PAY ATTENTION!

PAY ATTENTION!

“Listen up, folks”, says God. “ I’ve got some things I want to say and I want you to pay attention.  These things are not optional for you.  I expect you to do them because they are meant to establish peace and harmony and joy among you.  If they are ignored, all kinds of bad things will happen and it will be all your fault. 

*Please do not burn up the cattle and the best vegetables and/or each other with the mistaken idea that I want that.  I do not! What I want, and I don’t know how many ways to say this so you will understand, what I want is that you love one another. I want that you treat each other exactly how you would expect to be treated.  It’s really not that hard. (Hosea 6:6)

*Don’t look for me in terrible storms; tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis and forest fires.  They are not my doing and they are not my punishments.  All of your lives are valuable to me.  Get that?  All lives are precious to me.  I know that is a hard one to swallow because of the ego I gave you and the free will that makes you think you are better than others.  You are not.  (1KGs 19:12)

*Somehow you got the idea that I punish offspring for the sins of the parents.  All lives are mine!  The life of the father and the life of the son, for example, are both precious to me and I do not punish the innocent. (EZ 18:4)

*Those who serve others of their own free will, I will bless abundantly.  I will not be pleased if you do not strengthen the weak, heal the sick or bind up the wounded. If you do not bring back the stray and do not seek the lost but instead lord it over them

 (EZ 34:4)

Now you ask, ‘What will you do to insure we do these things as you ask?’

*I will create within you a clean heart. I will take away your heart of stone and replace it with a natural heart.  I will write my will on your heart so you will always know it is there. No one will have to tell you about it. It will be part of you. You will be my people and I will be your God. (JER 31:33 and EZ 36:26)

Oh yes, one more thing. Some of you know me as Father, some think of me as Son and some as Spirit.  Well it’s all the same.  If you call on one, all answer.  Don’t argue about any of this.  It is my will that you make this earth of yours a place of peace and love. Don’t make me sorry I created it.”

The Word of the Lord.

Carol Lemelin OPA

PICK YOURSELF UP

PICK YOURSELF UP

“I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working with the clay. Whenever what he was making turned out badly, he tried again until what he made pleased him. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Can I not do for you what the potter does with the clay?’ ” 

(Jer. 18:1-6)

This reading can be seen in a couple of ways.  Some see it as God saying that He is controlling our lives, which I think leads us in the wrong direction. Many people believe exactly that and when things go awry they immediately demand to know why God didthat!  The other way to see it is described in the song, which advises, “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.”  When Ezekiel’s wife dies, God pretty much tells him the same thing. (Ez 24: 15-23)

So many people feel helpless when it comes to God. They feel that they have no control, but must endure whatever He decides to send them.  Yet, nearly everything that happens can be traced back to the choices made by people.  No matter what it is, the free will of the human being is at the heart of it.  God is not toying with us; giving us free will and then overriding it.  That would be so cruel.  It just isn’t God. 

What this passage is saying, is that God has given us the gifts we need to do as the potter did, start over and make something new.  Writers, composers, artists, builders and others who are trying to create something are often faced with failures and they have to start over.  So it is with every day life.  

How often do things turn out badly in life?  How often is the end result not what we wanted at all?  Trusting in God is what helps us to consider the situation and make the decision to accept what is and to grow in it and learn from it and move on. People of faith know this to be the truth, but I realize that for some people that statement is pure nonsense. Why wouldn’t it be? If a person has no real knowledge of God especially through Jesus Christ they would not understand. 

Shortly after the death of my husband, I was working with a client on her computer problem when she asked me to dinner the next evening at her home.  I was taken aback because I hardly knew her, but since Dave’s death a lot of people had been kind so I agreed.  After the dinner while we having coffee, she asked me what drugs was I taking. I said I wasn’t taking any.  She insisted I must be taking Valium or something, because I seemed so calm.  I told her I relied on God; that I knew he was with me and had sustained me throughout.

I won’t say she threw me out, but you’ve heard the expression; “Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?”  That’s pretty much how it felt as the evening ended abruptly.

I’ve thought about that night a lot and felt I had failed her.  Still, I said it and I have no idea how it affected the rest of her life. I have to leave that up to God.  I do know that she never called me for help again, for what that’s worth.  

Blessings as you try to bring God to others.

Carol Lemelin OPA

IF JESUS SPOKE OUR LANGUAGE

IF JESUS SPOKE OUR LANGUAGE

A boy who was mute was brought before Jesus and Jesus drove the demon from him and he began to speak.  The crowd was amazed but the Pharisees said, “He drives out demons by the prince of demons.” (Matthew 9: 32-38)

So often the lofty language of the Gospels sets Jesus apart from the reader.  If Jesus talked like we do, we would be able to relate to him far more easily.  For example, in this reading, when the Pharisees put forth the ridiculous idea that Jesus drove out demons with the help of demons, can you imagine Jesus standing up and, in a tone of disdain, say,  “Does this make any sense to anyone here?”

When Peter suggested that they avoid going to Jerusalem after Jesus said he would die there, instead of “Get thee behind me Satan,”  Jesus could have said,  “Please Peter, don’t tempt me. This is going to be tough enough. I will need you to be strong for me.”

At Cana, Mary said, “Jesus, they have no more wine.”  Jesus replies, “Mom, I told you it’s not time.”  Mary just smiles and walks away throwing “Do what he tells you.” over her shoulder.

This is in no way a criticism of Scripture or of the translation.  For example, I am a fan of Jane Austen novels, which are difficult to read until you get used to the idioms of that time and the way they phrase things.  The characters are quaint and remain so. Those books belong in the 19th century and there is no need to change the language.  But the Gospels are different.  The Gospels are about Jesus and Jesus must remain relevant no matter what century it is.  Jesus must never be thought of as quaint, and of another time, because Jesus is for all time. The idea of rewriting the gospels in contemporary language is not a good one, however. That sort of thing leaves the possibility of error too likely. If, however, we change how we readthem, we may find a more contemporary Jesus.  And we need Jesus to be contemporary so that we will know him as a friend to whom we can speak freely.

Try this. Take the story in which the mother of James and John asks Jesus to place her sons at his right and left side when he comes into his kingdom.  (She may have thought that was going to be an earthly place).  Jesus almost laughs at her as he tells them they have no idea what they are asking.  The best part of this story is when the other disciples get wind of it. Read the chapter first and then imagine what your own family and/or friends would say under similar circumstances. 

(Matthew 20:20-28)

May God help us to find and keep the real Jesus in our lives.

Carol Lemelin, OPA