Last night's bible passages (see previous post) got us thinking about how we manage the resources we have. How might we do things differently if we start out knowing that all we have belongs to God and is just loaned to us for a time? It can be a challenge to live this way in a world that encourages us to see all we have in terms of reward, entitlement, accomplishment... But taking on that challenge can be truly rewarding, especially if we do it together. God reaches out to us through community. We share our struggles, offer each other feedback and insight, and give God's own encouragement to one another.
Studying what the Bible has to say about finances doesn't magically make everything alright. The Bible's not a direct answer book. It's more a book of questions actually, questions that stop us in our tracks and help us to see beyond the dead-end ways of living. When together we ask the questions raised in Scripture, we begin to sort out what fills us with spirit and energy, and what ways leave us drained and despairing.
This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you, God gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God... so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God. (from 2 Corinthians 9)
Robust in God... I like the sound of that. Living gratefully and generously: that sounds like real living to me. But I know I can't live that way on my own. I need God's people who will surround and fill me with God's passionate love for me and all creation.
Please consider joining us next Wednesday, 7:30pm, at Panera on 101A (near Target), for next week's chance to consider how life and God's word intersect.
~ Kari Henkelmann Keyl
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Wednesday Conversation Info: Managing My Finances
Join us Wednesday evening (7:30-8:30 PM), at Panera on 101A in Nashua as we focus on our financial health.
First we will take a look at how to make the most out of what we have as we look at a brief passge from Matthew (click here to read it: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025:%2014-30;&version=65)
Then we talk about "reaping what we sow" (click here to read: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%209:%206-15;&version=65;)
See you then!
First we will take a look at how to make the most out of what we have as we look at a brief passge from Matthew (click here to read it: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025:%2014-30;&version=65)
Then we talk about "reaping what we sow" (click here to read: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%209:%206-15;&version=65;)
See you then!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Just who do you think you are?
Just who do you think you are?
Does anyone make it through life without having some impassioned person ask them that question? Whether it’s asked by a teacher or a parent, a colleague who disagrees with you, or just a pushy bully, it’s a question that stops you in your tracks, or tries to anyway.
Suddenly you’re vulnerable. Your identity is hanging out there in the air. Undefined. Challenged. Waiting.
Do you ever hear anyone say the opposite?
Just who do you think I am?
The one who asks this question is opening him-or-herself up for whatever may come. Unarmed. But still strong, confident... while his/her identity is floating in space, waiting for someone to snatch it up, take a look, make a comment.
There’s a great story of Jesus’ teaching exploits (click on the title of this post to read the passage) in which he invites his students to take a swipe at his identity. He takes them out for a walk, about a 16 mile walk, from the safety of home turf into the eeriness of the enemy’s land, where strange gods are worshiped in strange ways. And your God is nowhere to be seen, or so it seems.
Just who do you think I am? comes the question, from Rabbi Jesus to his walking-buddy students. Star pupil Peter grabs the chance to define the one he follows: You’re the messiah, Jesus, the one who’s saving us. You're the one who connects us to the living God!
Peter’s got it exactly right. He’s so right that Jesus is sure that God’s own voice is speaking through Peter, that Peter couldn’t possibly have done it on his own.
But the mood of the moment abruptly shifts when Jesus starts saying exactly what it means to be the messiah of the living God. Talk about vulnerability… Being identified as the messiah is not a power trip at all. It means giving up power, at least the way that the world thinks of power.
It means loving till it hurts, giving yourself away completely, being so connected to the all-giving God that you’d do anything to get others connected. Even if that means suffering, dying, and relying totally on God to raise you back up. Peter doesn’t deal well with this. He wants to define Jesus’ identity in his own way: plugged into God’s power but protected from the dangers Jesus sees coming. Peter eventually figures it all out, but for now, he’s left hanging. His own identity as Jesus’ follower has been shaken. But sometimes you need to have your assumptions shaken, on the road to figuring out who you are.
Teacher Jesus, I ask you today: Who do you think I am? How do you see me fitting into your scheme of things? Give me some clues, open my eyes, show me who I am and how I can be your follower. Pour your power into me, so I can love the world you so love. Give your life to me, so I can give my life to others.
~ Kari Henkelmann Keyl
Does anyone make it through life without having some impassioned person ask them that question? Whether it’s asked by a teacher or a parent, a colleague who disagrees with you, or just a pushy bully, it’s a question that stops you in your tracks, or tries to anyway.
Suddenly you’re vulnerable. Your identity is hanging out there in the air. Undefined. Challenged. Waiting.
Do you ever hear anyone say the opposite?
Just who do you think I am?
The one who asks this question is opening him-or-herself up for whatever may come. Unarmed. But still strong, confident... while his/her identity is floating in space, waiting for someone to snatch it up, take a look, make a comment.
There’s a great story of Jesus’ teaching exploits (click on the title of this post to read the passage) in which he invites his students to take a swipe at his identity. He takes them out for a walk, about a 16 mile walk, from the safety of home turf into the eeriness of the enemy’s land, where strange gods are worshiped in strange ways. And your God is nowhere to be seen, or so it seems.
Just who do you think I am? comes the question, from Rabbi Jesus to his walking-buddy students. Star pupil Peter grabs the chance to define the one he follows: You’re the messiah, Jesus, the one who’s saving us. You're the one who connects us to the living God!
Peter’s got it exactly right. He’s so right that Jesus is sure that God’s own voice is speaking through Peter, that Peter couldn’t possibly have done it on his own.
But the mood of the moment abruptly shifts when Jesus starts saying exactly what it means to be the messiah of the living God. Talk about vulnerability… Being identified as the messiah is not a power trip at all. It means giving up power, at least the way that the world thinks of power.
It means loving till it hurts, giving yourself away completely, being so connected to the all-giving God that you’d do anything to get others connected. Even if that means suffering, dying, and relying totally on God to raise you back up. Peter doesn’t deal well with this. He wants to define Jesus’ identity in his own way: plugged into God’s power but protected from the dangers Jesus sees coming. Peter eventually figures it all out, but for now, he’s left hanging. His own identity as Jesus’ follower has been shaken. But sometimes you need to have your assumptions shaken, on the road to figuring out who you are.
Teacher Jesus, I ask you today: Who do you think I am? How do you see me fitting into your scheme of things? Give me some clues, open my eyes, show me who I am and how I can be your follower. Pour your power into me, so I can love the world you so love. Give your life to me, so I can give my life to others.
~ Kari Henkelmann Keyl
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Bible Study: Dealing with My Health
This week we were looking at two passages that address health and wholeness.
It's worth taking a moment to think how you are when you get sick. Do all things come to a stop as people pamper you, or do you become like Oscar the Grouch? We all deal with personal illness differently. The other day, a person talking about patient-doctor relationships said that often we wait to talk to a physician because we are afraid of not knowing what is going on. It is fascinating to think that the body we own can be such a confusing thing! Such must have been the case with this man in John's Gospel (scriptures are linked in Tuesday's blog announcement) who had been an invalid for 38 years! That is a long time, but what striks you about this healing? How do you characterize this interchange between the man and Jesus? I am always amazed at how others respond to these miraculous healings. How is this similar to how we experience dramatic healthcare improvements? What are some things about your own health that cause you stress? How can you overcome this anxiety?
For part of an answer to that last question it is worth taking a look at Paul's reminder that "when we are weak, then we are strong." Has there ever been anything in your expereince that finds that statement to be true? How have you seen, or experienced God working in and through you during a time of weakness? How can you trust God in those moments?
Feel free to share your observations/thoughts here as we head into the weekend.
It's worth taking a moment to think how you are when you get sick. Do all things come to a stop as people pamper you, or do you become like Oscar the Grouch? We all deal with personal illness differently. The other day, a person talking about patient-doctor relationships said that often we wait to talk to a physician because we are afraid of not knowing what is going on. It is fascinating to think that the body we own can be such a confusing thing! Such must have been the case with this man in John's Gospel (scriptures are linked in Tuesday's blog announcement) who had been an invalid for 38 years! That is a long time, but what striks you about this healing? How do you characterize this interchange between the man and Jesus? I am always amazed at how others respond to these miraculous healings. How is this similar to how we experience dramatic healthcare improvements? What are some things about your own health that cause you stress? How can you overcome this anxiety?
For part of an answer to that last question it is worth taking a look at Paul's reminder that "when we are weak, then we are strong." Has there ever been anything in your expereince that finds that statement to be true? How have you seen, or experienced God working in and through you during a time of weakness? How can you trust God in those moments?
Feel free to share your observations/thoughts here as we head into the weekend.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Wednesday Conversation Info: Dealing With My Health
This Wednesday we will gather at Panera on 101A to share thought about health and the pressures that go along with related issues.
Take a look at the story of this healing in John 5: 1-15 (http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=John+5). Pay attention to how this healing is viewed by others.
And then we will gain a sign of hope from the New Testament's great cheerleader, Paul (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%2012:%201-10&version=65) who is writing here to the church at Corinth (2 Corinthians 2: 1-10).
We meet from 7:30 to about 8:30 or so.
Take a look at the story of this healing in John 5: 1-15 (http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=John+5). Pay attention to how this healing is viewed by others.
And then we will gain a sign of hope from the New Testament's great cheerleader, Paul (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%2012:%201-10&version=65) who is writing here to the church at Corinth (2 Corinthians 2: 1-10).
We meet from 7:30 to about 8:30 or so.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Steve-o's Devos: A Daily Offering
How do you wake up each morning? Are you one of those jump out of bed and take on the day sort of people? Or do you more reluctantly slide out and stumble about until finding the right amount of caffeine to get you started? At different points in my life, I have to admit that both of those ways of greeting the day have been possible. When I was a kid, getting up early for school often felt like a chore. When I was older, I used to accompany my father down to the local cafe for coffee and conversation with other folks that met there. It was a chance to seem like an adult and to spend time with my dad too. I think sometimes he tried to go earlier and earlier just to see if I was still going to get up and be ready when he left.
Depending on where you are on any given day, a new morning can be quite an amazing thing. It gives you a chance to "do-over" the stuff you did wrong the day before, or it gives you a chance to do something new. Face it though, there are days when we wish we should have stayed in bed, days when we had a big test or job interview coming up, days when a major event was causing us stress... It is hard to start the day when we begin it with any sort of anxiety and expect that it can turn out with a great result. Ever find yourself saying or thinking, "I just need to get through this day!"
This is where Paul's reminder (click on the title above) from Romans is so amazing and encouraging. Paul reminds us that each day is a gift but we need to be able to take our everyday, ordinary way of living and place it before God as an offering. "Here, take my day and use it as you will, God." Paul encourages us to not let our surrounding culture drag us down into its level of immaturity and fancifulness. Something perhaps easier to say than do.
But these thoughts from Paul do make a lot of sense and made me think of the Olympic games going on now. Though not much of a sports fan, I have found myself drawn to several of the events as they appear on television. There is something intricately engaging in watching people at the top of their game, sharing their gifts in such a public way. What strikes me is the sideline commentary. Sportscasters no doubt are doing there job talking while something few people watching understand plays out on the athletic stage. Too often though, the commentators share asides about a particular athlete's performance that seems almost minuscule in comparison to the accomplishment. Yes, it is a "competition" to see who is the greatest at their sport, but is it not also just a wonderful opportunity to know you are surrounded by the best athletes in your field?
There have been a couple of times when I wondered what the relationships were with the athlete and their coach, especially when the coach was their parent. If they had not gotten a medal, would they still feel loved? valued? Or would they return home feeling like a failure thinking a bronze was not good enough? It is food for thought.
So while I have been watching the games, I also wondered what it might be like if we had our own on-side commentators following our every day moves. Think about this for a minute. "Steve has begun his day there, and, oops, dropped the soap now that is going to cost him some time. Looks like one of the cats has left him a little treat on the floor to clean up this morning, so he may have to skip breakfast today and grab something on the road if he still wants to get to his meeting on time today. Now it looked like maybe he would not have to do that earlier, but hitting that snooze button twice really put him back time-wise. Well, he's now in his car and...WOW, did you see that, no cars coming and he could just coast right out onto the road there and he's taking the shortcut so that will help add some time to his day." Well you get the drift.
If we spent all of our time worrying about the people in our lives who comment from the sidelines we really would not be able to focus on who we are called to be. Paul illustrates this perfectly in this passage from Romans (chapter 12, verses 1-8). Each of us has something to offer and we get meaning in our lives by living out the part that we are to play to the fullest. We offer our day as an opportunity to live out our giftedness so that we may fully be who we are. Paul's final reminder is that we should do things joyously, with a smile on our face no matter what may happen along the way. (I think that is why I always like the character Jim on The Office!)
How appropriate then that we are gathering to talk about life's pressures. Pressures often felt because we either overhear, or think we know the running critical commentary of those around us. Consider smiling a bit more...at the very least, everyone will wonder what you are up to! Amen.
Depending on where you are on any given day, a new morning can be quite an amazing thing. It gives you a chance to "do-over" the stuff you did wrong the day before, or it gives you a chance to do something new. Face it though, there are days when we wish we should have stayed in bed, days when we had a big test or job interview coming up, days when a major event was causing us stress... It is hard to start the day when we begin it with any sort of anxiety and expect that it can turn out with a great result. Ever find yourself saying or thinking, "I just need to get through this day!"
This is where Paul's reminder (click on the title above) from Romans is so amazing and encouraging. Paul reminds us that each day is a gift but we need to be able to take our everyday, ordinary way of living and place it before God as an offering. "Here, take my day and use it as you will, God." Paul encourages us to not let our surrounding culture drag us down into its level of immaturity and fancifulness. Something perhaps easier to say than do.
But these thoughts from Paul do make a lot of sense and made me think of the Olympic games going on now. Though not much of a sports fan, I have found myself drawn to several of the events as they appear on television. There is something intricately engaging in watching people at the top of their game, sharing their gifts in such a public way. What strikes me is the sideline commentary. Sportscasters no doubt are doing there job talking while something few people watching understand plays out on the athletic stage. Too often though, the commentators share asides about a particular athlete's performance that seems almost minuscule in comparison to the accomplishment. Yes, it is a "competition" to see who is the greatest at their sport, but is it not also just a wonderful opportunity to know you are surrounded by the best athletes in your field?
There have been a couple of times when I wondered what the relationships were with the athlete and their coach, especially when the coach was their parent. If they had not gotten a medal, would they still feel loved? valued? Or would they return home feeling like a failure thinking a bronze was not good enough? It is food for thought.
So while I have been watching the games, I also wondered what it might be like if we had our own on-side commentators following our every day moves. Think about this for a minute. "Steve has begun his day there, and, oops, dropped the soap now that is going to cost him some time. Looks like one of the cats has left him a little treat on the floor to clean up this morning, so he may have to skip breakfast today and grab something on the road if he still wants to get to his meeting on time today. Now it looked like maybe he would not have to do that earlier, but hitting that snooze button twice really put him back time-wise. Well, he's now in his car and...WOW, did you see that, no cars coming and he could just coast right out onto the road there and he's taking the shortcut so that will help add some time to his day." Well you get the drift.
If we spent all of our time worrying about the people in our lives who comment from the sidelines we really would not be able to focus on who we are called to be. Paul illustrates this perfectly in this passage from Romans (chapter 12, verses 1-8). Each of us has something to offer and we get meaning in our lives by living out the part that we are to play to the fullest. We offer our day as an opportunity to live out our giftedness so that we may fully be who we are. Paul's final reminder is that we should do things joyously, with a smile on our face no matter what may happen along the way. (I think that is why I always like the character Jim on The Office!)
How appropriate then that we are gathering to talk about life's pressures. Pressures often felt because we either overhear, or think we know the running critical commentary of those around us. Consider smiling a bit more...at the very least, everyone will wonder what you are up to! Amen.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Bible Study: Coping with Crisis
This week's Bible study focuses on dealing with difficult situations (links for the passages are in Tuesdays announcement).
The first story comes from Genesis where future patriarch Joseph finds himself in a rather difficult situation. His employer's wife lusts after him and tries to seduce him causing Joseph to have to struggle with his moral center. Joe has had quite a turnaround in his fortune up to that point, though he is essentially a slave life is better than it might have been for the young man. One wonders if Joe asked himself how God could have put him in this situation and as you take a look at this you may wish to reflect on times when you too have wondered why God "let this happen." though this story focuses on sexual temptation, it is a good time to consider how you are tempted in your own life. What pressures cause you to perhaps compromise your own personal moral center or convictions? How do you resist temptation? How can you sense that God is with you even during these times of your life?
With this in mind we turn to the first chapter of 2 Corinthians where Paul is once again writing words of comfort to people who are troubled. It might be worth taking a moment to think about what expression of caring you found most comforting when you were a child. How did that feel or look like? Where can you receive that same sense of healing and comfort now in your life? Are there pressures in your life right now that are causing you despair? How do you respond to those pressures? Do you find they deepen your sense of God's presence or tend to drive you away from faith? Why do you think that happens? How can you pray for people who are stuggling through times of despair or who are dealing with extra pressures in their life?
Well, those are plenty of questions for reflection and thought.
Join us next week on Wednesday night when we talk about pressures related to our health.
The first story comes from Genesis where future patriarch Joseph finds himself in a rather difficult situation. His employer's wife lusts after him and tries to seduce him causing Joseph to have to struggle with his moral center. Joe has had quite a turnaround in his fortune up to that point, though he is essentially a slave life is better than it might have been for the young man. One wonders if Joe asked himself how God could have put him in this situation and as you take a look at this you may wish to reflect on times when you too have wondered why God "let this happen." though this story focuses on sexual temptation, it is a good time to consider how you are tempted in your own life. What pressures cause you to perhaps compromise your own personal moral center or convictions? How do you resist temptation? How can you sense that God is with you even during these times of your life?
With this in mind we turn to the first chapter of 2 Corinthians where Paul is once again writing words of comfort to people who are troubled. It might be worth taking a moment to think about what expression of caring you found most comforting when you were a child. How did that feel or look like? Where can you receive that same sense of healing and comfort now in your life? Are there pressures in your life right now that are causing you despair? How do you respond to those pressures? Do you find they deepen your sense of God's presence or tend to drive you away from faith? Why do you think that happens? How can you pray for people who are stuggling through times of despair or who are dealing with extra pressures in their life?
Well, those are plenty of questions for reflection and thought.
Join us next week on Wednesday night when we talk about pressures related to our health.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
May the Best Underdog Win
I’m a little late at getting into the Olympics, I know. The hoopla about the opening ceremonies… the air pollution reports… the gold medal speculations: just a backround noise to me. But then last night my husband called me into the TV room with that tone of voice that told this non-TV-watcher there was no doubt that I should race to the screen.
Yep, volleyball. Can’t resist it. I couldn’t care less that the American duo looked strong against the Cuban team. I just love to watch the game. I’m there on the sand, making the moves, shifting in the direction of the dives, admiring the impossibly quick reflexes and the sharp vision that it takes to find the holes in your adversary’s offense. I was rooting for the losers so the game could go on longer. I always do.
But more than that: I’m a sucker for the underdogs. When NCAA basketball is all over the news, my ears only listen for the Gonzagas, George Masons, and Valparaisos. Even when the Red Sox were about to break their 86 year accursed streak, and I was thrilling for the moment the victory would be official, I still pulled for those Cardinals to at least come out with some dignity.
Yesterday I heard on the news that India had won its first ever Olympic gold. That got my heart beating faster than all the announcements of American gold probably will. Good for you, India. Go Underdogs!
Am I out in left field? Can anyone else relate to this? Or does the everyone-loves-a-winner philosophy totally dominate? I tend to think I’m not alone. Otherwise movies like Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre would never have been made. Who doesn’t know the feeling of being a loser, the outsider, the one who shovels out mush to orphans while dreaming of being a hero in their eyes?
I get pretty agitated when people make the assumption that the winners of our world are God’s pals while the losers have been forgotten at best, are being punished at worst. I don’t pretend to have all the answers about why our world seems so unbalanced between winners and losers, but I know that my God hangs in the dust with the losers, loving them to pieces, somehow working good out of the awfulness of humanity’s self-serving choices.
And I know that when I’m at my lowest points of loserhood… I have two streams of thought warring against each other. Number One: God, what good are you anyway? Number Two: I know you’re here, God, and you’ll love me through this one, too.
In other words… when I’m most underdog-ish, I’m most in danger of rejecting faith… but at the same time, I’m most ready to receive God’s tender care and experience the power of faith like never before.
It’s Jesus who keeps me going, keeps me from being overpowered by "Number One" while I find my way to "Number Two". It’s Jesus who has shown and keeps showing me that God’s heart beats for the weak ones, the vulnerable ones, the ones on the edge about to fall. And this heart isn’t oozing out sappy enabling sympathy. It’s pouring out new life, new choices, new dignity for the loser who no longer is one.
Consider this. Jesus and his disciples encounter a bigtime loser, a loud and obnoxious screamer who keeps harping on them to heal her scary little demon-harassed girl. Jesus could have just doled out a cure, as easy as dropping some coins into a beggar’s cup. He opts for a complete faith-overhaul for everyone within shouting distance. But to do that he’s got to take a risk. He stops to talk to the freaky woman, confident that this underdog’s got something to teach the high-and-mighties around her.
Jesus spars with her, engaging her in a verbal match of wits that’s bound to draw in plenty of nosy people who’ve been itching to have someone shut her up. He starts with what looks like a typical put-down to push her away.
I’m just here for my own people, not for your kind. But he must have said it with a sparkle in his eye, because she takes it as an invitation. She stops demanding his attention and comes quietly closer. Lord, help me…
Jesus goes right on with the tongue-in-cheek goading, not as if she’s a pain he’s putting up with, but as a respected conversation partner he’s having fun with. It’s not right to take food from your own kids and throw it to the dogs. Her clever comeback, sticking with his metaphor: Yeah… but even the dogs under the table get some of the goods, right?
Such an exchange would have been the talk of the town already, but then Jesus tops it off by declaring her the winner of the jousting match. My dear woman, that’s some faith you’ve got there! I’ll give you whatever you want!
Not only does Jesus have time for the desperate loser, he delights in the interaction. He acknowledges her dignity. He graces the underdog with a gold medal for everyone to see. And there’s healing flowing out all over the place.
It flows right out of the Bible’s pages, all over little old me and all the other beggars hanging out under tables.
Jesus, bring me healing. Lift me up. Show me the underdogs who need me to hold out a hand of kindness and dignity. Open me up, to receive the welcome you offer, the faith I can hold onto. In your name I pray.
~Kari Henkelmann Keyl
Yep, volleyball. Can’t resist it. I couldn’t care less that the American duo looked strong against the Cuban team. I just love to watch the game. I’m there on the sand, making the moves, shifting in the direction of the dives, admiring the impossibly quick reflexes and the sharp vision that it takes to find the holes in your adversary’s offense. I was rooting for the losers so the game could go on longer. I always do.
But more than that: I’m a sucker for the underdogs. When NCAA basketball is all over the news, my ears only listen for the Gonzagas, George Masons, and Valparaisos. Even when the Red Sox were about to break their 86 year accursed streak, and I was thrilling for the moment the victory would be official, I still pulled for those Cardinals to at least come out with some dignity.
Yesterday I heard on the news that India had won its first ever Olympic gold. That got my heart beating faster than all the announcements of American gold probably will. Good for you, India. Go Underdogs!
Am I out in left field? Can anyone else relate to this? Or does the everyone-loves-a-winner philosophy totally dominate? I tend to think I’m not alone. Otherwise movies like Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre would never have been made. Who doesn’t know the feeling of being a loser, the outsider, the one who shovels out mush to orphans while dreaming of being a hero in their eyes?
I get pretty agitated when people make the assumption that the winners of our world are God’s pals while the losers have been forgotten at best, are being punished at worst. I don’t pretend to have all the answers about why our world seems so unbalanced between winners and losers, but I know that my God hangs in the dust with the losers, loving them to pieces, somehow working good out of the awfulness of humanity’s self-serving choices.
And I know that when I’m at my lowest points of loserhood… I have two streams of thought warring against each other. Number One: God, what good are you anyway? Number Two: I know you’re here, God, and you’ll love me through this one, too.
In other words… when I’m most underdog-ish, I’m most in danger of rejecting faith… but at the same time, I’m most ready to receive God’s tender care and experience the power of faith like never before.
It’s Jesus who keeps me going, keeps me from being overpowered by "Number One" while I find my way to "Number Two". It’s Jesus who has shown and keeps showing me that God’s heart beats for the weak ones, the vulnerable ones, the ones on the edge about to fall. And this heart isn’t oozing out sappy enabling sympathy. It’s pouring out new life, new choices, new dignity for the loser who no longer is one.
Consider this. Jesus and his disciples encounter a bigtime loser, a loud and obnoxious screamer who keeps harping on them to heal her scary little demon-harassed girl. Jesus could have just doled out a cure, as easy as dropping some coins into a beggar’s cup. He opts for a complete faith-overhaul for everyone within shouting distance. But to do that he’s got to take a risk. He stops to talk to the freaky woman, confident that this underdog’s got something to teach the high-and-mighties around her.
Jesus spars with her, engaging her in a verbal match of wits that’s bound to draw in plenty of nosy people who’ve been itching to have someone shut her up. He starts with what looks like a typical put-down to push her away.
I’m just here for my own people, not for your kind. But he must have said it with a sparkle in his eye, because she takes it as an invitation. She stops demanding his attention and comes quietly closer. Lord, help me…
Jesus goes right on with the tongue-in-cheek goading, not as if she’s a pain he’s putting up with, but as a respected conversation partner he’s having fun with. It’s not right to take food from your own kids and throw it to the dogs. Her clever comeback, sticking with his metaphor: Yeah… but even the dogs under the table get some of the goods, right?
Such an exchange would have been the talk of the town already, but then Jesus tops it off by declaring her the winner of the jousting match. My dear woman, that’s some faith you’ve got there! I’ll give you whatever you want!
Not only does Jesus have time for the desperate loser, he delights in the interaction. He acknowledges her dignity. He graces the underdog with a gold medal for everyone to see. And there’s healing flowing out all over the place.
It flows right out of the Bible’s pages, all over little old me and all the other beggars hanging out under tables.
Jesus, bring me healing. Lift me up. Show me the underdogs who need me to hold out a hand of kindness and dignity. Open me up, to receive the welcome you offer, the faith I can hold onto. In your name I pray.
~Kari Henkelmann Keyl
Wednesday Conversation Info: Coping With Crisis
This Wednesday evening, we will gather at Panera on 101A in Nashua for our second Bible Study conversation night. How are you dealing with the pressures of the world right now? World? What about just life on a day-to-day basis? Well we will spend some time building one another up to take on what life throws at us.
If you'd like to check out the passages for this week take a look first at one of the earliest recorded examples of sexual harrasment! (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2039&version=65)
Then we will gain some hope from Paul's letter to the church in Corinth (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20corinthians%201;&version=65;).
See you then!
If you'd like to check out the passages for this week take a look first at one of the earliest recorded examples of sexual harrasment! (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2039&version=65)
Then we will gain some hope from Paul's letter to the church in Corinth (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20corinthians%201;&version=65;).
See you then!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Bible Study: Making a Living
Extending our conversations that are scheduled for Wednesday nights, Thursday's blog will feature some of our thoughts and questions for reflection here. Scriptures are listed in Wednesday's blog (linked for your convenience). So feel free to share your thoughts here. (A brainstorm yesterday was figuring out a way to do this on-line live....ideas?)
First off some thoughts about the 2 Kings passage that talks about a widow in desperate financial straits. She comes to Elisha hoping for a solution to her debt and the story slowly, and oddly, unfolds. Elisha invites her to think about her most valuable commodity and then finds a way to turn that into a source of income that can help get her back on track. With this in mind, how do you view money and the thigns you own in your life? Does your money hinder or help you to trust God? (Do you trust God more when it seems you have lots of money and less when you have none? Or do you find yourself turning to God only when things are difficult?) Take some time to reflect on what you might be "low on" in your life (oil, money, love, patience, time, energy, work, friends, income, etc.). God uses the widow's limited resources in this story to solve her problem. What resource in your life might God use to provide for you? What is most difficult about trying to start out on your own once you leave for college, or even leave college to live by yourself?
Now on to the second reading which comes from Ephesians 4. Here Paul is writing from prison to a group of Christians that he had worked with earlier. There are obviously somethings going wrong there and Paul is trying to call them back together and get them on the right path. What do you see here that helps point toward creating unity in this group? (How might that help us at BTW?) Are there places in your life that you feel you are yet to live up to your "calling"? How can you work toward developing into the person God is calling you to be?
Deep questions for thought this week. And did anyone not sort of find it amusing that the widow has a gas shortage? Seems a bit funny given recent world events to read this story now, don't you think? Feel free to share what the 2 Kings story might have to say during the "world energy crisis".
First off some thoughts about the 2 Kings passage that talks about a widow in desperate financial straits. She comes to Elisha hoping for a solution to her debt and the story slowly, and oddly, unfolds. Elisha invites her to think about her most valuable commodity and then finds a way to turn that into a source of income that can help get her back on track. With this in mind, how do you view money and the thigns you own in your life? Does your money hinder or help you to trust God? (Do you trust God more when it seems you have lots of money and less when you have none? Or do you find yourself turning to God only when things are difficult?) Take some time to reflect on what you might be "low on" in your life (oil, money, love, patience, time, energy, work, friends, income, etc.). God uses the widow's limited resources in this story to solve her problem. What resource in your life might God use to provide for you? What is most difficult about trying to start out on your own once you leave for college, or even leave college to live by yourself?
Now on to the second reading which comes from Ephesians 4. Here Paul is writing from prison to a group of Christians that he had worked with earlier. There are obviously somethings going wrong there and Paul is trying to call them back together and get them on the right path. What do you see here that helps point toward creating unity in this group? (How might that help us at BTW?) Are there places in your life that you feel you are yet to live up to your "calling"? How can you work toward developing into the person God is calling you to be?
Deep questions for thought this week. And did anyone not sort of find it amusing that the widow has a gas shortage? Seems a bit funny given recent world events to read this story now, don't you think? Feel free to share what the 2 Kings story might have to say during the "world energy crisis".
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Wednesday Conversation Info: Making a Living
For those of you planning to join us for tonight's conversation at Panera (on 101A), or if you can't be there but want to just read along for reflection at home, we will be looking at two Bible passages.
2 Kings 4: 1-7 (Oil Shortage hits Home) (http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=2+kings+4)
Ephesians 4:1-16 (Which Road are you on?) (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%204&version=65)
2 Kings 4: 1-7 (Oil Shortage hits Home) (http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=2+kings+4)
Ephesians 4:1-16 (Which Road are you on?) (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%204&version=65)
Monday, August 4, 2008
Steve-o's Devos: Calm in the Midst of Pressure
This week, we begin a new weekly Bible Study at By The Way that focuses on dealing with Life's Pressures. At first, in the "dog days" of summer, you might think that pressures seem to recess a bit. For some reason, we tend to move a bit slower in the summer, perhaps because we have all lived the first part of our lives in the hustle and bustle of the academic calendar since Kindergarten (or earlier for some of us!). We get that minimum 2 month summer break and our families also have to readjust their lives as well. So it often means a vacation here or there, or at least more time spent together as a family.
Yet, life's pressures don't go away and if you even casually pay attention to the news, people are dealing with all sorts of pressures that seem to begin with the increased costs felt in their budgets. Budgets? If you are an average person even having a budget is seemingly a long way off. Perhaps the biggest shift in our culture these past few months has been from anxiety of the unseen (fears of security, and a "surprise attack") to anxiety based on real tangible stress (cost of gas, food, housing).
Think about this for just a minute. It is very easy to convince people to be afraid of something they feel they cannot control and to accept the controls imposed to help "keep them safe." It is much harder to convince people that things "are ok" when they begin to sense something is not right in their own everyday lives and every decision seems connected to their personal choices.
Believe it or not, this does relate to a reading from Matthew's Gospel (linked for your reference). Jesus has been under some pressure as he and his group of followers move from town to town and talk with different people--they had just fed 5000 people and healed a lot of the sick too. So Jesus takes a little vacation, if you will. He heads up to a mountain to spend some one-on-one time. (There is something about getting away from it all and heading into nature that does seem to bring you a new perspective.) His friends, perhaps a little disconcerted, decide to go boating. Many were familiar with a life involving water and boating so it seemed like a logical choice. Plus, they probably just felt like taking a nice little ride instead of walking, with Jesus, to the other side.
So Jesus heads into the mountains and plans to meet up with them later. All this happens in Matthew's story in a single sentence!
Now things get a little crazy. While out on the water, a storm brews up. Soon water is crashing over the sides of the boat. You would think that these guys, many experiences with the ways of boating and similar storms, would have been able to handle it. But they panic. And in the midst of the windy night they see Jesus coming towards them on the water!
Peter, always trying to prove his worth, realizes it is not a ghost but Jesus himself. He jumps over the side of the boat, much to the amazement of the rest who certainly think he is crazy. While he keeps his eyes on Jesus all seems to go well. It must have been quite a fantastical scene these two men walking on water. But when Peter takes his eyes of Jesus he begins to sink and must rely on Jesus to come to his rescue since no one else dares to jump in to help.
Once Jesus grabs Peter's hand and they get into the boat, the wind dies down. Now, I don't know about you, but if I was in a boat tossed about that suddenly came completely still, that would be more frightening than even what I had just witnessed.
But maybe that says a bit more about me. Sometimes we thrive on the business and hustle of daily lives because it is often easier to be busy than to suddenly be struck still. When things die down we are forced to look at what we do with our time, how we work on our relationships. We are not really good with that quiet still time. Even harder is finding time to be calm when the many pressures of our life surround us.
It is perhaps a good time then in the midst of the mostly calm summer, that we take a moment on our vacation, to see if we can put Jesus in our boat and sail out into a calmer water filled with different perspectives on living. What do you think?
Yet, life's pressures don't go away and if you even casually pay attention to the news, people are dealing with all sorts of pressures that seem to begin with the increased costs felt in their budgets. Budgets? If you are an average person even having a budget is seemingly a long way off. Perhaps the biggest shift in our culture these past few months has been from anxiety of the unseen (fears of security, and a "surprise attack") to anxiety based on real tangible stress (cost of gas, food, housing).
Think about this for just a minute. It is very easy to convince people to be afraid of something they feel they cannot control and to accept the controls imposed to help "keep them safe." It is much harder to convince people that things "are ok" when they begin to sense something is not right in their own everyday lives and every decision seems connected to their personal choices.
Believe it or not, this does relate to a reading from Matthew's Gospel (linked for your reference). Jesus has been under some pressure as he and his group of followers move from town to town and talk with different people--they had just fed 5000 people and healed a lot of the sick too. So Jesus takes a little vacation, if you will. He heads up to a mountain to spend some one-on-one time. (There is something about getting away from it all and heading into nature that does seem to bring you a new perspective.) His friends, perhaps a little disconcerted, decide to go boating. Many were familiar with a life involving water and boating so it seemed like a logical choice. Plus, they probably just felt like taking a nice little ride instead of walking, with Jesus, to the other side.
So Jesus heads into the mountains and plans to meet up with them later. All this happens in Matthew's story in a single sentence!
Now things get a little crazy. While out on the water, a storm brews up. Soon water is crashing over the sides of the boat. You would think that these guys, many experiences with the ways of boating and similar storms, would have been able to handle it. But they panic. And in the midst of the windy night they see Jesus coming towards them on the water!
Peter, always trying to prove his worth, realizes it is not a ghost but Jesus himself. He jumps over the side of the boat, much to the amazement of the rest who certainly think he is crazy. While he keeps his eyes on Jesus all seems to go well. It must have been quite a fantastical scene these two men walking on water. But when Peter takes his eyes of Jesus he begins to sink and must rely on Jesus to come to his rescue since no one else dares to jump in to help.
Once Jesus grabs Peter's hand and they get into the boat, the wind dies down. Now, I don't know about you, but if I was in a boat tossed about that suddenly came completely still, that would be more frightening than even what I had just witnessed.
But maybe that says a bit more about me. Sometimes we thrive on the business and hustle of daily lives because it is often easier to be busy than to suddenly be struck still. When things die down we are forced to look at what we do with our time, how we work on our relationships. We are not really good with that quiet still time. Even harder is finding time to be calm when the many pressures of our life surround us.
It is perhaps a good time then in the midst of the mostly calm summer, that we take a moment on our vacation, to see if we can put Jesus in our boat and sail out into a calmer water filled with different perspectives on living. What do you think?
Friday, August 1, 2008
Keeping it Together When Life is Falling Apart
Ever felt that you were having a "panic attack"?
Wondering about those piles of dirty laundry and searching for some quarters?
Has the leaky plumbing in your home finally revealed itself by flooding your favorite room?
Did you just get an oil change to discover your car is nearing that "broken beyond repair" mode?
Is your checkbook a disaster?
Is your health a model of what not to do?
Do you find yourself saying, "Surely I am a capable person, but how can I survive on my own?"
Well, starting in August, By the Way will host some conversation times at Panera on 101 A. We will start at 7:30 PM and focus on some things can share about the pressures that we all face.
Each week on Thursdays, we'll share a little about some of our discoveries and we'll post updates to our conversation topic here on the blog each week as a reminder.
Here is the schedule so you can plan a brief moment each week to re-center your life:
Aug. 6: Making a Living
Aug. 13: Coping with Crisis
Aug. 20: Dealing with My Health
Aug. 27: Managing My Finances
Sep. 3: Dealing with Family Issues
Sep. 3: Dealing with Family Issues
Sep. 10: Handling My Emotions
Join us for one, a couple, or all, and bring a friend.
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