Suffering

Click here to read Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53 is often read on Holy Friday.  It is read from the lens of Jesus suffering on the cross.  One of the powerful parts of going chapter by chapter through a book of the Bible is to hear what comes before and after a passage.  How can the beautiful feet have just brought good news of peace and freedom to the people in exile, and now all of the sudden we are talking about suffering?  There is a disconnect between these two chapters for me.

It is jarring when our joy and dancing is turned into mourning.  It is unsettling when laughter is suddenly turned to tears.  Perhaps that is why we don't like Holy Week.  The festival joy of the Palm Sunday parade turns to betrayal, desertion, and denial of Jesus' closest friends on Maundy Thursday.  Then, of course, the shadow of the cross on Friday.  We don't deal well with death in our world, especially when there is so much to do to get ready for Easter Sunday: eggs to color and hide, hams to prepare, and family coming.  Do we really need to face the reality of brokenness at that point?

Part of the problem that I notice in my own life is how much I compartmentalize everything.  It is either a joyful time or a sorrowful time.  It is either all good or all bad.  I may talk about the messy middle, but when the messy middle is a whirlwind of emotions and I can't get my barrings straight, I don't like it.

That is what holy week does to us.  It makes our souls and heads spin.  And let's face it, most of life at work and in the world already does that.  Do we really need the church to join in that cacophony?

Isaiah says "YES".  Partly because the response of God will be different than the response of the world.  Partly because the mixture of joy and pain are a part of life.  There can be laughter even at the bedside of someone who is dying.  There can be hope even when you lose your job.  There can be peace even when life is turned upside down.  But it does not always come in the expected ways.

Here the people of God are ready to go back to Jerusalem, and Isaiah talks about suffering.  Perhaps that is because the road back will not be where every mountain is make low and the rough places plain.  Or perhaps it is because the city of Jerusalem is still in rumble.  Perhaps it is to remember that even as people are packing up their belongings and getting ready to return, they remember the suffering they endured in exile and the reality that some of their friends had died in Babylon.  Those are powerful truths for Isaiah and for us.

I think there can be traces of God's grace noticing the messy middle of our lives.  We need to be aware of the ways joy and pain get intertwined and tangled up.  We need to remember that hope and despair can be two sides of the same coin.  If that is the case, then even with the gloom of Holy Friday we can still trust in the One who turns our mourning into dancing.

May the traces of God's grace be felt in moments of joy and suffering and everything in-between.

Blessings!

Dust in the Wind

Click here to read Isaiah 47

Come and sit with me in the dust Isaiah says.  Ahhhh, now that is the Isaiah we have come to know and love over the last forty some chapters.  Enough with these images of comfort and hope.  So much of what I find compelling in Isaiah is his ability to name reality and offer hope.  That is a hard line to walk.  So often, I can slip into cynicism at the brokenness of our world.  Or I find myself almost naively trying to harness the "power of positive thoughts," believing that happiness can be forged or forced.  To see the brokenness for what it is and still say that there is a trace of God's grace, I admire that in Isaiah.

At this point in Isaiah most scholars believe he is writing as one in exile.  The people have been uprooted and transplanted into Babylon and Isaiah along with them.  The walls of their beloved city reduced to rumble, the temple Solomon built is now in smoldering ash, and Isaiah says sit in that ash and find God.

That is not exactly a passage I usually preach upon.  Yet, I find it refreshingly honest and heartfelt.  So often we try to explain away, justify, or even rationalize the brokenness and ash in our lives.  This can be done through religious frame work of "God's will" or "God's plan".  Or it can be done through humanist points of view, "Humans are broken and cause brokenness."  Yet, where both fall short is our desire to understand or explain away pain or brokenness.  Maybe pain and brokenness just are.  Just are part of life.  Just are part of walking around in this vessel and breathing in air.  Just are.  

Jesus experienced pain and brokenness within his life and upon the cross.  Many theologians contend that it is in Jesus on the cross that God suffers.  God suffers because of an unconditional and unceasing love.  The parting of the Red Sea, the beautiful words of the Psalms, the words of accountability of the prophets, or countless other passages of the Hebrew Scriptures did not truly capture the hearts of the people the way God prayed those words would.  And so God comes upon us, takes on human flesh - the incarnation.  This is incredibly vulnerable.  And why does God do this?  To be 'at-one' with us.  All these "reasons" people give about why Jesus had to suffer and die are called "atonement" (at-one-ment) theories.  That is just it.  There are all theories...just the ramblings of humans trying to make sense.

Maybe the brokenness and pain, the ash of life, the moments of exile when we feel like we are far from home or in a foreign land - maybe they should NOT make sense.  Maybe we should NOT explain them away.  The beginning of prayer is a sigh.  A sigh that says words cannot every capture what is going on here.  So, I turn not to words, but to ash.

In the beginning (Genesis 2) God took dust, made a being, and breathed life into that dust creature.  Maybe sitting in the dust is not about being down in the dumps, but re-connecting with our humanity.  Our beginnings.  And while I don't think we need to go in search of those dust/ash moments...they seem to find us anyway...perhaps this is another way to look at them.  Not as a trial or a test or something God gives us or something someone else caused us...just a dust moment that connects us back to a truth about being humans created in God's image.  I don't think that solves anything, but it helps me sense a trace of God's grace in that moment.  I pray for you too.

Blessings and peace!

More on Words

Click here to read Isaiah 28

Priests and prophets stagger from beer, bet you never thought that was in the Bible?  Not exactly a passage that gets preached on a lot on Sunday mornings!  Let's be clear that Isaiah does not exactly give a rousing endorsement of combining beer with your religion.  I do think it needs to be clarified that some of Martin Luther's famous Table Talks with his theology students was done at the tavern, where I once heard that Luther had a stein with the 10 Commandments on it...it has to be true because I heard that from a Lutheran!

Having just come off the Super Bowl, I saw lots of ads for beer. Of course, now everyone from the White House to your neighbor's basements tries to create it's own micro-brew.  And while I live in a state that glorifies beer to the point of naming our baseball team after the act of brewing beer, it is a complicated relationship at best.

While the image of the priest not handling his liquor well is one thing, it is the next verse that really cuts close.  People ask, "who is he trying to teach?"  I wonder on Sunday morning if people wonder if I am talking to them, really talking to them?  Who am I trying to teach?  What am I trying to teach?  And while I am completely sober, that does not mean I don't play the part of the fool.  Looking foolish is a bit of a past time for me.  I am reminded of what Mark Twain once quipped, 'Better to keep your month shut and let people think you are a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.'  

It is an occupational hazard that I open my mouth and I know the truth of Twain's quote.  But Isaiah reminds me that God is the One who measures justice and God's righteousness (not mine) is the plumb line.  We live in a world awash in words. In previous generations there was basically newspapers and gossip.  Now, there is t.v., radio, newspapers, blogs, and gossip (some things don't change).

I invite you to continue to listen to the words around you.  Continue to listen for that still speaking voice of God.  And may some of the words you hear be in harmony with God's wisdom of justice and righteousness.

Blessings and peace!

Hope and Despair

Click here to read Isaiah 25

After all the words about pain and destruction, this hymn of praise is a bit jarring.  Maybe that is what Isaiah intended.   Previous chapters have felt like the wilderness where the trees tower over head and it can be difficult to see what is in front of us. The wilderness is a theme throughout scripture.  From the People of Israel wandering in the wilderness for forty years in Exodus to Jesus' temptation in the wilderness to Elijah fleeing for his life.  Isaiah does not exactly say it is a wilderness moment in those chapters we have just slogged our way through, but it certainly felt that way.

Wilderness are those moments when grief sits upon your soul or you struggle with a decision.  Wilderness are those moments when life seems to be spinning out of control and you just want to get off the ride for a moment.  Wilderness is often those times when we wonder where is God and why isn't God fixing everything in my life?

That is the way the wilderness was for the People of Israel in Exodus complaining about bread, water, and wanting to go back to Egypt where they were slaves.  That the way the wilderness was for Elijah when he sought ran there after defeating the priests of Baal and he complained that he had been "very zealous for God his whole life".  That is the way the wilderness was for Jesus after spending forty days in prayer only to be tempted or tested to make bread from a stone or to leap from the highest mountain or from the top of the temple.  Wilderness is not just geographically but metaphorical. It encompasses all those moments when we wonder, why?  And are not satisfied with the answers of our imaginations.

So, after reading now twenty-four chapters of Isaiah when most of those messages would not inspire a Thomas Kinkade painting, I wonder what is your reaction to hearing this hymn of joy, promise, and hope?

Seriously...take a few moments, what is your honest reaction?

I ask that because usually when I am in the wilderness moment and I encounter a moment of serendipitous joy I think, "Oh, this won't last."  The hope feels fleeting and I tend to think that the wilderness is what is real and true and to be trusted, not the joy.  Why is that?

I don't think we have to be peskily optimistic all the time or just think positive thoughts.  But I do think joy and pain can co-exist together and often do in my life.  In the midst of the wilderness, there can be laughter.  In the midst of a world with too much gun violence there can still be times of hope.  In the midst of a world where words are used to hurt and harm people there can still be words that invite the sacred into our lives.  Not to make everything magically better.  But to remind us that God is found in both the pain and hope of our lives.

May the traces of God's grace be found in your life today whether it feels like you are in the wilderness or at the great feast where all people come, are welcome, and fed.

Blessings and peace!

Do We See Ourselves?

Click here to read Isaiah 19

So we know Egypt and Israel have a history that is...let's just say is complicated.  I mean there is the whole indentured servitude in the book of Exodus.  Where Moses has to come in and lead the people across the Red Sea and into wandering in the wilderness for forty years.  During which people complained and wanted to go back to Egypt...you know where they were in servitude.  There is more that needs to be said about that some time when dwelling in the book of Exodus.

But Isaiah offers a prophecy against Egypt.  What really gets me about this chapter is verse 2, where brother rises against brother, neighbor against neighbor, and city against city.  I hear those words and make a connection to today in our world.  In our contentious political environment, family member is against family member, neighbor against neighbor, and a red state sits next to a blue state.  We feel that division and divisiveness in ways that seems to eat away at our very soul as a country.

So, what to do?  Let's face it, there is not much positive advice to be found in this chapter of Isaiah.  Basically he says to Egypt, "You are doomed!"  Which I can understand, it is often the way I feel after watching the news.  So, where is the hope?  Hope may not come in books we can buy or missions we create or really anything we do.  When we light the candle of "Hope" on the first Sunday of Advent, it can feel the same way.  One candle against the increasing darkness and dwindling daylight, what is the point?  What sense does that make?  We light the candle, call it "hope," and then wait.  Wait four weeks before we gather at a manger to welcome God incarnate in Jesus. That does take hope, to wait.  It can feel like we are waiting today to see if we can stop letting the differences divide and start seeing who we are connected.  Will it happen or we will end up like say the Egyptians in our passage today.

There is no neat and tidy ending here.  Hope does not come in prepacked ways.  Hope bubbles up in unexpected, even serendipitous ways.  Which if that sounds familiar, it is because it is similar to what I said about discipleship.  Maybe there is a connection between discipleship and hope that starts there and here.

May the traces of God's grace help to keep the spark of hope alive in your life today.

Blessings and peace!

Click here to read Isaiah 2

If Isaiah 1 shines a light on places where our relationship with God has broken down and invites us into a conversation or an engaged dialogue with God, then Isaiah 2 is the rationale and hope for such a conversation.  The truth is because Isaiah 1 is so in-your-face honest, it might be easy to feel a bit glum after reading it.  The deeper truth is that it is quite easy to get discouraged, especially now.  The holidays are over, Christmas has come and gone, it is a new year and yet it seems like some of the problems we thought would get left behind when we put up the new calendar followed us right into 2013.  For us living in the upper Midwest we know the truth of what it means to live in the midst of the "Bleak Midwinter" and that midwinter lingers...and lingers...and lingers sometimes longer than what we want.  And so, when Isaiah shines a light on the brokenness of our connections with God, I get why sometimes people want to throw their hands up in the air, exasperated and wonder if there is anything we can do?

Isaiah promises that there is something we can do.  Isaiah hints at a theme he will pick up again in chapter 11 about the "Peaceable Kingdom".  A place where violence is no more, where all are equal.  And what I appreciate about Isaiah is that the response of the people to this vision is not, "Golly-gee this is swell".  But people run and hide!  Talk about being honest and knowing humanity well. For all that we talk about an end to violence and wanting peace and equality, the reality is we are all pretty invested and comfortable with the status quo.  And so there is a tension within us.

I remember sitting in a sociology class in college and the professor asked, "How many of you would give up what you have so that the poor would be brought to an equal economic and social standing with you?"  To be clear, I went to a private college and we were all fairly well off in that classroom.  Only a few hands went up in the air.  In the conversation that followed most people were glad to help those in need as long as it did not hinder or infringe too much on their way of life.  This is why Jesus' response to the rich ruler is so difficult for us (Luke 18:18-30).  We want to share, we want to be generous, but we also like to be in control and know that at the end of the day we can take care of ourselves.  There is a tension within us.

Yet, there is hope in Isaiah 2, because he honestly asks us to notice where in our lives are we hiding right now from God's realm in our midst?  Where have I stuck my head in the ground or fled from God's call to live in peace?  Sometimes it is in my relationships with others, sometimes it is how I use the financial resources entrusted to my care, and sometimes it is that I still prefer the hierarchy of the world than the truth that in God's eyes all are equal.  Those truths challenge me.  At the same time, Isaiah 2 with its hopeful tone reminds me things can be different and I want to talk more about that.  Talk to God, talk to you about this tension, about the realities of today and our hopes for tomorrow.

And one finally place of hope I hear in Isaiah 2 is a reminder that it is not all up to me.  Isaiah does not say it is up to humanity to establish this holy mountain, that is up to God.  Our task is to notice the mountain, heed the invitation to go.  And how do we notice the mountain and respond to the God's invitation?  We go back to Isaiah 1 and look at the way we worship and the way our worship extends into every aspect of our lives.

May you notice the traces of God's grace and may those traces infuse and immerse you this day in the One who sees you and every person you brush up against today as "Beloved."

Blessings and peace!

Fully Formed

Recently I have found myself frustrated by the choices I've made. I have said some things in retrospect I wish I had not said...done some things in retrospect I wish I had not done. To be sure this is not a new situation for a human to find himself or herself in. I think Paul said it best in Romans chapter 7:15

Yes. I'm full of myself - after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary. The Message

Most of us prefer the language of mistake to sin. Most of us try really hard to cover up our mistakes rather than publicly tout them. Most of us find it hard to look at the reflect staring back at us in the mirror and see that we are: fully formed, unconditionally loved, and surrounded with unceasing grace.

We see the mistakes...or sins.

We see those moments our mouth gets ahead of our brain...a problem I have. We see those moments we laugh at the expense of another...or always make myself out to the bumbling butt of every joke. We see the shortcomings. That is important to be honest. We are not perfect.

What makes the good news so GOOD is that God sees our worst, our warts, AND our gifts, the time we get it right. God sees the moments I lose my temper AND when the moments when my energy is so low but by God's grace I sit down and play a game with my kids rather than zone out watching TV. God sees us as fully formed, because that is the promise of the beginning. We are created in the image of God. Not just a small part of us commonly called a 'soul'. All of us. To be fully formed is the promise we celebrate at baptism. This small child with drips of water running down her forehead is fully claimed, loved and formed to living into God's presence around her and within all of her. Our hands, hearts, heads, feet, voice, our laugh, our off-key, rhythmic challenged way I sway to hymns...all of that God sees as fully formed.

Often what happens for me is I get out of sync and in those moments I am not living into, living out the whole identity God formed and calls me to be. When I start stressing too much about tomorrow rather than trusting that manna (Exodus 16) will be there. When I start over planning for five years down the road rather than noticing God's presence and promise right here and right now. When I start seeing the glass half empty and thinking ONLY I can get it filled again. I am not living into that fully formed promise of God.

I don't think the goal of life is that I get it right all the time. But maybe I can notice when I am relying too much on myself and not enough on the traces of God's grace in my life. Maybe I can help people see the water level in that proverbial glass for what is: not as full as it could be, but full of God's presence and life and love nevertheless. Maybe by leaning into life, I won't stop all my mistakes but see them as part of the profound truth that I am fully formed.

May the truth and promise that you are fully formed lead you to lean into life and notice the graces traces this day.

Blessings