AWE FULL

⁹The Lord is good to all,
and his compassion is over all that he has made.
¹⁰All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your faithful shall bless you.

Psalm 145:9-10

Some time ago, I listened attentively as author and radio host Dennis Prager interviewed biblical scholar and MIT trained physicist, Dr. Gerald Schroeder.  After discussing arguments for the existence of God, Prager asked Dr. Schroeder:  “Assuming that God exists, what is the best argument that God is good?”

Without a pause Schroeder fired back, “Chocolate!  The best argument that God is good, is chocolate!   Chocolate didn’t have to taste so wonderful, but a good God wanted us to enjoy.”

Dr. Schroeder’s comments came to me this afternoon as Rita and I walked and we stopped to savor the beauty and fragrance of a rose in the golden glow of sunset.  I thought again of our good God as we stopped by the lake to marvel at five gaggles of geese taking to the air in orderly V formations.  “God didn’t have to make all of this so sublime and stunning,” I thought.  But he did so because he is good.  The blazing stars, the laughter of a child, a melody that fills our souls, all speak to us of God’s goodness.  It is just as the psalmist exults, “the LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.”

But as I now write, I realize that for each good work of God we had to stop – we had to stop to see, stop to savor, and stop to enjoy.  Days pass and the years vanish and we walk sightless among God’s wonders because we will not stop to see and stop to enjoy. 

Years ago I began to learn the wonder and awareness taught in ancient Judaism as an observant Jew was trained to stop three times a day to stop and to pray:

We thank Thee…

For Thy miracles which are daily with us…

For Thy continual marvels…

I notice how much richer and more joyous life is when I stop to see, stop to savor, and stop to be astounded by God’s daily miracles and marvels.  Try it the next time you see the sun coming up, or bite into an orange, or listen to a melody.  It didn’t all have to be so wondrous and dazzling.  But God wanted it to be for you and me!

The LORD is good to all!

Grace and Peace,          Tim Smith

Acts of God

At that very time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ²He asked them, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? ³No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. ⁴Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.’

Luke 13:1-5 

As a hospital chaplain, I have often sat alongside sufferers as they try to make sense of their suffering?  What did she do to deserve cancer, she asks.  What did he do to deserve paralysis from an auto accident?   Sometimes their pain is compounded exponentially by the acquaintance who deigns to explain for them the “whys” of their suffering. 

I was reminded of this as I heard arm-chair theologians and “friends of Job” rushing to microphones and word processors to explain the earthquake and suffering of the Haitians.  Some said it was because of something the Haitians had done or not done; others disclosed it had to do with a compact they made with the Devil. 

It seems there is never a shortage of people who try to unscrew the inscrutable, or explain for other mortals the ways of God.  Such is the situation in today’s scripture text as people rush to Jesus with breaking news from Jerusalem.  The headlines scream:   “GALILEAN WORSHIPPERS SLAUGHTERED BY ROMAN TROOPS IN TEMPLE PRECINCT!”   

In the tragic news they bring to Jesus, he hears the suggestion that it was all because of some evil the Galileans had done.  But Jesus sets them spinning on their heels when he says:  “Were they worse sinners?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.”   Jesus will not abide such legalistic parsing of God’s ways! 

Then Jesus puts forth another instance of senseless suffering.  He reminds them of eighteen men killed when the tower of Siloam fell of them.  Is it something the men had done?   “No, I tell you,” Jesus answers his own question and then warns: “but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” 

Hard words from the Savior, but needed words for any legalist who presumes to think he has a claim on God’s mercy.  It is as Jesus explained in his Sermon on the Mount: “The heavenly Father makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45).  In ways that are inscrutable to us now, tragedies befall the righteous and unrighteous, and blessings shower down on the evil and the good. 

I do not think anyone has an adequate answer as to WHY of this tragedy, but I do know WHAT the Father would have us do in response to the tragedy:

WE COMBAT NATURAL DISASTERS WITH ACTS OF GOD

 (The Salvation Army) 

Let us be doing the acts of God!

Tim Smith

Fearless Living

⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’ ⁶So we can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can anyone do to me?’ Hebrews 13:5-6 

Over the weekend I read economists’ dire predictions for 2010.  They speculated about unemployment, the decline of the dollar, rising health care costs, and other dismal possibilities.  As I read, I thought of the wag who observed that “an economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn’t happen today.” 

I turn from the prognostications about hard times ahead and focus on God’s word to us today. Today’s scripture text addresses Hebrew Christians of the first century who are facing hard times.  The Spirit reminds them that in the days ahead it will be a matter of where they put their trust — will they put their trust in God, or in money?

Knowing their tendency, (as well as ours), to grasp more frantically for money as times get bad, the Spirit counsels, “Keep your lives free from the love of money.”  Be careful here, the Spirit urges, for true contentment has nothing to do with how much money we have.  Rather, contentment comes in knowing that God is always with us.

God’s promise to be with his people is then emphasized with a quote from Deuteronomy 31:6, 8:  “For he,” that is God, “He has said, I will never leave you or forsake you.”  In the quote, the Lord is promising the Israelites that he will go with them and support them in their journey to the Promised Land.  And now God promises Christians to go with us and support us in our journey to glory.  The Lord says that he will “never’ leave us or forsake us.  And never is a long, long time. 

Yet knowing that our faith can waver, the Spirit adds yet another promise by quoting Psalm 118:6:  ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can anyone do to me?   Notice the psalmist says that “the Lord is my helper,” not “will be” or “has been” but he “is my helper” right now, here, today, in whatever it is I am facing!   Whatever my problem, whatever my need, right now he is my helper.  Yes, he is “my” helper.    The Lord God of the universe is in a special relationship with all who look to him.  We are special to him.  We’re part of his family and he will stand with us throughout life’s journey. 

The only sure thing in the days ahead is God’s promise to be with us and be our helper.   If we will get hold of that promise it will change our lives.  We will live fearlessly in the face of life’s uncertainties and trials. 

Grace and peace,

Tim Smith

CLASSES RESUME AT THE FRANCISCAN RENEWAL CENTER

CELEBRATING WONDER

Starting January 5, 11:00 a.m. – Noon                                                               

Garces Room in Piper Hall

The reason that people most often give to pollsters for not going to church is that they find it “boring.”  How far removed this boredom is from the awe and wonder and mystery that nourish the biblical faith.  Theology and doctrine separated from the sheer mystery of God are lifeless and dull.  In this series we will search out biblical passages and practices for restoring wonder and worship to our lives and service.   

STORIES OF THE KINGDOM

Starting January 5, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.                                                          

Garces Room in Piper Hall

Jesus loved to tell stories.  They were his favorite method of teaching.  And his stories always packed a surprise at the end!  In this series we will explore the background of Jesus’ ancient Middle Eastern world and culture to better understand his stories.  Each week we will take the role of foreigners traveling to a distant time and land to cast light on his teachings about life and the Kingdom of God.

Bands of Cloth

¹⁰But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ Luke 2:10-12

Imagine a grandfather’s delight as I poured over every photo of our granddaughter, Sawyer Marlee Smith, born into this world last Tuesday in Dallas!  As I joyfully looked at the pictures I exclaimed to Rita:  “Just look at her beautiful baby skin, and her soft, warm blankets!”  It was all so wonderful to look at!

Then I turn from photos of our grandbaby blissfully asleep in cozy blankets I read today’s text about God’s Son “wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”  Every time I read these words I want to both cry and to laugh at the same time.  This is the profundity and wonder of Christmas!  The Eternal Son, before whom highest angels hide their eyes, lies helpless in a feeding trough for cattle.  An unusual place for any newborn, but especially, for Messiah God who has come to save his people.

But the angel tells the shepherds that all this is to be a sign to them: “you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”  This must not be a sign to help them locate the child because there must be hundreds of feeding troughs and mangers in the area of Bethlehem.  Rather this is a sign to reveal something about the child’s life and mission.  The newborn babe, pushed aside, and lying in a manger “wrapped in bands of cloth.” 

Many of us are familiar with this text in the King James Version which translates this as “wrapped in swaddling clothes.”  But most modern translations, including our text (The New Revised Standard Version), translate this more accurately as “bands of cloth.”  And it is these bands of cloth that will be a sign to shepherds about the child’s character and significance. 

When the Jews were in Egypt, centuries before, they had learned the custom of wrapping their dead in bands of cloth.  The word translated as “bands of cloth” in our text, is translated elsewhere as “burial bandages.”  And the Gospel of John tells us that the dead bodies of Lazarus, and the Lord Jesus were wrapped in “bands of cloth” (John 11:44; John 19:40; 20:5-6). 

At the Christ Child’s great condescension, at his coming down to take to human form, he is not wrapped in a warm receiving blanket, but wrapped in bands of cloth.   And as the shepherds find the manger and gaze at the little King he will look to them just like a little corpse prepared for burial.  The significance is clear. 

From the very beginning God had signified to his people that one day he himself would come, and in utter lowliness and humility he would not come to rule as earthly kings but to lay down his life as a sacrifice for sin.  It will be just as the angel had told Joseph:  “You will call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). 

Thus, Christ our Lord begins and ends his life wrapped in bands of cloth.  This is his reason for coming.  He comes not be a great teacher, spiritual guru, or the inspiration for art and architecture, but he comes to be our Savior. 

Here is truly good news of great joy for all people this Christmas!

Tim Smith

We look forward to resuming our weekly classes at the Franciscan Renewal Center on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 in the Year of Our Lord!!

In the Year of Our Lord

⁴But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. ⁶And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ ⁷So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God. Galatians 4:4-7

It happened when the fullness of time had come – in the seven hundred and fifty second year from the founding of Rome, in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad, and the forty second year of the reign of Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus.  It happened in the fullness of time that God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, and history suddenly turned on its axis. 

The ancient world had reckoned time from the founding of the city of Rome, as well as the first Olympic game, and the first year of the Roman Emperor’s reign.  But with Christ’s Advent, the world could no longer look at time as they were accustomed.  With Christ’s coming they were compelled to think of history as time before Christ came (B. C.) and time after Christ came (A. D., anno donini, “the year of our Lord”). 

While this year store clerks and circuit court judges may wrestle with the appropriateness of saying “Merry Christmas”,  the reality is that every calendar, postmark, and newspaper declares that we are living in “the year of our Lord.”  Every time we date a check or a letter we are proclaiming the centrality of Christ’s birth.   His intervention into time parts history.  The whole wide world, both east and west, daily acknowledge his birth as the turning point in time. 

Perhaps more remarkable than this, are millions of people who think of their own lives as B. C., and A. D. –  or life before Christ entered in, and life ever since.  We speak of the real difference Christ makes for us, our marriages, our homes, careers, and communities.    Every day we experience the promise of Scripture: ^“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (II Corinthians 5:17).  We revel in the angel’s announcement to shepherds on that first Christmas night:  “Behold, I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all people” Luke 2:10).

In a Christmas sermon of long ago, Martin Luther spoke something important for all to ponder this season: 

Of what benefit would it be to me if Christ had been born a thousand times, and it would daily be sung into my ears in a most lovely manner, if I were never to hear that he was born for me and was to be my very own?

In the Year of Our Lord,

Tim Smith

• For the Water from Rock daily Advent reflections see website, WaterfromRock.org, “Advent Devotionals” .
• Add to your Advent celebration by joining us Tuesday, December 1, 8, 15, at 7:00 P.M., at the Franciscan Renewal Center for “The Gospel According to Handel’s Messiah.”

Awe-inspiring and sublime, Handel’s majestic Messiah has thrilled listeners for more than 250 years.  In these Tuesday classes we will delve into Messiah’s text that is taken from the literal words of scripture and discover the historical and biblical background of the texts that inspired the music.  This will surely add to your joy and this Advent!

BRING A CHRISTMAS DESERT

• Weekly Bible Class:  “In the Fullness of Time” 

Every Tuesday, 11:00 a.m., at the Franciscan Renewal Center

BRING A SACK LUNCH PLUS CHRISTMAS DESERT

Christmas Light

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined…
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.             

Isaiah 9:2,6

I love the poster that says, “Just when the caterpillar thought it’s world had ended, it became a butterfly.”  Like the poster says, I have seen again and again how God gives new beginnings to his people.

The composer, George Frederic Handel thought his life had come to an end when he was moved to write his immortal oratorio, Messiah.  His popularity had waned and he believed he had given his last concert.  The public had lost taste for his kind of music.  One London newspaper dismissed him as the “German nincompoop.”  A string of bad investments had left him nearly penniless and facing debtors’ prison.  Added to this was his paralysis from two strokes and the chronic pain of rheumatoid arthritis.  Handel retreated to near seclusion and battled the darkness of his depression. 

Then, unexpectedly, Handel received a parcel in the mail from his friend Charles Jennens.  The parcel contained scriptures that Jennens wanted Handel to set to music.  Strangely and powerfully Handel was taken up with the scriptures before him.   He was so moved that he put pen to paper and began composing at a furious pace.  Often going without food and sleep he completed the 226 pages of Messiah in only 24 days!  At one point in his composing, he burst from his study with tears in his eyes and script in hand, declaring: “I think I did see heaven before me, and the great God himself seated on his throne.”

Handel’s Messiah opened to great acclaim on April 13, 1742, in Dublin, Ireland, and has ever since been a treasured part of our Christmas celebration.   Yet Handel chose never to receive a penny from Messiah, but directed all receipts to charities, especially the care of homeless children and prisoners.  At a Messiah performance in London honoring his seventy-fourth birthday, a blind Handel responded to the thunderous applause by saying: “Not from me, but from Heaven, comes all.” 

From heaven had come Handel’s light and his inspiration for the darkest days.  When he had feared his life was over God gave him new beginnings.   What Isaiah foretold of Messiah’s coming was true for Handel, and is true for any who look to the Christ:  they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.  For unto us a child is born…”

Let his Light shine!

Tim Smith

• Add to your Advent celebration by joining us Tuesday, December 1, 8, 15, at 7:00 P.M., at the Franciscan Renewal Center for “The Gospel According to Handel’s Messiah.” 

Awe-inspiring and sublime, Handel’s majestic Messiah has thrilled listeners for more than 250 years.  In these Tuesday classes we will delve into Messiah’s text that is taken from the literal words of scripture and discover the historical and biblical background of the texts that inspired the music.  This will surely add to your joy and this Advent!

• Weekly Bible Class on  ROMANS 8:  THE PINNACLE OF GRACE

Every Tuesday, 11:00 a.m., at the Franciscan Renewal Center

Bible scholars have described the eighth chapter of Romans as “the mountain peak of Scripture,” and the “chapter of chapters for the Christian.”  Another commentator has said, “If Holy Scripture was a ring, and the Epistle to the Romans a precious stone, chapter eight would be the sparkling point of the jewel!”  You’re invited to join us in an exploration of Romans eight and the heights of God’s grace!

A Christmas Surprise

³⁰The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³²He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ ³⁴Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ 

Luke 1:30-34 

I have a psychologist friend whose specialty is working with youth battling addictions.  He once told me that he thought that the number one addiction in the world is the addiction to outcomes.  By that he meant our tendency to think that things have to turn out a certain way before we can be happy.  With this way of thinking we set up certain minimal requirements before we are going to allow ourselves happiness. 

This can happen to me at Christmas as I tend to think that a happy Christmas requires the whole family being together.  Or I think that a happy Christmas means everyone being in reasonably good health, and getting what they hoped for.

But what does that mean for a Christmas when the whole family can’t come together, a Christmas when the economy isn’t so good, or a Christmas with discord among believers?    What does that mean for a Christmas when things don’t go as planned or hoped?  Is it possible to take Christmas just as it comes and be joyful?  Is it still possible to rejoice in the day the Lord has made? 

I think of that first Christmas and how everyone’s plans are horribly messed up.  A beautiful young teen turns up inexplicably pregnant.  Wedding plans made when bride and groom were mere toddlers are hastily scrapped.  Oh, the heartache, disappointment, and confusion!   But young Mary takes it as it comes and says:

‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ (Luke 1:38).

I often think about how the Christmas stories we love to tell are stories about plans gone awry.  There’s Tiny Tim, crippled and dying, in “The Christmas Carol.”    There’s George Bailey’s profound despair in “It’s A Wonderful Life.”   And who could forget the penniless young couple, madly in love, but without any money to buy gifts in O’Henry’s, “The Gift of the Magi.”   And then there’s a little baby, on a cold night, pushed out to a cattle barn because there is no room for him in the motel.  Here are stories of hope and joy in the midst of struggle and want.  Here are stories of fulfillment and meaning.

And for us and our stories this Christmas, we may not get the outcomes we wanted.  But there can be joy and wonder regardless, because He is still God-with-us, Immanuel.

Surprise us Lord!

Tim Smith

• For the Water from Rock daily Advent reflections see website, WaterfromRock.org, “Advent Devotionals” .
• Add to your Advent celebration by joining us Tuesday, December 1, 8, 15, at 7:00 P.M., at the Franciscan Renewal Center for “The Gospel According to Handel’s Messiah.” 

Awe-inspiring and sublime, Handel’s majestic Messiah has thrilled listeners for more than 250 years.  In these Tuesday classes we will delve into Messiah’s text that is taken from the literal words of scripture and discover the historical and biblical background of the texts that inspired the music.  This will surely add to your joy and this Advent!

• Weekly Bible Class on  ROMANS 8:  THE PINNACLE OF GRACE

Every Tuesday, 11:00 a.m., at the Franciscan Renewal Center

Bible scholars have described the eighth chapter of Romans as “the mountain peak of Scripture,” and the “chapter of chapters for the Christian.”  Another commentator has said, “If Holy Scripture was a ring, and the Epistle to the Romans a precious stone, chapter eight would be the sparkling point of the jewel!”  You’re invited to join us in an exploration of Romans eight and the heights of God’s grace!

Thinking about Thanking

²⁰Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; ²¹for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened.                 Romans 1:20-21 

This week we observe a distinctly American holiday.  While many nations observe Christmas and Easter, only in America do we set aside a day to offer up thanks to our Creator.  From our nation’s earliest days at Jamestown and Plymouth, we have felt it appropriate and essential as a people to pause and acknowledge our absolute dependence upon God.  And as well, through proclamation of legislatures, governors, and presidents, we have been called upon to offer up thanksgiving in times of peace and calamity. 

In today’s text, the Apostle Paul sets forth the consequences of not giving thanks to God or honoring him.  As Paul outlines the moral history of the human race, he notes that when people do not “give thanks” to God they “become futile in their thinking,” and their minds are “darkened.”  I reflect upon our recent history and wonder at the darkness and futile thinking that seem so pervasive in our culture.

The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that the word “think” and the word “thank” both come from the same Proto-European root.   The Dictionary traces the etymology of the two words and demonstrates that in Old Saxon, German, Norse, Danish, Frisian, and Dutch, there was an interconnectedness of giving thanks and  thinking.   Somehow they knew that to give thanks is to think right, and to stop and think leads to thankfulness.

I am encouraged by the work of Dr. Robert Emmons, who is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Positive Psychology.  Admitting that scientists are latecomers to the idea of gratitude, Dr. Emmons and various researchers are demonstrating the positive effects of the attitude of gratitude.  They are finding in all kinds of experimental comparisons, that people who keep a daily gratitude journal feel better about their lives, report fewer physical symptoms, and are more optimistic. 

In one sample of adults with neuromuscular disease, they found that a “21 day gratitude intervention” resulted in greater amounts of high energy positive moods, a greater sense of connectedness to others, more optimism, and better sleep for the control group.  The old song was right after all  – counting blessings is better than counting sheep!

But in the end, Thanksgiving isn’t about us.  And the attitude of gratitude is not about how well it serves us.  It’s all about the one simple fact that God is God, worthy to be praised.  As usual, the old psalmist says it well: 

¹It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
   to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
²to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
   and your faithfulness by night,
³to the music of the lute and the harp,
   to the melody of the lyre.
⁴For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
   at the works of your hands I sing for joy. 

Psalm 92:1-4

Something to think about this Thanksgiving.

Tim Smith

• ROMANS 8:  THE PINNACLE OF GRACE

11:00a.m. – Noon

Bible scholars have described the eighth chapter of Romans as “the mountain peak of Scripture,” and the “chapter of chapters for the Christian.”  Another commentator has said, “If Holy Scripture was a ring, and the Epistle to the Romans a precious stone, chapter eight would be the sparkling point of the jewel!”  You’re invited to join us in an exploration of Romans eight and the heights of God’s grace! 

• EXPLORING ECCLESIASTES:  A BOOK FOR OUR TIME

7:00 P.M.  – 8:00 P.M     

The Book of Ecclesiastes is one of the Bible’s most enigmatic, yet most relevant and beautiful books.  Ecclesiastes asks the hard questions about the meaning of life, grief and loss, pleasure and profit, money and accumulation, and applies godly wisdom to everyday realities.  You’re invited to join us in this study of what is most important in life and how we can live more rich and fulfilling lives.

It’s All About Mercy

³²“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ love those who love them. ³³And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ do that. ³⁴And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ lend to ’sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:32-36 

I was brought up in what was called, “The Holiness Movement.”  Our favorite text of the Bible was Leviticus 11:44, where the Lord God says, “Be holy, because I am holy.”  We knew that the basic meaning of the word, “holy,” was to be “different than,” or, “distinct from,” and “set apart.”  Thus, we were devoted and quite serious about being different, by not doing what other people did, or going to places they went.  For us, this was holy living.  Being holier than others meant carefully holding to the list of rules.  And with this went the almost daily calculation of how we were doing compared to how others were doing in keeping the rules. 

You can imagine my surprise then, when I began to discover that the Lord Jesus doesn’t play by the rules!   I began to see that Jesus thinks of holy living, or being set apart, in a quite different way.  Jesus thinks of holy living as being different in precisely the way that he sees the heavenly Father as being different. 

In today’s text, Jesus says that the heavenly Father is different from others in that he doesn’t love the way others do.  He doesn’t  love just those who love him.  Even sinners do that.  No, the Most High even loves his enemies!  And he doesn’t just love those who give back to him in return.  He loves and does good to people, expecting nothing in return.

What a truly different way of understanding God that the Son of God reveals.  And what a different and distinct way of life Jesus himself demonstrates.  Jesus never counts himself a part of any holiness movement per se, or never so much as quotes the verse about being holy because God is holy.  Rather, with a tender turn of phrase, Jesus implores, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”   That’s the way to be different from others!  Be different in the way that the heavenly Father is different:  generous in forgiveness, extravagant in grace, and merciful in keeping accounts. 

When religious leaders censure Jesus for hanging out with sinners, Jesus replies:  Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13).  

I’m a slow learner, but I think I’m beginning to get it.  It’s all about mercy, isn’t it!  How about you and me, let’s start a “The Mercy Movement.” 

Mercy and peace,

Tim Smith 

• ROMANS 8:  THE PINNACLE OF GRACE

11:00a.m. – Noon

Bible scholars have described the eighth chapter of Romans as “the mountain peak of Scripture,” and the “chapter of chapters for the Christian.”  Another commentator has said, “If Holy Scripture was a ring, and the Epistle to the Romans a precious stone, chapter eight would be the sparkling point of the jewel!”  You’re invited to join us in an exploration of Romans eight and the heights of God’s grace! 

• EXPLORING ECCLESIASTES:  A BOOK FOR OUR TIME

7:00 P.M.  – 8:00 P.M   

The Book of Ecclesiastes is one of the Bible’s most enigmatic, yet most relevant and beautiful books.  Ecclesiastes asks the hard questions about the meaning of life, grief and loss, pleasure and profit, money and accumulation, and applies godly wisdom to everyday realities.  You’re invited to join us in this study of what is most important in life and how we can live more rich and fulfilling lives.

A Push Back

Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.  Hebrews 13:7 

I’m not claiming that it was any kind of vision, but Saturday night as I was turning  in bed, somehow I remembered a Sunday school teacher I had as a boy.  Where did that slender fragment of memory come from, I wondered.  But before I could get back to sleep it occurred to me that I owed that teacher a lot.   With not a lot of education she taught me faithfully about Jesus.   She is gone now, but I remember her.

Then I woke early Sunday morning and thought, “This is All Saints Day.”  And I wondered if perhaps it was God in the night nudging me to remember on All Saints Day that Sunday School teacher who had faithfully served.   And not just to remember her but so many others like her who have helped me along the Way.  

And now it’s Monday morning and I’m wondering again  –   I’m wondering, “Why did we give more thought and preparation to Halloween, or “All Hallows Even” than we did to All Saints Day, or for Reformation Sunday, on the same day?

Why this inversion of values?  Why this trivialization of our godly heroes?  Is this the cost of being immersed in a postmodern culture that focuses more on ghost, darks spirits, and Bernie Madoff masks, than it does in celebrating greatness?  Is this the church yielding ground to a culture that makes celebrities of people, not for achievement, but only for being known? 

Thomas Carlyle, Scottish historian and writer, helps me a lot this morning as he writes:  “The history of mankind is the history of its great men: the important thing is to find these out, clean the dirt from them, and place them on their proper pedestals.” 

I want to push back against our culture, against its nihilism and coarsening of values.   I must find out the heroes and celebrate lives of faithfulness, duty and honor.  Likewise, today’s scripture text calls us to remember such lives, and to consider the “outcome of their way of life”.   Let us “imitate their faith” and dare to follow in their steps!

I am finding it helpful to reflect on the wisdom of the Apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus.  I pass on these sage words to you for your consideration. 

Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers in their generations.  The Lord apportioned to them great glory, his majesty from the beginning.  There were those who ruled in their kingdoms, and were men renowned for their powers, giving counsel by their understanding, and proclaiming prophecies; leaders of the people in their deliberations and in understanding of learning for the people, wise in their words  of instruction; those who composed musical tunes, and set forth verses in writing; rich men furnished with resources, living peaceably in their habitations – all these were honored in their generations, and were the glory of their times.  There are some of them who have left a name, so that men declare their praise.  And there are some who have no memorial, who have perished as though they had not lived; they have become as though they had not been born, and so have their children after them.  But these were men of mercy, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten; their posterity will continue for ever, and their glory will not be blotted out.  Their bodies were buried in peace, and their name live to all generations.  Ecclesiasticus 44:1-10, 13-14

Let us lift up our praise of such people, give thanks for them, and follow hard after them.  The world doesn’t run on the celebrity of the day but rather on great souls such as these!

Tim Smith

       TUESDAY CLASSES AT THE        

FRANSICAN RENEWAL CENTER 

CLASSES THIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, WILL BE IN THE ST. BARBARA ROOM

NEW CLASS BEGINS: Tuesday, 11:00 a.m. to Noon

• ROMANS 8:  THE PINNACLE OF GRACE

11:00a.m. – Noon

Bible scholars have described the eighth chapter of Romans as “the mountain peak of Scripture,” and the “chapter of chapters for the Christian.”  Another commentator has said, “If Holy Scripture was a ring, and the Epistle to the Romans a precious stone, chapter eight would be the sparkling point of the jewel!”  You’re invited to join us in an exploration of Romans eight and the heights of God’s grace! 

• EXPLORING ECCLESIASTES:  A BOOK FOR OUR TIME

7:00 P.M.  – 8:00 P.M     

The Book of Ecclesiastes is one of the Bible’s most enigmatic, yet most relevant and beautiful books.  Ecclesiastes asks the hard questions about the meaning of life, grief and loss, pleasure and profit, money and accumulation, and applies godly wisdom to everyday realities.  You’re invited to join us in this study of what is most important in life and how we can live more rich and fulfilling lives.