September 22, 2019 Solid Truths Luke 12:1-12

Several years ago this story made the rounds.  George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin, and Bill Gates were called in by God. God informed them that he was very unhappy about what was going on in this world. Since things were so bad, he told the three that he was destroying the Earth in three days.  They were all allowed to return to their homes and businesses, and tell their friends and colleagues what was happening. God did tell them though, that no matter what they did he was not changing his mind. So…

Bush went in and told his staff, "I have good news and bad news for you. First the good news . . . there is a God. The bad news is that he is destroying the Earth in 3 days."

Putin went back and told his staff, "I have bad news and more bad news. The first was . . . there is a God. The second was that he is destroying the Earth in 3 days.

Bill Gates went back and told his staff, "I have good news and good news. First . . . God thinks I am one of the three most important people in the world.  Second . . . you don't have to fix the bugs in Windows Vista." (From: https://www.arcamax.com/entertainment/humor/jokes/s-318954)

People rarely think about “judgement day” apart from jokes.  And I suppose that’s what most people think of it, as a joke.  But it is not.  Life’s actions have consequences.  God will hold us accountable for them.  And scripture tells us clearly that God is quite capable of punishment.

The verses we had in our gospel for today talk about God’s judgment – being thrown into hell.  Or more literally, cast into Gehenna.  That is the Valley of Hinnom, just south of Jerusalem.  It had been the site of pagan sacrifices, the burning of children, and later a garbage heap of the city where fires burned continually.  Not a nice place!  Jesus uses it as an image to show the full extent and power of God’s judgment.

It is very interesting and important to note the contrasts that Jesus makes as he teaches about this.  He is talking about judgment and accountability and hell; but he weaves into it some of the warmest and strongest statements of God’s love.

Let’s look at the verses more carefully to see.

It starts off with Jesus giving the crowds, which have grown to be huge, a warning against the yeast of the Pharisees.  This is a continuation of the themes and verses we read last week.  Jesus told some Pharisees that they looked all good and righteous on the outside but were actually full of hidden sins.  If you were here last week you’ll remember that we used a video about the path of electronic devices and how so much of the dirtiness of our consumptive lives are hidden from us.  This leaves us to feel an artificial sense of goodness and righteousness.  The truth is very guilt inspiring!

The Pharisees were probably the dominant image of righteousness in Jewish areas of that time.  While they no longer exist, there are models of righteousness in our society too.  And there are some parallels.  We no longer live in a Christian culture, although it is common to see Christians portrayed as righteous hypocrites in movies and the news.  Unfortunately some of it is deserved.  But we are not the dominant force for righteous anymore.  We’ve talked about this before.  The religion of our society is secular humanism.  Secular humanism is defined as the philosophy of life that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while rejecting religious dogma and the supernatural as the basis of morality and decision making.  Secular humanists think they’ve come upon something new.  They think they’ve mentally evolved from religion, which seems old and out of touch.  We however, laugh at this mistake.  For the 3000 year old Adam and Eve story is really a conflict secular humanism and God.  Perhaps secular humanists do make some valid critiques about religion.  But what they are dead wrong about is that it’s nothing new!

In a fashion similar to the Pharisees, secular humanism will teach you a path to fulfillment, or righteousness, that is false.  While the Pharisees taught strict adherence to the law, secular humanism teaches that the human brain is its own god and can be counted on to make decisions that are good and honorable and just.  Fools!  At best the human mind is too limited.  At worst it is corrupt. 

The yeast of our society today tells you that you do not need faith connections, faith priorities, or faith disciplines to find happiness.  It says that happiness comes doing what you like, whatever you like and feels good, as long as no one gets hurt.  Happiness comes from being accepted by the people around you.  Don’t burden yourself with God for that is foolishness and ignorance.  It all sounds attractive until you consider how many people are using drugs and alcohol, and often overindulge.  People have no purpose in their lives and no meaning.  Overall measures of happiness are plummeting as secular humanism’s grip tightens.

Jesus says that all lies will be revealed.  But you, brothers and sisters in Christ, know the truth.  However the truth is not popular.  Now we do not face the persecution the early followers of Jesus faced.  Christianity is not a crime, at least not in this nation.  But there are consequences.  Subtle perhaps, but consequences.  Which will cause you more fear – talking about your faith to a stranger or talking to a stranger about how the Buffalo Bills are doing?  And while the Bills may appear to be importance, I wouldn’t stake my salvation on them winning the Super Bowl! 

The truth of God, faith in Christ, and life dependent upon the Holy Spirit is not popular, and it can feel embarrassing to us.  Jesus says though, do not fear.  While we do not fear death for our faith, there is pressure against it.  Perhaps we shouldn’t stand on the street corner and hand out pamphlets, but in our work and in our recreation we should have no fear letting it be known that our actions and decisions are made with loyalty to Christ in mind.

That can seem hard.  God can feel so far away.  And God may not seem to care, especially when we’re trying to do everything right but we’re still hurting and suffering.  It can be so easy to buy the secular humanist ideology, which is why it’s so powerful.  But Jesus reminds us that God knows each and every sparrow.  If God knows each and every sparrow, which were so cheap to acquire, then God surely knows us; us who are worth far more than sparrows.

Jesus tells us that the very hairs on our heads are numbered.  As an aging man I know that’s a moving target.  Sometimes I wonder if there’s are chalk boards in heaven with everybody’s hair count recorded.  And then there’s an angel near my name regularly crossing out the number and putting in a lower one!

It is awesome to realize how deeply God knows us.  That can also be a bit scary, but when you think that there are any number of times in life when your feelings are so complex that you don’t know what to feel, God knows clearly.  When a situation looks so complex that you don’t know what to do, God knows what to do and will offer guidance. 

Verse 10 of our gospel reading has had interpreters scratching their heads for centuries.  “And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.”

What?!?

This is the well-known “unforgivable sin” that we find in Mark and Matthew as well.  But in Luke Jesus adds forgiveness for denying Jesus.  What does Jesus mean?  Biblical scholars do go all over the place with it, but saving a lot of logical hoops, let’s jump to what most of them conclude.  Jesus means that those standing there hearing his words, and those who try to be faithful but fail under persecution and deny him (think Peter denying him three times) can be restored.  There is forgiveness and reconciliation for failures.

            But blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, that’s a different story.  The Christ in Our Home daily devotional book that we put out for people to take had an interesting piece in it last Friday about this.  It says, “Will all people be saved?  Will all people enjoy the blessings of the reign of God?  Actually these are two very different questions.

“Paul says God, “desires everyone to be saved.”  That seems to settle it, especially if we follow the logic that even God can’t make a stone so big that God can’t lift it.  Whatever God wants, God gets.  Case closed.

“But will everyone enjoy being saved?  Aye, there’s the rub.  God saves all sinners, but apparently not all sinners enjoy being saved all the time.  We can stubbornly insist that we don’t take handouts, that we need to earn whatever we get.  Honestly, don’t we all struggle with that it means to get something for nothing?

“Ultimately, we trust that God will decide everyone’s fate justly.  Whether some can remain eternally resistant to the blessings God offers is up to God.  Our job is to admit that have wasted precious time thinking that some don’t deserve grace and others (maybe us?) don’t need it.”  (Christ in Our Home, July, August, September 2019, Pg. 85)

Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is not a mistake that is made.  It is an attitude of outright ongoing rejection of God’s love. 

The final verse of our gospel tells us that the Holy Spirit will teach us what needs to be said and done when it needs to be said and done.  Now don’t think this is going to be eloquent wisdom that’s going to get you out of trouble for your faith.  It is the direction that through you God’s will is going to be accomplished.  That may, or may not, lead you to an easy life.

God is judge.  God is merciful.  God does not desire condemnation for all.  But God will not have his generosity mocked.  And for those who outright reject him, God will give that freedom.  Ultimately when and how it all happens is God’s business, not ours.  But we live in trust knowing that God knows us so completely that even the hairs on our heads are numbered.

September 15, 2019 Blind to the Truth Luke 11:33-54

Some things never change.  It appears that lawyers in Jesus’ day weren’t any better than lawyers today!  At least in our gospel reading Jesus has nothing good to say to those who were gathered at the Pharisee’s house for a meal.

It is tempting to imagine these lawyers being like the personal injury lawyers we have today who advertise with all their catchy ads and jingles.  It’s then easy to point a finger at them all.

But I remember being taught not to point; especially because if you point one finger forward there are three pointing back at me!

Unfortunately we cannot mock the Pharisee and lawyers who were eating with Jesus that day and call them villains and corrupt.  For I suspect the dynamics of our lives and their lives overlap.

Jesus tells both the Pharisees and the lawyers that they are being deceptive – appearing good and clean and upright on the surface, but hiding ugliness inside.  I think we can all understand that intelligent well educated people can often find ways that appear moral, and are technically legal, to benefit at the expense of others.

I think all of us want to think of ourselves as good people who make good, moral, honorable choices.  That’s good!  But like the Pharisees and lawyers, we live in systems that allow us to think we are good and moral and honorable, when in reality a lot of the consequences of our actions are unseen by us.

We’ve talked about this before and I want to show you a video my teaching group used in confirmation camp last year.  It’s called the Story of Electronics.  While it’s made for kids, and if I put my engineering thinking cap on I find it so fundamentally flawed it makes my skin crawl, I still think it gets at a correct point. 

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW_7i6T_H78

            I think this video does a good job of reminding us that we think about only what we see – a product in a store, a use by us for a limited time, and then what we consider to be responsible disposal.  We blind and insulate ourselves from many truths.

            This summer my son Ben and I worked on his cycling merit badge for Boy Scouts.  It requires at least 150 miles of biking.  And on those bike rides I was reminded of a number of things I often take for granted.  When driving in car I think nothing of coming up on a hill.  I just push the accelerator down more, or the cruise control does it for me.  That same hill takes on a very different perspective when it’s your own body’s energy that’s got to get you to the top.

            How much of our transportation do we really achieve by our bodies’ own physical strength?  Do we really have any idea whatsoever how much energy our lives really consume?

            One of our bike rides was from Canandaigua to Geneva on Routes 5 & 20.  Riding past the county landfill reminds you of the incredible cubic yardage of waste we generate. 

What is my life pattern?  I go to a store.  I buy something.  I use it.  And when I’m done with it I put it in a garbage can.  Every Sunday night I put the garbage can by the curb outside my house.  And every Monday after work I come home and find the garbage can empty – it’s almost miraculous.  I’m totally insulated from the before and after effects of my consumption.

And of course riding by the county landfill on a bike means the smell is much more intense and lingers longer!

Few people think about what it takes to get things to us and from us.  Hot and cold water just appear from a tap.  Waste water disappears down the drain.  Only when you have plumbing problems do you think about where it comes from and where it goes.  And only those with wells and septic systems ever think about the water treatment facility that prepped the water in the first place and sewage treatment plant at the end of the drain.

I suppose electricity is equally magical.  It just comes from the outlets in our buildings and is controlled by switches in the walls.

My point in all of this is that we have every bit as much opportunity to think we are good people – when we really aren’t – as the Pharisees and lawyers around the table with Jesus that day.

What should we do?  Escape from the world and live in an off-the-grid self-supporting commune?

Hardly!  It wouldn’t work, and running away from the world’s problems doesn’t actually solve anything.

I think we do well to actually pay attention to things.  Think about where the water comes from and where it goes.  Realize that products in stores have a past and a future.  Realize that someone somewhere that you’ll probably never meet made the clothes you are wearing right now.  At the risk of being too vivid, someone made the underwear that is touching you intimately yet you have no idea who it is!

Being aware of this stuff I think is an important first step.  Our culture does an excellent job of keeping us blind about things that could make us feel bad.  That awareness alone will keep our habits more in line with what God wants from us.

Before you buy something pray about it.  Before you throw something away, pray about it.  Thank God every time you turn on the faucet and every time you flip a light switch.  Realize how much of a bigger pattern your decisions are.  You will be living in more complete enlightenment.

Jesus said, “Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.”

September 8, 2019 God’s Kingdom Coming Luke 11:14-32

            Our gospel reading today is a unified whole, but it may come across as disjointed because there are so many references unfamiliar to us.  Let’s take a look at them because they are fascinating, and they also help us understand the richness of Jesus’ teaching.

We start off with Jesus casting out a demon.  You’ll remember that all sorts of things we call medical diseases or handicaps they called demon possession.  In fact, just about every ailment or infirmity was considered a demon.  It seems laughable, but if you consider that bacteria and viruses are basically invisible little creatures teaming all around us, and on us, and in us trying to do us harm, the idea of demon possession doesn’t sound so absurd.

Anyway, Jesus cures a man who has been unable to speak.  You’d think the crowd would be amazed and excited; especially since this is the kind of thing is the thing predicted in the Isaiah passage we read as our poetry for today.  Indeed some were amazed, but some we skeptical.  The skeptics, unable to deny the truth of the exorcism, say Jesus is doing it by the power of Beelzebul, or “Baal, the Prince.”  The name Baalzebub, which is a deliberate corruption meaning “Lord of the Flies,” appears in 2 Kings 1, which we had as our first reading.  In the first century Beelzebul is synonymous with Satan.

Let’s make sure we note something here.  There is no one consistent overarching understanding of evil, Satan, or the devil in the Bible.  Different authors use these concepts differently.  You don’t want to confuse them or else you end up with a real mess.  I confess I’ve watched some episodes of Lucifer on Netflix and I often find myself sitting on my theological high horse as critiquing the way that show plays fast and loose with Christian understandings of evil.

Anyway, for the purpose of what Luke wrote – so we’re talking the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles – there evil, Satan and the devil are all one in the same.  There is a cosmic battle going on over humanity between God’s kingdom and evil’s kingdom.  Evil makes a great show of power.  It appears to be strong and in control.  And for many purposes it is.  However, it is nothing, NOTHING, compared to God’s power.  However, God’s power does not come in great bangs, and pomp, and flashiness.  God’s power will come in the irony of the crucifixion; and later resurrection and ascension.

Jesus says that in this cosmic battle evil cannot turn against itself.  It would fall apart of its own accord.  No, evil is quite unified and it is against God. 

Jesus uses the image of evil as a strong man, fully armed, and guarding his castle.  The battle is real and it will be fierce.  People are fools when they think being a Christian is going to be a sweet tiptoeing through life with flowers, kindness, and niceness at every turn.  It’s not.

But let’s not lose sight of Jesus’ teaching.  Is it up to us to storm the castle of evil?  No.  What does Jesus say, “But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his plunder.”

Who is this one who is stronger than the strong man of Satan?  You almost hear the words of the hymn A Mighty Fortress echoing in the background.  “But now a champion comes to fight, with weapons of the Spirit.  You ask who this may be?  The Lord of hosts is he!  Christ Jesus mighty Lord.  God’s only Son adored.  He holds the field victorious!”

So, let’s not fight battles already fought.  Our champion has already won for us.  Let’s just stay on the right side – the winning side of things!
            And indeed, that is where Jesus’ words take us next.  “When an unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’  When it comes, it finds it swept and put in order.  Then it goes and bring seven other spirits more evil than itself.”  In those days people thought demons hated water, so they congregated in the waterless places of the desert.

Jesus teaching is that there is no middle ground – no having one foot in the camp of God and one foot in the camp of Satan; trying to enjoy the cheap benefits of evil while also sitting back with the real benefits of God.  He’s not being mean.  He’s just stating reality.  Quick cheap thrills don’t last.  Evil’s ways look tempting at first: fun, easy fixes, problems ignored, actions without serious consequences.  But they are a lie.  Real lasting good and blessings come from God.

A woman in the crowd proclaims, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!”  While Mary was indeed blessed this woman claims that Jesus is so wonderful that he is a blessing to his mother.

Jesus does not deny the blessing on his mother but seizes the moment to point to the basis for blessing for all disciples:  those who hear the Word of God and obey it.  This is life lived in God’s kingdom.

The question remains though, will they do it?  Jesus says this is an evil generation.  So, whose side of the battle are they on?  Evil’s.  What will it take for them to change?

Jesus returns to something said earlier.  What does this evil generation want?  A sign.

Now think about it, will a sign really work?  If he were to perform some incredible miracle would it really have a lasting effect?  Nope.  People would just want another and another and another.  Their beliefs would be based on a constant stream of indulgence.  They would never grow or mature.  They would never “hear the Word of God and do it.” 

Jesus is actually mocking them when he talks about the sign of Jonah.  If you remember that story well you’ll remember that it is a satire; not a historically true account.  God told Jonah to go to the foreign city of Nineveh and tell them they were corrupt.  And that God would destroy them soon if they didn’t change their ways.  But Jonah didn’t want to go.  He wanted the Ninevites, enemies of Jews, to get what they had coming to them.  So instead of going to Nineveh Jonah hops on a ship and goes in the opposite direction.  God sends a storm, the sailors eventually throw Jonah overboard and he is swallowed by a big fish.  He spends three days in the belly of the fish having a change of heart.  I suppose living three days in a fish would cause you to have some time for serious contemplation.  And eventually the fish vomits Jonah up on the shore.  Apparently humans cause tummy aches in fish!

Jonah then reluctantly goes to the outskirts of Nineveh and says one sentence only once, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”  (Jonah 3:4)  That’s it.  His entire prophetic career in one sentence.  It probably took him about three seconds to utter it.  And then he left.

Here’s a parallel.  An American missionary goes to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, stands on a street corner of the outskirts of the city and says, “Change from your evil ways or bad things will happen to you.”

It’s not going to happen.  It’s not going to make any difference!  But what happens in the story of Jonah?  These evil foreigners immediately change their ways.  They even put sackcloth and ashes on their cattle and chickens!

That is the sign of Jonah that Jesus is referring to.  Not the three days in the fish – which could be interpreted as Jesus’ three days in the tomb.  No, not here.  It’s just the message to change.

That’s Jesus’ words to these crowds.  Hear the Word of God and obey it.  They will receive no sign, no proof.  In other words, they will not be given a relationship of faith with God on their own terms.  A relationship of faith with God happens on God’s terms.

The final piece of our gospel passage is where we will end too – the queen of the South coming to Solomon.  According to 1 Kings 10 and Chronicles 9 the Queen of Sheba, or Queen of the South, traveled from her kingdom in southwest Arabia to test the reports she had heard about Solomon’s wisdom.  After testing him she was convinced that his wisdom came from God. 

Wrapping it all together: Jesus says that at the judgment, people like the Queen of the South, and foreigners like the people of Nineveh will add to their condemnation because they heard the preaching of ones who were lesser than Jesus and they changed.  Yet Jesus, the presence of God on earth, was not enough to make them change.

So what do we do with all this – these strange and challenging images all wrapped together?

I think we all want a sign from God.  We all want proofs to bolster our all too often failing faith.  We can get frustrated and scared at God’s apparent silence and seeming not to care.  But let’s also remember what God has given us.  And that God has given us the entirety of scripture which anticipates our struggles.

God does inspire, maintain, and strengthen faith.  Don’t expect miracles.  But do expect that as you grasp it you will discover the authenticity of others who grasp it too.  And remember, God’s great act of power toppling the strong man of Satan looked like failure to the world.  God works in unexpected places and in unexpected ways.  Don’t always be so bold to ask for big things.  Simply ask for eyes to see this day.  As for grace to have faith to make it through this day until tomorrow.  Sometimes that’s what it takes.  And in time hopefully you can have the sight to see God’s greater plan unfolding on the horizon.  This will not be a plan for you as an individual, but God’s plan for the whole of creation, which includes you.  For while we are important to God as individuals, God is doing far more than just us.  And it is good to be a part of that great whole.

September 1, 2019 Prayer Luke 11:1-13, 18:1-14

            One of my classmates in seminary was Art Cubbon, a Coast Guard Commander who was put in charge of leading a new class of boats to be deployed in the Gulf of Mexico to track down smugglers coming from Central and South America.  These boats were going to be the most powerful and fastest ocean going vessels ever operated by the Coast Guard.  Art got to have a hand in the design and construction of these new boats.  And he personally oversaw the construction of the prototype, the one he would personally command.

            Art was not the kind of guy who would sit back in his relatively high rank and receive reports and updates from the lower ranks.  Every day he was out in the docks personally crawling around the new ship seeing first hand how it was being built.  He asked questions and made changes.  When it was all done the prototype exceeded all expectations.  Art never said how fast it could go but he did say that for a long time after it was launched smugglers who were long accustomed to outrunning the Coast Guard in their speedboats were now being outrun.

            Art took his kids with him a couple times to see the ship being built.  The first time they were amazed and impressed to see so many people saluting their dad and addressing him as “Commander Cubbon.”  They asked him, “Everyone calls you ‘commander’.  What are we supposed to call you?”

            Art replied to them, “Call me ‘Dad’.  You’re the only ones who can call me that.  And that’s a higher rank than the Coast Guard can ever give me.”

            I like that story as I consider Jesus teachings on prayer.  In Chapter 11 of Luke we read the disciples asking Jesus how to pray.  John the Baptist has taught his disciples.  Now they want their leader to tell them.

            It seems like such a simple thing to us.  We know how to pray – just send a thought up to heaven; pretty simple!  But it’s not.  They’re probably asking for more than just the words to say.

            What posture should they take?  Stand, sit, kneel, lay down? 

What direction should they face?  East, West, towards Jerusalem? 

Is there anything they should do in preparation, any rituals, rites, or ceremonies? 

Do they need to cleanse themselves in any way? 

And certainly not least, how do they address God?  If you were here when we studied Exodus think back to the scenes where God is talking to the people on the mountain.  God is portrayed as so powerful that it’s like the very atoms of creation are so overwhelmed by God’s presence that they are breaking apart.  How do you address God who is powerful beyond all words, terrifying, and ultimately our judge?

            How do you address such a being?

            What are Jesus first words on how to pray?  “When you pray, say: ‘Father…’”

            Father implies a close, safe and intimate relationship.  Coast Guard Commander Art Cubbon had a rank that demanded salutes from many others and respect.  But there was no higher honor to him than being a dad.

            God could demand anything of us.  But God wants the connection of father and child.  Strange as it sounds, it is almost as if God is honored to be our parent.

            It is an amazing and powerful teaching.  It tells us a lot about God, God’s nature, and our relationship with God.

            Now, before we go farther, it is important to remember that all images have their weaknesses.  Some of us had good fathers who were supportive, capable, kind, and loving.  Some of us had abusive fathers who were exploitative, mean, and hurtful.  Some of us may not know who our father is.  Jesus meant no harm or bad feelings when he says to call God “Father.”

            In his day the father was the head of the household.  Any good father would work hard, be a steward of the land and livestock, make a lot of sacrifices, keep the family safe, and be responsible for pretty much everything.  Having a good father was a blessing.

            This was the image Jesus wants for his followers.  God our Father is strong, safe, secure.  Father is hard working, loving, kind, and deeply committed to his wife, children, servants, and slaves.  A good father could be proud of his family, and his family would work to honor the father and the whole family through similar commitment and hard work.

            We do well to keep this whole image in mind as we continue on with Jesus advice about prayer.  In the Small Catechism Martin Luther writes, “With these words God wants to attract us, so that we come to believe he is truly our Father and we are truly his children, in order that we may ask him boldly and with complete confidence, just as loving children ask their loving father.”

            People will jump to 11:9 of our gospel reading where Jesus says, “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

            This sounds like a recipe for greed and selfishness.  But it must be kept in light of the first bit – God is Father, we are children.  The requests must be made in light of the family system with a child making a request of a good father who will consider it in light of the overall strength and honor of the household.

            I think too often people pray as individuals.  As if prayer is a personal relationship with God.  It certainly is.  But it is also a family thing.  Our prayer time in church is not that we each say our own thing, bringing up our personal needs and individual ambitions.  In worship, when we are gathered as a family of faith, our prayers are OUR prayers.  Some of them are certainly individual.  That’s perfectly okay.  But they are all part of a community.  I think good prayers take into account the whole family of faith and its implications.

            Notice Jesus final words on prayer from Chapter 11, “…how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”  Prayer isn’t about selfish getting.  It is about the family of faith growing in strength and health.

            Let me read an excerpt from Mark Twain’s writing called Letter to the Earth:

(Letters From the Earth, Uncensored Writings, Mark Twain, HarperPerennial, Copyright 1938, 2004 Edition, Pg. 119-120)

            How would it be if prayer worked liked that?  It’s absurd!  Yet I think it gives us a good contrast to understand Jesus’ teachings.  It is perfectly fine to want things, yearn for things, and pray desperately for things.  Jesus teachings go on to tell us to be diligent and persistent in prayer.  But remember we are making them to our loving Father.  We make them as individuals who are part of a community.

            Our first role is members of God’s family.  From that we act.  From that we pray.  God hears and knows our prayers.  God desires to build us and his family into something strong and robust.  May God send the Spirit into your lives.  May you have the humility to recognize your brokenness.  May you have the courage to face tough challenges.  And may your prayers equip and empower you to live in fullness of life as God intends.