Rest – Exodus 16:27-35

“The Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and instructions? See! The Lord has given you the sabbath, therefore on the sixth day he gives you food for two days; each of you stay where you are; do not leave your place on the seventh day.”

This makes me laugh!

“How long!” declares the Lord, then as if to make his point even clearer… the Lord says See!… its like just look at them. I give them a rule for their own good, for peace, happiness, and balance, and they go and goof even that up!

We don’t get it. Puppies get it, like Freyja there… the Man Child home from College on Spring Break seems to get it.  But many of us don’t.  We’d work until we dropped. Many people work because they fear if they don’t there won’t be enough. That fear drives us to do nearly everything too much, except trust.

The lesson from Genesis on and again today in our reading from Exodus is that rest is important.  In fact, the only way to truly have enough is to rest, to Sabbath in God’s grace.

Fruit – Genesis 4:1-16

So likely I will win no artistic nor theological prizes for today’s photo.  Today we had healthy treats for our staff meeting.  Granted they were leftovers from the congregational breakfast on Sunday, but it was still good and good for you!  We are in the midst of lent so when an opportunity to get a photo for my devotional comes up, I take advantage of it!

Today’s reading focuses on what happens when we covet others fruits rather than ours.  Cain and Able, the story that keeps on giving. While it never got that bad in my family growing up or with my kids, there were moments of jealousy, of misunderstanding and more.  The key here is when the fruits of our labors are put to use as God intended, there is no such thing as bad fruit.  So maybe my photo won’t win a prize, but it helped me get my devotions done, and that is not too bad.

Servant

Today kicks off yet another year of Lenten Photo-blogging!

2 CORINTHIANS 5:20b-6:10 is our reading for the day.  Though the word servant is not expressly stated in the reading, the idea of serving Christ and the message of the Gospel runs through the passage.

Too often we serve with strings attached, and if the burdens of servanthood begin to outweigh the benefits, we will often abandon our efforts.  Not so with Christ, who served us and for us with ever ounce of love he could muster.  Our lesson reminds us that we are to be “ambassadors” for Christ. How do you serve your servant Lord?

 

 

ESCAPE – PSALM 124

So here is the finished product.  Tada!  But here is the deal, it is more than a bench, there is a reason other than showing off that I have posted this picture for today’s Advent theme word.

But first a minor detour.

Here you will see stages along the way…

So here is the thing.  It is a nice looking bench, and I think it is all my wife and I thought it would be when we started it.  They key here is started.  That first picture on top, yeah, that was in April I believe, maybe May… seven months ago.

This project was not at all that difficult, nor time consuming.  We started this project once opposite side parking was done, and now we had to finish it before it kicks back in tomorrow!  All summer we let it slide, and every time I went into the garage, there it sat a reminder of its incompleteness. It got to the point where this simple and good project became a snare for my soul.  I felt dread as I walked past it for months on end.  Finally, my wife and I talked about it, and together we finished this project up.

Unless your life is quite different from mine, we don’t often have to worry about an onslaught of enemies attacking us, threatening to overwhelm us like a flood. But there are times… oh there are times when we feel overwhelmed, attacked and caught in a trap.  Maybe it is as simple as an unfinished project in the garage, or maybe it is much more complicated like an incomplete and broken relationship with a family member, friend or colleague.

Again unless your life is quite different from mine, you too know the feeling of being under attack, of being overwhelmed, of being prey clutched in the teeth of a predator.  The Psalm for today reminds us that we are not alone in these times.  God is with us, more than that God frees us from snares of fear and hatred, God pulls us from the flood of criticism and self-doubt and sets us free.

Fear not! “Our help is in the name of the Lord,  who made heaven and earth.” – Psalm 124

Not one second more…

So as I have had to pull myself away from social media for a moment, (my head and heart are in pain! I couldn’t take one second more.), I felt the need to write.  This day before the election it is getting thick with angst out there.  Good, thoughtful, faithful people are freaking out, fear and worry are all over the place, and so you get our verse today.  If a passage from Philippians isn’t enough, Jesus had a word about this as well.

If a passage from Philippians isn’t enough, Jesus had a word about this as well.

Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? Matthew 6:27

I might also add who among you by worrying can change the outcome of a presidential election?

Fear has driven so much bad behavior this election. No, not of the candidates so much as their supporters.

Every rumor, every possible slight and exaggerated position from Hilter to Satan has ben used to label these candidates.  To you who consider yourselves to be Christian if you have invoked any of this fear and hate based nonsense on social media or in conversation with anyone… Shame on you!  I am dead serious.

I don’t say that lightly and don’t give me its proven crud… I am fresh out of tinfoil hats.

I take some solace in all of this, for God has long had to struggle with his sinful children in this regard.  I can only imagine the divine eye roll we are getting right now.  God has in no uncertain terms told us to knock this crap off.  It is one of the ten commandments for Pete’s sake.

Don’t know which one?  Well, it is in Exodus 20:16 (2016 nifty little coincidence don’t you think?) It goes this way:

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

FYI Both Hillary and Donald are your neighbors, and there is nowhere you can move that will change that.

Come Tuesday go and vote if you haven’t. Vote for whomever you believe will be the best President and leave the rest to God.

By that evening we will likely have a new President-Elect. I will pray for both the sitting President and the President-Elect. I will pray for their wellbeing; I will pray that they are kept safe and lead well. I have prayed this way for Democrats and Republican Presidents. Not only that I will pray for people who feel like they were not heard, and people who are rejoicing. That is the way prayer is supposed to work I believe, and I invite you to do the same.

Dear brothers and sisters, take this to heart, no matter who wins, grace and peace are yours in Christ Jesus and, may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding be with you now and forever.

Amen.

 

 

 

Wind

Funny how things work sometimes!  The word for the day was wind, and boy howdy, was it windy the day I took this picture.

The thing you can’t see is the modern wind turbines just to the left of the frame. No matter what I tried, short of trespassing and a good long hike,  I couldn’t quite get the correct angle to make the shot work.

Then I thought, you know that is very wind like behavior!  You know its there, but you can’t quite get a handle on where it comes and where it goes.

That is how the Holy Spirit works too. You can always tell when it is at work and where it has been, but try to nail it down, get an angle on it, well good luck with that.  The key with the wind of the spirit is that it always pushes toward God in Christ.  Next time you feel a big ol’ gust of wind ask yourself this question, the spirit is up to something here, what is it that God would have me see, be or do?

 

Preach

So row 1; Uncle John, Uncle Robert, Uncle Web (aka David)  row 2 My dad, Uncle Jim and me.  Preachers each and every one.

My Grandpa Braaten was a preacher too; it is sort of the family business. None of us are “famous” none of us owns a jet,  in the eyes of the world, we may be labeled just garden variety ministers, parish pastors, parsons, padres or preachers.

We are blessed to be the ones who professionally bring good news, and let me tell you it is a sweet gig on many days.  But there are other days when people don’t want to hear the good news, or can’t hear it because of the other noise in their lives. Even on those days, we are called to preach the good news and so is every baptised child of God. We are all on some levels called to be preachers.  Some of us do it as a day job, some do it with words, others with deeds and still others with song.  The Gospel of Gods love, forgiveness and grace needs to be heard by so many and for many the only preacher they may get to know is you.

A quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi captures the life of the Christain very well. It goes this way “Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words.”

 

 

 

Spoke

Past tense verbs are difficult words for me to capture in an image. This was one of the speakers at a training event I was at this weekend; he was nearing the end of his welcome, and so… he had spoke…n.

We understand that God spoke, and Jesus spoke, thousands of years ago and we consider those words to be past tense. But faith is not a past tense thing, nor is the word of God.  Hebrews 4:12 states:

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

God spoke, God is speaking, and God will continue to speak as long as creation exists.  When we understand that God in Christ Spoke long ago, we also understand that God’s word is still active, still faith-filled, and still dynamic.  Because God spoke, we can speak a word of hope, a word of love, and a word that can change hearts and lives in and through God’s grace.

Fall

I Haven’t yet gotten the shot I’d like here. This is the cemetery I drive by at least twice a day and in the fall, it is just beautiful. The colors of the trees and their leafs set against the muted tones of the headstones and still emerald green of the grass.

Fall can seem like it is the end of the story. Once the trees stand empty, there is almost a mournful quality to them. The headstones too can symbolize a definite period at the end of life. But just as “the fall” was not the end of the human story, fall is not the end of the story of life.  In the midst of death, sure as spring follows winter, Christ is there leaning on the stone outside of an empty tomb to remind us that there is much more to the story.

 

Ruler

Today’s photo is a bit of a stretch. This is a picture of my dad, uncle and me. We are three very wise guys, just ask us. It was great to talk with them and to share stories. Seriously we are pretty bright guys  but our authority is relatively limited. The word for today is ruler, as in a king or one who has authority over you.  The question Jesus faced as he entered into Jerusalem, was not how he did what he did but by what authority and who was it that gave him that authority.

Who rules in your heart?  Who rules your head?  What place does God hold, and what authority do you give to Christ in your day to day life?  If we are honest, there are many rulers competing for our attention in our lives and in our world. God asks to be put first, to rule not oppressively but in a manner that gives life.