Saturday, September 27, 2014

Saturday, September 27, 2014



Today’s text

Luke 7:41-50

A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’ Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

Don’t forget the truth

Tears are always telling. They reveal the heart. Look at the woman weeping at Jesus feet, washing them with her tears, kissing and anointing him with oil.

These are not tears of sorrow or a shower of shame. They are the tears of one who tastes the height of human fulfillment and joy. Passionate love that cannot be contained flows from her heart as from a lake into which a great rain has fallen.

She feels the Great Love who is God filling and flowing through her. Dissolving all shame and fear, it busts the narrow confines of her heart and spills from her eyes, her hands and feet. She becomes a truly human soul for the first time.

The woman is a portrait of the ecstasy and loving freedom God intends for every human being. In Jesus, she experiences forgiveness and the Love who is beyond (and within) all loves, welcoming her home. She enters a world of grace where she is held and encompassed by the Love who labors in all things, in every time and place, every moment and speck of matter.

Those like Simon, the Pharisee, cannot enter this world. They cannot ascend to the heights of fulfillment known by the woman weeping at Jesus feet. They will never be as alive, wondrous and beautiful as she. Comfortable in their respectability, they do not ache for forgiveness and the welcome of God.

She hungers, welcomes and believes that Jesus’ grace is the truth of her life, the ultimate truth of all life. Surely, she did always believe this. Until she met Jesus, she likely believed she was what others said she was—tainted, sinful, unacceptable, an outcast. She knew she didn’t belong among those invited to the party of life’s better things.

There are many who believed this about her. She internalized this identity, believing the lie that she was something less than beautiful, a soul of infinite worth, the apple of God’s eye, beloved for all time.

So many believe this lie, internalizing the identity and value projected upon them by others … or by their own internal demons, and this is who they become, acting out a part they were never meant to play.

But not this woman. Forgiven, she is given back … herself … and becomes the beauty and love, the grace and gratitude the Loving Mystery created her to be. She becomes a vessel of the Love who has neither beginning nor end.

She believes Jesus’ forgiveness—not Simon’s rejection-- is the ultimate truth of her life—and ours. Refusing the life-killing lie, she enters the joy of those who know they are beloved of God. Her faith saves her, sets her in right relationship with God, and opens a world of grace.

So it is with us. With needy hearts and eyes opened by Jesus’ forgiveness, we see and recognize the grace that finds us even in odd and unexpected moments. Late one recent afternoon, I sat in a cafĂ©, glass of red wine in hand, looking up Washington Street near my office. Cars worked their way up and down the rain-washed asphalt on their way home.

I’d just had another birthday, and my mind wandered across decades of a startling life in which I have seen and felt things I never thought I’d know. My musing moved me to love and gratitude—and eagerness to bless my waiter or anyone else who happened by.

I knew what the woman at Jesus’ feet knew. All that I am, all that has been and will be is encompassed by God, held by the Love who forgives and lifts me, the Love who saves me from myself and my sadness over the failures and frustrations that too often imprison my heart.

No one needs to tell me to love or to pray in such moments. Love and prayer flow like tears from the weeping woman: “I give you thanks, O God, that you come to again and again to me with the grace of forgiveness, welcoming me home.”

This Love is the ultimate truth of our life … of all life. Knowing this Love, we become truly human souls. This is the way it is: The Loved … love.

Pr. David L. Miller

Friday, September 26, 2014

Friday September 26, 2014



Today’s text

Psalm, 25, 1,6-7

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust; …
Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
   for they have been from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
   according to your steadfast love remember me,
   for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

A morning prayer

I cry to you in the morning, O Lord,
like billions before me and
untold numbers
who will take my place
when I am gone.

But that is not now.
Now, I am here, needing
the peace of your presence,
the magic of the Love that melts
every sorrow and trouble,
lifting my eyes,
telling my heart that this soul of mine
is loved and wanted,
that this heart is yet beautiful
as the symphony
that fills this basement room
and me.

Tell me
what my heart needs to know.
Fill me
with the Love you are.
Send sacraments
of your nearness
to save me from myself.
Deliver me
from demons
that wake me on lonely nights,
and I shall be free to praise you.

Knowing you is life.
So this day let me feel
the sun on my face,
the autumn air on my skin and
flowing lightly through my lungs.
Let me see
the smiles of your beloved,
and I will know joy again,
praising you for the goodness
you are.

I live to know
your Love.
Your love is life and wonder,
beauty and freedom,
and I believe against all doubt
in the Love
that never lets us go.

So let me know
in all the ways you speak
the Love that is life
and my heart shall fly free.

Pr.  David L. Miller

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Thursday, September 25, 2014


Today’s text
Luke 7:41-50

A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’ Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

Truth that sets free

She believed. She trusted that what Jesus said was true, no, that it is the ultimate truth of her soiled and broken life. More: She believed the grace she felt flowing from Jesus is the ultimate truth of life.

She could have believed otherwise and likely did … until she met Jesus.

She believed that she was what others said she was--rejected, tainted, sinful, unacceptable, an outcast. She doesn’t belong among those invited to the party to enjoy life’s better things.

There are many who believed this about her, and she no doubt internalized this identity. She knew who she was … this rejected, unwelcome thing. She believed the lie that she was not beautiful, a soul of infinite worth, the apple of God’s eye, beloved for all time.  (So many of us believe this lie!)

The rejected often internalize the identity and value others project on them, and this is who they become, acting out a part they were never meant to play, internalizing their oppression.

Forgiven, the woman is given back … herself. She is free to become what the Loving Mystery created to her be, bearing the grace and beauty, dignity and honor. Jesus restores her to herself, setting her free for a fresh future.

And she believes. She has faith. She grasps his words as her reality, the ultimate truth of her life, in the process rejecting the rejection that had rained down on her … as a lie.

Faith grabs hold of ultimate truth. It grasps what your heart accepts as the truth about the world, yourself, the lives of others … about God’s presence or absence, about whether the world is graced or forsaken

Are Jesus words true or are the opinions of those who reject me the real truth of my life? Do I live in a world where grace is real and seeks me very moment of my day, or is this illusion?

The woman believes Jesus … and is saved.

Freedom, a fresh future, the joy of belovedness … this is all hers the moment she believes that Jesus … not Simon … speaks the truth of her life … and ours.

Pr. David L. Miller