Friday in the First Week of Lent

Collect of the Day

Lord Christ, our eternal Redeemer, grant us such fellowship in your sufferings, that, filled with your Holy Spirit, we may subdue the flesh to the spirit, and the spirit to you, and at the last attain to the glory of your resurrection; who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm           Lessons

130            Ezekiel 18:21-28  Matthew 5:20-26

 

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered. Psalm 130: 1-4

 I love today’s collect. Today we ask to be granted fellowship in Christ’s suffering, so that we may be filled with the Holy Spirit and subdue our flesh to the spirit and the spirit to Christ. When I am suffering, when I am in the pit, then all I can think about is how I can be better, kinder, more spirit-filled so that I can get out of the pit and never get there again. In my suffering I pray without ceasing. In my suffering I am more sympathetic to others who may be suffering and I am kinder and more patient to them. When I am broken I let down my barriers and allow others in, and allow God to touch me through the love of others. When I am faced with all my sins, I am so grateful for the grace of Christ and thankful to my core for all that I’ve been given. When I have lost my life is when I gain it.

However, I am plagued by long-term memory loss. Just as my inability to truly remember the pain of childbirth allowed me to become pregnant over and over again, my inability to remember the pain and fear and emptiness of the pit allows me to sin over and over again. It is insanity. I repeat the same mistakes, and every time I covet, every time I show pride, every time I fail to love my neighbor as myself I dig myself deeper. Perhaps it is impossible to live open and raw and vulnerable as I am in the pit without committing the sins that throw me down there. Luckily for me our God has memory loss as well. The psalmist assures us that when we cry from the depths, the steadfast love that heals us also wipes our slate clean.

 

 

 

 

Thursday in the First Week of Lent

Collect of the Day

Strengthen us, O Lord, by your grace, that in your might we may overcome all spiritual enemies, and with pure hearts serve you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm         Lessons

138              Esther (Apocrypha) 14:1-6,12-14  Matthew 7:7-12

Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. Matthew 7: 7


One of the best qualities about one of my children is also one that causes me the most anxiety … his confidence. This child has never met a stranger. He believes that he is adored by all and is always confident that things will go his way, which leads to great anxiety on my part as a parent because I know that things don’t always work out in our favor. We don’t always make the team, or win the election and we aren’t always selected for honors. I worry that these eventual disappointments will bring his soaring spirit back down to earth.

 

Jesus reminds us to have the faith of a child. We are called on to pray with unbridled confidence. Esther faced death for revealing her faith, and prayed confidently to the Lord for deliverance. Matthew tells us there is no need to hedge our bets. God our Father, like any loving parent, will open the door when we knock. Yet we need to knock loudly. We need to knock boldly. We must knock with confidence. We should knock on God’s door with the unending pounding and faith of a child.

 
 

 

Wednesday in the First Week of Lent

Collect of the Day

Bless us, O God, in this holy season, in which our hearts seek your help and healing; and so purify us by your discipline that we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm          Lessons

51:11-18       Jonah 3:1-10  Luke 11:29-32

 

But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” Luke 11:28

 

One of the best essays I’ve ever read was written by a remarkable young woman as part of her college application. The writer had a hearing impairment and wrote about the art of listening. Early on she had learned that to succeed in school she needed to really focus in on the person speaking and truly listen to what was being said in order to compensate for her hearing loss. It was a skill that has allowed her to achieve success not just at school, but at life.

 

What would it mean for us to listen with total focus to our spouse, our children, our friends, to God? When Jonah finally listened to God and traveled to Nineveh, he was told to proclaim God’s message that because of their actions the city should be overthrown. And the people of Nineveh listened and believed, and they repented. It must have been frustrating to Christ when those hearing him preach did not listen, instead calling for signs and miracles.

 

Hearing happens automatically for most of us. Listening takes focus. Listening takes attention. Listening takes time. Where are we spending our time and focus? To what are we attentive? The only sign we will be given is the Son of Man. Are we listening?

   

Tuesday in the First Week of Lent

Collect of the Day

Grant to your people, Lord, grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only true God; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm                                    Lessons

34:15-22                    Isaiah 55:6-11   Matthew 6:7-15

Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Matthew 6:9

Names are important. How many of us, when naming our children, chose names of people we loved or admired and shied away from names of those we disliked? A person’s name can be associated with specific traits. We expect a boy named Alabama to be better at sports than one named Francis. In Great Britain the names of royals, Elizabeth and James, are linked with intelligence and success. And as our names are given to us before the formation of our personality they effect the person we become as an adult. Imagine yourself with a different name. Would you be the same person?

The Hebrew people had many names for God. There was Elohim- the strong creator God, Jehovah, the self-existing one, Jehovah Elohim, the Lord God. God was called jealous, faithful, and mighty. God was a protector. But Jesus had a new name for God. He called God “Father”, and invited us to do the same, instructing us to pray to “God, Our Father”. Think about how radical of a change that is. Instead of praying to our Lord and Protector, a distant and mighty God, we pray to Our Father. We are in a loving relationship with Our Father. Our Father will protect us and answer our prayers because we are cared for and cherished. Something as simple as a change in name transformed our relationship with the Creator.

Lent is a great time to remember our name. When Jesus invited us to call God, Our Father, were adopted into his family and given the new name, Christian. It’s time we live up to it.

Apple

As a mom of a senior who is applying to colleges this fall, I've spent a lot of time thinking about choices. I suppose that is why today my box held an apple. We usually have apples, or yogurt, or other "healthy" snacks at our house and all of our children are told that for the most part, they can have as many of the healthy snacks as they want. And even though they know they will feel better after eating something that is good for them, if there is a sweet option in sight, smart choices can fly out the window.

Making the right choice has been a stumbling block for humanity from the beginning. Male and female, Adam and Eve, were created in God's image, in that they were given the ability to choose. They could choose to obey God, or to take what was forbidden. One choice would allow them to stay in the garden, while the other would send them out into the world, to a life of hardship and eventual death. The Bible is a collection of choices. Abram chose to leave the land of his fathers to the land that God would show him. Rebekah chose to help Jacob trick his father Isaac. The disciples chose to follow Christ and Christ chose to die on the cross.

We are faced with a myriad of choices every day. Our choices may seem more important, like choosing a college, or less important, like choosing a snack. We can choose to wake up early and exercise, or grab a little more sleep. We can choose to start the day with prayer, or with the paper. We can choose to lose our temper, or keep it, speak to our neighbor, or walk on by. We can choose friends who lift us up, or those who tear us down. We can choose to be jealous of the clothes/homes/lives or others, or grateful for all we have been given. We can choose hate, or love.

God has sent the Holy Spirit to support us in all we do. We simply have to choose to receive it.

What will you choose?

 

Our Daily Bread

Any parent who has ever taken multiple children on a long road trip can imagine what the exodus must have been like for Moses. Last-minute packing is always a struggle. It can be incredible hard to get away. And once the journey has begun in earnest it starts, Moses starts hearing the refrain, "Are we there yet?".  It must have been exciting at first. The reverence of the first Passover, the drama of the parting of the sea, the celebration at the destruction of Pharaoh's chariots and chariot drivers. Yet before long, the complaining began.

"Are we there yet?" The Israelites were anxious and frightened. Freedom felt strange. In their haste they had brought no provisions other than flat bread which hadn't been given the time to rise, and thoughts of the unknown, of starvation in the wilderness, overwhelmed them. "Are we there yet?" They complained against their leaders, against Aaron and Moses. And God heard their cries and provided bread for their journey, exactly enough to meet their daily needs.

The Israelites would repeat this pattern of anxiety, fear, and complaint, throughout their forty year journey as they learned, little by little, to trust that God would provide what they needed. The development of a faith that God will "give us this day our daily bread" takes time to rise.

Today I hope you remember to enjoy the journey. The destination is worth the trip!

April Fool's

Growing up April Fool's day was a high holiday in my home. It was my grandmother's birthday. Looking back I have to feel sorry for her, although she always seemed to love the trick packages, squirting flowers, and succession of jokes played on her throughout the years. At some point I started hiding plastic spiders or snakes in her bed, not just for her birthday but whenever I visited. These pranks became more and more elaborate as I aged and I think she found enjoyment from the fact that I liked it so much. So today, in honor of April Fool's Day and my grandmother, I brought a box with a spider who jumps out when you open it.

Our story today was of poor Lazarus. Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha and all three were extremely close to Jesus. While Jesus is off teaching and healing Lazarus becomes sick. The sisters sent word to Jesus , "Lord, he whom you love is ill". Several days pass and when Jesus does travel to Bethany to check on the family it is too late. Lazarus has died. The family and friends are in mourning. And you can almost hear the tone of reproach as Martha says to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Jesus weeps at the grief of Mary and Martha over their brother, and asks to be taken to the tomb. And there, he calls for Lazarus to come out. As Lazarus emerges, waiting to be unwrapped from his shroud, can't you almost here the call, "APRIL FOOL's"!In Christ all things are possible. The lame can walk! The blind can see! The dead will live! And even the crucified Lord will rise again.

My jokes on my grandmother would not have been as funny had I used real spiders, real snakes or cockroaches. They always caused a start, but she knew there was never anything to fear. And so it is with a God-filled life. We will have our ups and downs. But we have assurance that death will not claim us, but that we will have eternal life!

Slime

Years ago I was given a huge bucket of green slime, the kind made popular by Nickelodeon. Today that slime made its appearance in chapel in my box. Apart from being a huge hit with the kids, I really though the slime fit with today's lesson.

In John 9: 1-12 we read about Jesus healing a man who had been born blind. He heals the man by spitting on the ground and making a mud with the saliva which he then spread on the man's eyes. Children typically love this Bible story because, well, because it's gross. Spitting is gross. Making mud out of dirt and your spit is gross and then smearing the slimy mess onto someone's face is really gross. And that is the part of the story that I emphasized today. Ministry to others isn't always clean. It often involves getting our hands dirty. It may involve doing things we don't like to do, or even watch being done. Yet when we take that risk to touch others we become the hands and feet of Christ.

How will you get dirty this week?

Hunger

I love to bake. On our counter sit two glass cookie jars and my new year's resolution is to keep them filled with something homemade most of the time. However, as I stared at one of the empty jars a few weeks ago I decided to fill it with some baked dog treats I had that look like gingerbread men. Clever right? Fast forward to later that day when one of my sons walks in, hungry from lacrosse practice, decided to get himself a cookie without asking first, and you can guess the rest. It only took him one bite to realize his mistake, but it isn't a bite he will forget anytime soon. He made me aware that it was very confusing to have two jars, next to each other, one filled with things to eat and one filled with things not to eat. So a few of the dog treats were in my box today.

I think the story of our fall from grace and redemption through Christ can be summed up in the pithy instruction to "Eat this, not that."  The story of Adam and Eve is a familiar one. God created our world with strict instructions to not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and yet, like hungry children, they took and ate without really thinking of the consequences. It is a pattern we have kept repeating. We hunger for knowledge, experiences, possessions, and power to fill the void that is caused by our separation from God. Yet our hunger can only be ended when we listen to the words of Christ who said. "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me". Only then will we truly be full.

How have you allowed Christ to fill you up? Are you sharing this meal with others?

Practice Makes Perfect

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:48

Today is Ash Wednesday which marks the first day of Lent. Every year on Ash Wednesday I have a palm in my box. The palm reminds us that the same Jesus who rode triumphantly into Jerusalem amidst cheers and waving palm branches was crucified mere days later. The green palms we weave and wave on Palm Sunday here at St. Mark's are saved and burned and turned into ashes for the following year's use.

I love Ash Wednesday. It is a beautiful service and one I think we should feel comfortable sharing with our children. What I try and emphasize in my lessons is that lent is a time to really practice those things we know we should be doing all the time. It takes practice to become a good soccer or tennis player.  It takes practice to become a great painter, or a strong musician. If we are willing to encourage our children to practice these skills, why would we not encourage them to practice praying? Why do we spend time at swimming lessons, but not practice worship? Scheduling the time to practice compassion, to practice service, is a wonderful way to celebrate Lent as a family.

Try creating a Lent calendar of daily activities, like reading the Bible, helping someone in need, attending worship services each week or sharing a nightly prayer. As you fill your mite box or lift your voice in song remember, practice makes perfect.

Lovie

So here is what was in the box this week...a lovie!

What parent hasn't had a child frantic with worry over a lost blanket, stuffed animal or toy, no matter how many others are safe at home?


Luke 15:1-10

We rejoice over what was lost!

First Chapel

Today was our first chapel of the school year. Just a few pictures for you. The first is of our first acolyte team who did a terrific job today!

The second of what was in the box...a loaf of bread!

Blessing of the Backpacks

We love to start the school year by inviting all our children to bring in backpacks to be blessed.

The backpacks are filled with school supplies for those in need and each backpacks receives a tag with a Bible verse on it.










This year's verse is:


Serve the Lord with celebration! Come before him with shouts of joy! Know that the Lord is God- he made us; we belong to him. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 
Psalm 100:2-3

Dirty Bird

I love Halloween. I mean really love everything about it. I have always loved dressing up in costumes. I love decorating the house with fake cobwebs and spiders. I love carving pumpkins and roasting the seeds. And we love the tradition of booing our neighbors. For those of you who are uninitiated, when you boo someone you fill a bag or pumpkin with treats, candy, spider rings, anything small, then leave it on the doorstep while you ring the doorbell and run away. The family who has been booed puts a sign on their door and then boos someone else. It is a fun way to pass along the sugary holiday cheer. This year Halloween fell on our Wednesday chapel, and I felt that fact should not go unnoticed and with that thought into the box went a large black bird.

The Bible is the best storybook ever, and I have always loved what I call, the creepy Bible stories. Elijah was a prophet. He was one called by God to tell the people the truth, and since people don't often like to hear the truth, prophets were typically disliked. After the death of Solomon, God's chosen people had become so wicked Elijah foretold there would be a terrible drought, lasting many years. God then sent Elijah to live in the wilderness near a spring in secret. Elijah survived only because every morning and evening ravens appeared with bread and meat in their beaks for him.

I find this story disturbing and can't imagine eating meat that came from the beak of a bird. I don't even eat sushi. To the people of the Old Testament this would have been disturbing as well. Biblical law said that ravens were unclean and could not be sacrificed. In spite of this, God used ravens to feed Elijah. The most humble of creatures was used to further God's will. And while I'm sure poor Elijah thought the wilderness meals were as disgusting as I do, Elijah obeyed God and God provided for him.

Following the will of God is not always easy. No one likes the person who states the truth. Life in the wilderness is hard. The service is bad and the food is worse. But if we listen for and follow the call our Lord will provide for us.

Bad Days

I am always struck by what the editors choose to include in Bibles designed for children. While it does make sense to focus on the more dramatic stories, and skip the generational lists in between, it can make some Bibles read more like a series of short stories than a seamless history. And it is telling what stories are omitted. I have several different children's Bibles on my shelf and not one of them mentions Job. Adam and Eve, check. Burning bush, got it. Man having a very bad day, loses everything and not so much as a mention. I think that is why I brought a broken bracelet in my box today. 

This bracelet is special to me. I like it. I received it when I was in Cuba. I am not sure if it can be fixed and I doubt it can be replaced. And one moment in a frenzy of animated conversation I smashed it against a door frame. That was a bad day. 

We all have bad days and we all have bad things happen to us. And while most of us would not blame God for a broken piece of jewelry, we are tempted to question the meaning behind other bad events in our lives like a lost job, a sudden illness, or the death of a loved one. And then we have Job. Job lost almost everything, his livelihood, his home, his children and his health. And yet he did not blame God. Even his wife said to him "Are you still continuing to be faithful to the Lord? Speak evil things against him and die!" (Job 2:9) Job's friends assume he has done something wrong to bring all this disaster on his head. They encourage him to repent and seek forgiveness from God. In the face of all this, Job remains steadfast. 

Job is difficult. It is not an easy story for adults, and I understand why some might think it doesn't quite fit with the exciting and uplifting Bible stories usually told to children. However Job reminds us that bad things happen to good people. We will experience illness, and grief and loss. I think it is important that children be taught that we may not always find meaning in the tragedies of life. That the bad days in life do not happen because we are bad. They simply happen. And in the midst of our worst day, when we are sitting with nothing left, the one thing we will always have, is God.

Visionary

Last week a dear friend of mine and of many, Betty Adams, passed away. Her funeral was on Monday and it was as beautiful as she was. In giving the homily the Reverend Neely Towe reminded us all of Betty's great gift, the gift of vision. And so in honor of Betty I put a pair of glasses in my box today.

One of the experiences that almost anyone who has ever worn glasses has had is the memory of getting that first pair and realizing that we weren't really seeing the world clearly. In an instant shapes become letters and words, green blurs separate into leaves on a tree and the details of life jump into focus. I am not sure that vision is appreciated as much by those who have never had it impaired, but being able to see God's creation is a wonderful thing.

Contemporaries of Jesus must have thought his disciples a ragtag group. They probably thought he was blind to choose the type of companions he did. Instead of  teachers Jesus chose those without education, instead of temple leaders Jesus chose fishermen and instead of those who seemed to live a righteous life Jesus chose tax collector and prostitutes. He saw these men and women not for what they were on the outside, but for what they could be, and over time they became the vision he had of them. Jesus said "Blessed are you. Simon, son of Jonah!...You are Peter. On this rock I will build my church." (Matthew 16:17) and Simon Peter did become the rock and foundation of the church.

We all have been given gifts and talents. Betty was a true visionary. She saw the world and everything in it not as we really were, but as what God called us to be. She was able to look into our hearts and see the best in us and we worked to become exactly what she saw.

Take some time to develop the gift of vision. Christ lives in the hearts of our children, in the hearts of those with whom we work and with whom we worship and in the hearts of strangers we meet during our day. Put your glasses on. Be a visionary. Seek to see the world Christ wants it to be.

Taking Pictures

I have missed our past two chapels together as my husband and I have been celebrating our anniversary in Italy. It was a wonderful trip, which we faithfully documented with several cameras of all shapes and sizes. One of my friends used to joke that with her husband if he didn't take a picture of something to him "it was as if it never happened". I was thinking of that this morning as I put my camera into my box.

The first part of our trip was in Rome. It is a fascinating city and we loved getting to walk around the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. It was awe inspiring to think about how many people had once lived in that spot, and see the ruins of structures I had learned about in school. Paul lived in Rome for two years, preaching the gospel of Christ, spreading the message of God's love to the Gentiles. We took lots of pictures.We then visited St. Peter's Basilica, where there has been a church since the 4th century as St. Peter's tomb is supposed to be deep below the altar and when we were allowed, we took pictures.

We are so obsessed with snapping pictures of everything these days, our activities, children, pets, even our food, that it seems strange that we have no pictures of Jesus. No instagrams of he and the disciples healing the sick. No portraits of Jesus with Mary and Martha for them to proudly display on the mantle. No travel album from Paul to accompany his many letters. We have no way to see anyone who existed at the same time as Christ. I reminded the children today that faith is believing in what we can't see, or as Jesus said to Thomas, "Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen me but have still believed". (John 20:29)

When we were down in the crypt at St. Peter's our guide told us a story. She said like many things in Rome, the current crypt was built over the foundation of an older church and that church was built over the location of several ancient graves and had been guarded by Christians for centuries as the place where the apostle Peter was buried. And while church after church was built on this site, there was no way to really prove that the story was true. That is until modern times when further excavation and dating were done on several of the bodies found there and one was identified as very likely belonging to St. Peter. It is a wonderful story. And if I had been allowed to explore that ancient area below the crypt and take pictures I am sure I would have. However my faith depends not on the proof of the existence of the bones of an ancient apostle, but on the belief in the life of a living Christ.

Blessing of the Backpacks

This past Sunday was had the Blessing of the Backpacks as part of our 10am service. Children of all ages brought their backpacks to church and up to the altar at the story stick time, in order to have them blessed for the beginning of the school year. It is always fun to see the wide variety of sizes, colors, and designs that come forward. After being blessed we walk to the chapel and there the real fun began, for the backpacks were stuffed full of paper, notebooks, markers, crayons and other school supplies. We emptied them into a basket at the front of the alter, and then piled the supplies as neatly as we could. They filled the basket I brought, and kept coming. Soon the floor in front of the alter was littered with glue bottles and sissors, pencils and pads. These school supplies will be delivered to children who need them so that they to can have a blessed year.

I love how excited our children get about the start of school! And even more I love how excited they are about donating school supplies to others. For the past several years we have given our children a tag to attach to their packpack with a Bible verse on it. This year the verse was one we loved from Vacation Bible School. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, don't rely on your own intelligence." Proverbs 3:5. My back to school wish for all of us it to trust in the Lord, to receive God's blessings with unfettered excitement and to share our blessings with others with overflowing joy.

Sneaking in the Back Door

A few weeks ago I arrived home, daughter in tow, and walked through the back door of the house to find a large garter snake apparently enjoying the warmth of our laundry room. Sarah Frances had not yet seen it and so without really thinking I quickly grabbed it with the plan of taking it back outside. A few steps into the garage the poor snake did what garter snakes do best, it wrapped its dangling self around my arm. And it was at this point, I'm a little embarrassed to admit, that I screamed, and dropped it. We both looked at each other for a bit, and I did snap a picture, but before I could get up the nerve to grab it again our visitor slithered into some wood stacked in the corner of the garage and I decided he, or she could just stay there. This story was shared excitedly to everyone by my daughter and ever since one of her friends has been begging me to put a snake in my box. So today I did.

Sometimes, despite our best intentions, something we would rather not have in our house comes slithering in the back door. God knew that being human, we would always have sin sneaking into our lives one way or another. The snake first appeared in the garden and has been with us every since. Once it is in the house, whether from sneaking in the back door or coming boldly in through the front, it can be difficult to get it out again. It takes courage to examine our heart and admit what shouldn't be there. And the hardest sins to be rid of often wrap around us trying to stay put. But take them outside we must. For we have be given the gift of Christ to help us clean even the most vile pests from our homes and hearts. All we have to do is ask.

Dark Glasses

A few years ago I embarrassed myself in the airport. I spent the weekend visiting friends in Nashville. Sunday afternoon I arrived at the airport tired and ready to be home, my mind whirring with schedules and activities for the coming week. When I got to the gate after a cursory glance around I quickly opened a book to avoid making eye contact. I boarded early and watched others file past without really looking at who was on the plane. After we landed as I was walking quickly through the lobby I was grabbed by a close friend. Apparently I had not only not seen him standing near me, I didn't notice that his daughter had been on the plane with me, sitting just a few rows back. I was so wrapped up in my world, I had failed to notice the world around me. It was almost as if I had been wearing dark glasses. 

I think that most of us have had the experience of not recognizing someone. Sometimes it is someone we haven't seen in a long time. It might me the result of a change in hair color, or length. And sometimes we miss seeing someone because he or she is somewhere we don't expect him or her to be. I'm not sure what the reason was for Cleopas and an unnamed disciple walking along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They walked and they talked and yet only that evening when the stranger they invited to dinner took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them did they recognize the risen Lord. "With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him but he vanished from their sight". (Luke 24: 30-31)

So what happened? What allowed the disciples to see Christ standing before them? I think it is because the resurrected Lord, unlike the human Jesus, requires eyes of faith to be seen. And by taking off the dark glasses that obscure our view of the world, and instead using eyes of faith we too can see the resurrected Jesus in all types of people, and in all manner of places. We simply have to look.