Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Friday, April 27, 2012
Hummingbird Come Home
Hummingbirds migrate to Mexico or even South America and follow the same paths. Though they may travel together, each individual knows where he has come from and where he is going. And they come back to the same place. This year, before I put the feeders out, the hummingbirds came looking for them! One bird came to the exact spot where a feeder had been last year. He halted there and flitted around, examined the empty spot from several angles. Then he flew in an instant to the place where the other feeder had been and hovered there, examining that empty spot.
I went to get the feeders from the garage and began to stir up some sugar water. As I thought about what I had just witnessed, my interest and amazement increased. To imagine that tiny creature travelling hundreds, if not a thousand or more miles safely was hard to believe. And then his little navigation system led him back to North America, North Texas, Dallas County, Cedar Hill, High Point, Chapman street, to my back yard, and to the two exact posts on my patio where our feeders had hung half a year ago.
We too are vulnerable creatures in a big world. Our life paths and our spiritual journeys take us far along paths toward God. Sometimes our distractions and even our searchings take us the opposite direction. Perhaps we can learn a lesson from the hummingbirds in finding our way back to God, the Source of Life.
I went to get the feeders from the garage and began to stir up some sugar water. As I thought about what I had just witnessed, my interest and amazement increased. To imagine that tiny creature travelling hundreds, if not a thousand or more miles safely was hard to believe. And then his little navigation system led him back to North America, North Texas, Dallas County, Cedar Hill, High Point, Chapman street, to my back yard, and to the two exact posts on my patio where our feeders had hung half a year ago.
We too are vulnerable creatures in a big world. Our life paths and our spiritual journeys take us far along paths toward God. Sometimes our distractions and even our searchings take us the opposite direction. Perhaps we can learn a lesson from the hummingbirds in finding our way back to God, the Source of Life.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Coverage Agreement
The words “warranty” and “guarantee” are very close. They share some linguistic heritage. Right now I’m looking at a warranty document on my truck that is called a “Coverage Agreement”. It makes some (limited!) promises of covering expenses for repairs. Reading the warranty got me to thinking about the value of it. The Coverage Agreement will expire soon and after that it will be worthless. That will happen unless I exercise the warranty--bring my truck back to the dealership and have it tested for needed repairs--before it is too late.
I used to teach voice, piano, and guitar lessons and sometimes I still do. Music is one of the greatest joys of the human spirit and I love to share it. Many years ago I had one young student whose parents were not paying her lesson fees. I kept teaching her piano lessons but they were a couple of months behind with payments. She was not learning well because she was not investing time and energy in practicing at home between lessons. So she was not able to demonstrate much success. When it had to come to an end, her mother said to me, “Well, I guess we still have to pay you; we can’t exactly return the lessons to you!” I agreed. My time and creative energy was already spent. And you can’t get that back. However, I don’t remember ever getting that check.
Free lessons may seem like a good deal. We like things that are free. However, when we invest little or nothing in a project, our benefits are limited as well. With any warranty or promise, the measure you give will be the measure you receive. So the young lady really did not receive much benefit from the lessons that were never paid for because she didn’t do her part. She didn’t invest herself in the practice of what she was learning.
This is true in our faith as well. In God’s great gift of hope in Jesus Christ, there is more amazing grace than we could possibly purchase or pay for. However it was not free. It is offered to us at tremendous cost. That cost has been paid on our behalf but we can’t really appropriate that gift until we invest in it. It is the gift of God through Jesus Christ! But to fully accept that gift we have put it into practice! We need to spend time and energy to learn how to walk with him, to suffer with dignity and hope with him, and to live in confident joyful resurrection with him!
God’s grace is definitely a gift that we cannot earn or pay for. But it is not without cost! And we cannot really appreciate it unless we invest our trust in that grace, follow Jesus, and lead others to follow him too. As we do that, our Coverage Agreement grows and remains effective!
Thanks be to God for the gift of eternal life! Stay connected and practice it!
I used to teach voice, piano, and guitar lessons and sometimes I still do. Music is one of the greatest joys of the human spirit and I love to share it. Many years ago I had one young student whose parents were not paying her lesson fees. I kept teaching her piano lessons but they were a couple of months behind with payments. She was not learning well because she was not investing time and energy in practicing at home between lessons. So she was not able to demonstrate much success. When it had to come to an end, her mother said to me, “Well, I guess we still have to pay you; we can’t exactly return the lessons to you!” I agreed. My time and creative energy was already spent. And you can’t get that back. However, I don’t remember ever getting that check.
Free lessons may seem like a good deal. We like things that are free. However, when we invest little or nothing in a project, our benefits are limited as well. With any warranty or promise, the measure you give will be the measure you receive. So the young lady really did not receive much benefit from the lessons that were never paid for because she didn’t do her part. She didn’t invest herself in the practice of what she was learning.
This is true in our faith as well. In God’s great gift of hope in Jesus Christ, there is more amazing grace than we could possibly purchase or pay for. However it was not free. It is offered to us at tremendous cost. That cost has been paid on our behalf but we can’t really appropriate that gift until we invest in it. It is the gift of God through Jesus Christ! But to fully accept that gift we have put it into practice! We need to spend time and energy to learn how to walk with him, to suffer with dignity and hope with him, and to live in confident joyful resurrection with him!
God’s grace is definitely a gift that we cannot earn or pay for. But it is not without cost! And we cannot really appreciate it unless we invest our trust in that grace, follow Jesus, and lead others to follow him too. As we do that, our Coverage Agreement grows and remains effective!
Thanks be to God for the gift of eternal life! Stay connected and practice it!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Blow Ye the Trumpet, Blow!
Remember the old hymn “When the Roll is Called up Yonder, I’ll Be There”? It starts out...
When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more,
When the morning breaks eternal, bright and fair,
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there
When we were young, my brother and I played this at many family gatherings! We learned to harmonize and I guess our parents wanted to get something in return for the investment they made in our band instruments. I remember getting our the Sears catalog when I was going into the fifth grade to look at the different instruments. And then playing at family reunions and other gatherings as well as in church.
Sometime after college, I put my trumpet away and got it back out around 10 years later. You know with the lip buzzing you do to sound a tone on a brass instrument... well, if you don’t play every day, you lose your chops! At the beginning of 1999, as part of my new year’s resolutions, I started practicing again with the goal of playing on Easter Sunday. The church we served at the time had clear windows along one side and was situated next to a pasture where cows grazed. That Easter Sunday when I played “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” with the piano and congregation singing, even the cows ran the other way. Bright lights, white banners and robes, resurrection music... and some hearty laughter!
In a way, I guess I was tooting my own horn. I meant well. I meant it like a fanfare that the Risen Christ our King is coming. Like the ceremonial herald trumpets at a regal event. Many heard that and understood my intentions. But to some, it might have seemed that I was drawing attention to myself. And the chuckles about the cows just made it worse.
In Matthew 6, which is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, verses 2 and 16, say “When you give alms, do not sound a trumpet, when you fast, do not put it on display”. Matthew’s trumpet, blown for the wrong reasons, seems to be a call to give attention to ourselves! “Look at me, I’m fasting so I can be more holy!”
In contrast, Joel’s trumpet is a call to honor God. In Joel chapter 2, the prophet says “Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly!” Joel’s trumpet call prepares the way and brings attention to God in holy fasting, gathering the congregation to ask for mercy and grace.
I would rather play Joel’s trumpet than Matthew’s trumpet. The purpose is to call attention to God in Christ! To announce his arrival, his resurrection! This is a call to action--to give attention to God! Daily! Moment by moment.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where everything erodes and needs polishing or gets old and dies. Rather lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven by calling attention to God. For where your real treasure is, there will your heart follow.
When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more,
When the morning breaks eternal, bright and fair,
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there
When we were young, my brother and I played this at many family gatherings! We learned to harmonize and I guess our parents wanted to get something in return for the investment they made in our band instruments. I remember getting our the Sears catalog when I was going into the fifth grade to look at the different instruments. And then playing at family reunions and other gatherings as well as in church.
Sometime after college, I put my trumpet away and got it back out around 10 years later. You know with the lip buzzing you do to sound a tone on a brass instrument... well, if you don’t play every day, you lose your chops! At the beginning of 1999, as part of my new year’s resolutions, I started practicing again with the goal of playing on Easter Sunday. The church we served at the time had clear windows along one side and was situated next to a pasture where cows grazed. That Easter Sunday when I played “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” with the piano and congregation singing, even the cows ran the other way. Bright lights, white banners and robes, resurrection music... and some hearty laughter!
In a way, I guess I was tooting my own horn. I meant well. I meant it like a fanfare that the Risen Christ our King is coming. Like the ceremonial herald trumpets at a regal event. Many heard that and understood my intentions. But to some, it might have seemed that I was drawing attention to myself. And the chuckles about the cows just made it worse.
In Matthew 6, which is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, verses 2 and 16, say “When you give alms, do not sound a trumpet, when you fast, do not put it on display”. Matthew’s trumpet, blown for the wrong reasons, seems to be a call to give attention to ourselves! “Look at me, I’m fasting so I can be more holy!”
In contrast, Joel’s trumpet is a call to honor God. In Joel chapter 2, the prophet says “Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly!” Joel’s trumpet call prepares the way and brings attention to God in holy fasting, gathering the congregation to ask for mercy and grace.
I would rather play Joel’s trumpet than Matthew’s trumpet. The purpose is to call attention to God in Christ! To announce his arrival, his resurrection! This is a call to action--to give attention to God! Daily! Moment by moment.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where everything erodes and needs polishing or gets old and dies. Rather lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven by calling attention to God. For where your real treasure is, there will your heart follow.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Finding Your Name in the Scriptures
Our older daughter Aubrey got a New Adventure Bible from our church when she finished third grade. She was so proud of it! We went back to the bookstore to get her name stamped on the front of the pink leather cover. It was near the end of a day and the young employee took it to the workroom, returning shortly to present the book to her with the name “Aubrey Davis” on it (instead of “Aubrey Caldwell”). We have had some laughs about that over the years but at the time it was a disappointment that called up crocodile tears. The store did not have another Bible like it so we had to order one and wait a few days. It finally turned out well but I have always wondered what happened to the Bible with the wrong name on it.
Yesterday, Aubrey told us about seeing a stack of Bibles at Lifeway Christian Bookstore in Sherman that were on the sale table because they had misspelled names stamped on their covers. We reminisced a bit. The odd part was that she knew two of the people whose names were them!
So that’s what happens to them—they go on the sale table and somebody gets a Bible on sale that has the wrong name on it. That has unfortunate implications (like getting somebody else’s mail!) but whatever the name on the cover may be, the inside story of God and God’s people is addressed to the reader—regardless of name or nation. I once heard a preacher say “Our names are written on God’s heart with the blood of Jesus”. Regardless of the name on the cover, the story is meant for you, for me, and for any who will read it, hear it, and take it to heart.
I feel sure that you have a Bible (if not I will give you one!) but I don’t always have the same confidence that you are reading it and know it’s message. The story of the world’s human hurt and God’s healing hope has many complicated turns. The whole saga was told and written across many centuries. It is worth reading over and over! There are many ways to study the Bible and any one of them that gets you to read it is good!
You don’t have to have a fancy Bible. Or even one with your name on the cover. God knows your name! God loves you as you are and hopes that you will grow! Whatever Bible you read from, think of it as a message from God’s heart to your heart.
Proud to be Your Pastor,
Sam
Announcing…
The Pastor’s Place: Beginning September 11, the Pastor is hanging out in the kitchen on Sundays before worship—10:00-10:30 (with a coffee pot plugged in!) If you’re not involved in Sunday School, come have a cup of coffee and talk about that day’s lectionary readings!
Pastor’s Bible Study: Our weekly study will begin Tuesday, September 6, at 6:00 p.m.. Each week, our challenge will be to discover surprises and insights from the four Lectionary readings for the coming weekend. We will look for ways the readings may fit together. Some of these ideas will undoubtedly seep into our sermon for Saturday 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 11:00 a.m. worship services.
Currently I am preaching the sweeping story of deliverance of God’s people found in Genesis and Exodus. I have been following the Revised Common Lectionary which is a guide that gives us a tour of the entire scripture story in three years.
Save this Link: You can find the lectionary readings each week at http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/ . Also, for iPhone users, search the App Store for “Lectionary” (by Crushed Red Pepper, 99 cents)
Yesterday, Aubrey told us about seeing a stack of Bibles at Lifeway Christian Bookstore in Sherman that were on the sale table because they had misspelled names stamped on their covers. We reminisced a bit. The odd part was that she knew two of the people whose names were them!
So that’s what happens to them—they go on the sale table and somebody gets a Bible on sale that has the wrong name on it. That has unfortunate implications (like getting somebody else’s mail!) but whatever the name on the cover may be, the inside story of God and God’s people is addressed to the reader—regardless of name or nation. I once heard a preacher say “Our names are written on God’s heart with the blood of Jesus”. Regardless of the name on the cover, the story is meant for you, for me, and for any who will read it, hear it, and take it to heart.
I feel sure that you have a Bible (if not I will give you one!) but I don’t always have the same confidence that you are reading it and know it’s message. The story of the world’s human hurt and God’s healing hope has many complicated turns. The whole saga was told and written across many centuries. It is worth reading over and over! There are many ways to study the Bible and any one of them that gets you to read it is good!
You don’t have to have a fancy Bible. Or even one with your name on the cover. God knows your name! God loves you as you are and hopes that you will grow! Whatever Bible you read from, think of it as a message from God’s heart to your heart.
Proud to be Your Pastor,
Sam
Announcing…
The Pastor’s Place: Beginning September 11, the Pastor is hanging out in the kitchen on Sundays before worship—10:00-10:30 (with a coffee pot plugged in!) If you’re not involved in Sunday School, come have a cup of coffee and talk about that day’s lectionary readings!
Pastor’s Bible Study: Our weekly study will begin Tuesday, September 6, at 6:00 p.m.. Each week, our challenge will be to discover surprises and insights from the four Lectionary readings for the coming weekend. We will look for ways the readings may fit together. Some of these ideas will undoubtedly seep into our sermon for Saturday 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 11:00 a.m. worship services.
Currently I am preaching the sweeping story of deliverance of God’s people found in Genesis and Exodus. I have been following the Revised Common Lectionary which is a guide that gives us a tour of the entire scripture story in three years.
Save this Link: You can find the lectionary readings each week at http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/ . Also, for iPhone users, search the App Store for “Lectionary” (by Crushed Red Pepper, 99 cents)
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Driven to Fast
According to Mark’s first chapter, the Spirit DROVE Jesus to the wilderness immediately after Jesus’ baptism. Strong language! He was DRIVEN to the wilderness to fast, to pray, and to face the temptations that inevitably come with fasting. In my occasional fasting, I have seldom fasted more than one day at a time. I cannot even imagine how hungry Jesus must have been after forty days.
Some of you know what fasting feels like after giving up a couple of meals on Ash Wednesday. For me it has been a gift. After our Ash Wednesday service last year, I sat with some of our brothers and sisters in Christ who had gathered for a “break-fast” meal. I slowly took a bite of a grape. I shelled a roasted peanut and ate one of the nuts inside. Then I took a small bite of cheese. The tastes exploded and the natural foods tasted so sweet and rich! For that time, fasting had given me a new attitude toward food. It gave me an attitude of thankfulness and appreciation.
Fasting made me appreciate the meal. It made me eat more slowly and focus on the people I was with instead of the food on my plate. I savored each bite rather than swallowing it quickly so that I could get to the next one. When I take food for granted, I eat way too much of it. And I lose the gratitude.
Perhaps this is too self-revealing in such a public forum. But I confess that food is often an escape for me, or even an idol! Arrogantly, I have placed a high value on feeling full when much of the world is truly hungry. We have access to the best food in the world and plenty of it. We shop in markets and stores that are so well-stocked that people from other-world countries would be in utter disbelief to see the selection, quantity, and quality of food.
I’ve fasted before and I’ve come to these same conclusions before, but I forget them. Fasting regularly also helps me be more disciplined in other areas. I feel better, breathe better, sing better, need less sleep, and generally feel that I have more time to get things done. I am more attentive in conversations with people and in prayer.
This is not meant to be bragging. I am sharing with you a humble discovery in my journey of faith. It is more a confession of my own weakness. But it is also a new insight into Jesus’ fasting during the forty days we remember during Lent. I had assumed Jesus would have been at his weakest after being famished for so long. As we look at what follows in the desert, Jesus may have been at his strongest point spiritually after his exercise of spiritual discipline. He was hungry. But he was able to decline the temptation to change his loyalties and sell out for the worldly kingdoms. He was able to think clearly and resist the tempter boldly.
The Spirit DROVE Jesus to the wilderness to fast. Not to weaken him, but to give him strength!
Some of you know what fasting feels like after giving up a couple of meals on Ash Wednesday. For me it has been a gift. After our Ash Wednesday service last year, I sat with some of our brothers and sisters in Christ who had gathered for a “break-fast” meal. I slowly took a bite of a grape. I shelled a roasted peanut and ate one of the nuts inside. Then I took a small bite of cheese. The tastes exploded and the natural foods tasted so sweet and rich! For that time, fasting had given me a new attitude toward food. It gave me an attitude of thankfulness and appreciation.
Fasting made me appreciate the meal. It made me eat more slowly and focus on the people I was with instead of the food on my plate. I savored each bite rather than swallowing it quickly so that I could get to the next one. When I take food for granted, I eat way too much of it. And I lose the gratitude.
Perhaps this is too self-revealing in such a public forum. But I confess that food is often an escape for me, or even an idol! Arrogantly, I have placed a high value on feeling full when much of the world is truly hungry. We have access to the best food in the world and plenty of it. We shop in markets and stores that are so well-stocked that people from other-world countries would be in utter disbelief to see the selection, quantity, and quality of food.
I’ve fasted before and I’ve come to these same conclusions before, but I forget them. Fasting regularly also helps me be more disciplined in other areas. I feel better, breathe better, sing better, need less sleep, and generally feel that I have more time to get things done. I am more attentive in conversations with people and in prayer.
This is not meant to be bragging. I am sharing with you a humble discovery in my journey of faith. It is more a confession of my own weakness. But it is also a new insight into Jesus’ fasting during the forty days we remember during Lent. I had assumed Jesus would have been at his weakest after being famished for so long. As we look at what follows in the desert, Jesus may have been at his strongest point spiritually after his exercise of spiritual discipline. He was hungry. But he was able to decline the temptation to change his loyalties and sell out for the worldly kingdoms. He was able to think clearly and resist the tempter boldly.
The Spirit DROVE Jesus to the wilderness to fast. Not to weaken him, but to give him strength!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
