www.HopeandHelpCenter.org
Weekly Meditation
By Ron & Christine White
Revelation 1: 4-8
Grace to you and peace from the One who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before God's throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings and queens of the earth. To Christ who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving God and Parent, to God be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Look! Christ is coming with the clouds;
every eye will see Christ;
even those that pieced Christ;
and on Christ's account all the tribes of the earth will wail.
So it is to be. Amen.
"I am the Alpha and Omega," says God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
What does it mean to have a God who does not have a noun for a name - a God who isn't a person, place or thing, a God who tells us that God is beyond our comprehension? In many ancient cultures, a name captures the essence of a person or thing. The God of the Hebrews whom we claim today as our God is a God of "being" or "presence." The Old and New Testament writers testify to a God who was personally active in their midst, in Israel and the early Christian community. Today, some of us recognize God's presence, albeit in different ways, some of us more deeply on a personal level, some of us less intimately. Whatever our personal circumstances, most of us understand our God to be the ultimate presence throughout the entire universe. Many of us believe that God is personally present with us. And we believe that our Creator desires to be in a very personal relationship with us just as we do with our Creator.
So how do we recognize God's presence in our lives? Ron would say that God's presence is the consonance (harmony) in the world, while human will is the cause of dissonance (disharmony) in the world. Some consonance/dissonance examples are peace/war, justice/violence, sharing/greed. Perhaps you can imagine how the dissonance in your own life, whether self inflicted or inflicted by others, is at the root of pain in your life and is the cause of feelings of separation from God. Jesus the Christ, whom scriptures tell us is God personified, is presented in the scriptures as the example of how we are to live a life in consonance with God. Interesting to note is that the consonance in Jesus' life lead to his crucifixion. Consonance with God is not something that the powers of this world can easily tolerate.
The Spirit of God that lived within Jesus and enabled him to live a life of consonance, also lives within each of us. This Spirit is described in Isaiah 11:2 as:
"the Spirit of Wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord."
How will we know when we are living in consonance? To paraphrase Isaiah 11, verses 3 and 4: "We will not judge by what we see with our eyes, or decide by what we hear with our ears; but with righteousness we will justly deal with the needy, and with justice we will give decisions favoring the poor of the earth."
As we enter the Season of Hope, may God bless us in our efforts to bring peace and justice to a world sorely in need. Amen.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Weekly Meditation for Nov 15
www.HopeandHelpCenter.org
Weekly Meditation
By Michael Desmond
Matthew 6:25-33 (New International Version)
Do Not Worry
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
I don't know about you, but for me worrying is not necessarily something that can just be switched off-even if God tells me to do it. The lifelong trials of career, children, marriage, sonship, and friendship take their toll. Over time some level of worry seems to get baked into our chemistry. It becomes a habit of sorts.
One way to break a habit is to work at replacing it with another. Have you tried the practice of thankfulness? Work at being thankful for literally everything (and if you are really searching for what to be thankful for, add opposites). For example: sunshine, rain; fresh clothes, rumpled ones; sight, darkness; people, solitude; laughter, sorrow; community, aloneness-just on and on. It's kind of a searching of everything (events, people, thoughts and mysteries) that happens to try to experience thankfulness at finding God in it.
Maybe you have heard it expressed simply as the "attitude of gratitude". (Maybe this is a practice you also follow.) This practice often clears and revives the mind. Anxiety levels can fall off dramatically. Thoughts and energies focus where they belong, on God. After all, who are we thankful to? An added bonus is recognizing the sometimes subtle experience of receiving God's grace. It is often easier to perceive when we are in a thankful state of mind.
Seeking God's kingdom and righteousness kind of follow along naturally. (Seeking, even if not achieving!)
Thank you God for the opportunity to express this viewpoint. May we find you often today. Amen.
Weekly Meditation
By Michael Desmond
Matthew 6:25-33 (New International Version)
Do Not Worry
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
I don't know about you, but for me worrying is not necessarily something that can just be switched off-even if God tells me to do it. The lifelong trials of career, children, marriage, sonship, and friendship take their toll. Over time some level of worry seems to get baked into our chemistry. It becomes a habit of sorts.
One way to break a habit is to work at replacing it with another. Have you tried the practice of thankfulness? Work at being thankful for literally everything (and if you are really searching for what to be thankful for, add opposites). For example: sunshine, rain; fresh clothes, rumpled ones; sight, darkness; people, solitude; laughter, sorrow; community, aloneness-just on and on. It's kind of a searching of everything (events, people, thoughts and mysteries) that happens to try to experience thankfulness at finding God in it.
Maybe you have heard it expressed simply as the "attitude of gratitude". (Maybe this is a practice you also follow.) This practice often clears and revives the mind. Anxiety levels can fall off dramatically. Thoughts and energies focus where they belong, on God. After all, who are we thankful to? An added bonus is recognizing the sometimes subtle experience of receiving God's grace. It is often easier to perceive when we are in a thankful state of mind.
Seeking God's kingdom and righteousness kind of follow along naturally. (Seeking, even if not achieving!)
Thank you God for the opportunity to express this viewpoint. May we find you often today. Amen.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Weekly Meditation for Nov 8th
www.HopeandHelpCenter.org
Weekly Meditation
By Christine White
Mark 12:38-45
As he taught, he said, 'Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.'
He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, 'Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.'
The catchword "widow" links these two pericopes together. In the first story, Jesus condemns the scribes for using their position to be an agent contributing to the poverty of most widows rather than the role that Jesus sees for them as an advocate for widows, defending and seeking justice for them.
In the second story, Jesus starkly contrasts the deficient character of the wealthy who make a show of giving from their abundance with the humble character of the widow who quietly gives all she had. His praise for the widow does not imply that Jesus approves of the social conditions that have created her poverty. Some suggest that not only is Jesus condemning the scribes whose rich taste is linked to "devouring the houses of widows" but also the religious system that taught this woman that God demanded (and in some religions still demands) such a sacrifice from the poor of the world.
This story poses the same challenge to readers today as it did 2000 years ago. Amos, Chapter 5, contains a prophetic condemnation of the rich within the sanctuary of the temple who foster injustice that reduces others in society to poverty:
"I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies
Even though you offer me your burnt
Offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
And the offerings of well-being
Of your fatted animals
I will not look upon them.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps."
By our deeds, we the people of MetropolitanCommunityChurch are defining ourselves more and more every year as a social justice church. Both the Mark and the Amos stories indicate that this is a mission that God finds worthy. The Amos passage ends with these words:
"But let justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever flowing stream."
May God bless us as we provide sanctuary and seek justice for those who cannot do it for themselves.
Weekly Meditation
By Christine White
Mark 12:38-45
As he taught, he said, 'Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.'
He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, 'Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.'
The catchword "widow" links these two pericopes together. In the first story, Jesus condemns the scribes for using their position to be an agent contributing to the poverty of most widows rather than the role that Jesus sees for them as an advocate for widows, defending and seeking justice for them.
In the second story, Jesus starkly contrasts the deficient character of the wealthy who make a show of giving from their abundance with the humble character of the widow who quietly gives all she had. His praise for the widow does not imply that Jesus approves of the social conditions that have created her poverty. Some suggest that not only is Jesus condemning the scribes whose rich taste is linked to "devouring the houses of widows" but also the religious system that taught this woman that God demanded (and in some religions still demands) such a sacrifice from the poor of the world.
This story poses the same challenge to readers today as it did 2000 years ago. Amos, Chapter 5, contains a prophetic condemnation of the rich within the sanctuary of the temple who foster injustice that reduces others in society to poverty:
"I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies
Even though you offer me your burnt
Offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
And the offerings of well-being
Of your fatted animals
I will not look upon them.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps."
By our deeds, we the people of MetropolitanCommunityChurch are defining ourselves more and more every year as a social justice church. Both the Mark and the Amos stories indicate that this is a mission that God finds worthy. The Amos passage ends with these words:
"But let justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever flowing stream."
May God bless us as we provide sanctuary and seek justice for those who cannot do it for themselves.
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