Morning Grace

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.  “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”  He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”  And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.  He went to him and bandaged h

John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.”  But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.” ~ Luke 9:49-50 I'm a human being first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever or whatever benefits humanity as a whole. ~ Malcolm X You've probably heard (more than once and in many contexts) this aphorism: "If you're not for me, you're against me."  Later in Luke, Jesus does say something similar to this. But here what we get is the opposite really. Instead, Jesus comes for the healing and wholeness of all of humanity, and as such, sees that healing and wholeness can come from unexpected places. There is a idea for some that in Christianity our goal is to save people from hell - to makes sure their theology is OK. To not pray with someone who isn't Christian (or Catholic or Protestant or Lutheran, etc). To see the &

An argument arose among (the disciples) as to which one of them was the greatest.  But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side,  and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.” ~ Luke 9:46-48 Hold childhood in reverence. ~ Jean-Jaques Rousseau Right around the turning of the new millennia, Life Magazine produced a special edition called "The Top Hundred Events of the Millennium:" everything important that happened between 1000 and 1999. Number 55 on the list was "The Invention of Childhood - 1633." If your first reaction was anything like mine, you probably said to yourself, "What?? Children have existed since the beginning of time. How can childhood be invented?" Well, what it meant was that prior to 1633 and a Moravian Bishop named Cormenius, no one gave children much thought ot

Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.  What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? ~ Luke 9:23-25 We have the choice of two identities: the external mask which seems to be real, and the hidden inner person who seems to us to be nothing, but who can give him [or her] self to the truth in whom he [or she] subsists. ~ Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation Life is not a matter of creating a special name for ourselves, but of uncovering the name we have always had. ~ Richard Rohr, Immortal Diamond What does it mean to lose yourself? And just what self is it that you are losing? How do you deny yourself? For Jesus, the self to lose isn't the self that is who we truly are. As Allison, I'm made up of all kinds of identities

Then (Jesus') mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd.  And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”  But he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” ~ Luke 8:19-21 Family not only need to consist merely those whom we share blood, but also for those whom we'd give blood. ~ Charles Dickens  The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof. ~ Richard Bach Here are who are in my family: The couple who served as my "in loco grandparentis" when I was a child and teenager and we had moved away from near my actual grandparents to Texas. The neighbors in Texas who adopted us into their lives. All my girl friends over the years (you know who you are!) - who hugged me, dried my tears, laughed with me, and hel

When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable:  “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.  Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture.  Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it.  Some 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!” Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant.  He 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.’ “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.  The 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.  The ones on the r

Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.  You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.  Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” ~ Luke 7:44-47 He who risks and fails can be forgiven. He who never risks and never fails is a failure in his whole being. ~ Paul Tillich  It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. ~ Rear Admiral Grace Hopper It was certainly easier for the woman who bathed Jesus feet with tears to seek forgiveness than ask permission to do it. And Simon, and his friends, were indignant that she didn't ask permission first. If faith changes

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?  I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them.  That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built.   But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.” ~ Luke 6:46-49 Like the wise builder who laid the foundation of his house on the rock, we learn to let our knowledge of God change us. ~ Tyler Edwards, Zombie Church: Breathing Life Back into the Body of Christ As Lutherans, we have as one of our foundational principles that we are saved by faith, not works. And that's true... But... What does that actually mean for our daily lives? What does it mean for our relationship w

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven;  give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?  A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.  Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s  eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend,  let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s  eye. ~ Luke 6:37-42 The self-righteous scream judgments against others to hide the noise of skeletons dancing in their

Do to others as you would have them do to you. ~ Luke 6:31 What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. ~ Judaism, Rabbi Hillel (The Talmud) As you would have people do to you, do to them. ~ Islam, Prophet Muhammad (The Hadith) Those acts you consider good when done to you, do those to others, none else. ~ Hinduism (The Upanishads) Hurt no others in ways you yourself would find hurtful. ~ Buddhism What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others. ~  Confucius   These are not the only versions of the Golden Rule that appear in religious writings from across the globe. There are a bunch more. To paraphrase a quote by Malcolm X, truth is truth, no matter who tells it. The fact that the Golden Rule shows up so many places could possibly be a good indicator as to how important it is. It could be a really good indicator of what God finds to be important. And the fact that each religion has a version begs the question: what would it be like if every faith a

“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,  bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ~ Luke 6:27-28 Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~ attributed to Rev. John Watson (aka Ian MacLaren)  I want to be clear that praying for those who abuse you is not the same thing as accept abuse from someone. And loving your enemies is not the same thing as liking them, or hanging out with them. Jesus here is using love as a verb: love, do good, bless, pray. Love. Do good. Bless. Pray. Be kind. Loving as a verb isn't a warm, fuzzy feeling. Loving as a verb is hard work. Being kind is hard work. It's action oriented and persistent.  It doesn't mean being a doormat for someone. It means that for the person who treats YOU as a doormat, you show another way. Sometimes someone is our "enemy" because we just don't like them. Maybe they didn't harm us, but maybe we find their po