Morning Grace

- Choose one of this week's readings and related texts to be your prayer focus for today. They are: Matthew 6:19-21 Matthew 6:22-23 Matthew 6:24 Matthew 6:25-34 - Read the passage again and identify a word or phrases that jump out at you. - Read the passage again, and if possible read from a different translation ( biblegateway.com  has many translations you can choose from). Identify where this passage might be touching your life today. How is this relevant to your life? - Read the passage a third time, again in a different translation if possible. Ask yourself what God is calling you to do or to be from this passage. What change might God be moving your toward? - Close with a silent prayer, listening to God rather than speaking to God. What actions will you take today based on this prayer? - Recite the Lord's Prayer. (in whatever version you wish!)

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,  or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?   And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin,  yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’  For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all

“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. ~ Matthew 6:24 Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire. ~ Thomas Merton Money is a good servant, but a bad master. ~ attributed to both Francis Bacon and Alexander Dumas When I was growing up, we didn't have a lot of money. There were times I could tell my mother was worried that we might not be able to make the next mortgage payment. But that wasn't my worry. Instead, as an adolescent I saw this as simply ways in which I didn't get to be like my friends: have trendy clothes; get cars for their birthday when they turned 16; get to go to the school ski trip or other fun events sponsored by the school; know that college would be paid for. As a 16 year old, I was pretty resentful about that. And when I finally made some money of my own, at first

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light;  but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! ~ Matthew 6:22-23 Oh! that gentleness! how far more potent is it than force!” ~  Charlotte Brontë,  Jane Eyre Have you ever noticed someone who you could just tell was kind or gentle by the look in their eyes? Have your ever looked into the eyes of someone who projected calm just by the their gentle gaze? When you fell in love, was there something in the eye your partner that let you know you were beloved?   How did that make you feel? My grandmother had these bright, clear blue eyes that crinkled in the corners when she smiled - which was practically all the time. She had only to look at me with the love that was etched in them for me to feel safe and at peace. In Tanzania I became friends with a gentleman who worked for the Luthera

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust  consume and where thieves break in and steal;  but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust  consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ~ Matthew 6:19-21 Unless we place our religion and our treasure in the same thing, religion will always be sacrificed. ~ Epictitus I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;  you shall have no other gods before  me. ~ Commandment 1 of the Ten Commandments Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your god. ~ Martin Luther If you value something (or someone), usually people know about it. If you value something (or someone), they see how you treat it (or them). They see how involved you are with it (or them). They see what impact they have on your life. They see your relationship with them and

- Choose one of this week's readings and related texts to be your prayer focus for today. They are: Matthew 6:1-4 Matthew 6:5-8 Matthew 6:9-15 Matthew 6:16-18 - Read the passage again and identify a word or phrases that jump out at you. - Read the passage again, and if possible read from a different translation ( biblegateway.com  has many translations you can choose from). Identify where this passage might be touching your life today. How is this relevant to your life? - Read the passage a third time, again in a different translation if possible. Ask yourself what God is calling you to do or to be from this passage. What change might God be moving your toward? - Close with a silent prayer, listening to God rather than speaking to God. What actions will you take today based on this prayer? - Recite the Lord's Prayer (in whatever version you wish!)

“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,  so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ~ Matthew 6:16-18 When the flesh is satisfied it is hard to pray with cheerfulness or to devote oneself to a life of service which calls for much self-renunciation.” ~   Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship We Lutherans aren't big on fasting. We ARE big on potluck dinners. (well, except Dietrich Bonhoeffer!) Our Lenten fasts generally mean giving up chocolate or coffee, alcohol or meat. I have Muslim friends who know what is means to fast. Their month of Ramadan is spent fasting from dawn to sunset. And for the last few years, it took place during late spring - when days were long

“Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven,      hallowed be your name.      Your kingdom come.      Your will be done,          on earth as it is in heaven.      Give us this day our daily bread.      And forgive us our debts,          as we also have forgiven our debtors.      And do not bring us to the time of trial,          but rescue us from the evil one. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;  but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. ~ Matthew 6:9-15 You know this prayer probably as much as you know your favorite Christmas Carol or the maiden name of your mom. You probably can't count how many times you've said it in your life. Thousands of times most likely. There is always a danger of something becoming rote when we say it all the time. Hopefully that hasn't become the case for you, But if it has, might I suggest an alternative? Find

“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ~ Matthew 6:5-8 In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart. ~ John Bunyan Jesus follows up his talk of giving in secret to praying in secret. And I have to admit, that this is a text that I come back to time and time again because its one I've spent a good part of the past couple of decades trying to live into. And I'm 90% sure I've alrea

“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.  But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,  so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ~ Matthew 6:1-4 It's not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving. ~ Mother Teresa   Something about this teaching from Jesus has always bothered me. It shouldn't, I know. And it isn't because I disagree with Jesus here. I have to guess that the reason it bothers me is because it is supposed to bother me. Because there have been times, as much as I hate to admit it, where I didn't mind a little trumpet sounding to my giving

- Choose one of this week's readings and related texts to be your prayer focus for today. They are: Matthew 5:27-32 Matthew 5:33-37 Matthew 5:38-42 Matthew 5:43-48 - Read the passage again and identify a word or phrases that jump out at you. - Read the passage again, and if possible read from a different translation ( biblegateway.com  has many translations you can choose from). Identify where this passage might be touching your life today. How is this relevant to your life? - Read the passage a third time, again in a different translation if possible. Ask yourself what God is calling you to do or to be from this passage. What change might God be moving your toward? - Close with a silent prayer, listening to God rather than speaking to God. What actions will you take today based on this prayer? - Recite the Lord's Prayer.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers and sisters,  what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." ~ Matthew 5:43-48 “Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. Th