Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 30, 2013

This week: God as unfolding story. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]God as unfolding story makes us step back from all of our attempts to turn our God

into a stone image - an idol - that can crumble under time and under the power of

new revelations and conversation. God as unfolding story means that we are involved

- as God's beloved people - in the way the story continues to move through this

day. We are not a people who are meant to simply read of a past time and place.

If that were so, there would not be such a dynamic bunch of stories as are told

in the book of Acts. God as unfolding story is the moving of the Holy Spirit that

takes us beyond ourselves and all that we thought we could or should control. God

as unfolding story means that we must remember the stories of old, connect with

the stories of the not-so-distant life of the faithful, and take the risk to step

into God's gracious Reign even as it keeps moving along the way and bidding us to

come and see.



O God of love and new life, keep us soundly grounded in the story of your love so

that we will be free to engage the present with confidence and grace. Amen.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 29, 2013

This week: God as unfolding story. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]There is always more to the story. In the long record of the story of God who leads

a people to new life, there is always more to hear and see. God as unfolding story

invites us to look again at what has been written and told. Just as we are always

learning new things about the character of the people all around us, as we look

at the stories of our God and enter into conversation about those stories we will

see parts of the character of our God that will unfold among us. I see this most

often when God is described as angry - violent - unbending. I have been seeing

quite a different God. As of late, the unfolding story of our God is one in which

I am continually amazed by a merciful, forgiving, life-giving, and challenging God.

God as unfolding story pinches me in the butt so that I will get off my butt and

once again lean into the story of God's gracious love - the power for new life

in every age. Reading that story is also a act of radical involvement. It is radical

because we are being invited into the very essence of this God whose love knows

no end and is able to overcome all the powers of the world.



O God of love and new life, keep us rooted in this story of your unending love as

we move through the day at hand. Amen.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 26, 2013

God as servant. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]God as servant gives us a future. What are we going to do next? Well, we can always

be ready to serve others. That is a whole life full of opportunities. I was just

wondering how many times in the next ten to fifteen minutes will I be in a position

to serve. At the same time, I may be placed in all of those positions and never

allow myself the time to serve. I may just keep going on my way - the way I would

like the day to go - the way that will keep me focused on me and how the world spins

around me. God as servant also invites us to step into the creative task of looking

after the well-being of those around me and those who are far off and yet still

connected. The way we begin to serve is to open our eyes and ears. That may help

us begin the journey of opening up our hearts which becomes a life-turning event.

When our hearts turn and are open to the lives of others, we witness a world longing

for acts of compassion, self-sacrifice, justice, solidarity with the lonely and

left out. God as servant stirs up our hearts and places us right back down into

our ordinary day in order to be a living witness to hearts filled with this love

of God that is already ready to embrace and serve.



O God of love and new life, make this day the beginning of a season of turning so

that we exercise the freedom to move in new ways and stretch ourselves out to engage

the world with your servant love. Amen.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 25, 2013

God as servant. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]God as servant gives us a future. What are we going to do next? Well, we can always

be ready to serve others. That is a whole life full of opportunities. I was just

wondering how many times in the next ten to fifteen minutes will I be in a position

to serve. At the same time, I may be placed in all of those positions and never

allow myself the time to serve. I may just keep going on my way - the way I would

like the day to go - the way that will keep me focused on me and how the world spins

around me. God as servant also invites us to step into the creative task of looking

after the well-being of those around me and those who are far off and yet still

connected. The way we begin to serve is to open our eyes and ears. That may help

us begin the journey of opening up our hearts which becomes a life-turning event.

When our hearts turn and are open to the lives of others, we witness a world longing

for acts of compassion, self-sacrifice, justice, solidarity with the lonely and

left out. God as servant stirs up our hearts and places us right back down into

our ordinary day in order to be a living witness to hearts filled with this love

of God that is already ready to embrace and serve.



O God of love and new life, make this day the beginning of a season of turning so

that we exercise the freedom to move in new ways and stretch ourselves out to engage

the world with your servant love. Amen.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 24, 2013

God as servant. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]God as servant allows me to step back and look again at what I am about to do -

how am about to act - what I am about to say. The one who serves as this God as

servant takes a breath before any action. Within that breath is the life of the

servant. In that breath is a moment of stillness - a moment that allows judgment

to rest - a moment that bridges the divide between myself and the one(s) I am invited

to serve. God as servant is that wind that blows and fills up our lives with opportunities

we so often move through without seeing them with the eyes of the servant. God as

servant brings the love of God down to practical terms right before us.



O God of love and new life, be for us the 'in between' time in which your Spirit

offers us a hand to guide us into your future. Amen.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 23, 2013

God as servant. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]God as servant suffers. When we serve others, we may be perceived as worth-less

than others. Servants can be dismissed. Servants are expendable. Servants are often

seen as weaker than the one served. God as servant acts out of a position of power

- the power of love. The servant fears no other - therefore, the servant is able

to subject him/herself to work that will seek the welfare of the other. That, is

a position of power. I serve - not because I am less - not because I want to be

raised up higher. The servant is able to see how service to others builds up the

whole community. When we serve, my neighbor and my enemy and my family is able

to become one people - one love. God as servant suffers because few people want

to be one people. We too often long for an us and a them that will allow us to think

we are better than the others and therefore not one who serves - but one who is

served because we deserve such attention. The servant suffers because a world that

divides and separates will resist - even unto death - those who serve to heal and

make well and honor even ones not like me.



O God of love and new life, it is not easy to serve. It is frightening. It is a

life in which we must trust that the promises of your Reign will come. In the face

of the violence of our world, inspire us to bow down and serve up a new reality.

Amen.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 22, 2013

God as servant. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]To serve is to break the endless cycle of 'better than thou' that resists the life

of God's peaceable Reign. When we are continually moving into the life of one who

serves others, we must pause and begin to see and hear that which the other person

needs or wants or desires. It is at that point that we are given the opportunity

to build a relationship not focused on competition. God as servant is the God that

bows and bends and then walks alongside of us inviting us to move in new ways and

see new possibilities in life. God as servant calls us to take a breath - to breathe

and let go of that which we must have or must be. Rather than attempt to rule over

others or find ways for people to bow and bend to us, we take a breath of the wind

of creation that gives us time to imagine how all-that-is-different is able to be

seen as a mix of gifts that can be used for the well-being of all. God as servant

invites us to step back, re-view what it at hand, and then begin to contemplate

how we will be used to create life unimaginable had we been self-consumed.



O God of love and new life, help us to see what comes to life as we give ourselves

away in service to others. Guide us so we do not become anxious and forget about

the wonder of a life that honors the 'other' so that we find serving to be a natural

expression of our whole lives. Amen.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 19, 2013

God as invitation. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]God as invitation is always an invitation into the life of a community. The community

will have a particular character to it. If God as invitation was only an invitation

for me to be in relationship with God - where would that go? But if the relationship

with God transforms my life by putting me in relationship with others - just as

I am relationship with God - the world may change around us. God as invitation will

shape the way we take part in the life of the day at hand. As God takes me in and

holds me and nurtures in me a love for others as I am loved by God, I may begin

to interact with the world around me as though I am always being invited by God

to be a part of God's loving character. Knowing that my own character is often far

from the loving embrace of our God, it is good to know that God is still inviting

me out of my past and into a new way to live - now and forevermore.



O God of love and new life, change the day and change us all. Bring your Reign of

peace among us. Amen.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 18, 2013

God as invitation. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]The invitation to come and enter into the fullness of the Reign of God is a constant,

never-ending reality. God as invitation takes us where we are and gives us the next

steps for our lives. God invites us to look around and see the ever-present Lord

of Life ready to move us into the next moment - the next hour - the next day. The

invitation is always around us. There are other invitations that come into our reach

or are place in our hands. God as invitation offers us that peace that disturbs

the world by its simple presence. We are invited into peace even when violence takes

its toll at innocent events like Monday's marathon in Boston. The crushing power

of that act - the evil that rises up to destroy life - also becomes the invitation

to life that is not full of that violence. So God as invitation is there present

in the mess and the destruction - always present with the invitation to heal and

forgive and lift up the broken ones and mourn with those who suffer great loss.

God as invitation pursues us no matter what the day may be offering us.



O God of love and new life, even when life seems to come to an abrupt end we prayerfully

ask that you hand us a way to begin and continue to invite transformation and reconciliation.

Amen.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 17, 2013

God as invitation. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]God as invitation is filled with expectation - invitation to what!?! Well - life

that is seasoned with the fullness of God's Spirit of all hopefulness. This is a

Spirit that is able to take ordinary lives that are often sucked up into the patterns

of the world and opens wide a door to life that will transform those patterns. As

this God acts among us, our lives are filled with the power of new life to which

the Scriptures attempt to give witness. It is a witness of love that lives with

and alongside and on behalf of others - the good, the bad and all whose lives also

need to hear an invitation to new life. We become the invitation of our God by putting

our own flesh and blood out there as part of the life into which God is inviting

the whole world. We are each invited to be a witness to a strange new reality in

which the peace that passes all understanding is becoming more and more known to

the world as we enter it and the Spirit of God wraps us up in its promises. The

whole of Scripture is this invitation put into stories again and again - until

we get it.



O God of love and new life, inspire us to step up and take hold of the invitation

and the life it offers each of us this day. Amen.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 16, 2013

God as invitation. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]God as invitation is filled with expectation - invitation to what!?! Well - life

that is seasoned with the fullness of God's Spirit of all hopefulness. This is a

Spirit that is able to take ordinary lives that are often sucked up into the patterns

of the world and opens wide a door to life that will transform those patterns. As

this God acts among us, our lives are filled with the power of new life to which

the Scriptures attempt to give witness. It is a witness of love that lives with

and alongside and on behalf of others - the good, the bad and all whose lives also

need to hear an invitation to new life. We become the invitation of our God by putting

our own flesh and blood out there as part of the life into which God is inviting

the whole world. We are each invited to be a witness to a strange new reality in

which the peace that passes all understanding is becoming more and more known to

the world as we enter it and the Spirit of God wraps us up in its promises. The

whole of Scripture is this invitation put into stories again and again - until

we get it.



O God of love and new life, inspire us to step up and take hold of the invitation

and the life it offers each of us this day. Amen.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 15, 2013

God as invitation. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]Too many people are afraid of God. I think that is one way that God is getting written

off as being unworthy of our time or energy. There are more an more 'nones' out

there each day - those folks who simply do not want or need to have God as part

of their lives. The God they see is a God that is foul - angry - punishing - and

simply nonsense. That kind of God condemns and punishes and seems to delight in

stoning people. It is, for example, the God-hates-fags kind of God.



But then there is God as invitation - the God who invites us to join in the creativity

necessary to bring peace and healing to the world. God as invitation is not going

around looking for people to 'zap' or 'punish.' God as invitation is inspiring people

to step up and join in on an adventure that will turn a broken down, war-making,

revenge-seeking world into a creative journey in which we are each considered to

be a part of the power of life that reveals the peaceable Reign of our God who invites

us into an amazing journey of creative reconciliation that is rarely allowed within

the story-telling of a god who seems to rule by little more than anger and threat.



O God of love and new life, help us hear your voice of invitation so that we will

come to see how you give us the energy and the courage and the heart to bring your

Reign of peace alive. Amen.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 12, 2013

God as Laugher. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]God as laughter enable us to laugh out loud at ourselves - that is a holy place

to be. It is when we laugh at ourselves - catch ourselves in the act of being knuckleheads

and war-mongerers and hate mongerers - that we are granted the courage to turn around

- repent - grab hold of the love and healing and mercifulness. When we are able

only to hate what we do - and therefore find it easy to hate what others do - we

will not laugh and we will not forgive and we will not let ourselves start anew.

God as laughter allows Stephen - right before they stone him to death - to announce

forgiveness. HA! The folks listening probably thought he was nuts. But no - he was

being as real as the Reign of God raining down upon both the good and the bad so

that the world might be transformed. The saints who are a living act of forgiveness

are able to laugh out loud even when the world thinks we are being mad - foolish

- insane. In the middle of that laughter comes a courage that drowns out the fears

and shame and hurt that makes us so easily turn to revenge and bitterness and scapegoating.

God as laughter is eternally available - like a good joke that makes us pee in our

pants - embarrassing, yes, but something we will never forget. Never forget the

laughter of God.



O God of love and new life, we long for a bit of laughter and a whole expanse of

hopefulness. Amen.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 10, 2013

God as Laugher. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]God as laughter enable us to laugh out loud at ourselves - that is a holy place

to be. It is when we laugh at ourselves - catch ourselves in the act of being knuckleheads

and war-mongerers and hate mongerers - that we are granted the courage to turn around

- repent - grab hold of the love and healing and mercifulness. When we are able

only to hate what we do - and therefore find it easy to hate what others do - we

will not laugh and we will not forgive and we will not let ourselves start anew.

God as laughter allows Stephen - right before they stone him to death - to announce

forgiveness. HA! The folks listening probably thought he was nuts. But no - he was

being as real as the Reign of God raining down upon both the good and the bad so

that the world might be transformed. The saints who are a living act of forgiveness

are able to laugh out loud even when the world thinks we are being mad - foolish

- insane. In the middle of that laughter comes a courage that drowns out the fears

and shame and hurt that makes us so easily turn to revenge and bitterness and scapegoating.

God as laughter is eternally available - like a good joke that makes us pee in our

pants - embarrassing, yes, but something we will never forget. Never forget the

laughter of God.



O God of love and new life, we long for a bit of laughter and a whole expanse of

hopefulness. Amen.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 10, 2013

God as Laugher. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]God as laughter means that God keeps sticking with us. The option to that is a god

who destroys us. That is not our God. The god that destroys and the god that sends

fire and horror on the world is not our God. Our God laughs at the ways we turn

and go in the opposite direction. Laughter shows a God who understands us - knows

that we will try to do what we want even when it is quite contrary to the life God

hands us each day. I often ask 'what is the Good News' in this or that story in

Scripture. This is especially the case in those passages that seem to show God as

'angry as hell.' I would like to also ask, "where is the laughter" - can we see

our God in the middle of some of those confusing texts as the God who is able to

run after us like a parent who sees his/her child running off to 'get into something'?

That parent usually is thinking - she's going to fall - he's going to stumble down

the steps - she's going to trip over her shoe laces. We see what is in store for

our children - yet (at least for me) there is laughter. The laughter is part of

the 'I am with you always - you little knucklehead.' God as laughter is with us

through the stumbling and bumbling as the one who loves even when it seems more

sensible to be angry as hell.



O God of love and new life, wrap us up again with your love that knows we are so

good at going the wrong way and tripping over ourselves. Amen.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 9, 2013

God as Laugher. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]God as laughter is like a open door that freely lets us move back and forth without

having to figure out what is the right way to go in and out. God as laugher is able

to nurture in us a spirit of foolishness that will not be contained or shut down

by any type of structure we put in place to make God something other than who God

is. I suppose that means religious people too often forbid or restrict laugher.

We are too busy building the structures that demand so kind of holiness that may

not be holiness at all. Laugher is holy. Laugher in the middle of 'holy' places

is like baptismal water that hits us in the face and reminds us how ordinary we

all are and that we are not to let all the trappings and structures rule us. God

as laughter interrupts us even when we are demanding that the world be serious -

because we are such serious people. Laugher has an element of being uncontrollable

- quite like grace. It spills over us and whips around us and cuts through each

and every facade we try to put in place. God as laugher invites us to wrestle with

everything we fear and everything we want to control. We are invited - at that point

- to let go and live anew.



O God of love and new life, help us to let go and roll down the hill and flip over

and be caught up in that which we cannot control. Let your Reign come down upon

us. Amen.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 8, 2013

God as Laugher. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]Sometimes a big, uncontrollable bit of laughter cleans the air. It can feel as though

we have just given birth to something that has been lost or forgotten or reserved

for another time. Laughter cracks open our hearts and rips open our guts so that

we are left totally exposed. God as laughter leaves us exposed and open to whatever

may comes next. One writer notes: "This ability to laugh in the midst of our imperfections

in the presence of God is what we call grace." In those moments of great laughter

- the kind that makes us spit a bit or blow snot from our noses - we are a vulnerable

bunch. I think it is also a time when God smiles - no - laughs. We are a strange

lot - humans. We readily go to war - we often want the world to go as we would

have it go or we will have nothing to do with it. Laughter is one way we are reminded

of how funny our great thoughts really may be. I particularly like a footnote I

read - by G.K. Chesterton - "It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke

about it." God as laughter is able to withstand the jokes and the pokes of our humanity.

It is our humanity that goes a bit nuts with joking and laughter. We are the ones

offended - we are offended because we want to be right - we are often offended because

we want to be 'gods' in charge of God. Ha! God as laughter helps us take the first

day of the week as a day that the Lord, God, has made and therefore a day we can

enter with great humor.



O God of love and new life, when we laugh, we cry, when we cry, you comfort us by

helping us smile - laugh - see the hilarity in our brokenness. Blessed are you O

God of a new day that tumbles and rumbles with humor. Amen.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 5, 2013

God as new day. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]This Sunday the story in the gospel from Luke will be that wonderful tale of the

walk to Emmaus. It is a walk that begins in under the cloud of death and disappointment.

Yes, it is the first day of the week, but it is the first day of the week that has

always looked like the first day of the week - one ruled by death. It takes quite

a bit of storytelling and probably quite a few questions and interruptions (we don't

get to hear those) and finally prayer and the breaking of bread - but then and there

is a new day. God as new day is God walking with us and not going off on another

direction when we are sure we know the way. God as new day keeps telling stories

that help us make connections between our ordinary days and the great and marvelous

acts of God that seem to be able to move God's people through all times and places.

God as new day is the power that can turn folks around and start up where we left

off - but move us by the power of the Holy Spirit into a new day.



O God of love and new life, walk with us and talk with us and move us - move us

into your day. Amen.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 4, 2013

God as new day. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]I think an empty tomb that was supposed to be filled with death is a new day. I

also think that women being the first and primary and only witnesses in sight of

the tomb (in a world that still wants men to be the 'one and only' witnesses) is

a new day. I think the followers of Jesus who are unafraid to talk and live with

people not following the same one we call Lord, Jesus, is a new day. In other words

- it is a new day and our God of grace is constantly opening up our lives to bring

about the amazing creative power of God that is still unfolding all around us. God

as new day is resurrection that leaves doors open and lives free to move in and

through all times and all places without being ruled by fear and anxiety. God as

new day is being able to dream dreams that are beyond our expectations and to also

see visions that draw into question what we usually see and allow us to envision

that which is not yet clearly available. God as new day is an openness that right

now may befuddle us and yet may become a part of the center of our lives. That is

an amazing new day.



O God of love and new life, there is more to see and more to hear and more to touch

and more ways to experience a love that promises not to let us go. Open our hearts

to take it all in. Amen.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 3, 2013

God as new day. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]Too often I let myself be ruled by the way things have gone. It is not a very creative

place to be. In fact, it is a place that rules out creativity. It is a place that

is able to keep me stuck and unable to think or act outside the way things have

always gone. What a lost place - what a boring place - what a sad place. God as

new day liberates us to look with new eyes at what is coming at us. When we can

do that, there is the opportunity to make something new out of the moment and the

day. That is how creativity starts - being able to see the same old stuff in a new

way so that we are not ruled by what has been. This does not mean that we must always

be changing things. Rather, we are given the freedom to walk around and to get another

perspective and to play with the situations in which we find ourselves. God as new

day is a door that has been blown wide open and now we are free to investigate what

new life may greet us.



O God of love and new life, fling wide the door of this day and encourage us to

take it on in ways we mays that are fresh and surprising. Amen.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 2, 2013

God as new day. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]God as new day means we can reconsider how we will go about the days of our lives.

We do not need to be absorbed in getting back at others or making sure that others

do not have what we have or that we must have what they have. Instead, we are freed

up to consider how we can be a part of the healing of our world - everything from

our personal relationships to the warring madness of our world. We can think about

and then engage ourselves in the things that make for peace. We can forgive and

we can lend a hand. We can stop picking on other and tearing down everything that

is not like us. Yes, we can. That is the Easter proclamation - Yes. Yes we are a

part of the new day because our God not only invites us to live there - God empowers

us to turn away from the brokenness of the day and step along a new way. God as

new day calls forth resistance - not violent resistance. We are invited to turn

our backs to the ways of vengeance and retribution and scapegoating - and then

make a deliberate turn to a love that never ceases to seek healing and forgiveness

and solidarity with those around us. A new day is at hand - that is a promise we

must take seriously.



O God of love and new life, help to turn us around even when we long to keep fighting

for our own lives. Make us a part of the reconciliation of all things. Amen.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Redeemer Devotions for April 1, 2013

God as new day. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]On that day when the empty tomb started to rumble we entered a new day. Yes, it

was the first day of the week - but it was not the first day of the week like every

other first day of the week. Usually the first day of the week was the beginning

of the same old thing coming around for another play. That is how death works.

It never stops trying to rule the day. The first day of the week is - for all of

us - the day we continue what has been - the brokenness - the fear that conquers

us - the hatred that divides us - the desires that invite war - the rivalry that

never stops - the finger pointing that is another attempt to create the world in

our own image. And yet, on the first day of the week within the story of the Resurrection,

God hands us life that is contrary to what has been accepted as the only way we

can go. God as new day is a day full of the hope that moves us away from what is

the pattern of control that only leads to death and exclusion and separation. God

as new day - means new day - every day - baptismal water day.



O God of love and new life, let the week begin in you name. Amen.