Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Today’s text

Matthew 13:45-46

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Priceless treasure

There is no hesitation. No clear-minded calculation when you find the pearl of great price. You simply know … and know it is worth all you are … and all you have. You know … you must have it, hold it near and treasure what you have found.

But do you really find it? Are our souls lonely hunters seeking the kingdom of your love where … in relationships … and in the depth of our souls … we enter a deeper reality laced with the Love you are … so that we know ourselves whole and complete, wanted and welcomed, filled to the brim with the substance of you who are Love itself?

Do we consciously search for this, or is this more like a subterranean stream within us drawing us toward what we most need … often without our awareness?

Is there a feeling, a deep inner urge toward something we cannot name, but which some wondrous part of our soul knows … for this I was born, for this the Holy One made me?

When we find ourselves in the presence of this pearl of great price, we realize we found nothing but have been found by You, who are the loneliest hunter of all, seeking us out in every love we know.

And having been found by Love, startled to come across that pearl of great price perhaps when you weren't much looking for it, the soul knows before the mind can form a single thought that this … this Love … is what you always needed.

The soul just knows.

Pr. David L. Miller

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Today’s text

Matthew 13:24-30

[Jesus] put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’

Wheat & weeds

The last thing I did before coming to the office on Friday was to pull three thistles from around my bushes. The three always appear there--the father, the son and the holy sticker.

They’ll be back. They always come back, and I always look for them.

Early experiences in my life tuned the eyes of my heart more toward troubles than toward beauty. I see the thistles first, missing the shrubs and flowers that surround them. Something deep within fixates more on weeds … than on what Jesus might call the wheat.

Left unchecked, life becomes more focused on dealing with the weeds than on the wheat--the life, beauty, wonder and joy that fills the heart, if only we see and savor God’s loving presence … that is present every where.

When I was a boy I delivered papers to a lawn motor repair shop where a bunch of old guys gathered on summer afternoons to chew tobacco and complain about the world.

Everything was bad, they said. Prices are higher, the country isn’t what is used to be, kids are not responsible or respectful, people are allergic to hard work, the communists are winning, and soon we’ll all be speaking Russian.

The downward spiral of … everything … was lamented amid the sweet smell of grease and tobacco juice. They fixated on what is imperfect, what is wrong, what is evil … on the weeds all too prevalent in life.

Lord knows there are many weeds in God’s garden--conflict, hatred and destruction around the world, pernicious cancers and diseases we can’t quite pull out and be rid of, tensions and conflicts at work and in our homes and hearts.

It is the most natural thing in the world to see only the weeds that obscure the beauty of

Love, the wonder of life, and the grace shining in the faces of those who truly know God … and whose presence makes us feel more alive.

Totally natural, yes, but destructive.

It sours the soul so that we fail to see and be swept up in the beauty of the wheat, the life and love, the goodness and the grace that fills us and makes us truly human and alive, shining with the beauty God intends.

For far too long, far too much Christian teaching and preaching has hyperventilated about weeds, as if following Jesus had more to do with judging and rooting out evil … than with becoming the love of Christ.

Pr. David L. Miller

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Today’s text

Matthew 13:31-32

He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.

Trees

Give me shelter. After years of great blessing, we are startled to become what we need.

At least that is God’s hope for us, a secret planted so deeply in our flesh that we discover it only after many years of thinking we are less than we are.

I had a dream once of a great tree, a maple with wide leaves and broadly spreading boughs, standing solo in a small meadow behind my aunt’s house.

I cut through that field when I left elementary school in the afternoons. A police car sometimes sat on the other side of the field, the officer waiting to tell me (again) that I should not cut across people’s yards.

I told him it was my aunt’s yard, and she didn’t mind. He didn’t know what to say, which was fine with me. I could continue my way.

But I didn’t want to. I wanted to roll around in the grass by the tiny stream that cut through one corner the field. I wanted to feel free, no longer locked up and watched like a hawk at school, able to wander where I chose, uninhibited by authorities who seemed to exist to tell not to do what I wanted or to go where I chose.

Years later, I dreamt of that field, a symbol of freedom and peace from my childhood. In the dream, there was a great maple in field, a tree that was not there during my youth. The tree spread mighty arms, creating an island of sweet shade from the afternoon sun under which I found shelter from the heat.

Alone, at peace, unshackled, I found blessed respite under this great tree that wanted nothing, but always welcomed my arrival and blessed me for whatever time I spent there.

This is what I wanted … and wanted also from the God to whom I prayed--a great tree to give me shelter. I suppose I have looked for such shelter all my life, thinking I needed it more than most.

I found it in communities of grace, among people who were strong and gracious, like my imaginary tree. They provided safe places where welcome was real and being real was welcome.

For most of my life I have seen myself as a receiver, a needy receiver of shelter. But something happens in years of receiving the grace you crave, you become what you receive.

Resting under great trees of welcome, over time, our lives become like my spreading maple, offering respite and peace, islands of sweet shade and shelter where other souls find life and blessing.

Becoming the tree of respite for another soul is great blessing … and a sign that the seed of grace planted in your life is finally, after decades of struggle and uncertainty bearing the beauty and fruit the Holy One always intended.

It all starts with a small seed, planted in the soil of our souls that grows into a tree where birds find their home, or so Jesus says.

Pr. David L. Miller

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Today’s text

Isaiah 44:6-8

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let them proclaim it, let them declare and set it forth before me. Who has announced from of old the things to come? Let them tell us what is yet to be. Do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? You are my witnesses! Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one.

Silence

The end of all prayer is silence, quiet in the Presence of the One who is always present.

What can one say? Who can speak a word in the face of God, the Love who is the first and last, who finds us wherever we are no matter how far we wander?

Who is like this Love who knows and holds every future and tells us not to fear, for every future is held and laced through with the Love that is before all and after all and in all?

When the heart knows this Love present and warm, filling one within, silent joy and wonder are the truest response.

Yet, two words form again and again in my heart, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

Thank you for the Love you are, the Life you give, the hope that fills me when I know myself in your presence, eye-to-eye and heart-to-heart with you who fill me beyond all measure.

The words are as unnecessary as they are inadequate. No words will do. They are feel … and are … so insufficient and incapable of bearing the joyous weight of glory that spills from the heart.

Yet surely something must be spoken to praise you, Holy One. I live in words. My soul craves expression that speaks what the heart knows.

But this morning all I have to give you is this amazed smile, quiet tears … and silence. Yes, this silent knowing … only this give adequate praise to you, the Love who holds me this and every moment.

Pr. David L. Miller

Monday, July 14, 2014

Today’s text

Isaiah 44:1-5

But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen! Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you in the womb and will help you: Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring. They shall spring up like a green tamarisk, like willows by flowing streams.

Living Water

This day, O Lord, is like water on thirsty land, not that I have been parched in recent days.

The water of your life has come to me again and again through lives and faces that tell me I am where I need to be, with people and places you intend.

You are the water of life, the nectar of the soul, the Presence always present who comes through many means, through the loves we love and by which we are loved, through work that serves a purpose, through praising and knowing you in community, yes there.

In community, Sunday worship done, conversation in the narthex, a tray of Bill’s berries shared with the McKenna girls, and I feel inextricably connected by sinews I cannot see but feel in laughter and brilliant smiles … in common concerns and hopes, in shared food and moments.

And now, today, a question: Why is it that I come to these keys filled with hope? Why does an average summer Monday fill me with peace as steam rises from the coffee waiting at my right hand?

It is more than Sunday’s afterglow. It is the presence of Love in every love, the Living Water of which Jesus spoke, water that flows through my soul.

But it comes always from a source, the Source of our souls … You.

You are the Living Water that flows. You water my soul and the seeds of your life spring up into a harvest of hope and peace.

Is it too childish to say that you make me smile? For, you do. You are the smile in my soul.

Living Water, the stream of life you are reaches me through a thousand channels stirring an excess of joy that blesses me … and makes my once sad soul more a blessing of joy for a few others.

Thank you … for this day, for this life, for this Love, for this awareness of who you are.

Pr. David L. Miller

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Today’s text

Matthew 13:1-9

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!’

Listen to your life

Listen … listen to what your life is telling you. Listen … to what God is saying. For God is speaking … to you … in the events of your life.

Every moment plants something in you soul. Every moment … the living Spirit of God sows seeds of his love and mercy, his justice and truth in your lives. But to receive them you need to listen with faith … and an open heart.

Last week I met with eight or nine members of our congregation talking about our Bridge Communities ministry. We have completed working with our second family through the two-year process that moves them from homelessness to independence.

Now, we face a decision. Are we ready to begin with a third family? Can we gather a team of mentors to work with the family, helping them develop good judgment and practices that allow them to succeed?

Can we raise enough money to maintain a healthy balance in the Bridge fund from which we pay the monthly rent for the families we sponsor?

We talked. We heard from those who mentored our first two families, what was hard and easy. We heard the struggle of thinking nothing was happening, no progress was being made--and the joy of seeing growth n strength and independence.

We learned again how our congregation gave money and items from your homes to help furnish apartments or provide computers and health care to get the families back on their feet.

And as I listened, a voice in the back of my mind asked a question, “What is this telling you? … What is God saying?”

It tells me God is a sower. Seeds of God’s life have been planted in your souls. They have taken root and grown in the life of our congregation.

It tells me to surrender my tendency toward negativity, to see the glass half empty. It tells me to let go of my anxieties and trust that God’s love and will be enough for us in our life and ministry together no matter what happens.

It tells me we need to celebrate the power of God’s love among us. It tells me real joy is found in the community of people who know and live the love of Christ.

This was a moment of hearing the word of God.

The word of God is not what you think. It is not a book. It’s not ink on a page. It is the speaking of God in time and space, in my history and yours, in the life of nations, their joys, sorrows and follies.

The word of God is not words so much as events, moments through which God speaks in the flesh and blood of our experience, planting seeds of his love and wisdom, mercy and justice in our lives.

Every moment … our loving God is coaxing you to the let the moments of your life water the seed of Love that is God’s presence in your hearts.

Every moment is holy, and your life is the holy ground in which Christ seeks to grow the Love of God that he is, so that you may become like him, an image of Christ. How’s that going for you?

The process of through which this blessing happens is not complicated. You need not go anywhere or accomplish anything. You just need to listen. What is your life telling you? What is God saying through the common events that happened each day?

Too many days we just don’t know. We are too busy, too preoccupied with the external details and diversions of life and entertainment, or too shallow and too disbelieving to think that is exactly in our moments that God is speaking.

We fail to look within and listen to what God is saying, and the seeds of God’s life and love fail to find good soil and root and grow.

But this has been a good week. On several occasions, I sat with small groups where people talked about struggles that were keeping them awake or experiences of helping others.

Ideas were shared, encouragement given, insights appeared. Conflicted souls began to let go of things they could not control. Others took hold of ministries and values important to them.

We listened and helped each other listen to our lives. And we heard the word, God speaking.

In the incident with which I began this sermon, the Bible was not opened, but the word of the God who is Life and Love was heard. Having heard, we had more life and love, more joy, more hope and strength for Christ’s mission, and God was glorified.

The seeds of God’s life and love found fertile ground and grew … because we listened to what the Spirit was saying.

I wonder … what if every day, every evening … you and I stopped, reviewed our day and asked ourselves … and those near us … what did this day say to us? What see of life and love did God plant in our hearts?

For God is a sower of life and love … and we miss far too much.

Pr. David L. Miller

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Today’s text

Matthew 13:1-9

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!’

Every moment

Every moment plants something in our souls. Every moment … the living Spirit of God seeks our hearts, inviting, coaxing, nudging, drawing us to let the moments of our lives water the seed of Love that is the presence of God in our hearts.

The word of God is not ink on a page, but the speaking of God in time and space, in my history and yours, in the life of nations, their joys, sorrow and follies.

The word of God is not words as much as events, happenings, moments through which God speaks. And we, who hunger for God, search for the right words trying to capture what we think we are hearing in our moments so they are not lost to us but water the seeds of life and love in our hearts.

But on too many days we are too busy, too preoccupied with the exterior details and diversions of life, too shallow or too disbelieving to think that is exactly in our moments that God is speaking.

We fail to look within to listen and notice what God is saying, and the seeds of God’s life and love planted in their souls fail to grow.

But this has been a good week. On several occasions, I sat with small groups where people talked about struggles that were keeping them awake at night or about experiences of helping and mentoring others.

Ideas were shared, encouragement given, insights appeared. Conflicted souls began to let go of things they could not control, and others took hold of ministries that are important to their hearts.

Together they listened to each other--and helped each other listen to themselves. As they listened, they heard the word, the speaking of the God who speaks in every moment.

The Bible was not opened in these particular gatherings, but the word of the God who is Life and Love was heard in the moments of all-too-human lives. And having heard, those lives had more life and love in them, more strength and grace.

The seeds of God’s life planted in their souls grew because time was taken to listen and ask what the Spirit was saying through the moments and struggles of their lives. The seeds God was sowing found fertile ground and grew into the Love that is the presence of God in our hearts.

Pr. David L. Miller

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Today’s text

Matthew 11:25-26

At that time Jesus said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

Awake to wonder

I wish I understood this. I have a hunch Jesus was not telling us to destroy our minds and flee into no-nothing anti-intellectualism.

The mind is a wonderful thing that takes us far, but it fails to reveal the deepest truths of our life, the ones we need to keep joy alive in our souls.

We need another kind of knowing, one to which Jesus invites us.

His words call us to innocence, the kind of innocence that looks at the world with wonder, with amazement at the surprising reality of your own life, astonished at the given-ness of life itself.

It can be a hard thing to step away from the chatter of one’s mind and its need to name, analyze, compare and judge the value of every blessed thing and person we meet.

The mind naturally stands back to judge and evaluate, but the heart, if for a moment we can escape the mind’s inner monologue, allows us to truly receive and live life, its sorrows, joys, disappointments and hopes … and not merely to think about them.

I worry sometimes about losing my spark, about descending into a long-held, deeply entrenched melancholy that overtakes the so that I no longer wake each morning eager to live, full of thanks for the day, for life … and for all the ways the miracle the Great Love I know as God finds me.

Maybe those who moved Jesus to praise God were those who still had the capacity for wonder and gratitude for the utter gratuity of life and love. Like children, they were not burdened with the oppressive need to judge and analyze everything they encountered. They could simply receive life, the day … as it came to them.

Perhaps this is what made them innocent, like infants, still able to know and feel the miracle of love and the Presence of the Holy that filled him.

But how do we regain innocence once lost? No longer are we children.

I don’t think there is only one way to reawaken the innocence that is able to receive God as God comes to us every morning and every moment. Practicing gratitude helps.

But maybe we can’t reawaken anything but must be grasped--usually unexpectedly--by a great beauty, a great love, or even a great sorrow before we can receive the Love and Blessing that filled Jesus--and which is present, however hidden, in our daily lives and places.

Maybe we need to look at more clouds, the blue of the sky and feel the evening breeze. Or maybe we should start with the breath in our lungs--and really feel and know each one as something we neither made nor asked for.

Maybe then joy will fill us at the wonder of our lives, the miracle of love and the truth of the Great Love that Jesus gave to the innocent … because only they can receive it.

Pr. David L. Miller

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Today’s text

Matthew 11:25-26

At that time Jesus said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

A shared joy

I feel your joy, Jesus. The grace of your smile fills my soul, and I know all I need to know to live this day.

I know what those who crowded around you knew, those who moved you to give thanks to the Loving Mystery whom you name, ‘Father, Lord of heaven and earth.’

You saw them come alive as they heard the word of God’s kingdom. They clamored to be near you, to hang on your words and see what you would do next, their hearts open, somehow sensing that what they received from you was life and would give them life.

They didn’t pretend to understand what was happening. But they felt the Life who was in you, and they knew this Life in themselves when they were near you. They came alive in your nearness.

You see the light in their eyes as they feel Love and Life stirring in their depths, and your face, shines, too. You share their joy--and the awareness that the Loving Mystery who fills you was coming to life in them, too.

You understood what they could not understand.

They were awakening to the Mystery of the Love and Life that is their deepest identity and truth. They could hardly imagine that they carried the same Loving Mystery as you.

They would never have claimed to be your true brothers and sisters, but that is exactly what they were.

That’s what we all are. And seeing you smile at the open hearts around you, I come to life and know … I am your brother, too, bearing the Love and Life that so filled you.

So, Jesus, tell me, do you look at me and smile, as you did at them?

Pr. David L. Miller

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Today’s text

Matthew 10:40-42

Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.

What we welcome …

Gracious Presence, let me welcome you wherever and however you appear, for you come with love unbounded to make me alive, releasing every weight that binds my heart.

There are such moments, Jesus, when my heart soars because the Love that burns at your core shines on me … and in me … awakening my heart to staggering beauty and joy.

I stammer for words, trying to find just the right ones to say, ‘thank you,’ for such love unbounded that overflows the soul and leaves me speechless.

How does one say thanks for a Love that is eternal and true, a Grace that embraces all one is and smiles with delight at your stumbling attempt to express what you feel and know?

“Just breathe,” you say, “and know.”

Know?

“Yes, know that I will meet you on the way.”

The way?

“Whatever way you go, wherever your wandering feet take you. I will be there in those I send your way. Watch and welcome the souls of grace and those who correct you, those whose gentle hospitality bears cool water to refresh and remind you … life is not a race but a rare gift to be received moment-by-moment as it comes from my hand.”

And what of moments that are hard and unfair?

“I am there, too, reminding you to take into your soul only those things that bring life, Brush off your hands and walk away from that and those whose presence does not bring life and love, light and knowledge of me.

“Seek me in all things, all times and places for I will come, eager for your welcome that I may lift you to the life I have for you, the Life I am.”

Pr.  David L. Miller

Friday, June 27, 2014

Today’s text

Matthew 10:40-42

Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.

You are more …

I am more than I think or imagine. We all are, if only we could see it.

When we do our fears vanish, and we enter every situation with the gentle confidence of one those who know … the Life and Love and Light at the core of our being, the Light, the Love and Life waiting to be released through the flesh and blood of our earthly lives.

When we know who we are the heart brims with the joyful awareness that we have what we need to face every situation with grace and strength because we bear a treasure that is always enough and which never fails.

The treasure is you.

Jesus, you are the core of each human being, the true identity of every person who walks this earth. You are the depth of our selves, and the Holy One is the core of your self.

We bear the Life and Love and Light who is God, but most of the time we are unconscious of this mystery.

We awaken to the immeasurable grace we bear when you ... who are Life and Love and Light ... shine through the eyes, the heart and hands of another.

Your presence in them awakens your Life, Love and Light in us.

As we welcome your presence in them, we awaken to life and realize who we are. Our souls brim with joyful confidence, and we become able to give what we are … to be the Light, Love and Life you are in us … so souls around us might come alive … and know.

To be a disciple is to know the treasure we bear, to return to it each day especially when fears and sorrows cause us to forget, and to open the eyes of those still asleep.

Pr. David L. Miller

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Today’s text

Matthew 10:40-42

Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.

You are more ...

I am more than I think or imagine. We all are, if only we could see it.

When we do our fears vanish, and we enter every situation with the gentle confidence of one those who know … the Life and Love and Light at the core of our being, the Light, the Love and Life waiting to be released through the flesh and blood of our earthly lives.

When we know who we are the heart brims with the joyful awareness that we have what we need to face every situation with grace and strength because we bear a treasure that is always enough and which never fails.

The treasure is you.

Jesus, you are the core of each human being, the true identity of every person who walks this earth. You are the depth of our selves, and the Holy One is the core of your self.

We bear the Life and Love and Light who is God, but most of the time we are unconscious of this mystery.

We awaken to the immeasurable grace we bear when you, who are Life and Love and Light, shine through the eyes, the heart and hands of another.

Your presence in them awakens your Life, Love and Light in us.

As we welcome your presence in them, we welcome you and realize who we are. Our souls brim with joyful confidence, and we become able to give what we are … to be the Light, Love and Life you are in us … so souls around us might come alive … and know.

To be a disciple is to know the treasure we bear, to return to it each day especially when fears and sorrows cause us to forget, and to open the eyes of those still asleep.

Pr. David L. Miller

Monday, June 23, 2014

Today’s text

Matthew 10:40-42

Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

Reflection

I pray these words that my heart may be open to welcome the day, dear Jesus. Help me receive whatever comes as from your hand.

I know … my brother … I know … true joy comes from being present to each moment, receiving it as a gift for whatever grace and challenge it bears, not jumping ahead to what tomorrow or next year may bring.

Now, this moment … is the only time I can meet you. Tomorrow does not belong to me. It doesn’t exist except in you who see all time as one.

As for yesterday … its failures are forgiven, its hurts, I pray, will find healing … beginning in the only time we have … this moment. The river of grace you are heals our wounds and failures, carrying us into an unknowable future in the currents of solace that embraces the souls’ every scar.

So today … let us step into the river, receiving each moment, each face as intended by you that we may see and know that love that refuses to let us go, the Love whom you are.

Heal us in your tender and merciful flow that our smiles may be rich and full, tender and beautiful, filled with hope and welcome to all who need us, all you bring to us to give and receive the grace you are.

What else is life for, my brother, if not to incarnate, to make real and flesh the Love you are, the Love who burns at our souls? In that Love, we find the peace you alone give, if only we will welcome the present moment … and know the Love that is there and always will be … in every tomorrow.

Blessed are you, my brother. Blessed … for you carry us into the Love that heals hearts and lets us live now … where you are.

Pr. David L. Miller

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Today’s reading 

Matthew 10:24-25, 28-31

 “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! …  Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Reflection

I can still see him standing on the top step outside a dusty little church, the color of sand, on the edge of the desert. His name was Moses and his church, which he served as pastor, stood in a town in eastern Ethiopia.

Moses challenges me, makes me feel ashamed at times … and invites me into the deep waters of the grace of Jesus Christ. It has been nearly 15 years since my one meeting with him, but he haunts me.

He stood on the top step with his arms spread, his soul open, his words pouring out the hope of the wounded hearts of those inside the church who were singing and praising God louder and with greater joy than do most of us.

“Don’t forget us, he cried out, repeating the words several times as we walked to our jeep for our next visit. Don’t forget us.” Wounds and fear drip from those words, his face etched with bitter experiences of hatred and rejection.

Moses was the pastor of a little band of Christians in this town dominated by a group of Muslims and their oppressive clergy. Moses' congregation members were rejected, discriminated against, spit at, denied jobs or fired. Their shops were avoided in the markets. In a hundred small and oppressive ways, they were reminded they were outcasts, stupid and unacceptable because they believed in Jesus.

And every week, Moses would lead their songs and preach trying to lift wounded spirits let they lose themselves and forget they are each of immense value to God, each loved and treasured, each bearing a treasure--the Spirit of the living Jesus, a spirit of love and grace, beauty and joy.

He  reminded them they were not what other people said they were. And he told to forgive as Christ forgives them, to seek peace, even when others refused the peace they offered, always offering praise and prayers to God.

Moses face showed the toil and strain of being faithful to Jesus in a difficult place. 

His beseeching arms raise a challenging question: Have we ever given ourselves so much to Jesus and the mission of his kingdom that we have suffered for it? Have we ever surrendered to him so much that we are faithful despite the critical opinions or rejection of others?

Everyday we are challenged to ask ourselves: Where can I surrender to Jesus? How can I give myself to seek God’s kingdom, to reveal the God’s mercy and justice? How might I see every encounter with family, friends, even difficult co-workers as an opportunity to live Christ’s love?

As much as Moses challenges me, he also invites me into deep waters of grace and joy.

In his life, and in Jesus words I hear a deep and persistent voice: "Do not be afraid."

Do not be afraid when people call you names or think you strange because you love Jesus and seek to know and live out his mercy..

Do not be afraid to if they think you strange because you pray.

Do not be afraid to give generously to the poor, to your church and it’s mission of serving and witnessing to Jesus.

Have no fear … no fear of anything, not illness or even death, not financial hardship or the next stage of life whatever it is.

Have no fear for God knows every sparrow and finch and cardinal that settles on my backyard feeder to eat. They delight my eye and lift my heart. Each of them sings its song, cries out its call, telling me that my life, too, rests in the arms of God’s eternal love that treasures every sparrow … and me.

There is a connection between knowing this joy and giving ourselves to Jesus. The more we surrender our hearts and lives to him, the more we come to depend on his care … and the more we feel the love who holds us.

Moses knows. So do I.

 

Pr. David L. Miller

 

Tuesday, June 16, 2014

Today’s text

Matthew 10:24-25, 28

“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! … Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Reflection

It is the soul that is to be preserved above all else, the depth of heart where we know (but so often forget) who we are.

We are souls, expressions of God, created that the Loving Mystery might live in flesh and blood, sharing the divine fullness and carrying out God’s divine purpose.

Our lives are words of Love, the Love who is God, each of us an individual word of the One who is Love.

We are not what others say of us. We are not their judgments nor even their praise. We are not what we think of ourselves, sometimes feeling good about what we have done, other times accusing ourselves for shortcomings and failures.

Nor are we are not our accomplishments, what we have earned or won, which is a common American and Western distortion of our identity, one that fuels an obsession for winning and being number one lest we feel diminished and less than others.

This reveals our anxiety that we are merely human, just like everyone else.

We are, but there is no merely about us.

For we each are the embodied breath of the Living One, words of the Loving One born into the time and space that we might know … the joyous wonder of the Love who speaks us--and live from depths of soul, knowing who we are.

You are not what others say. You are not even what you say about yourself. You are souls from the Soul of all life.

Remember who you are.

Pr.  David L. Miller

Monday, June 16, 2014

Today’s text

Matthew 10:24-25

“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

Reflection

It is not an easy thing to be ‘like’ Jesus, not when they called him a devil or the son of the devil for overriding ancient understandings and practices.

Only once can I remember being called a devil. It happened amid a fit of anger where I refused to be the verbal punching bag for someone who did not like an article I wrote.

I remember the hatred he spewed when I refused to listen to his rants. At that moment, I felt justified, and his anger didn’t wound my soul.

But too many other times anger and rejection does exactly that. It wounds souls, certainly mine.

Too many childhood wounds move me to avoid offending, to hold back when I have faithful insights that might correct or critique well-worn thoughts and unhelpful words an acts.

Needing to please is a common malady, and it is a spiritual struggle. It is the refusal to be oneself, refusal to offer the insights and wisdom of heart and mind, not in arrogance but as a gift to others who, surely, are free to accept or refuse.

Dissatisfaction and unrest stirs the heart when fear of differences or conflict binds us from being ourselves and expressing the truth we see and feel, bubbling in the reservoir of our souls.

Jesus invites us beyond this, beyond our fear, beyond our need to please and just go along with everyone else. He invites us to unbind our hearts and live from the depth of our soul where love and wisdom abide.

He invites us to be and know … the soul we are in his love.

Pr. David L. Miller

Sunday, June 14, 2014

Today’s text

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

To end then, ... we wish you joy; try to grow perfect; encourage one another; have a common mind and live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with the holy kiss. All God's holy people send you their greetings. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

The Love who is

Love is. Love speaks. Loves breathes ... and draws us home. 

This is the message of this Holy Trinity Sunday. We name God as Father, the Eternal Love who is the Source of all that is. We name God as Son, the voice of the One who is Love speaking in time and space. We name God as Holy Spirit, the breath of Love that flows in every time and place to draw us home to God.

In the early centuries of the church, St. Augustine labored 15 years to explain this doctrine in his great work, On the Holy Trinity. And he tripped over himself badly as he tried to express his thoughts. 

Now, it is my turn to trip. But I will start with something close to our experience.

When was the last time you looked at the night sky? It is hard to do. There is too much light where many of us live. It gets in the way of seeing the dusty white of the Milky Way sprinkled from one horizon to the other.

Apps on our smart phones can help us identify stars and planets we can see from our patios. But it is not as good as leaning back, lying in the grass and drinking it all in. There were so many summer nights as a boy when I had nothing better to do than this, also times when I could watch the northern lights put on a shimmering show until I no longer keep my eyes open. 

It is wonderful to see and so feel small and yet so graced to behold such a staggering universe, gorgeous and unimaginable.

When we look at the heavens or a delicate flower, a leaf,  or a single blade of grass, we might discover we are sisters and brothers of the Psalmist, who looked at the heavens in wonder and praised God for being a human soul who could drink it all in and give thanks.

The wonder that moved the Psalmist is deeper for us today. We know:  All we see in the night sky is a tiny drop in a cosmic ocean. There are billions of galaxies bigger than our Milky Way. Each of those galaxies has billions of stars, most of them hundreds and thousands of times larger than our sun. 

Our physicists tell us that the universe is finely tuned for life to appear: 14.7 billion years ago the universe exploded into existence. We call it the Big Bang. Had the speed of matter racing away from that explosion been one trillionth of a second faster, it would have been moving too fast to come together to form moons, planets and suns … and life.

Had it been racing one trillionth of a second slower, gravity would have drawn it back into a big crunch, and the universe would have been an undifferentiated mass …with no living thing, no greening of leaves, no brilliant flowers, no laughter of children, no flesh to touch, no eyes to see, no hearts that love.

At the foundation of our Christian faith, there is a crazy, wonderful, audacious and beautiful affirmation.  It is this: Love … an unimaginable, uncreated Love is the mysterious Source of all that is … of the immense cosmos in which we live. 

This originating Love speaks in creation but most particularly in Jesus. We call Jesus, the Christ, because he is the voice of the Love who is the Source of all that is.

When we see Jesus joy, making wine at the wedding feast at Cana, we hear the voice of God inviting us to celebrate the marriage of heaven with earth.

When we imagine Jesus sharing meals with his friends, we hear the joy of God blessing human community.

When he read of his anger at hypocrisy and hatred, injustice and blindness, we hear the voice of God’s anger directing us to do justice.

When Jesus invited children near so he could touch and bless them we hear voice of God inviting us to come close to be touched and blessed. 

When Jesus told the rich man to sell what he had and give it to the poor, the voice of God warns us from loving what we have—or what we want—so much … that we poison our souls.

Jesus stories about seeds growing in the earth, about fathers waiting for wayward children to return home are God’s voice telling us about the Love who longs to grow in us, and about God’s arms always open, waiting for us to come home.

 And when extends his arms on the cross, he speaks with God’s voice telling us that all we are is embraced, welcomed and transformed by the Love who reuses to let us go.

God is the Love who speaks … and breathes in all of life … even our patios.

On recent summer days, I sat on several patios, swapping stories, eating too much, laughing a lot and feeling the goodness of being human. Each was a time of communion … holy communion, sharing memories, hopes and mutual support.

Each time a river of peace flowed across the patio, making us a little community, drawn together in mutual love and care. It happened because the Spirit of God is the breath and energy of Love creating true community to renew and refresh us and make us more alive and beautiful. 

It happens because Love is, Love speaks. Love breathes and draws us home even when we are not looking for it.

Pr. David L. Miller