My Week Away

My week Away:

This week I will be away from my wife, my Pug, my home, my church, & my television.  It is odd to be away from home, really for the first time since I took the plunge, got married, & bought a Pug (I have to be away for 7 days).  Actually, we bought the Pug before we were married, I guess you can say we had her out of wedlock (there is a term for children out of wedlock but I will not use coarse language in my blog)! However, it got me contemplating about this week away:

What’s my deal?

Well I am radioactive! I have Graves Disease, which is a hyperthyroid condition.  The thyroid gland regulates a lot in your body, like your energy level & metabolism (Mine is all messed up). So I have been feeling quite worn out over the past several months.  Radiation is the better alternative to having surgery (Especially because I don’t have cancer).  Eventually the goal is to get me on a thyroid med, so I will have stable thyroid hormone levels (And I will feel a whole lot better).  So for this week I am radioactive (not in a superpower alternating way) & the radiation will kill my thyroid.  Therefore, I need to be in a contained area away from most people.

5 Things I can/will do this week:

1. Do Religious Stuff: All the great spiritual giants took time to pray, secluded & away from everyone. Heck there are whole retreats dedicated to silence. Maybe I’ll do Lectio Divina (This is praying through the scriptures, its real religious) because I did bring my Bibles (The NRSV & The Message). Also, I do have a sermon that I have to prepare for (on 4/22).  As a pastor & chaplain doing religious stuff just comes to me because of my nature & discipline (If your not religious you wouldn’t understand).  

2. I can read:  I am a big reader of a whole lot of things.  My time away started yesterday and I already finished a book its called World War Z, it is about zombies (Is it alright for a pastor to read about zombies? Well this pastor did & it was good).  I would also like to finish my book A Dance With Dragons (It’s a fantasy novel), Those Guys Have All the Fun (A book about ESPN my favorite TV network), & Jesus & the Victory of God (I need to read something profound & ­­religious (I hate that term)).  And if I finish all of these books? Well that is why I have a kindle (One more reason it was a good idea for me to have one). 

3. I will watch TV: I brought movies with me to my fortress of solitude. I brought Rudy & Forest   Gump (My 1 & 1a of favorite movies). Also, based on a conversation with a friend I had this week I brought all my Mel Brooks movies: Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, & Robin Hood Men In Tights (for my money some of the funniest movies of all time).  I brought The Muppet Show seasons 1-3 & their new movie The Muppets.  Also there is always Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN & The Dan Patrick Show on the Audience network (Thanks to my gracious hosts who have Direct TV).  I am sure there is more that I can watch: Baseball season is in full swing, Netflix, Basketball, & primetime TV programming (I’m all set).
4. I can hang out with the dog’s & cat’s here: I miss my Pug Lucy, but luckily there are more than a few animals here.  My mother in-law (The house in which I am staying) has four dogs (Alex, Harley, Daisy, & Lil) & two cats (Carrot & Miss Mia Mew Mews).  So they are here to keep me company (And it helps)! Alex is the senior citizen of the bunch and the easiest going (And temperamental, depends on how you catch him).  I guess we get along so well because I work with geriatrics all the time (I am a chaplain at a nursing home).  He just can’t lick me or that will be the end of him! However, it is nice to have someone to talk to during the day!
5. I will probably post on this blog: This is funny to me because I am not a big writer, but the more I do it, I kind of like it.  Because I don’t have a lot of humans to talk to (My mother in-law & her fiancé work 8 hours out of the day) I’ve got to get my thoughts out somehow.  Also, I find this fun and it keeps me from going stir crazy!

Things I forgot & I wish I remembered

Food: Bagels (I know eating bagels is unhealthy, but I eat a bagel every morning, & I love them), Orange Juice (this is my favorite drink of all time, if I only had one drink to drink it would be OJ), Rice Milk (I am lactose intolerant, enough said), & Checks Mix (Lately my favorite salty munching snack).

Books: The Book of Merlin, this is the sequel & conclusion to T.H. White’s novel The Once & Future King (A book about King Arthur & one of the best fantasy novels I’ve ever read).  Also, I wish I brought Henri Nouwen’s Bread for the Journey a great daily devotional book (Also, probably the best I have ever read in this genre bc I’d don’t really read devotionals).

Movies: Seeing I brought The Muppet Show I kind of wished I brought The Muppet Movie (the 70’s version), The Great Muppet Caper (The Muppet movie I grew up on & my favorite), & Muppet Treasure Island (Rizzo the Rat’s break out performance).  I also wish I brought my Wallace & Gromit movies (So funny).

                                                                                                                                             

Hygiene products: I forgot my hair gel, so I guess I am going to have to deal with the waves & curls in my hair!

Articles of Clothing:  I forgot to bring my hats (so frustrated with this bc I forgot my hair gel)! I also wish I brought more t-shirts (I have a shirt that says Pugs Not Drugs, I forgot it).  I also left one of my one of my favorite hooded sweatshirts at home (Its just a plain gray one, but it is comfortable).

Don’t feel Sorry for me

In conclusion, I ask that you do not feel sorry for me (And you probably don’t) because I am going to be just fine.  There are people with far more serious conditions and struggles worse than me (And I know that & I constantly pray for them). This should be an interesting week because I don’t usually take a week away from my normal routine.  I’ll get along just fine, & feel free to call me (some of you already have), email me, comment, Facebook me, or send me a care package (non perishable items of course)!  So don’t cry for me Argentina (Evita), I’ll be back better than ever! Therefore, as the Apostle Paul once wrote: “May the grace & peace (my addition) of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, & the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.  Amen.” (Don’t know if a benediction was needed but it came to mind). Take care ya’ll.

The night Jesus was betrayed Part 2

   Read Luke 22:39-46

First, I have to say the title of this devotion is kind of misleading, because really if I was going to do devotions on the whole night of Jesus’ betrayal & do it justice, I would need more than two parts.  However, seeing that we only get five days in the week & I missed Tuesday, I want to focus one more passage featuring that crazy night.  This devotion is about Jesus’ moments in the garden in Gethsemane.

This passage always gets me.  The reason that is always gets me is because Jesus is in agony!  In this gospel version, it is said Jesus’ sweat became like great drops of blood (v 44).  Jesus was anguishing over what he was about to face.  He knew his hour had come and he was going to be betrayed into unmerciful hands, be brutally tortured, & die an awful death.  Jesus new that he was going to take on the curse of sin & the fury of evil very soon (Deut 21:22-23).  It is no wonder Jesus anguished so much, it is no wonder he prays: “Father if you are willing, remove this cup from me…” (v 42a).  This is as real a human cry as we see Jesus proclaim in his earthly sojourn!

This passage in a lot ways reminds me of Jesus’ time in the wilderness. Both show him going to pray before a significant event &  in both Jesus overcomes temptation. Remember when Jesus was tempted three times by Satan (Mt 4:1-11; Mk 1:12; Lk 4:1-12)? Each time Satan offered him something: provision, power, & protection, and each time Jesus stood firm and rejected Satan’s temptations. I see something similar here: “Father if you are willing, remove this cup from me…” (v 42a). Jesus is bring into question his forthcoming mission, there is a part of him that wants this to pass (I do not blame him).

But just as he over came Satan’s temptations in the wilderness Jesus overcomes the temptation to preserve his life: “not my will but yours be done” (v 42b).  C.S. Lewis once wrote: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’”  Jesus was obviously willing to follow the father to whatever end laid in store for him.  He trusted in God the Father more than anything; he knew that despite what he was about to endure he could trust in Him.

Jesus is that great of a savior, so great in that he would (as we Christians have so classically coined) die for sins.  He anguished and labored over going through with this. He showed why he has genuine love for people.  He said it himself, there is no greater act of love than laying down your life for a friend (Jh 15:13).  He made the choice (just like us) to follow the will of the Father because he knew to lose his life meant to usher in eternal life. This was the best way (the only way) to deal with sin & death, it was to become sin & death (now that’s love)! He knew suffering & pain was inevitable but Satan’s time was up & Resurrection was coming!

Be encouraged my friends! Know that when you anguish & feel scared, Christ also has felt anguish & scared.  Know that when you face trials & uncertainty, Christ also has faced trials & uncertainty.  Finally, know that you can trust in God no matter what, even to the point of death, because Christ has trusted in God no matter what, even to the point of death.  That’s Jesus.

 

The night Jesus was betrayed Part 1

Read John 13:1-20

This is the passage that Jesus washes his disciples feet. Jesus washing their  feet was a profound symbol of love & humility.  Let’s just say that the disciples didn’t have have heavy duty contour work boots to walk around in, or nice & airy Nike or New Balance sneaks either, & they certainly didn’t have socks!

Jesus & his disciples walked around from town to town in their sandals & bare feet.  The grounds were rugged, they were unsanitary, & they were an Obsessive Compulsive’s worst nightmare! Yet despite this fact, Jesus washed his disciples feet, (they were really stinky & dirty) and he got down on his hands and knees to do so.  Wow, I cannot even walk out of a public restroom without wrapping my hands in paper towels to turn the knob & walk out the door (Do you know how many people don’t wash their hands? Its disgusting!)

This act of love & humility seems to offend Simon Peter (he has a foot shaped mouth after all): “You will never wash my feet (v 8).”  But Jesus answers: “Unless I wash you, you have no share of me (v 8).”  This is powerful, Jesus their Lord & master, who taught them so many things, revealed to them the ways of God’s kingdom, witnessed many powerful miracles, & so much more; & here they are receiving a foot washing from their Lord.  Foot washing was for servants, but then again Jesus came not to be served but to serve (Mk 10:45) didn’t he?  Jesus wanted this to be an  example for his disciples.  He says: “I your Lord & Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done for you (v 14-15).”

It is my encouragement to anyone who reads this passage to be reminded that Jesus came to be a servant, therefore, we should be servants too.  When I work as a chaplain I get to experience a variety of different things.  I remember there was a lady who couldn’t bend in her chair (their are a lot like this) & she was trying to tie her shoe.  I recognized this and I walked over to her and I got down on my hands & knees and offered to tie it.  She was embarrassed (she was still quite lucid) but I told her if Jesus could wash his disciples feet, the least I could do is tie her shoe (she was real Catholic so she knew what I was talking about). I tied her shoe & spent some time talking to her, & she was grateful.

I share my experience with you not to brag, but to show you real simply, like Jesus who came to serve, we too have the opportunity to serve.  With Jesus, there was no job or task beneath him, especially when it came to serving those he loved or encountered.  May we this Holy Week & all the days of our lives find ways to “wash the feet” of those we love & encounter because we, like Jesus are here to serve not be served.

Spring Cleaning

Read Mark 11:15-18

This is the passage that Jesus drives out the moneychangers & those who sold items in the temple.  When Jesus is in the Temple he shouts (what Jesus shouts!?!): “Is it not written, My House shall be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of robbers.” Geez, Jesus get pretty mad!

In Jesus’ eyes, one of the reasons the Temple system (it managers & its sacrifices) was broken, was because of its lack of compassion & love for those who came to worship. The sacrificial system was broken & it exploited those who were poor & those who were not born Jewish.  As we can see, this breaks Jesus’ heart, it saddens him, & infuriates him all at once (that’s a lot of emotions all at once)!

In this pic Jesus looks like he is going to haul off & punch  someone! I don’t think we would! However, the house of God was supposed to be a house of worship for all people & all nations but instead became a barrier to that (Jer 7:11).  Abraham’s heirs, as God intended it, was to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth (Gen 12:1-3), but it wasn’t.  It is not wonder that Jesus pronounces judgment on the whole broken system!

However, despite the gloominess of this passage there are some cool things we can take from it.  First, Jesus was all about the people, he wanted (then & today) all people to come and worship freely without judgment of ones race, nation, or socioeconomic status.  Second, it is a sign that temples & building structures serve a purpose, but it is in us (the body of believers) that God dwells among.  Third, it serves as a call for all believers this Holy Week & onward, to be the carriers not the barriers of the Good News (hey that rhymes)! Jesus had love & compassion for all people, so should we also my friends!

 

 

Stones & Starbucks

So Stones and Starbucks?

I was reading this interesting passage in the gospel of John today, it was the account of the woman who was caught in adultery (John 8:1-11).  This passage always fascinates me & hits me like a rock right square in the eyes (no-pun intended).

As the story goes this lady gets caught red-handed in the act of having sex with her lover.  She is pulled out into the middle of the street for all the world to see by a bunch overly self-righteous, pious, blowhard Pharisees.

How embarrassing this must have been for her! She was likely pulled out naked & exposed for all the world to see.  Hearing people hoot and hollering about why she is this awful person and how she should be stoned for her treachery.

The sex police (the scribes & Pharisees) bring this hopeless case, this adulteress to Jesus because he happened to be in town (Jerusalem).  See, Jesus ticked them off a day earlier talking about his Messiah stuff, you know love & grace for all men & women. They bring of the Jewish law (as if Jesus didn’t know it) they said: “Teacher this woman was caught in adultery.  Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons (Lv 20:10; Dt 22:22-24). What do you say?”

It amazes me & sickens me that the women get the punishment but the man doesn’t!  However, thank the Lord above that we have Jesus & the NT who gives dignity to all & call for equality of all!

Jesus sees there ploy & hypocrisy and instead of directly answering them, he writes something in the sand (what?).  Many Bible scholars & theologians have debated greatly what he wrote.  For all I know he could have drawn a smiley face in the sand just to make them wait before he answered (Is that heresy? Because if it is I immediately & earnestly repent!).  Whatever he wrote in the sand must have coincided with what he said next: “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” He bent down in the dirt & began writing something else.

Well that really chapped there behinds (I don’t usually use such vulgarity but I am feeling extra fervor today)! The sex police took that to heart & realized they had no ground to stand on (yes religious people sin) & they began to walk away.  Jesus looks at this woman, who was humiliated, embarrassed, & shamed and says: “Woman, where are they? Where are your accusers? Does no one condemn you?” She answers: “No Master.” Jesus says (in his typical compassionate Jesus way): “Neither do I, go on your way, and sin no more.”

Boy I love Jesus!

N0w Starbucks, I’ve been reading all over the internet how Starbucks recently went on record supporting marriage equality rights for homosexual couples.  And as a result of this stance there has been a calling by many of my Christian brothers and sister to boycott Starbucks.  And yet again the shouting has started up!

A lot of people forget the fact that Starbucks as a company has tried to be conscious buying fair-trade coffee, raising awareness  & support of individuals with AIDS, and working in there communities ( http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility).  Is it a prefect company? No it is not.  Are we perfect people? No we are not. I am definitely not perfect & often get things wrong.

Sometimes I get a little tired of it, I really, really do! I just don’t understand why we have to hurl stones at those we disagree with! God doesn’t hate fags! God doesn’t want to remind you of how much he hates you for your rottenness! It breaks my heart when I see & hear these kind of things because that’s not the gospel & that’s not good news! And I am not not talking about white puffy cloud “ah Jesus loves you.”  No, I am talking about I’ll bare your gritty shame, deep depression, severe nakedness, treacherously poor decisions, & profoundly flawed nature and call you mine! Love, Jesus is love.

This post is not about weather or not I think homosexuality is a sin or not, it is just a reminder that Jesus  shows love & grace to all.  Therefore, let us show that same kind of love & grace to all. Let us drop the stones, stop shouting, and begin listening to one another so that we may begin working through whatever issues may divide us. I know there are many issues, but God is a big God & Jesus is that great of a savior!

Why all the shouting?

Why all the shouting?  Why do we often think that in order to get our points across we have to shout at one another? Why do we have to just throw all this hate in each others direction?  I don’t like you, you don’t like me, so I am going to yell I don’t like you because you’ve hurt my overly sensitive nature.  What is the old adage, around and around we go when will we stop nobody knows?

I need to be honest & I don’t want to come off all self-righteous but seriously why all the shouting? I am a Christian and with that comes basic held believes, a certain approach to life, a general love for my fellow human being, & a profound sense of gratitude.  But here is the shocker, wait for it, wait for it…this is between you, me, & God but not everyone believes, thinks, & looks at life the same way as I do (I know shocker)!

I guess I bring this up because I just hear so much shouting all the time.  When I watch TV, or I log onto the internet, or turn on the radio all I seem to hear is shouting, shouting, shouting!  I know my fellow Christians have become quite good at shouting and yelling at others for not living as they think God would have them.  And surprise, surprise those who disagree with us Christians shout back! But why all the shouting?

Isn’t there something, somewhere in the B I B L E, that says be slow speak, quick to listen, & (even more surprising) slow to anger?  Ya, James 1:19, but then again Martin Luther the father of the Protestant Reformation didn’t like this book anyway. Something about works & faith & faith being dead without works, he didn’t like that (that’s another blog post). I also believe that JC even said to be wise as serpents but gentle as doves (Matthew 10:16), and he knew that people would be out there that would shout at his disciples for there message & actions!

The times I find I am the most effective at being a husband, is when I listen to my wife.  It is when I listen to what is important to her that I can actually do the right thing to please her.  When she is sad & crying, she doesn’t need me to fix her but to be the safe, nonjudgmental presence she can cry in front of, & be the shoulder to cry on.  And when I listen I receive the invitation to share a little bit of me with her.  If I shouted at her, our  intimacy in a lot of ways would be stunted in its organic growth.

I am a chaplain at a nursing home and I spend a lot of time with residents who have a lot of issues: abandonment, depression, loss, anger, anxiety, physical disability, and the list goes on an on.  They pour out there souls to me because they are hurt & are in many ways broken and  I cannot not fix them.  I cannot resolve all of there problems & issues they have in their lives.  However, I can listen to them.  I can listen to there concerns and where they are coming from.  I can listen to what that are actually saying.  And here is the surprising thing when I listen, I often receive the invitation to share a little bit of me with them.  If I shouted at them I would never receive the opportunity to know them.  Think about this.  I know we all have a lot on our minds & are pretty passionate about our beliefs but if we take the time to listen to each other then I think we can actually make some progress & being to heal through the issues.

Wouldn’t be awesome if we known for our ability to listen? I think so.

Judgment

Over the past couple days I was thinking about judgment and what that means.  I was just at a church service the other day and they were citing the Apostles Creed and the portion that was focused on was Jesus coming to judge the living and the dead.  So when I heard this message I quickly began to think about judgment.

When I think of the word judgment a few things came to mind. Firstly, I thought  about an old white dude with a gavel sentencing a criminal to their punishment.  Secondly, I guess there is that cynical side of me that thinks: “Well that’s what we Christians do to people,” for their non-Christian conformity.  Thirdly and more solemnly, I think about the scope of justice I think about justice, vindication, & right action.

I guess I am writing this because when I hear to the words judgment the hairs on the back of my neck tends to stand up.  There is something in this word that stirs my emotions. In a lot of ways I hate judgment it and I love it at the same time.

I hate it because I know many Christians who cast the eye of dispersion over others.  When I see Christians burning Korans in their front yard, bombing abortion clinics, and holing up sings saying “God hates Fags” these things sadden & irritate me.  A bunch of self-righteous “so called” Christians doing what they perceive as God’s work!  Thus judging,  by seeing the speck in their neighbors eye but ignoring the plank protruding from theirs.   I mean heck I writing about not judging others & here I am judging the judgers. Do you see why I hate it?

I hate it because like many people I don’t like being told I am doing something wrong. You always feel like you are under a microscope and you feel unappreciated.  I know many people who have walked away from the faith for this very reason. That if God was somehow real; then he is just this old white guy with a gavel in the sky ready to bring the hammer down.

But like I said I love judgment also, because God’s judgment only enhances the love & grace he offers us now! For all the messes that we make in this world Jesus sure gives us all the opportunities to come to him.  He loves us more than I think we can fathom at times.  I am not perfect & I often make mistakes, big mistakes but it is by his grace through faith that sustains me & that there is nothing that can separate me from that kind of love.  My sin which are like crimson become white as snow.  I am a sinner yet I am justified.  God’s grace is active and on the Day of Judgment it is by grace that I will spend eternity with Jesus because I took the time to spend time with him now.

Finally, I love judgment because whenever I look at the scriptures Jesus takes the judging out our hands and puts it in his.  I am reminded again and again that Jesus is the one who searches the hearts and minds of each of us.  He above all knows what resides inside.  There is this awesome encouragement & hope that Jesus is the good right judge who will bring to order all things.  I love judgment because justice, vindication, & right action will prevail.  Those who have been trampled on all there lives, who have had their innocence stolen from them, or have been used & abused will finally receive complete consolation.

So from here on out I am going to leave the judging to God & I am going to do my best with loving people and sharing this awesomely crazy grace with all that I meet!

 

Upside Down Blessing

Blessed Are the Poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt (Matt 5:3, NIV)

 I love these words, I love them because it is a good reminder that we can still be considered blessed by God even when we go through  trials in life.  I have been recently preaching a series on the beatitudes from Matthew 5. We are blessed when we are poor, lonely, distressed, angered, or neglected, say what?  It can be quite upsetting to try and see life that way.  Seeing the positive in the midst of our overwhelming troubles can seem like crazy talk.  However, Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount tries to counteract that perspective.  He says in his loving way, “You are blessed when you are poor in your spirit.”  That despite the present circumstances you find yourself in God cares for & loves you.  And not in the “Opium of the people” kind of way that Karl Marx once coined, but something real an tangibly experienced in ones own spiritual poverty.

 Luke writes in his gospel: “Blessed are the poor,” (Luke 6:20) the economically down on their luck, substance lacking poor.  Luke couldn’t be more explicit, God is concerned with & blesses those who are poor! Again say what? I thought to be blessed meant that you have to have it all together, to have money, drive a Subaru Outback (My ideal car), live in a nice house, have a healthy marriage & have 2.5 kids (Where do people get the decimal from?).  It is the American dream is it not? In what earthly way can it mean to be blessed even when I am dead broke, my car won’t work, I’m homeless, I have a broken marriage, no kids or kids who don’t like me?  How can God commend/ bless us when we are in our most desperate states? How? Really how?

I don’t think I have the most life changing answer to these questions and many other questions like them are popping up in my head as I write.  However, I am reminded in words such as these that God will not avoid us in our spiritual or economic poverty but embrace us. The following beatitude in Matthew is “blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted” (Matt 5:4).  Again, there is something real & tangible about these sayings of Jesus: God will embrace you in your poverty on every level & even in your very mourning. It is nonsense that to think God can’t operate in our sufferings.  To limit God’s blessings to that which makes us experience joy  would be limiting God in what God can do & I refuse to do that.  Blessings & joys God operates and comes through in a big way.

 I think that we often need to hear this from time-to-time.  Seeing the blessings in the storms of life is important (Remember you still get wet from time-to-time).  But its seeing the ray of sunshine creep through the  storm clouds.  Its finding that diamond in the rough.  It is that cold drink of water on a hot summers day.  God is always trying to show you something through the trials of life. That somehow and in someway God loves and cares for you in spite of the troubles you face, and calls you blessed.

 That is exactly  what I love about the God we serve, God meets us in our highest of highs as well as our lowest of lows.  Reminders like this show me that what breaks our hearts breaks God’s heart also. That God will not avoid us in our spiritual & economic poverty but embrace us.  Jesus demonstrated what it meant to embrace countless times by reaching out to the sick, the impoverished, the infected, the crippled, the despised, & the marginalized person. Maybe that is why I’ve always felt it is our duty as Christians & as humans to be a part of that embracing.  Through Jesus’ words it is placed at each of our feet to help in ways that are meaningful for those in need. Thus, I begin to see the world through Jesus’ eyes and what breaks God’s heart breaks mine as well.

The second half of this beatitude both in Matthew & in Luke is: “for theirs/yours is the kingdom of God/heaven.”  Maybe there is something to this; kingdoms consist of people right? But it is not a kingdom governed by our laws and orders.  It is not created through wealth & prosperity.  Neither is it made through military prowess. It is a kingdom governed by God, consisting of you and me, flawed and finite people.  It is a kingdom built on the grace that God bestows to each of us. It is a kingdom built through God’s justice & mercy. There is something to this kind of kingdom,  valuable in the life we live now only to be played out & perfected in eternity (already but not yet). Well I hope you find these words encouraging today and they speak to you.

Until next time grace & peace!

Parable of the Mustard Seed

“He out before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in a field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches” (Matthew 13:31-32, NRSV) 

This is a passage that has always spoken to me in my life, if anything it has taught me that God can make something that seems so insignificant and make it into the most significant thing immaginable.  Jesus taught in parables, he taught in a way that connected with the people around him.  Jesus lived in an agrarian world, people who were tied to the land for everything from their daily bread to the shelter they rested under at night.  So the fact that Jesus used such a tangible example as a mustard seed to describe the kingdom of heaven spoke volumes about the world he lived in.  But a mustard seed?  What odd example even for an agrarian  world don’t you think?

If you know anything about mustard seed plants they are more of a nuisance weed than anything, not the blossoming botanical spectacle Jesus makes it out to be.  That is Jesus though, the master of hyperbole!  However, Jesus is very deliberate in his exaggeration, he knows exactly what it is he is doing.  He knows that when he tells this story he is going to grab his audiences attention.  “The kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed,” God is doing something in the world that seems insignificant in hindsight but is so much bigger and grander than you can even imagine.

This reminds me of something quite important: God is working out something large!  Jesus had the audacity to take a simple seed and make into more than what it was. Doesn’t Jesus do that with us?  Again, that is Jesus, Jesus teaching in his savvy, subtle, and loving way. Jesus teaching his disciples & the crowds that God was planing something huge through the use of something small.  The kingdom of Heaven was going to be ushered in not through military might, not through wealth & prosperity, and not even through the ingenuity of human innovation (Though they/we wish).  No, the Kingdom of Heaven was going to be brought through God’s grace & (get this) through his faithfully flawed imperfect associates, you & me!

God intends to uniquely involve you and me in the process of redemption in this world, but thank goodness it doesn’t hinge on us.  However, with mustard seed type faith we can be people who engage this world we live in.  I am constantly reminded day after day that life can be challenging, it can be painstaking, it can feel like the help we offer others is useless, heck we can feel insignificant & irrelevant!  In turn, as this kingdom continues to unfold before us we can begin to see that God’s kingdom is more than what we initially thought.  This is the type of encouragement we need each day as we work on helping this world become better place for others to live in. We are not going to solve the world’s problems, let us leave that to God, but be continuous in our service even when it feels like we are being a nuisance weed, that’s the kingdom!

Until next time grace & peace!