Presby-Musings

"Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known..." - Habakkuk 3:2 I grew up hearing the stories in the Bible where God does incredible things to rescue God's people--stories of miracles, signs and wonders.  I grew up listening to how the patriarchs and prophets heard the voice of God speaking to them out of bushes, dreams, on top of a mountain and in a still small voice.   But as I grew up listening to these stories, I began to ask an important question about them that I am sure many of us have asked from time to time: "Why doesn't God do the same thing now?"   Think about it.  Wouldn't it make sense for God just to throw out a flaming pillar of cloud and fire once in a while to just demonstrate to the masses that God is still there, still working, still leading and guiding God's people?  Wouldn't it make sense for God to speak to us in an audible voice just once ...

This week we are going to continue our Lenten sermon series--a series entitled "RE:"  "RE:" is drawn from the Latin prefix that denotes change or transformation.  Each of the sermons in this series is connected to a practice for the season of Lent:  Remember, Repent, Renew, Remain and Restore.  This week we are going to explore the Lenten practice of restoration, which I believe is at the very heart of what God is up to in the world.  Restoration is the act of taking what seems broken, used up, neglected, forgotten and making it new.  In fact, that's the one thing I want to make sure that we hang on to when we all walk away from worship this morning: Restoration is God's way of getting what God wants.   The passage of Scripture that we'll be studying today is from the prophet Isaiah chapter 43.  It is a passage of Scripture that the renowned Hebrew scholar Abraham Heschel held in highest esteem as an unbelievable word of hope.  He wr...

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. 8 They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.  - Psalm 20:7-8 One of the interesting things that you find in the Bible is that God seems to have a preference for the underdog, the outcast, the second-best.  After all, the entirety of the Hebrew Scriptures is filled with history, poetry, prophecy and legal writings that are all focused on God's covenantal relationship with a tiny tribe of people,  who often found themselves on the losing end of things, or who were more often than not being threatened or persecuted in some way by the powers-that-be.   So, when you're a tiny tribe of people, without a great deal of power, the idea of standing up to massive empires, or rival tribes who've banded together against you is a frightening proposition.  Time after time throughout the story of the ancient Hebrew people we see moments when they are...

23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another —and all the more as you see the Day approaching. - Hebrews 10:23-25 Even in the first century, when the Church was barely fifty years old, people were already giving up on Sunday worship.  The writer of Hebrews indicates that some Christians decided that getting together with other believers to sing, pray, break bread and hear some teaching from the Scriptures wasn't really working for them.  Maybe they didn't like the songs that were being sung ( "Why do we always sing those boring, old psalms?" or "Those newfangled praise choruses from Antioch just say the same thing over and over again!" ).  Or perhaps they didn't care for the pastor's style of preaching ( "Does he really...

3 Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. - Philippians 3:1 I was exchanging emails this week with someone, and our conversation turned toward uncertainty and how our paths seemed to be filled with it at the moment.   My conversation partner wrote that he had been reading a devotional book that day and the verses he read from Proverbs 3:5-6 landed on him. The verses read:  5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart     and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him,     and he will make your paths straight. When I read those verses from Proverbs, I was instantly transported back to when, as a young a child, I had memorized them.  I memorized them in Sunday school, and then again in the Christian schools I attended over the years.  In one way, shape or form, these verses have been part of my life's journe...

4 Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev. 5 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. The ancient Hebrew people who first sang Psalm 126 were recalling their own history--one that was marked with exile, sorrow and the destruction of the Temple, which was the very center of their faith life.   But one day their prayers were answered and they were allowed to return to their homeland to rebuild.  They were able to look back on the grief, the loss and the tears and say, "Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them."   You could easily replace the phrase "carrying seed to sow" with "carrying seeds of faith." Those seeds of faith that the ancient Hebrew people carried with them into exile, were filled with the potential for incredible hope and restoration.  T...

12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” 13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” - Luke 9:12-13 The lectionary text for today is from Luke's Gospel, and his version of the Feeding of the Five Thousand story.  Jesus is teaching on the hillsides of the Sea of Galilee and there are thousands of people listening to him.  It was "late in the afternoon," and the disciples were hungry, no doubt, and decided it was time for a break.   The disciples were more focused on how the needs of the multitude were impacting them  than on the people themselves.   They approach Jesus and say to him :  "We need to send these people away to fend for themselves--let them get food and find some ...