Passion and Insignificance

This past week we had a guest preacher at the dedication of our renovated sanctuary at Woodland Park Pres, so I got to take a break from preaching and did not blog. The dedication celebration was a rousing success, as we had many former pastors and members in attendance to help us give thanks to God for the many years of ministry here and look forward to many more years.

This coming Sunday, we'll be reading Jeremiah 1:4-10 and Luke 4:21-30 in our worship service. Here's part of the Jeremiah passage:

"Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.'

Then I said, 'Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am
only a boy.' But the Lord said to me,
'Do not say, I am only a boy;
for you will go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,'
says the Lord.

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,
'Now I have put my words in your mouth.
See today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.'"

How many times in your life have you felt frightened, weak and unprepared for the challenges that lay ahead of you in life? Maybe I should ask how many times a day?

All through the scriptures, people express disbelief that God would call them to do something in this world when obviously they are not up to the task for various reasons. For Jeremiah, it was his immaturity, his insignificance. But God can be pushy and says, "You shall go to all whom I send you and speak whatever I command you." Jeremiah is not going to get away.

Joseph Brodsky, a Russian-American writer said, "Passion is the privilege of the insignificance."

In what ways do you feel small now? How is the Spirit calling forth your passion from that insignificance?

Behind the scenes

I find it interesting in this first miracle recorded in John that very few people knew about it. He turns the water into wine and only Jesus' mother, some servants and the disciples are aware of it. The bride and groom don't know where the new wine comes from. The wedding coordinator doesn't know; he or she is astounded by the good wine being served last. Contrast this with, for instance, the feeding of the 5,000 or the healings that take place in crowded synagogues, where many people see them and broadcast them throughout the town.

The purpose in John seems to be that this is a bit of a private miracle intended for the benefit of Jesus' newly called disciples, that they might believe. Jesus starts by developing trust in that inner core of his ministry team.

When you work your miracles (obviously I use the term loosely to mean the use of your gifts), are you comfortable doing it quietly, behind the scenes, or do you prefer that people are aware of it and give you plenty of applause? For most of us, we certainly use our gifts for the glory of God, not to please others, but it sure helps to have some applause from time to time. I guess that's just human. Funny that Jesus, even when many people observed his miracles, often told them not to tell others. He didn't seem to want the acclaim. I guess that was Jesus being Jesus.

What to do when the wine gives out

John 2:1-11

Jesus and his disciples go to a wedding Jesus is imformed by his mother that the celebratory wine has run out. Jesus asks why he as a guest should be concerned with the wedding coordinator's lack of management skill. Mary seems to disregard this and tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. Being the dutiful son, Jesus tells the servants to fill the jars with water, which they do. When the wedding coordinator tastes the water, he finds that it is a delicious wine and wonders why the best wine was served last. The party goes on!

What do you do when life loses its ability to enchant, when you go through your day just marking tasks off your list, without much sense of satisfaction or meaning? What do you do when you lose any sense of the mysterious holy in your life, when the wine gives out?

Conversation with a Scientist

When in school, I ran screaming from all science classes and tried to find the settled warmth of the humanites; it is just where I felt most comfortable and successful. But as a preacher who comes to biblical texts from a theological perspective, I have always wondered how scientists hear the Word of God, particularly when reading some of the great Old Testament poetry which uses images from the natural world. I have always wanted to take some sermon time to sit down with a scientist and reflect on scripture. Well, that's exactly what I'm going to do this Sunday.

Conway Leovy is retired professor emeritus of Atmospheric Science at the University of Washington. He and I are going to sit down during worship and share our reflections on Psalm 29, which you'll find on my previous blog post this week. It is a Psalm that praises the God who is present in the storm, a literal storm. The images are powerful and moving. I'm looking forward to hearing his impressions, since I imagine he knows a thing or two about storms. I'll also be asking the congregation for they're comments and questions. Should be enlightening.

Baptism of the Lord Sunday

Happy New Year!

Christmastide is almost over; it ends with Epiphany on Wednesday, January 6. The Christmas season has been wonderful this year in this community of faith, as we have engaged ancient spiritual practices, both personal and corporate, to prepare for and celebrate the birth of Christ. My favorite is always the Christmas Eve service with communion and candlelight. How about you?

In the liturgical year, the first Sunday after Epiphany is always The Baptism of the Lord Sunday. So, as far as the church year is concerned, Jesus grows up quickly. Next Sunday we will celebrate the beginning of his ministry as he receives the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove after he is baptized.

To go with this theme of water and visitations from heaven, the lectionary provides us with Psalm 29, a beautiful Psalm of God's power in creation as the psalmist describes God's presence in a storm:
Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
worship the Lord in holy splendor.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the ceders of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wildreness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,
and strips the forest bare;
and in his temple all say, "Glory."

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!


Witnessing a powerful storm even from in a strong, secure house can be an awe-evoking experience. Can you imagine the feeling of the ancient peoples as they experienced storms from much more vulnerable locations? Have you had an overwhelmingly powerful experience of God while out in nature? What has God done lately that makes you want to respond, "Glory!" like the psalmist?

More later in the week.