Redeemer Devotions for February 11, 2013

Today starts some reflections on God as lasting. I have several reasons. First,

in a conversation about what we (clergy) do for self-care I brought up this simple

devotion. For 14 years it has helped to bring focus and a sense of imagination to

a life that I once was seeing as worthless. Second, I'm writing this on Saturday,

February 9, that means the folks at Redeemer have put up with me for 27 years. God

has provided them with a sense of humor that seems to be lasting.



As the Church Year continues to spin, it always reminds me that we can rise up in

the morning and say 'here we go again.' Today - as was the case yesterday and will

be the case tomorrow - we have the opportunity to begin our lives within the expansive

embrace of God's love for us. For me that means baptism and the simple dripping

of water and the profound promise that there is no day in which our God will be

gone from my side. God as lasting means that even as I sit perplexed by life and

thinking that I am not capable to be a follower of Jesus in this day - this lasting

God sustains me - holds me - pinches me to remind me that I am beloved of God and

that creates possibilities for life that I am not yet able to see completely. That

promise lasts. It is the same promise handed to all the saints who faced great evidence

that their lives would not and could not continue. And yet, God as lasting is the

word that cannot be overcome by the evidence of the day that may shout out a contrary

word. Again this day - this week - this month - this year - and into every moment

of our lives, God's promise is enough to see us through all our days - even into

the next moment that can frighten us and make us think we must turn around. God

as lasting does not merely shape us for now, it will be the power that creates

a character that makes each of us a part of a living witness to God's promise for

life.



O God of love and new life, we know that this can be one hell of a day. That is

enough to discourage us and make us fold up our lives. And yet, by the power of

your Holy Spirit, we hear that dripping of water and your words of promise that

already words to lift us up into new life. We praise you, O God. Amen.

Redeemer Devotions for February 8, 2013

God on the move who keeps us moving.



So it is the end of the week - what now? The week ends and the weekend begins. I

like the sound of that. In the end there is a beginning and most of us really look

forward to that which comes after the end. In fact, we often take note that there

is quite a bit of life to be lived in the that which is part of the end. Our God

on the move is always dismantling the 'end' so that we will stay on the move. That

is life in the Reign of God - what now - what will come of us - who will we be next.

So we look forward to the end and we learn that after the weekend is the beginning

- again. This God on the move is throwing life in front of us and calling us to

take a piece of it and be pulled into the possibilities for life that each of us

are handed each day - from the beginning to the end and right on through to the

next beginning.



We don't keep moving simply because we are having successes or have things going

our way. Rather we keep moving because we only know that our God will be with us

in the midst of all things - endings and beginnings. Therefore we can be people

who move into life and not let ourselves fall into indifference that keeps us in

one place - never moving in any way.



O God of love and new life, pull us through the end and make us see how life begins

even as we are ready to give up. By your Spirit help to hold up our heads to see

beyond the ends of our life that are so often able to bring us down. Amen.

Redeemer Devotions for February 6, 2013

God on the move who keeps us moving.



When the church says 'Amen' we are saying that we are ready to move. We are ready

for God to be our God and use as instruments of the work within the life of the

Reign of God. We don't say a simple 'I agree' or 'good thought.' We say 'Amen' -

and expect that the world will begin to bend in the direction of our God who creatively

expands life in the way of justice and peace and the reconciliation of all things.

That is a big move - and we are saying in that simple 'amen' - let's go there -

let's move life a bit down that road - let's get up and engage the world in the

name of our God who gives us a way up off of our behinds and into the healing of

all things.



For most of us, that 'amen' may be things that are quite simple - the kinds of stuff

that can change the day - here and now in this moment. For others, that 'amen' is

the beginning of dramatic moves that most of us cannot anticipate. And yet, within

that 'amen' we all keep moving. Even when I am a part of the small movement of justice

and peace and healing, I know that I am a part of the healing of the whole cosmos.

Yes, me - little me - my little actions within this day - a part of the grand reconciliation

of all things. God on the move does not stop and is always finding ways to move

us too.



O God of love and new life, let's go - take us up into your Reigning life. Amen.

Redeemer Devotions for February 6, 2013

Lethargy is the real enemy of every hope. God on the move



Yesterday I ended with 'and then.' That is not an ending. Then again, when we have

this God on the move as our God, the ending does not have the same power that it

once had. Once it meant all things are over - turn off the TV - leave the theater

- close the casket - stay put and close the door. This God on the move never stops

touching us on the shoulder or tapping us on the head or marking us with the cross

of Christ on our forehead saying 'and then'. And then we will play in the garden

- we will heal those around us who are suffering from all the many things that cause

suffering - we will stand alongside all the people who have no one to stand with

them - we will cry and laugh and weep and wail and chuckle until we pee in our

pants. Our God moves us from here to a there that is not yet seen. The only promise

is that God will be on the move with us all the way and there will be life all along

the way.



When I imagine God on the move, I am moved to go for it. Knowing that I may go for

it in all the wrongs ways, there is the community of saints who are meant to be

on the move also. When that is the reality in which I live - otherwise called a

promise - there will be extravagant adventures and there will be ones that simply

keep us all grounded to life that is simply moving along the way - for now. We all

could use some wild, extravagant movements within those days when all we want is

to remain lazy and turned-in-on- ourselves. What do we do when we have just taken

that unbelievable leap that has always seemed quite beyond us? We learn to say,

'and then' and the whole church says 'amen.'



O God of love and new life, in and through all we approach, remain with us and continue

to move us alongside your way. Amen.

Redeemer Devotions for February 5, 2013

Lethargy is the real enemy of every hope. God on the move



We can go there. We can do that. We are allowed to jump in and go for it. We do

not need to be in control before we take God's promises to heart and live and die

by them. This does not mean we through our God-gifted reason and insight and gifts

to the wind and leap before looking. Then again, I really do think we take our reason

and insight and gifts and toss them into the wind that is the Spirit of God who

lifts it all up and brings us down in a place and time that we are able to see anew.

The wind is part of the God on the move - always pulling us to the boundary and

then beyond - always opening our eyes to see what we thought we should not see -

always introducing us to Eunuchs along the road and we were always told not to

deal with those folks.



God on the move offers us the promise of rest but this rest is not the kind of rest

that draws us into a premature death - a death of indifference. Rather, this God

moves us and enlivens us all the way through death so that even the power of death

that often causes us to shut down will not be the last word within the hopefulness

of God's Reign. God on the move invites us to say what Herb Brokering used to say

to our class: And then.



O God of love and new life, bring it on - all of it. Amen.

Redeemer Devotions for February 4, 2013

This week it is a short quote from the first page of the introduction to Ethics

of Hope by Jurgen Moltmann that has me thinking more about be God's people with

a future. He writes: Lethargy is the real enemy of every hope.



As we become settled, we often stay settled. It doesn't take long to do this and

yet it can become the end of us. By the end, I mean that we can easily forget about

that which is possible in life and that which is not yet present. Therefore, we

are being tempted to keep the world as it is right now. I don't think that is the

history of the Reign of God among God's people. This God of Scripture and this God

who is still moving among us making us into the story of God's people is for me

God on the move. This is a God who is with us - eternally with us - but always on

the move. That demands movement on our part so that we can see the wideness of

God's Reign that does not settle for the way any of us try to contain God's Reign.

God on the move pulls us up off of our seats so that we may - at least - gain new

perspectives. Otherwise how do we embrace the fullness of God's image as expressed

in the rest of humanity and the whole creation. When we sit back - we tend to be

in control of what we do and see. I control the remote when I sit in my chair.

I bring the world I want onto the screen and when there is nothing I want - I turn

it all off. God on the move opens the door - shows us the front yard - the end of

the street - the life that is out of my control but longing for me to enter it and

entertain what is not yet.



I figured out that I can become indifferent very easily. I am able to say 'forget

it all' and yet I know it is the Spirit of God that keeps pulling me up to greet

what is coming. Hope.



O God of love and new life, as you pull us into your future and we fight it every

bit of the way, hold tight and keep pulling and bringing us into life eternal. Amen.

Redeemer Devotions for February 1, 2013

God as Light from which we turn.



Early in the morning when I go downstairs to move into the first moments of the

day, things are quite dark. And yet, living in the city there are street lights

that throw light into the rooms through which I walk. And yet, there are still patches

of darkness. I find the darkness to be peaceful. Light can be disruptive. Darkness

allows me to sit back. For some reason, that light and dark time of the day helps

me see that there are both sides to a good day. There are times when the light blinds

me like darkness. There are times when darkness allows me to see more clearly. There

are times when I turn from the light in order to get another perspective on what

is right in front of me. When I do that, am I turning from the light or am I simply

given a new way to look at what is so well-known? Not sure.



In the darkest of days - even the dark days I create for myself - I find that there

is always a space for insight and growth and transformation. If that is so, isn't

it good to enter the darkness deliberately at times - to turn from what has been

called light in order to see that which cannot be seen in the light? God as darkness

is for me like God as light - always bringing forth surprise and mystery and an

appreciation for all that comes and all that I must enter this day.



O God of love and new life, within the light and darkness of life, you are the Lord

of the day and the power for life that pulls us into your future. For this we once

again give thanks. Amen.