Frantic Quiet

Ezekiel 1:24-28

24 And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings. 25 And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings.

26 And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. 27 And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. 28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

There's really no way to avoid the crazy things that Ezekiel witnesses. In the first verses of his narrative, the prophet sees figures resembling humans, but with calves feet. They had human likenesses, but some had the faces of lions. Some the faces of oxes. Some the faces of eagles. Crazy stuff.

We lose the meaning of Ezekiel the prophet, the messenger of God, if we try to interpret too much into what he saw. We lose the meaning of Ezekiel when we try to make sense of what he saw. Ezekiel himself learns a valuable lesson when he stops looking to himself for answers and begins to trust God.

Notice verse 25: "When they stood still, they let down their wings." Only once the commotion stopped, did the glory of the Lord appear. This theme will repeat in Ezekiel. Once the fanfare and celebration has passed, the Lord will be there. Once the flurry of excitement passes, then the Lord will work. This is not to say that God cannot be present in the excitement of the moment, but God's presence is most fully felt in the stillness.

In our busy world, we are surrounded by excitement and stimulation. As this week frantically draws to a close, find time to be still. Be intentional about finding those quiet places. Avoid the commotion and excitement for a little while and let God speak to you.

Prayer: God of the storm and God of the calm, make your presence known to us now and always, that we might find you in the excitement, but let us hear you in the stillness. Amen.

G. Thomas Martin

Psalm 78:1-39

The psalmist is a teacher who implores the people to listen to him. He will give an account of God’s dealing with his chosen people, both in anger and approval. This story of Israel’s past must be told to all generations. Nothing, especially the dark side of this history, must be withheld from the children. A censored report of God’s actions is impossible. The children have to learn the account of God’s punishment and blessing—the dark sayings from the old and the glorious deed, might, and wonders that God has done.

This is an extraordinary form of tradition. It is handed down from generation to generation by means of teaching. Children and adults are to be reminded of God’s presence with his people. The people’s history with God is their fate; their tradition gives them identity. What happened to Israel is the past is like a pointer to the future. Obedience to God’s testimony gives them identity. What happened to Israel in the past is like a pointer to the future. Obedience to God’s testimony and law will give rise to hope in God, remember of the works of God, and the will to keep God’s commandments.

An especially unpleasant example of disobedience against God are the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob. The Old Testament describes the Edomites as a kindred nation, always ready to engage in fraternal strife. They forgot God’s work, the wonders in the land of Egypt, Israel’s passing through the waters of the sea, the leading cloud at day and the blazing fire at night, the water from the rock, the rebellion in the wilderness, manna and meat to eat. They, now including Israel at large, still sinned, so God shortened their life until they earnestly repented, but their confession was one of the lips, not of the heart. Even so, God was compassionate because they were but flesh, like a passing wind that does not come again.

The main stations of God’s help are a staple bedrock of Israel’s profession: liberation from Egypt, passing through the sea, God’s wonderful deeds in the wilderness, and God’s leading them into the promised land. Nowadays, the church, the people of God, congregations, and individuals have, often unnoticed, a tradition that shapes their identity. Are you aware of the history of God’s presence in your own life? Is your life marked by the tradition of the Christian faith?

Prayer: God of help and protection, let me see the works of your hand in my life; make me an active member of the church, living according to your will, and teaching the story of salvation to old and young. Amen.

Manfred Hoffmann

Judgment

Romans 14:1-12
Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. ²Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. ³Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. ⁴Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord^* is able to make them stand.

5 Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. ⁶Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

7 We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
¹¹For it is written,
‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.’
¹²So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

Brothers and sisters fight. It is human nature. Psychologists and family therapists right books about it trying to explain this natural tendency. First child, middle child, baby of the family all describe people's places in the family. And in one way or another, judgment is passed simply by naming roles. There is so much that is lurking in the undercurrent of our minds, that it can be hard to refrain from judging someone or writing someone off. We do this when we ask people what they do, where they went to school, or who they voted for on American Idol.

If brothers and sisters raised in the same house, with the same parents fight, what hope is there for those of us who consider ourselves a part of the family of God? The answer, I think, is easier than we suppose. We may not be linked to one another by blood lines, but we are bound to each other by the blood of Christ. We are first heirs of the kingdom, yet we are adopted and loved like everyone else. If we are to take Paul's mandate to refrain from judging seriously, then we need to recognize that we all share equally with God and each other.

Prayer: God, it is difficult to see that we are all your children. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts that love and serve you as our parent. Amen.

G. Thomas Martin

Family of God

Luke 8:19-21
19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” 21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

I don’t think Jesus was anti-family. On the contrary, I think Jesus took family so seriously that he wanted to shake up the very perception of what people thought family was.
In one of the churches I attended growing up, we had a time of passing the peace during the worship service—something that is very manageable in a worshipping congregation of 125. During that time, people would fellowship across the aisles, across the pews, and all across the church. Family and friends would embrace and share a handshake and a greeting. It lasted about three minutes, which, when you think about it during worship, is a large chunk of time. I distinctly remember the song that was playing in the background, “I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God.” The chorus goes like this:

I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His Blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God

In today’s scripture, notice Jesus’ response again, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” It does not exclude Christ’s own flesh and blood, but instead incorporates us all into the fellowship divine. Too often we forget that the “crowd” that may be keeping us from Jesus may be the very people who we call our brothers and sisters. Are we glad to be a part of the family of God? Are we living as joint heirs with Jesus or do we come to the family gatherings seeking our own personal “face-time” with the Lord?

Prayer: God, you love us like a parent. Help us to live like those who share in the work with our “family” instead of striving for our own personal glory. Amen.

G. Thomas Martin

Soil and the Seed

Luke 8:1-15
Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, ²as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, ³and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them^* out of their resources.

4 When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: ⁵‘A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. ⁶Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. ⁷Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. ⁸Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.’ As he said this, he called out, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’

9 Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. ¹⁰He said, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that
“looking they may not perceive,
and listening they may not understand.”

11 ‘Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. ¹²The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. ¹⁴As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.

“The twelve were with him, as well as some women…Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out….”

Then a crowd gathers, and Jesus tells them the parable of the sower, the seed, and the soil, in which “the seed is the word of God….”

Mary Magdalene was a disciple of Jesus who planted that seed of the gospel, from which the church grew. Yet the church has not fully recognized its foremother.

The 7th chapter of Luke tells of an unnamed woman from the street, “who was a sinner,” who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, and poured fragrant ointment from an alabaster jar on them. By the middle ages, confused artistic renderings showed Mary Magdalene carrying an alabaster jar, dressed seductively as a prostitute. Sermons, from then until now, repeated this prejudice. Yet Luke, who was trying to tell the whole gospel story, wrote about 2 different women. Mary Magdalene’s cure by Jesus was of 7 demons, none identified with sexual misconduct. Healed, she went on to become one of the women who found the empty tomb, where she was given the task of proclaiming to unbelievers: He is risen (Luke 24:5-11; John 20:17-18).

Just as 20th century theology was reclaiming the real Mary Magdalene as saint and preacher, The DaVinci Code ruined her reputation again, confusing the seed of the gospel with biological seed, and the resurrection story with early urban legend.

It is as the parable tells us: the proclamation of the gospel depends upon the soil in which the seed falls: sometimes the soil is shifty, sometimes rocky, sometimes thorny. “But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.” Just like Mary Magdalene.

Prayer: God, whose word created the world, help me to read the gospel honestly, with a heart prepared to bear fruit with patient endurance. Amen.

Betsy Lunz

Salt

Colossians 4:2-6

2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Have you ever thought about what your last words would be? When performers leave, they want to leave their audiences wanting more. "End on a high note" is what they always say. The idea being, you save your best stuff for last.

Paul's benediction to the church in Colossus is some of his best stuff, in my opinion. Even though it is not the last thing Paul writes to the church, verse six carries a lot of weight. We are surely familiar with Jesus' saying in Matthew 5:13, ""You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." However, we are less likely to remember what Leviticus 2:13 says, "Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings."

Everything we do is to be an offering. Our gifts to God, our words to others, our lives lived in which we share what we have. As the first offerings we give to God are to be seasoned with salt, we are to hold nothing back. When we pray, serve, love, and do for others, we are not just to "pepper" it with salt. We are not simply to season life with a dash or a sprinkle, but we are to give what we have and who we are to the one who gave everything for us.

Prayer: Loving God, let our lives be lived this day and everyday as a pleasing and acceptable offering in your sight. Amen.

G. Thomas Martin

Clap! Shout! Sing! Praise!

^{Psalm 47
1}Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with loud songs of joy.
²For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,
a great king over all the earth.
³He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
⁴He chose our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he loves.
Selah

⁵God has gone up with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
⁶Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
⁷For God is the king of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm.^*

⁸God is king over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
⁹The princes of the peoples gather
as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly exalted.

The psalmist isn’t shy about telling us what to do. In fact, it sounds like the psalmist is leading a spiritual aerobics class. For our spiritual fitness, the writer reminds us, we are to actively praise God, but so often we forget. How often we neglect to even notice God’s gracious actions.

The psalmist exults in recounting some of the things God has done for the people of Israel. We can exult as well. God’s blessings to us are so numerous that we couldn’t list them all if we tried. If we attempted to create such lists, however, our lists would certainly have some common components. Many of us would put the loving acts of Jesus at the top. We also might include our families and friends, our access to education and health care, and our right to freely worship.

Many other blessings would be specific to our individual lists, because God knows each of us and blesses us uniquely, with a specificity that is often breath-taking. That is greatness beyond our comprehension. Clap! Shout! Sing! Praise!


Prayer:
Glorious God,

We can’t even comprehend your full greatness, but we pause to praise you. We stop in the midst of the day you have given us to praise your divine name and majesty. We give thanks for the many ways in which you bless us, and we acknowledge that we often fail to recognize your generosity all around us. Great is your name!

Amen.

Valerie Loner