pray? We fold them, lift them up, hold hands with one another in a group or dinner table. Healing prayer Prayer is an extension of healing. Jesus begins his ministry with healing and then later he teaches the disciples how to pray. In this manner, it can be seen that prayer flows from the power of healing. The larger view of what healing is can be found in Romans 8: When we cry, ‘Abba!* Father!’ 16it is that very Spirit bearing witness* with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. 18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Social suffering in the first century is much like what it is in the Middle Eastern countries today. It is not the short lived physical suffering, but the suffering of a shamed reputation. A shameful reputation reflects on the person and families of that person and can last centuries. The futility in Romans 8 comes form sin and death as seen in Genesis 3. Creation is ours to nurture and care for, but if we waste it then it is all futile. There were three curses in Genesis 3: 1) curse of women pain in childbirth and being subject to their husbands. Thank God for Jesus Christ who removed that curse when he said that marriage is a covenant not a business relationship. 2) The ground was cursed with thorns and thistles and man had to work the ground by the sweat of his brow. Jesus shows how this curse is removed in his parable of the sower when 100 fold yield is produced. This is a miracle just as Laban's yield in Genesis. 3) snakes were cursed--too bad for snakes. All these curses will be fully lifted. These curses do not say that this is the way the universe is and too bad for us. This point of view either makes us the victims or the greedy who horde everything. With the curses lifted we can live without fear, greed and hatred and live with forgiveness, healing and peace. The resurrection to come is foreshadowed in the healing ministry that Jesus began. It is a beam of light, a beacon to the future that reflects the great healing to come. This is not a removal of death. In fact, Jesus never prevents anyone from dying. Jesus never avoids death. He even dallied to let people like Jarius' daughter and Lazarus to die so he could show that death is like sleep. Prayers for healing are not a talisman or magic bullet to protect us from suffering and death. Healing prayer is a foreshadow of the complete healing to come.

July 13, 2008

Pray to help and heal people. Praying for others makes us all stronger. The strength comes to us from God's love as we feel His Holy Presence. Isaiah 6: Go and say to this people:“Keep listening, but do not comprehend;keep looking, but do not understand.” 10Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes,so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears,and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.’ 11Then I said, ‘How long, O Lord?’ And he said:‘Until cities lie waste without inhabitant,and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate; 12until the Lord sends everyone far away, and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land. 13Even if a tenth part remains in it, it will be burned again,like a trebinth or an oak whose stump remains standing when it is felled.’ The holy seed is its stump. In Isaiah the people's hardness of heart comes from God resulting to the destruction and annihilation of the land. Jesus changes this: Then the disciples came and asked him, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ 11He answered, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 13The reason I speak to them in parables is that “seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.” 14With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:“You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. 15For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears,and understand with their heart and turn— and I would heal them.” 16But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it. To Jesus, the hardness of heart rests solely with the people. "I would heal them," Jesus says. It is up to us we can chose to be a rivalry with God or we can chose to be at peace with God. God's peace, that is the Peace of Christ, is not quid pro quo. It is transcendent and transforming, uniting us with God and all of God's people who are simultaneously being transformed. John Calvin said that the time for spiritual healing was in the First Century only and does not happen anymore. Because of this many mainline protestants don't take healing services seriously. Healing services on Television are impressive. I am not certain what the term, "slaying of the spirit" means but this showmanship that goes with it brings spiritual healing into disrepute. A true healing is shockingly simple and direct; it is just asking. It is not out-sourced. The common perception is that there are steps involved and we God's healing power is distant from us. Through medical practitioners, doctors, surgeons, pharmacists, etc God works His healing ministry. His healing power and love is so strong that it even transcends through an atheist doctor. No religion, faith nor lack thereof can impede it. Yet, our culture says that healing cannot be that simple and a healing service seems foolish. God will use any means to be a conduit to transcend His healing power. There is a stigma placed on healing which comes from an understanding in the last 100 years. Mary Baker Eddy the founder of the Christian Scientist convinced by her own study of the Bible, especially Genesis 1, and through experimentation, Eddy claimed to have found healing power through a higher sense of God as Spirit and man as God's spiritual "image and likeness." She became convinced that illness could be healed through an awakened thought brought about by a clearer perception of God and the explicit rejection of drugs, hygiene, and medicine based upon the observation that Jesus did not use these methods for healing: It is plain that God does not employ drugs or hygiene, nor provide them for human use; else Jesus would have recommended and employed them in his healing. … The tender word and Christian encouragement of an invalid, pitiful patience with his fears and the removal of them, are better than hecatombs of gushing theories, stereotyped borrowed speeches, and the doling of arguments, which are but so many parodies on legitimate Christian Science, aflame with divine Love. (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, 143:5, 155:15) She eventually called this spiritual perception the operation of the Christ Truth on human consciousness. She claimed that medicine is a fallacy. Christian Science forms attitudes about healing that make a simple and direct prayer for healing seem foolish to many people. To the Christian Scientist what we do hear at Peace Lutheran is too simple and to those who are outside of a faith community we can be seen as primitive or naive. May we all see God's transcending healing power in all His conduits.

Pentecost Sunday

Jesus said, "Call no man you father because you have one father in heaven." There was a role for mothers in the early church, but fathers became like brothers. Mothers can share fully in the inheritance. On Mother's Day we should think about the Church mothers. They are important to the life of every congregation. In Southern Baptist churches you can see the mothers on Sundays. They sit in a pew of honor and they wear large hats. They are honored and respected in their congregation as nurturing leaders. The Holy Spirit: There are two ways of being religious, open or closed. Closed churches will eventually close. Open churches are always ready for transformation, to receive a large variety of people. On that first Pentecost Sunday, these back wood hicks from Galilee were speaking in languages that they didn't learn about God. These were the languages of the whole world. In the first century when someone spoke about God, people listened. God was important then, unlike today. They were not talking about the Kingdom of Israel, but of the Kingdom of God. Openness and inclusion marked the early church and should mark the open church of today. God's importance was understood, but you had to be theologically trained to talk about it. You had to be a prince, priest, poet or lawyer. Today that is not the case at all. But, those who were there at Pentecost listened because was so important.

June 29, 2008

Peter and Paul Apostles

Jabez from 1 Chronicles 4 whose name means Ouch, prayed to God. He prayed to God to extend his borders (enlarge his land) and keep him from harm. He had no descendants.

We are already living beyond our borders and using more than what we need. We don't have enough closet space. There was a time when houses had two hooks, one for work clothes and one for church clothes. Today houses are built with large closets, finished basements and two stall garages to keep all of our stuff. Our way of life is becoming unsustainable, having more than we need.

The world is changing rapidly. The North Pole could melt away this year. There is so much plastic waste that the North Pacific Gyre is 100 miles thick with floating plastic which washes up on the shores of the Hawaiian Islands. The Mariana Trench is filled with garbage. All this has happened in last 50 years as we have become an oil based economy.

Thank God for fossil fuels. Oil has helped communication, education and transportation. I belong to a society of Bible Scholars. There are more members now than there ever have been. It is because of oil that has happened. Thank God for oil and all the benefits it has given us and then preserve it and live and sustain our society and not abuse the gift. God's universe is bigger than we used to think. This planet, our home Earth, is part of God's will. We are to live a life of discipleship which is the opposite of consumerism.

June 15, 2008

Jesus feeds us with himself. "I Bishop John Schleicher am a social introvert." Our Synod Mission Statement is "Marked with the Cross of Christ forever we are claimed, gathered, and sent for the sake of the world." Marked with the Cross of Christ forever: I am baptized. We rejoice in our sufferings. We are not masochistic. The privilege to be in a broken world for Jesus. We we will be raised as Jesus was raised. We are claimed: I get to be in Christ and always--in Christ and with Christ. We are claimed; we are not our own. We have to ask ourselves, "What is for the good of The Church?" We are gathered: Everyday we are gathered we are not lonely or alone, this means even the introverted. We are gathered to encourage and challenge. We can lift up one another and grow. We are always a brother or sister in Christ and we are always with a brother or sister in Christ. We are sent, just as the disciples were sent two by two, in pairs, to cast out demons mend the brokenness. Harsh words won't break us and each of us ask for forgiveness when we are overly harsh. Demons cause lies and confusion. The Kingdom of God is nearer. Not a kingdom of destruction but one of deep care and sacrifice. Not about me, but about the world. Peace Lutheran where 95 worship, where 95 people all who are disciples should pray everyday. I will pray that the world may change the way things are done. Let God change me. We give sacrificially; give generously. We are here for others.

Things unseen

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

There was a lot of thunder and lightning last night. The ancients thought it was Zeus/Jupiter striking at humanity in anger. Later the Norse thought it was Thor fighting a battle.

In our world seeing is believing. Jesus said to Thomas. "Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe." The unseen things in our lives have a greater effect on us than the seen things. We confess in the Nicene Creed, that God the Father is the creator of all things seen and unseen. The unseen things like, Heaven, Faith, Gravity, Air, The Holy Spirit, unholy spirits, love, all the emotions, pain, our minds/souls, are all unseen. So are, spirit, intellect, fear, joy, God, Jesus, and music.

Mystries

The Junkyard Dog shows how a Chicago sewer worker who is part of the political machine has the clout to get things done. The Kingdom of Heaven works on faith not clout. The religiosity of most people, that is, trusting in their religions behavior rather than faith, is how their understanding. We sometimes think that the Kingdom of Heaven is like the model of give and take--clout. It is called the gospel of prosperity where it is believed that God will give us a big house and a big car and all the trimming that goes with it. Then something happens and luck runs out. Where is faith when a spouse or child dies? Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount and they were amazed that he spoke as one who has authority. Jesus said. "All authority is given to me." Before Christianity became a book full of ideas and things to memorize it was a way of life. It was called The Way. The do nots make our lives hard when we do them. Jesus gave us his mandate. That is what we remember on Maundy Thursday. "This is my commandment, love one another." "Go teach and if it is really really really necessary use words"--Desmond Tutu.

Just Enough Stuff

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Roman soldiers, Centurions rather, have a place in the New Testament. We see in Luke 7 how a Centurion understood Jesus' authority. Capernaum was a border town. Jesus was able to heal from a distance. Centurions maybe seen as outsiders in the church, just as Jesus who was crucified was seen as an outsider to the Roman Empire. In Mark 15 a Roman Centurion commits blasphemy and treason by declaring Jesus to be the Son of God an imperial title. We have to ask ourselves. What did this centurion see to make him say, 'This is truly a Son of God." We should start by looking at Roman Officers. Roman officers took orders from above and gave orders to the men below them. They lived and understood the system. They saw the silliness and nonsense in the Roman Empire. The Emperors called themselves gods but they were mortal and immoral as anyone else. The Roman officers understood Jesus; they got him. They saw the political machinations. The Roman Emperors, Generals, Governors were all miscreants. The officers had to sacrifice their lives for those miscreants. They had to ask themselves. "Is this worth it?" Jesus was a direct opposite to the Emperors and Generals. Jesus was not gathering power for himself but empowering those who had none. Understanding what sacrifices really were, the Centurion saw that Jesus was someone to follow and was a much better person than his own leaders. Jesus was a worthy cause. God's Peace happens through Jesus.