Open Our Eyes

¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.  Genesis 21:19a

It’s right in front of you. How often have we looked and looked for something only to find it right in front of our noses. We feel silly, not realizing what was right there all along.  Sometimes we get too busy, preoccupied or overrun with worries to see the things right in front of us. We need to take Hagar’s cue in Genesis: she cried out to God. He opened Hagar’s eyes to new possibilities and he can open ours as well. We just need to ask.

Magic and Mystery

This week Pastor Jon and I attended a conference on Innovations in Worship. I was very excited. I signed up for several breakout sessions that sounded truly compelling and pertinent to us as a worshiping community. I was looking for some great ideas, some handouts and resources I could bring back and use right away.

I came back empty handed. What is the magic of worship? Not the latest technology, nor some new form of music or a special time or place. It’s about the people: knowing who we are as we worship together, knowing how to direct their hearts to God and knowing what worship is about… encountering Christ’s mysteries, meeting together and praying, diving into the Word. 

When I made this realization it almost made me laugh. It seems so basic.

A real and true worship experience is in God, not some shrink wrapped stuff you can get at the mall, an Internet download or by watching television.

When we truly encounter Christ, we are rendered speechless.

He climbed the mountain to pray, taking Peter, John, and James along. While he was in prayer, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became blinding white. At once two men were there talking with him. They turned out to be Moses and Elijah—and what a glorious appearance they made! They talked over his exodus, the one Jesus was about to complete in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Peter and those with him were slumped over in sleep. When they came to, rubbing their eyes, they saw Jesus in his glory and the two men standing with him. When Moses and Elijah had left, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He blurted this out without thinking. While he was babbling on like this, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them. As they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God. Then there was a voice out of the cloud: “This is my Son, the Chosen! Listen to him.” When the sound of the voice died away, they saw Jesus there alone. They were speechless. Luke 9: 28-36(the Message)

Hunger, Sacrifice, Hope

This was the theme this weekend for the elementary school retreat. As the students learned how this looks in their lives, the adults did some visioning about education for our faith community. We too soon found out that hunger, sacrifice and hope are part of how we had been approaching a new way of learning and growing. We are hungering for something more for our kids. We sacrifice time and energies to seek out what that is and we hope for deeper relationships to grow with God and with one another. In doing so we also found that we too want the same as our children the deeper relationship with God that hungers for more.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6

Overwhelmed by Abundance

⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”⁵ Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”⁶ When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. ⁷ So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.⁸ When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, ¹⁰ and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” ¹¹ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. Luke 5:4-11

When Peter first encountered Jesus he, I am sure, did not know what to think. He asked him to do something which was outside of his realm of thinking.

“Put out our nets? I am an experience fisherman; the fish are not biting Jesus!” But this was not the answer Peter gave, instead he trusted and possibly humored Jesus and did what he asked…with amazing results!

What if we did the same today? Truly listened, trusted and became astonished!

Astonished by the large amount.

Astonished to the point of being overwhelmed by God’s abundance.

Astonished to the point of dropping everything and following Jesus!

Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven….

We all know this familiar prayer; we say it in church each Sunday before communion, right?

This past weekend our confirmation students looked deeper into the Lord’s Prayer while we were on our retreat. We found out that Jesus taught it to his disciples, His dear friends. He wanted them to have a close relationship with God.

He wanted them to know they could talk with Him anytime, even after He was physically gone.

 We too want that close relationship with God, we long for it, even when we really can’t put our finger on it or put it into words.

The students re-wrote the prayer in their own words and found it surprising simular to Matthew’s recording of it:

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,^[a]
    but deliver us from the evil one.^[b]’

Matthew 6:9-13 NIV

Lord’s Prayer       restated

Father,

We praise your name.

We embrace your love,

Help us love each other.

Give us what we need today,

And lead us to you.

Teach us to forgive others,

As you have forgiven us.

Pull us away from sin

And point us in the direction of truth.

As you guide us towards heaven,

Where all praise and glory belong to you,

Always.         Amen

 

Light

Flashlights, candles, lamps, glow-sticks….what do all these things have in common?

They all produce light, right?  Yet, they all can have different amounts of brightness, intensity, and longevity, some produce heat while others stay cool. They need other things to give them power…electricity, batteries, a match.

Now contemplate you being the light. Think about the characteristics mentioned above and then think about your life. How does your light illuminate? What gives you the power to shine? Do you show your light to others or keep it concealed?

Now add Jesus to all the questions above-put him right in the middle.

How does this change your perspective on light?  

We can look to Jesus who gives and sustains all light.

His light shows through the darkness of sin.

His light does not need a power source, He is the source.

His light is never-ending.

His light is intense and bright.

Looking ahead to a new year,

Be the light to shine into a world of darkness,

Produce warmth for those you meet

And look to Jesus to be your power source and your sustaining light!

You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
Psalm 18:28

Oil of Joy

True joy is responding to those in need, even when their need is questionable.

True joy is a spontaneous prayer said with a friend to calm restless hearts.

True joy is hearing the voices of children sing and proclaim the anticipation of Jesus birth.

True joy is the tears and sorrow in someone’s loss, combined with a smile of hope.

True joy is turning our hearts to God and anticipating something new this year in the birth of His Son.

Let this oil of joy cover us and fill us with the goodness that only comes from God.

…(I will) bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:3