Labor Day Sunday

Good morning!  The children and youth in our school district started school last week.  This got me to thinking of all the groups and committees which will start meeting again now that the summer is over.  Life is about to get a lot busier for many of us, students and adults alike!  Let me show you what I mean.  We’ll use me as an example.

Imagine that this plate is my life.  I have a lot of interests, activities and obligations which I try to balance on my plate, or fit into my life.  (Go through list, adding representative items to the plate one at a time.  For example, a spiral notebook and a pen could represent your work, a spatula cooking, a framed picture of your family, etc.)  Keep the plate balanced until the last item is placed on the plate, if you can, then let the whole thing fall to the ground.)

OH, NO!  What happened?  I put too much on my plate, didn’t I!  The same thing happens when we try to fit too much into our lives without taking time to pause.  To rest.  To regroup and refresh with God.  If we keep going, going, going without an occasional break, everything we want to do suffers.  We don’t do as well in school as we could.  We don’t have the energy and focus to excel in sports, or music, or dance, or whatever we like to do.  We can neglect our friends and family members. 

God tells us that we all need rest.  God rested.  After creating the heavens and the earth, God took a break.  Jesus, too, walked away from the crowds and spent time alone with his thoughts and with God every now and then. 

I encourage you to follow this example.  Take time out of your day and your week to unplug, unwind and spend quality time with God.  If you do this, the rest of your life will be in better balance and everything else will benefit. 

Discipleship & Thomas

John 20:19-29

When you hear the word, "Disciple," what comes to mind?

In the most general terms, a disciple is one who studies and follows the teachings of someone else.  It could be an individual person or group, or even an idea or philosophy.

We find 12 named disciples in the Bible, but there were many others--people of all sizes, shapes, colors, backgrounds--men and women, too, who studied and followed the teachings of Jesus.  We are Jesus' disciples today, even though we've never met Jesus in the same way that Peter, James, John, Mary Magdalene and Thomas did.  As Christians, we study and do our best to follow the teachings of Jesus, which makes us his disciples.  

After Jesus' death and resurrection, he appeared to the disciples who followed him around for three years, listening, watching and learning from him.  He showed Thomas the scars on his hands and side, and Thomas believed that Jesus was alive once again.  Jesus said, "So, you believe because you've seen with your own eyes.  Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing."  (The Message)

Jesus was talking about people like you, and like me, when he said those words--words which have been true for nearly 2,000 years!  We haven't stood face-to-face with Jesus, but by God's grace we are blessed with faith and friendship through His Church.

AMEN.

Palm Sunday

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES              

John 12:12-27

Have you ever heard the expression, "What a difference a day makes?"  It is often used when talking about a sudden change in the weather--like when one day it's sunny and warm.  You're outside, riding your bike, playing ball, maybe even swimming at the beach or pool.  Then the next day you wake up and it's super cold and miserable--maybe it's even snowing!  That's when someone might say, "Wow!  What a difference a day makes!"

Toward the end of Jesus' life, he went back to the city of Jerusalem to celebrate a festival called "Passover" with his disciples.  Celebrating the Passover Feast in Jerusalem was a big deal, so there were lots of visitors in town.  Jesus was becoming known in Judea as someone special.  He healed a blind man.  He provided lunch for a huge crowd from only a small amount of food.  He even brought a man who had died back to life.  So when Jesus approached the city gate, news spread fast that this amazing rabbi was coming, and the crowd got super excited!  They tore branches from the trees and waved them as Jesus approached.  They were so happy to see Jesus, they shouted, "Hosanna!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord--the King of the Jews!" 

But their happiness did not last for long.  By the end of the week, the mood had changed.  Jesus was arrested, and Pilate, the Roman governor, asked the crowd, "What should I do with Jesus, the King of the Jews?"  This time they shouted, "Crucify him!  We have no king but Caesar!"  

What a difference a week makes!  This was a very sad time for Jesus, but it is not the end of the story.  Come back next week, and I will tell you the exciting, and happy, ending.

Prayer:  Dear Jesus, Sometimes our feelings are changeable, like the weather.  Help our love for you to be constant, even when other things in our lives are not always the same.  Amen.

STINKY FEET - Mary Anoints Jesus' Feet

 JOHN 12:1-3

Have you ever walked on the beach really far, only to have to turn back and walk just as far again to get to your towel and cooler?  Have you ever hiked a long trail in the mountains?  Or walked to a friend’s house who lived many blocks from your own?  Or spent the whole day running from ride to ride and standing in long lines at an amusement park?

These are all fun things to do, but a the end of days like that, my feet are really, really tired, and sore; sweaty, dirty and probably pretty stinky, too.

About a week and a half before he died, Jesus was visiting his friends, Martha, her sister Mary, and their brother Lazarus, in their home in the town of Bethany.  They were hosting a dinner in Jesus’ honor.  The disciples were invited, too.  Jesus walked a long way to get to the party on dusty roads.  His feet were tired, sore, dirty and probably pretty stinky, too.

Mary, Martha and Lazarus each loved Jesus with their whole heart.  He was their dear friend and teacher—the person they respected most in the world.  Mary wanted to do something for Jesus to show how much he meant to her. 

She took a pound of very expensive perfume—that’s a lot of perfume—and poured it onto Jesus’ tired, hurting feet.  Then she wiped his perfumed feet with her hair.  Imagine how wonderful that must have felt to Jesus—not only the soothing it brought to his tired feet, but the joy it brought to his heart to know that his friends loved him that much.

A few days after this, Jesus and his disciples go to Jerusalem.  There, they share another dinner, where Jesus performs a similar act of love and service for his disciples.  It involves feet, too.

Feeding the 5,000

 

When I was growing up in California, our schools didn’t have cafeterias.  There were 22 elementary schools in our district, most of them built in the 1950’s during the post-war boom when everyone and their brother or sister wanted to move to the land of palm trees and movie stars.  Schools were built so fast, the districts didn’t have the money to include cafeterias.  They said they would add them later.  They never did.

Everyone brought their lunch from home, even the teachers.  Occasionally, someone forgot their lunch at home.  Without a cafeteria, what do you think happened to the students who forgot their lunch?  Did they go home?  Did they go hungry?  No, they ate like royalty!  Other children shared part of their lunches with the one who was without, and in the end, that child usually had the biggest, best lunch of anyone!

Today’s story involves a little boy who shared his lunch and helped Jesus to feed a whole bunch of people.

One time, Jesus and his disciples were on a large hill by the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus looked out and saw a big crowd of people coming toward him.  They had heard about the amazing things Jesus had done—like healing a blind man, for example—and they wanted to meet him.  It was close to lunch time, so Jesus asked his disciple, Philip, “How are we going to buy bread to feed all of these people?”

Philip said, “Are you kidding?  We don’t have close to what it would cost to buy just a little bit of food for each person!’

Another of Jesus’ disciples named Andrew said, “There’s a young boy here who has five rolls and two fish, but what is that when there are so many people to feed?”

Jesus told the disciples to tell everyone to sit down.  The people sat down on the grass.  There were 5,000 men, not counting the women and children!  Jesus gave thanks to God for the food, and then passed it out to the entire crowd.  Everyone had more than enough to eat.  When they were finished, Jesus told the disciples to pick up the leftovers.  They filled 12 baskets!

The people were amazed and filled with awe.  “Surely this man is the prophet sent by God,” they said.  

God's gifts are over-the-top!  He gives us what we need and then some.  

Thanks be to God!

MLK Remembered

    Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day—a day we remember and celebrate the work and person of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  He was an important civil rights leader in the 1950’s and ‘60’s.  He inspired thousands of people to join him in the fight for equality in this country.  He was instrumental in getting the American Civil Rights Act passed.  This law makes it illegal for anyone to discriminate against someone else based on their race, color, religion, gender or national origin.  For example, a person who is qualified for a job—she has the education and experience needed to do the work—that person cannot be turned down for the job simply because of her skin color, or because she’s a woman, or because she is Muslim.  It didn’t used to be that way.  People could be refused jobs, or houses, or apartments, or seats at a lunch counter, on a bus or in a theater simply because the boss didn’t like the way you looked.  King was a gifted speaker and writer, and a firm believer in nonviolent protest as a means of bringing about change.  But I’m sure you learned all these things in school.  Here’s are a few things about Dr. King that maybe you didn’t know:

1.     When he was born, his parents named him Michael King, Jr.  Five years later, King’s father took a trip to Germany, where he was inspired by the Protestant Reformation leader, Martin Luther.  King, Sr., renamed himself and his son.

2.     King was a gifted student.  He skipped his freshman and senior years of high school and entered Morehouse College when he was 15 years old.

3.     Brother Martin was jailed 29 times, sometimes on civil disobedience charges, and sometimes on trumped-up charges.  Once he was arrested for going 5 miles over the speed limit.

4.     Martin Luther King, Jr.’s work was driven by his faith.  He knew that the world he lived in was not the world God wanted, and he felt called to do all he could to bring about change.

Dr. King’s work was successful in many ways.  He lived to see positive changes in the world, but his work—God’s work—is not finished yet.  I hope that as we celebrate MLK Day tomorrow, we will all take a good, long look at the world in which we live, and at ourselves.  What are the good things we see?  Where is change still needed so that all people have equal access to a rich and fulfilling life?  What can I do to help realize Dr. King’s dream of a free and equal world?

Let's pray.  God of all, we thank-you for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  We give thanks that he listened to and answered your call to work for equality and justice, even at the cost of his own life.  Help us to continue his work until the dream of an equal society might become a reality for everyone.  Amen.