Author: MASadmin

As I write this reflection, my two kittens are busy playing on the drying rack for my clothes. They are two little balls of fur; spinning, clawing, and jumping on my drying rack like its their personal jungle gym. My shirts, jeans, and other pieces of clothing are no longer clothes; they are cat toys. Every few minutes, I pick each one off the rack only to watch as they jump back on. This cycle is part of the game and it’s a game my kittens will do nothing to break.

The ashes we’re using tonight are not brand new. They are part of their own cycle. Last March, on Palm Sunday, we marked the beginning of Holy Week by celebrating Jesus’ final journey into Jerusalem. We welcome him into the city by waving palm branches in the sky. After the service, we saved the palms, tied them in a bundle, and hid them in a storage room. For the last year, they’ve sat undisturbed, slowly drying out. Yesterday, I took the bundle to our outdoor barbecue. I shared a prayer and burned those palms to ash.

The ashes used tonight show us how our worship is connected to a wider story. When we gather together to share Jesus’ story and live in God’s promises, we are participating in something that is more than one time event. We are connected to God’s story. And God’s story covers the past and the future. By being part of God’s creation, we are included in God’s story cycle. Tonight, when the ashes are placed on our forehead, we will hear words reminding us of that story. We’ll hear words of promise, connecting God’s spirit of creation to the reality of our mortality. And we’ll remember that, through Jesus, we’re always with God, no matter where our life cycle takes us.

Each week, I write a reflection on one of our scripture readings for the week. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship Bulletin for Ash Wednesday, 3/1/2017.

Our First Reading was Exodus 24:12-18.

What did Moses do during his first six days on the mountain? Before my bible study this week with other local Lutheran pastors, I never noticed this detail before. In our text from Exodus today, the Israelites are camped at the foot of Mt. Sinai. After escaping slavery in Egypt, they are learning how to live together. God is in the center of the community, covering Mt. Sinai in a cloud. God summoned Moses so Moses heads up the mountain. For six days, Moses is up there before God calls for him. So what does a person do when they’re waiting for God?

This text is full of allusions to other stories from scripture. In the story of Genesis, God worked for six days before resting on the seventh. During Noah’s great flood, the ark finally lands on a mountaintop as the water recedes from a rainstorm that lasted 40 days and 40 nights. People of the faith like Abraham, Sarah, and Jacob met God on various mountaintops and usually built on the spot where they saw God. And in earlier parts of the Exodus story, God is a cloud providing shade from the sun during the day and God is a cloud of fire providing light at night. In one short text, we see God as a creator, protector, savior, judge, and all-powerful presence. But we also meet a God who sometimes makes us wait.

The text doesn’t tell us what Moses was doing while he was waiting for God. He knew he was in God’s presence. The cloud gave that away. Yet, even Moses had to deal with God being silent. I imagine Moses took care of himself during those six days. He cooked his meals, slept outdoors, and kept himself busy. Moses kept living his life while waiting for God to finally speak. And I imagine we know what Moses waiting game feels like. We will hear in church today words of hope, promise, and hear how Jesus is here, right now, for us to eat and drink. Yet we might wonder why we can’t hear God speaking. I wish I had an answer for your why. But I don’t. Instead, we all have a story where even Moses had to wait. He had to keep living while he waiting for God to speak. But God’s silence does not mean God isn’t present. When we can’t hear God, God is still there. And God’s presence means God will speak and that, someday, we will finally hear. 

Each week, I write a reflection on one of our scripture readings for the week. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship Bulletin for 2/26/2017.

The Gospel Reading is Matthew 5:21-37.

In our gospel reading today, we’re still in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Last week, we heard the first twelve verses from that sermon. Today, we’re hearing the next 8. For Matthew, being a follower of Jesus Christ means we are students. Being with God involves regular learning, study, and education. Jesus, as he begins this sermon, is with his disciples. They are gathered around him and Jesus begins to teach. Jesus should teach because he is a rabbi and that’s what teachers do. The disciples, as followers, are called to learn and grow from what their teacher tells them. Being a disciple is more than just doing what we’re told. As a student, the more we learn, the more we are changed. As we study with God through scripture, worship, and prayer, we are transformed. Jesus isn’t just giving his disciples knowledge. Through their learning and education, the disciples are being changed into who God wants them to be.

But, according to Matthew, learning about God is not enough. In verse 20, we hear that our “righteousness” needs to exceed the righteousness of “the scribes and the Pharisees.” As Christians, we’re used to belittling the scribes and Pharisees. We paint these two groups as people who just don’t “get it.” We claim that their religious devotion and education blinded them to what God was doing in Jesus. If they stopped trying to learn about God and just see God, they would have recognized Jesus.

But these arguments are not Matthew’s arguments. Matthew isn’t against learning because that’s one of the ways we live as followers of Jesus. In Jesus’ day, education was something very few had access too. The scribes and Pharisees were as educated as someone could get. They could read, write, and study God’s word fro themselves. Their communities took care of them while they studied and learned. If anyone in Jesus’ world had the time, energy, and resources to learn about God, it was the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus’ demand to his followers in verse 20 is a heavy one. They are to know God more than anyone. How can they? Because, as disciples, God changes who they are. They are not only disciples. They are salt and light. They are more than who they were before and they called to live that identity out in all that they say and do.

Each week, I write a reflection on one of our scripture readings for the week. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship Bulletin for 2/19/2017.