Blogging toward Sunday

Image via Google Images

In preparation for worship, read Luke 17:5-10. What strikes you as most important about this passage? Take time to read it a second time, paying particular attention to what happens around the "table." 

Sunday, October 6 is World Communion Sunday. In light of our celebration, I invite you to meditate on the following blessing written by Jan Richardson.

And the Table Will Be Wide
A Blessing for World Communion Sunday[i]

And the table
will be wide.
And the welcome
will be wide.
And the arms
will open wide
to gather us in.
And our hearts
will open wide
to receive.

And we will come
as children who trust
there is enough.
And we will come
unhindered and free.
And our aching
will be met
with bread.
And our sorrow
will be met
with wine.

And we will open our hands
to the feast
without shame.
And we will turn
toward each other
without fear.
And we will give up
our appetite
for despair.
And we will taste
and know
of delight.

And we will become bread
for a hungering world.
And we will become drink
for those who thirst.
And the blessed
will become the blessing.
And everywhere
will be the feast.

As you journey toward Sunday, may you be blessed by the warm rays of the sun and the sure knowledge of God's embrace.

 

Shalom,

Glenda

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[i] Jan Richardson @ http://paintedprayerbook.com/2012/09/30/and-the-table-will-be-wide/#.UkmYbhApo3g

Blogging toward Sunday

Lazarus; via Wikimedia Commons

In preparation for worship, spend some time with Luke 16:19-31, which is the telling of the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Read through the text a couple of times and then consider:

1. What strikes you as most important about this parable? 
2. One of the themes throughout the Gospel of Luke is the great reversal. How is that played out here?
3. In the story, who is given a name? Who isn't?

The following was written by Helder Camara:

I used to think when I was a child that Christ might have been exaggerating when he warned about the danger of wealth. Today I know better. I know how very hard it is to be rich and still keep the milk of human kindness. Money has a dangerous way of putting scales on ones' eyes, a dangerous way of freezing people's hands, eyes, lips, and hearts.

As always, I look forward to worshiping with you. Also, I pray you enjoy this beautiful weather on your journey toward Sunday.

Blessings,
Glenda

Blogging toward Sunday

In preparation for worship this Sunday, read Philemon 1-21 and Luke 14:25-33. Then read the following excerpt from Jesus before Christianity: The Gospel of Liberation by Albert Nolan.

Jesus appealed…for a loving solidarity which would exclude nobody at all.

            Solidarity with humankind is the basic attitude. It must take precedence over every other kind of love and every other kind of solidarity. ‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple’ (Luke 14:26).

             The commentators always point out that because of the paucity of the Hebrew and Aramaic languages, the word ‘hate’ is used to cover all the attitudes which are not love. Thus it could mean hating, being indifferent to, detached from, or not preferring, someone. In this context, we are told, Jesus is asking for detachment: that one should not give preference to one’s families and relatives. This is true but it does not do justice to the mode of thinking of Jesus and his contemporaries.

            If love means solidarity then hate means non-solidarity. What Jesus is asking for is that the group solidarity of the family be replaced by a more basic solidarity with all humankind. This obviously does not mean that one’s kith and kin are to be excluded—as enemies! They are included in the new solidarity because they too are human beings. Nor does this mean that one should love them any the less. It is the basis of the love that is being altered.  They are not to be loved just because they happen to be your family and relatives but because they too are persons. They are to be loved with an inclusive love. In the end this will mean that they are loved all the more. They will be loved, not merely preferred.

            All the other references to the family in the gospels confirm this interpretation.

Until we meet again, may the Lord bless you and bless others through you.

Shalom,
Glenda

Blogging toward Sunday

Photograph via Google Images

For Sunday, September 1, 2013 prayerfully read Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 and Luke 14:1, 7-14. Reflect on what seems most meaningful to you from each passage. Then meditate on the following readings as your journey toward Sunday.

The Christian gospel declares that people are of inestimable value because they are the children of God, the concern of his love, created for an eternal destiny; not just people in general, but individual men, women and children, each with a name, each having priceless worth. This was made startlingly plain by Jesus when he told his disciples 'the very hairs of your head are all numbered': an extravagant piece of imagery to drive home what he was saying. When we take his word seriously, we begin to realize how far-reaching their significance is. If they are true, if that is how things really are, if God really does care for every single man, woman and child in the teeming millions that inhabit the globe, not to speak of the countless generations of the past and those as yet unborn, we cannot dismiss anyone as of no consequence; nor are we entitled to suppose that some are more important than others or that any should be sacrificed to serve some interest which takes precedence over their inherent worth. The consequences of accepting this basic presupposition are shattering, calling in question not only the way in which we commonly behave towards many of our fellow human beings, but the international, military, political, economic, and social policies which have been and still are considered reasonable by those who are responsible for them. (Paul Rowntree Clifford, Government by the People?)

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Blogging toward Sunday

The texts for Sunday, August 25, 2013 include Hebrews 12:18-29 and Luke 13:10-17. Prayerfully read through each of these passages. What questions arise for you? Afterward, reflect on the following poem and try to put yourself in the shoes of the bent over woman whom Jesus heals.

Google Images

Free to Stand and See

Stoop and bent
Unable to see
Any beauty
Any good
Only my feet do I see

Bowed and burdened
With painful cares
Sore from aches and pains
Is there any where
There isn’t pain?

But wait.
What was that?
A whisper
Floats on the air
I hear–barely

Come it says
Come to me
Bring your burdens
Bring your cares
Come, give them to me.

Come release what weighs
You down
Yes, I will take this.
Now sit and rest.
Look up and see

So I sat and I breathed
I lifted my eyes
To blue skies with
Clouds and wildflowers
And him
He who called me

I see love and mirth
In his eyes
And I realized
The burden was no longer
Mine to bear.

We talked and we laughed
Then left hand in hand
Arm and arm
The burden
He easily bore.[i]

May the Lord bless you and keep you as you journey toward Sunday worship.

 

Shalom,

Glenda

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[i] By Shawna R. B. Atteberry , author, theologian, and storyteller; http://www.shawnaatteberry.com/2008/05/02/sermon-the-bent-and-burdened-woman/

Blogging toward Sunday

In preparation for worship on Sunday, August 18, 2013 read Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16, 29-12:2. Afterward, take some time to reflect on the following questions:

1. In the Bible, who has been a hero of faith to me?
2. In my own life, who has acted as a hero of faith to me?
3. How have I acted as a person of faith in the life of someone else?

Meditate on the following "Faith Heroes" as you journey toward Sunday:

Moses & the Red Sea; Image by Lidia Kozenitzsky via Wikimedia Commons

The Prophet Samuel via Wikimedia Commons

Abraham & Sarah hosting 3 angels; via Wikimedia Commons

Apostle Paul, Rembrandt; via Wikimedia Commons

As always, I look forward to worshiping with you Sunday morning. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Shalom,

Glenda

Blogging toward Sunday

The Nature Sermon Series ends this Sunday with a look at "The Message of Creation." The sermon texts include Psalm 96, Job 38:1-18 and Romans 8:18-25. You may also wish to read Acts 17:22-28.

Sea of Galilee via Wikimedia Commons

As you journey toward Sunday, take time to consider what speaks to you most from God's creation? Does a sunset speak to your heart and soul? Or does a mountain or ocean seem to bring you closer to God?

The following, written by Walter Rauschenbusch, is a prayer of thanksgiving to God for all of creation.

O God, we thank you for this earth, our home;
for the wide sky and the blessed sun,
for the sea salt and the running water,
for the everlasting hills and the never-resting winds,
for trees and the common grass underfoot.

We thank you for our senses by which we hear the song of birds,
and see the splendor of the summer fields,
and taste of the autumn fruits,
and rejoice in the feel of the snow,
and smell the breath of spring.

Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty;
and save our souls from being so blind
that we pass unseeing when even the common thornbush
is aflame with your glory,
O God our creator,
who lives and reigns forever and ever.

And all  God's people said, "Amen."

I look forward to seeing you at our Celtic worship service Saturday at 5 p.m. and at morning worship Sunday.

Shalom,
Glenda