Park UMC. Exodus 16 Manna Moments Sept 18, 2011
.we read that story of the manna in the wilderness
and it's one of my favorite stories..
but here s my question
have you ever seen any manna?
. now I know
it says that when the Hebrews entered
the promised land
the miracle of manna ended
,,but I don’t think so.. not quite
you see this is not just a story about a miracle long ago
this is also a living word.. for today
as picture of our life in faith
it's an ongoing metaphor
we too are in the wilderness
aren’t we? we too are on a spiritual journey
still being set free
traveling out of our slavery
the exodus is our story also
and we too
are being formed into a new people
and so the manna story is also our story
but then.. have you seen any manna
now I am
not talking about that mysterious flaky,,, seed like food on the ground
that they would gather up in the morning
and I know here are some theories . naturalistic theories
about what that manna might have been
was it a kind of honey dew from an insect
or an edible sap form the tamarisk
or even some kind of mushrooms.
well .. I’m not interested in those theories
I just like what the story says
manna
is God given food
Manna is the gift that comes to you each day
we have the words from the song great is they faithfulness..
morning by morning new mercies I see
great is thy faithfulness
that s the manna story
those day by mercies ..of Gods faithfulness
have you e ever s seen that manna.
what did it look like?
.now I love what the word manna itself means
it means what is it..
in Hebrew or maybe Aramaic
what is it
they look at this gift from god
what is it
,,they don't quite know how to describe it
they didn’t know what it was going to be ...
had not seen this before
but they recognize it as a gift from God
have you seen any manna like that
well look at it this way
have your you started out the day
not knowing
how you were going to get though this situation
have you ever been in one of those wilderness times
like these old Hebrews wandering and wondering what next
what next
maybe even complaining.. murmuring
I love the verse s
that say all the congregation was murmuring
murmuring has been around a long time
complaining
talking about the leaders
"whose idea was this ? can we trust this..
in verse3
they are asking have we been lead out here to die of hunger
at least back in Egypt
we had those stewpots / we had some meat
and we had plenty of bread
But now
what have we got here
nothing..
Murmuring... complaining.... doubting
and fear .... yes it fears..maybe anger
and uncertainty
Don’t tell me you’ve never been there.
this week someone asked me how do you handle being angry with God?
but this manna lesson says
God hears their complaining
v 9 says draw near to the lord
for God has heard your complaining
their murmuring
their doubt
I like the idea that murmuring or complaining can be a form of prayer
this is important because
I have prayer like that..
I see it a lot in the bible
read the psalms
psalms of lament
or even psalm of cursing ..... imprecatory psalms we call them
or read the prophets
you will hear complaining in the prayers
maybe that's another way
to hear the old song what a friend we have in Jesus
all our sins and grief’s to bear
hear that?
all of the sins and grief’s
what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer
sins and grief to bear
I think we give god a lot of grief
in our prayer
but the good news
is that god hears the complaining
God put s up with the grief we give to God
and God says
I will rain down bread from heaven
aren’t you glad
God goes doesn’t rain down fire and brimstone
when we complain and worry and grumble
manna is a story of grace
Gods is going give them bread
have you seen that manna
when you are going thought hard time
and gods hears it..accept it.
and god still gives and loves
..in spite of our doubts and our ..
have you seen that manna of Gods graceful listening to me Just as am
do you ever go and look for thann manna
gather rit up..the Hebrews were told to go and gather it up...
how do you do that
how do you open your eyes to it.
. I s suppose you could like at your daily spiritual practices as a form of manna gathering
do you think this is where the idea of daily devotions fits in
take a few minutes in the day
to read a verse ,,, maybe read the upper room or the daily bread
or some of the many on line emails that give you thought for the day
I think that's a form of manna that gather up day by day,
,you may not know w ahead d of time
what the verse or the thought or the effect might
but it might be what gets you through
one day at a time isn't it..
manna is one day a t time
a word of encouragement
a nudge of the spirit.. a peace that passes understanding
a moment of silence o
r prayer and you know that somehow you are not alone
that's manna have you see n any mann
Now another thing
that strikes me about this manna is that apparently it was very small
and maybe just a bible verse or a minute or so of silence
a little prayer time
can seem pretty small ..and insignificant
but God is teaching us to look for the small miracles day by day.
I know that the big flashy miracle s like the crossing of the red sea... those
things get your attention
like some scene form Cecil be demil in the ten commandments
but that little bit of manna on the ground ... is an invitation to daily miracle watching
..
Pam Serdar our district superintendent/ in her recent newsletter
described a man who claimed that nothing
had impressed him in his 55 years of living
accept the grand canyon
now you have to admit
that the grand canyon is big and impressive
but a s Pam serdar went on to say
how sad
that this person didn't get impressed by all the little daily things
that are around us in life
to live without a sense of awe and wonder
is sad
it’s like ignore the manna
it’s a refusal to gather the daily miracles
all the things that we could see as gifts from God
and she goes on to mention things like the winter frost
The crackle of dry leaves on a chilly autumn afternoon.
The endless shades of green on a summer hillside.
The scent of lilacs in spring
have you seen a manna today
will you see some manna in the leaves as they begin to turn around here leaf by leaf..tree by tree.
will you open your eyes to gather the manna in your life
I think there is great mann song in the sound of music
these are few of my favorite things
'raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens'
and Maria thinks of those things ..when things are e going bad
that a way of gathering the emann..
acceptinghte daily signs of god that feed us.
have you seen a manna
maybe the manna of words
the manna of encouragement
the manna hope
the manna of help
the manna of another person
the manna of prayer.
let me leave you with a little story that I can hear as a manna story
from Howard Thurman .... in his autobiography,
( With Head and Heart)
. Thurman was dean of the Chapel at Boston University and a canon at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
but this story goes back to when
. He had just finished the eighth grade in Daytona Beach, Florida
and he was ready for high school.
But this is in 1912,... ..1912
and there were only three public schools in the state of Florida
that offered a high school education to African American youth
.but There were some church related schools that did,
and one of those was the Florida Baptist Academy in Jacksonville.
Thurman had a relative. that said that if he did some chores he could stay with them
and get one meal a day
So the school s season came and Thurman went down to the train station
he had an old trunk with no lock and no handles
,it was tied shut with a rope
but When he bought his train ticket
the railroad agent would not accept the trunk as baggage
because the Regulations said that the baggage check
had to be attached to the trunk handle,
not to a rope.
so he would have to pay extra to ship the trunk
but Thurman only had a little over a dollar left and it wasn't enough to ship the trunk
Thurman said
that he sat on the railway station steps
and cried his eyes out.
Until
when he opened his eyes,
there was a pair of work shoes standing in front of him.
The shoes were worn by a black man dressed in overalls and a denim cap.
He looked down at Thurman,
rolled a cigarette
, lit it and asked
,, what are you crying about?”
So Thurman told him,
and the man said,
“If you’re trying to get out of this town' to get an education,
the least I can do is to help you.
Come with me.”
the stranger got the shipping ticket for the trunk,
and he turned and disappeared
and Thurman says he never saw him again.
I think it was a manna moment
but why did that man notice this and care about it..and help him
The dedication to Howard Thurman’s autobiography reads
, “To the stranger in the
railroad station in Daytona Beach who restored my broken dream sixty five years ago.”
it was this gift that Thurman didn’t see coming
and maybe this generous stranger
did that because he had gather some manna his own life
and he could be manna in someone wilderness
have you seen any manna
well you can see where this is going
will you look for the many of daily signs and gifts.
.. trust that they are there
in maybe small.. daily,,but yet to be discovered ways..look for them
but then also maybe be them
the world is still hungry
we still need manna
we still need to share the manna
if you look at the manna lesson
youwillsee that above all it was teaching them to trust God
verse 4 and other s in the story say that God was using the manna to test them..to teach them..to shape them..into new behavior
and so in the manna lesson
they could not stockpile or hoard the manna.
it was a lesson in sharing and living with trust and gratitude and generosity
They were being taught o live in the manna moments
and to be manna people
I think the
and ,no malaria campaign
is very much a manna lesson for us today
manna a is a mosquito net . it saving a life just ten dollars at a time
or a sign that we care
God is giving manna though us,
manna is what we all need to receive..and learn
and to share. day by day
and I see manna all around you and in you
Have you seen any manna..day by day.. the manna is here
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Holy Week and the Deadly Sin of Anger
Park UMC April 17 2011
The deadly sin of anger or wrath is all over the story that we just read.
and we can literally see just how deadly it can be
this is the deadly sin that leads to murder, vengeance and violence
Jesus is at least indirectly killed by an angry mob...or angry leaders.
but what is behind this wrathful anger?
it's usually about some unmet expectations
we get angry when we do not get what we want or what we expect.
but even before this final week this holy week story
there has been a buildup of anger this smoldering anger has been there all along
there has been anger in t he voices
of the of the religious leaders
who accuse Jesus of blasphemy
and for challenging their authority and power
they have been angry with Jesus because HE DID NOT FOLLW THE accepted rules of community
and who is in and who is out
who is worthy and who isn't
Jesus ATE WITH TAX COLELCTORS AND SINNER
AND SOEM PEOPE WERE ANGRY ABOTU THIS
AS IF HE WAS MAKIIGN THESE Commoners
..THESE SINNERS.. EQAUL TO THEM...and equal in the eyes of God
Jesus was not meeting there expectations of religious teaching or piety
now ON palm Sunday I SEE this PENT UP anger OF THE Crowds
it in the crowds shouting hosanna
this may seem to be a day of praise and celebration but we are mistaken
there is something in the back ground
HOSANNA MEANS SAVE US
saves us
WAHT THEY Meant WAS save us from the Romans
save s from these ungodly people
who occupy our land
save us
from the armies that t march though our towns
saves us
from the burdens and the corruption
from the tyrants who tax us UNFAIRLY and take our food
where the rich get richer and the poor get even less.
save us Jesus
save us now..
be the messiah Savior who will exercise the wrath of God. and bring justice
be the conquering hero...
you have got to hear that IN THE he palm Sunday crowd
it is what they hope...what they expect!
but this is not what Jesus will do
and so IN FEW DAYS we see anger again.
of unmet expectations
.wrath rage..vengeance retaliation
anger is in the crowd shouting crucify him
give us Barabbas instead
but crucify this Jesus
are they angry
because Jesus refuses to be that angry kind of a messiah
Jesus refuses to embody the wrath of God against the enemy
instead we HAVE Gotten the savior on a donkey
who says turn the other cheek
we get the savior
who said love your enemies
pray for those who persecute you
blessed are the peacemakers
we get the savior
shows us a path of forgiveness
and a path of the cross
we have got to get this point
Jesus does not give us the wrath of God. that
we think we want God to be and to do
Now I know that Jesus
Jesus did show a level of anger in his life
in mark 3:5 the people were more concerned with following the Sabbath law
than they were with healing the man with a withered hand
it said that Jesus got angry with t hem
when we make our laws
more important than the needs and wellbeing of others..
there is a place for anger
and the most the most famous scene of anger form Jesus
is when the he is driving the money changers
out of the temple
he saw this abuse of religious power
as if access to God had to be brokered
or when people were being taken advantage of there is sense of righteous anger
and its there when people are e left to hurt without compassion
when there is no sense of justice for the poor.
read the Hebrew prophets
s and wee too are invited into Gods anger
when the poor and the weak and the foreigners are oppressed
when religion and piety is used as pretense to cover our greed
and religious language is abused to cover our prejudices
yes there are things wrong with he world
enough to be anger about it
at least a righteous indignation.
but what
we are talking about here as deadly
is wrath
..anger that is out of control...gone too far..
that doesn't know when to stop
anger that forgets to keep some humility
that does not understand its limits
. anger without mercy
anger that really is not redemptive.
Because it is also clear in Christianity
that we cannot take the wrath of God into our own hands
that's the great insight that Paul gives us in Romans 12
where he says never avenge yourselves
leave room for the wrath of God
vengeance is mine says the lord..in other words
it's not in our human ability to do this
we can't make that judgment of vengeance.
step away from the wrath
Jesus himself gave several lessons warning us about anger
Ephesians 4: 6 also says be angry but do not sin
James 1:19-20… “Let everyone be quick to listen,
slow to speak, slow to anger;
for
your anger does not produce God’s righteousness
you anger..my anger... does not produce Gods righteousness!.
.what a powerful insight
this is trying was to teach us a different spirit
and behavior in life
a life e that is not ruled by anger..
even when we see it as moral crusade..watch out.
with the rise of fundamentalism today in so many religions including Christianity we need this warning
we are directed away from this destructive violent anger that can kill us
it kill s us internally and it leads to the violence
the cycle s of violence and retaliation
that our world can't seem to break out of .
and what we are ultimately shown and taught is that
wrath is not the will and character of God
because God will is life and God's character,
god s holiness is love
.we are told clearly in I John that God is love.
I'm remembering the story
Two monks were washing
down in the river
when they noticed a scorpion that was drowning
. One monk immediately scooped it up
and set it upon the bank
. In the process he was stung.
He went back to washing his bowl and again the scorpion fell in.
The monk saved the scorpion and was again stung.
The other monk asked him,
"Friend,
why do you continue to save the scorpion
when you know
it's nature is to sting?"
"Because," the monk replied, "to save it is my nature."
it may not be our character to save
and in fact tit may be our character to sting
but this steadfast love this mercy is the very character of god
and that the gospel I'm not making this up
and all you need to do is look at t he cross
Gods character is to save US .EVEN WHEN WE STING
that is the story of this holy week
but we should not be surprised because
we can back up all the way to the start of the story
in Luke's Gospel especially
we are being told right away that this Jesus story
will
not be about the wrath of God
oh yes
it will be about a revolution and a different reality
the last shall be first .....the first shall be last
read... Mary's song in the magnificent
the mighty will be brought low
the powerless will be lifted up
but the great gospel is about peace
the shepherds at Christmas hear the words...of peace on earth..
peace is our gospel..not wrath.
.God we are told comes to us in good will
that's the message of all our strained and differing doctrines s of atonement
are simply trying to say that we are at peace . God is not at war with us.
God has made peace with us
atonement at one ment..
if God's wrath needed satisfaction
however you want to understand it..
it's done..
and we are invited to believe it, God has made peace..
so as you enter the story of holy week
can you accept a peaceful God as your God..your Lord and Savior..
we too are invite to follow Jesus.
. face your own expectations and struggles with anger
we too are invited to see Jesus
who will not embody or call out the wrath of God on us
even when we cry out in anger crucify him
or when we betray him as Judas did
when we pull out a sword as Peter did or deny him as peter did ..
run a way as the disciples did
with all of that...
.still ...we do not see the wrath of God
even when we strike out against god..
in the death of Jesus ....
the response of Jesus...
to all of this was
father forgive them
they do not know what they are doing
where is the wrath of God in this story?
Jesus and his cross tells us that mercy ...forgiveness is the way
not wrath
love is the way
not vengeance
salvation is the way... not destruction
Jesus saves us from our own anger
I believe the idea of an angry God is meant to die at the cross
Gods anger ends at the cross
Your mediation for the week is this
look at the cross .what do you see?
do you see God's wrath ?
or a God of grace
then,,, take up your cross and follow him.
being set free day by day from the deadly sin of wrath
The deadly sin of anger or wrath is all over the story that we just read.
and we can literally see just how deadly it can be
this is the deadly sin that leads to murder, vengeance and violence
Jesus is at least indirectly killed by an angry mob...or angry leaders.
but what is behind this wrathful anger?
it's usually about some unmet expectations
we get angry when we do not get what we want or what we expect.
but even before this final week this holy week story
there has been a buildup of anger this smoldering anger has been there all along
there has been anger in t he voices
of the of the religious leaders
who accuse Jesus of blasphemy
and for challenging their authority and power
they have been angry with Jesus because HE DID NOT FOLLW THE accepted rules of community
and who is in and who is out
who is worthy and who isn't
Jesus ATE WITH TAX COLELCTORS AND SINNER
AND SOEM PEOPE WERE ANGRY ABOTU THIS
AS IF HE WAS MAKIIGN THESE Commoners
..THESE SINNERS.. EQAUL TO THEM...and equal in the eyes of God
Jesus was not meeting there expectations of religious teaching or piety
now ON palm Sunday I SEE this PENT UP anger OF THE Crowds
it in the crowds shouting hosanna
this may seem to be a day of praise and celebration but we are mistaken
there is something in the back ground
HOSANNA MEANS SAVE US
saves us
WAHT THEY Meant WAS save us from the Romans
save s from these ungodly people
who occupy our land
save us
from the armies that t march though our towns
saves us
from the burdens and the corruption
from the tyrants who tax us UNFAIRLY and take our food
where the rich get richer and the poor get even less.
save us Jesus
save us now..
be the messiah Savior who will exercise the wrath of God. and bring justice
be the conquering hero...
you have got to hear that IN THE he palm Sunday crowd
it is what they hope...what they expect!
but this is not what Jesus will do
and so IN FEW DAYS we see anger again.
of unmet expectations
.wrath rage..vengeance retaliation
anger is in the crowd shouting crucify him
give us Barabbas instead
but crucify this Jesus
are they angry
because Jesus refuses to be that angry kind of a messiah
Jesus refuses to embody the wrath of God against the enemy
instead we HAVE Gotten the savior on a donkey
who says turn the other cheek
we get the savior
who said love your enemies
pray for those who persecute you
blessed are the peacemakers
we get the savior
shows us a path of forgiveness
and a path of the cross
we have got to get this point
Jesus does not give us the wrath of God. that
we think we want God to be and to do
Now I know that Jesus
Jesus did show a level of anger in his life
in mark 3:5 the people were more concerned with following the Sabbath law
than they were with healing the man with a withered hand
it said that Jesus got angry with t hem
when we make our laws
more important than the needs and wellbeing of others..
there is a place for anger
and the most the most famous scene of anger form Jesus
is when the he is driving the money changers
out of the temple
he saw this abuse of religious power
as if access to God had to be brokered
or when people were being taken advantage of there is sense of righteous anger
and its there when people are e left to hurt without compassion
when there is no sense of justice for the poor.
read the Hebrew prophets
s and wee too are invited into Gods anger
when the poor and the weak and the foreigners are oppressed
when religion and piety is used as pretense to cover our greed
and religious language is abused to cover our prejudices
yes there are things wrong with he world
enough to be anger about it
at least a righteous indignation.
but what
we are talking about here as deadly
is wrath
..anger that is out of control...gone too far..
that doesn't know when to stop
anger that forgets to keep some humility
that does not understand its limits
. anger without mercy
anger that really is not redemptive.
Because it is also clear in Christianity
that we cannot take the wrath of God into our own hands
that's the great insight that Paul gives us in Romans 12
where he says never avenge yourselves
leave room for the wrath of God
vengeance is mine says the lord..in other words
it's not in our human ability to do this
we can't make that judgment of vengeance.
step away from the wrath
Jesus himself gave several lessons warning us about anger
Ephesians 4: 6 also says be angry but do not sin
James 1:19-20… “Let everyone be quick to listen,
slow to speak, slow to anger;
for
your anger does not produce God’s righteousness
you anger..my anger... does not produce Gods righteousness!.
.what a powerful insight
this is trying was to teach us a different spirit
and behavior in life
a life e that is not ruled by anger..
even when we see it as moral crusade..watch out.
with the rise of fundamentalism today in so many religions including Christianity we need this warning
we are directed away from this destructive violent anger that can kill us
it kill s us internally and it leads to the violence
the cycle s of violence and retaliation
that our world can't seem to break out of .
and what we are ultimately shown and taught is that
wrath is not the will and character of God
because God will is life and God's character,
god s holiness is love
.we are told clearly in I John that God is love.
I'm remembering the story
Two monks were washing
down in the river
when they noticed a scorpion that was drowning
. One monk immediately scooped it up
and set it upon the bank
. In the process he was stung.
He went back to washing his bowl and again the scorpion fell in.
The monk saved the scorpion and was again stung.
The other monk asked him,
"Friend,
why do you continue to save the scorpion
when you know
it's nature is to sting?"
"Because," the monk replied, "to save it is my nature."
it may not be our character to save
and in fact tit may be our character to sting
but this steadfast love this mercy is the very character of god
and that the gospel I'm not making this up
and all you need to do is look at t he cross
Gods character is to save US .EVEN WHEN WE STING
that is the story of this holy week
but we should not be surprised because
we can back up all the way to the start of the story
in Luke's Gospel especially
we are being told right away that this Jesus story
will
not be about the wrath of God
oh yes
it will be about a revolution and a different reality
the last shall be first .....the first shall be last
read... Mary's song in the magnificent
the mighty will be brought low
the powerless will be lifted up
but the great gospel is about peace
the shepherds at Christmas hear the words...of peace on earth..
peace is our gospel..not wrath.
.God we are told comes to us in good will
that's the message of all our strained and differing doctrines s of atonement
are simply trying to say that we are at peace . God is not at war with us.
God has made peace with us
atonement at one ment..
if God's wrath needed satisfaction
however you want to understand it..
it's done..
and we are invited to believe it, God has made peace..
so as you enter the story of holy week
can you accept a peaceful God as your God..your Lord and Savior..
we too are invite to follow Jesus.
. face your own expectations and struggles with anger
we too are invited to see Jesus
who will not embody or call out the wrath of God on us
even when we cry out in anger crucify him
or when we betray him as Judas did
when we pull out a sword as Peter did or deny him as peter did ..
run a way as the disciples did
with all of that...
.still ...we do not see the wrath of God
even when we strike out against god..
in the death of Jesus ....
the response of Jesus...
to all of this was
father forgive them
they do not know what they are doing
where is the wrath of God in this story?
Jesus and his cross tells us that mercy ...forgiveness is the way
not wrath
love is the way
not vengeance
salvation is the way... not destruction
Jesus saves us from our own anger
I believe the idea of an angry God is meant to die at the cross
Gods anger ends at the cross
Your mediation for the week is this
look at the cross .what do you see?
do you see God's wrath ?
or a God of grace
then,,, take up your cross and follow him.
being set free day by day from the deadly sin of wrath
Sunday, April 3, 2011
From Richard Rohr
FALLING UPWARD
The soul has many secrets. They are only revealed to those who want them, and are never completely forced upon us. One of the best-kept secrets, and yet one hidden in plain sight, is that the way up is the way down. Or, if you prefer, the way down is the way up….
In Scripture, we see that the wrestling and wounding of Jacob are necessary for Jacob to become Israel (Genesis 32:26-32), and the death and resurrection of Jesus are necessary to create Christianity. The loss and renewal pattern is so constant and ubiquitous that it should hardly be called a secret at all.
Yet it is still a secret, probably because we do not want to see it. We do not want to embark on a further journey [the second half of life] if it feels like going down, especially after having put so much sound and fury into going up [the first half of life]. This is surely the first and primary reason why many people never get to the fullness of their own lives.
From Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
pp. xviii-xix
The soul has many secrets. They are only revealed to those who want them, and are never completely forced upon us. One of the best-kept secrets, and yet one hidden in plain sight, is that the way up is the way down. Or, if you prefer, the way down is the way up….
In Scripture, we see that the wrestling and wounding of Jacob are necessary for Jacob to become Israel (Genesis 32:26-32), and the death and resurrection of Jesus are necessary to create Christianity. The loss and renewal pattern is so constant and ubiquitous that it should hardly be called a secret at all.
Yet it is still a secret, probably because we do not want to see it. We do not want to embark on a further journey [the second half of life] if it feels like going down, especially after having put so much sound and fury into going up [the first half of life]. This is surely the first and primary reason why many people never get to the fullness of their own lives.
From Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
pp. xviii-xix
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
