Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
1 Samuel 9:27-10:8 (NRSV)
Samuel anoints Saul king
As they were going down to the outskirts of the town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell
the boy to go on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a
while, that I may make known to you the word of God."
Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him; he said,
"The Lord has anointed you ruler over his people Israel. You shall reign over
the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their enemies all
around. Now this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you ruler
over his heritage: When you depart from me today you will meet two men by
Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; they will say to you, 'The
donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has stopped
worrying about them and is worrying about you, saying: What shall I do about my
son?' Then you shall go on from there further and come to the oak of Tabor;
three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three
kids, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of
wine. They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall
accept from them. After that you shall come to Gibeath elohim, at the place
where the Philistine garrison is; there, as you come to the town, you will meet
a band of prophets coming down from the shrine with harp, tambourine, flute, and
lyre playing in front of them; they will be in a prophetic frenzy. Then the
spirit of the Lord will possess you, and you will be in a prophetic frenzy along
with them and be turned into a different person. Now when these signs meet you,
do whatever you see fit to do, for God is with you. And you shall go down to
Gilgal ahead of me; then I will come down to you to present burnt offerings and
offer sacrifices of well being. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you
and show you what you shall do."
Prayer:
O God of the morning star,
Creator of the day,
we search the sky for the warmth of your love
only to discover it in our own hearts.
We spend our whole lives wondering about the measure of your love
only to discover its height and depth,
its breadth and length is unfathomable, boundless.
Again and again our nagging doubts
are overcome by shimmering amazement.
We are confounded by your love,
comforted by your love,
confronted by your love,
challenged by your love.
Move us ever beyond the shadow of doubt to the beaming
brightness of your Light — the Light of the world,
the light which will not leave us alone,
the light which disturbs our sleep,
pokes through our passivity,
and calls us out into the dance of a new day.
We praise you, Holy One,
for your loving spirit
undaunted by our doubts,
forgiving of our fears,
and ever seeking out our souls.
Lift up faith in us, O Lord, as we lift up this prayer. Amen.
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Take care, or you will be seduced into turning away, serving other gods and
worshipping them. Deuteronomy 11:16
For us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom
we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through
whom we exist. 1 Corinthians 8:6
Our Father in heaven, the things we cherish more than we cherish you, things we
make our life's priorities are precious to us. Forgive us when we invent our own
gods to serve. Amen.
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What Might Have Been
In the 1800s, poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote one of his most quoted poems in
the English language. The poem was titled, "Maud Muller." You've never heard of
it? Actually, not many people remember this sorrowful poem, but generations of
people have quoted two famous lines from its final stanza.
"Maud Muller" is about a young maiden who, while working the fields one day,
sees a handsome young Judge riding by on horseback. She offers him a drink of
cool water. Their encounter lasts only a few moments, but it makes a deep
impression on both of them. Maud is greatly attracted to the Judge, and she
dreams of marrying someone of his gentleness and integrity. She could leave the
fields behind and live as the wife of a wealthy and powerful man.
At the same time, the Judge is attracted to Maud. He is tired of his career, and
he dreams of marrying a warm, compassionate woman like Maud and settling into a
simpler life in the country. But neither Maud nor the Judge acknowledges their
attraction to one another. They are from different social classes---they cannot
risk breaking the bonds of social conformity.
Maud later marries a man who brings her much pain and hardship.The Judge also
enters into a loveless marriage. In the final stanza of the poem, Whittier
offers us this warning: "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are
these: 'It might have been!'"
King Duncan, Collected Sermons
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Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Numbers 22:22-28 (NRSV)
An angel speaks God's word to Balaam
God's anger was kindled because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his
stand in the road as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two
servants were with him. The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the
road, with a drawn sword in his hand; so the donkey turned off the road, and
went into the field; and Balaam struck the donkey, to turn it back onto the
road. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards,
with a wall on either side. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it
scraped against the wall, and scraped Balaam's foot against the wall; so he
struck it again. Then the angel of the Lord went ahead, and stood in a narrow
place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. When
the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam; and Balaam's
anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. Then the Lord opened
the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that
you have struck me these three times?"
Prayer:
O God,
who hears our cry for help
and sends us a friend of faith,
we praise you for your abiding love.
How grateful we are that you would rather caress than condemn us,
even when we are disgraceful children.
We don’t know why or how we get into such sad situations,
such dreadful circumstances,
such hurtful relationships.
But our hope is in that Spirit which loves us back to life,
releases us from destructive urges,
and frees us to become beautiful, caring, and healing.
Hold us ever close to your heart so that our hearts might
develop the same rhythm, the same pulse,
the same impulse for forgiveness, long-suffering, patience,
compassion, and joy.
May the good news of your gracious love beat loudly within us
and sing out from our lips and our lives.
Make us your disciples
as we let you become the Lord of our lives. Amen.
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A son honors his father. If then I am a father, where is the honor due me?
says the Lord. Malachi 1:6
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and
glory forever and ever. 1 Timothy 1:17
Heavenly Father, it's hard for us to face the brutal truth that we often ignore
you. We separate ourselves from you. We withhold our hearts from the very one
who created them. Forgive us and receive us, we pray. Amen.
Thank you, Lord, that you never abandon us to our hopelessness. There is always
room at your table for those who feel forgotten, or who have been cast out.
Train us in such hospitality. Amen.
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She Served Them
by C. David McKirachan
Mark 1:29-39
It’s not easy being a mother-in-law. It’s bad enough being a mother. Painful,
scary, exhausting, thankless, but giving your child to another person, placing
their happiness in the hands of another, is downright nuts.
I was dating my now wife for about a year when I decided to speak to her mother.
I have not always been successful at love or marriage. I’m a minister. I’m a
single parent. None of these things make for a peaceful or easy life. We were
going out to lunch, the three of us, and I asked Chris to go into the restaurant
and reserve a table, because there was something I wanted to speak to her mother
about. With a limited amount of time to use, I came straight to the point. “I
would like your blessing as I court your daughter for the purpose of marriage.”
I’ve been more romantic when I changed the oil on my car. But she got the
message.
She was very serious. She asked me questions about my plans. She wanted to know
whether I thought Chris would be a good help-mate, a partner for me in my
ministry. She asked how I intended to make her secure and happy. She grilled me
in under five minutes. She did a good job of respecting my intentions and my
seriousness by being serious herself. Then she told me she was happy and excited
about me being her son-in-law, she thought I would be a wonderful husband for
her daughter, and she wanted me to keep her up dated on my progress in the
courtship. Wow! This lady was good.
A year later I proposed to Chris. She said "Yes." I was still on my knee when I
said "Now you have to call your mother." Chris said that could wait a little
while. I said, no, she’s waiting.
Peter’s mother-in-law had a lot to put up with. This guy, Jesus, captured her
daughter’s husband, dragged him away to who knows where, to do who knows what
and left his family to pick up the pieces. We don’t have records of her
conversations with Peter or with her daughter. But we do have this cryptic
account of her healing and the comment, "She arose and served them."
Throughout our lives there have been many who have had reservations about what
it would mean to have us around, who have not been our greatest fans, who may
have not even liked us, but they didn’t stop being good to us. In many ways
that’s what the church is all about. It’s offering the right hand of fellowship
and support to every one that walks in the door, whether they’re full of warm
fuzzies or not.
My mother-in-law loves me. I call her "Mom." I guess she’s glad her daughter
said yes. But her love goes out to more than people who she’s happy about. She
cares about all kinds of people. She is a saint of the church, the body of
Christ. Thank God for her and for all patient, kind, and supportive
mother-in-laws.
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at
Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University.
McKirachan is the author of I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder
(Westminster John Knox).
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Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
2 Kings 8:1-6 (NRSV)
The Shunammite widow's land restored
Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, "Get up and
go with your household, and settle wherever you can; for the Lord has called for
a famine, and it will come on the land for seven years." So the woman got up and
did according to the word of the man of God; she went with her household and
settled in the land of the Philistines seven years. At the end of the seven
years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she set out to
appeal to the king for her house and her land. Now the king was talking with
Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, "Tell me all the great things that
Elisha has done." While he was telling the king how Elisha had restored a dead
person to life, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king
for her house and her land. Gehazi said, "My lord king, here is the woman, and
here is her son whom Elisha restored to life." When the king questioned the
woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, "Restore
all that was hers, together with all the revenue of the fields from the day that
she left the land until now."
Prayer:
O Liberating Lord, you call us out of captivity to the freedom of the human
spirit.
When our false faces and pretentious posturing shield
our honest feelings and shroud our secret fears,
you remind us that the truth shall set us free.
When we are bent over and burdened by the weight of
our selfish ambitions or the assumption of too much responsibility,
you invite us to take your yoke upon us — the one that
is easy and light.
When the darkness of doubt and fear encircles us and
we become lost and confused,
you come to us with the announcement that you are
the Light of the World — a light which the darkness
has not and cannot overcome.
When we become victimized by our insatiable appetite
for pleasure and excitement,
you assure us that you alone are the Bread of Life
and that if we come to you and believe in you
we shall never hunger, never thirst.
O Lord, save us from ourselves!
We seem to compulsively prefer captivity to freedom.
We become complacent in the safety of our cells.
Forgive our grumbling and resistance and show us again
and again how the weighty wings of faith can lift
us to heaven
and to the heart of God. Amen.
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More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters, more majestic than the
waves of the sea, majestic on high is the Lord! Psalm 93:4
Jesus woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!"
Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. Mark 4:39
Lord of heaven and earth, you are high above all creation. You continue to
provide for us the sustenance needed to sustain our lives. May we live lives
worthy of the peace that Jesus brings to all humankind! Amen.
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Take, Lord, all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my whole will.
You have given me all that I have,
all that I am,
and I surrender all to your divine will,
that you dispose of me.
Give me only your love and your grace.
With this I am rich enough,
and I have no more to ask. Amen.
Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)
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Can We See God?
Some time ago I read the story of a young boy approaching his slightly older
sister with a question about God. “Susie, can anybody ever really see God?” “Of
course not, silly,” came the response. “God is so far up in heaven that no one
can see God.” Sometime later the boy approached his mother with the same nagging
question, “Mom, can anybody really see God?” More gently his mother answered,
“No, not really. God is a spirit and dwells in our hearts, but we can never
really see God.”
His mother’s answer was somewhat more satisfying, but still the boy wondered.
Not long afterwards, the boy’s grandfather took him on a fishing trip, and the
two had a great day together. As the day was winding down, the sun began to set
with unusual splendor. The grandfather was enrapt by the beauty, and the
grandson was aware of a deep peace and contentment etched upon his grandpa’s
face. “Granddad,” the boy began, a bit hesitatingly. “I wasn’t going to ask
anyone else, but I wonder if you can tell me the answer to something I’ve been
wondering about a long time. Can anybody ever really see God?”
The grandfather sat in thought for a few moments, then said simply, “Grandson,
it’s getting so I can’t see anything else.”
Joel D. Kline, Faith Is a Verb
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Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Presentation of Our Lord
Luke 2:22-40 (NRSV)
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they
brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the
law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the
Lord"), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of
the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous
and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit
rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not
see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon
came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for
him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised
God, saying,
"Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel."
And the child's father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.
Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "This child is destined
for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be
opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed and a sword will
pierce your own soul too."
There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her
marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty four. She never left the temple
but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she
came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were
looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned
to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong,
filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
Prayer:
O Lord, you search and know us.
You know when we sit down and rise up.
You discern our thoughts from afar.
You search the path we walk and our dreams during sleep
and are familiar with all our ways.
You know how we flee from your presence
and turn our ears from your voice.
You know how we avoid our neighbor
and look past the helpless and
unloved stranger on our streets.
You know how seldom we turn to you
and seek your counsel.
You know us better than we know ourselves.
Still you love us and seek us out.
Our darkness is not dark to you.
Your light of love is as bright as the day.
We praise you for the wonder of your love
which has no limits.
We adore you for always being present with us,
imparting your grace and peace. Amen.
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I will save you from all your uncleannesses. Ezekiel 36:29
You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your
ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious
blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 1 Peter
1:18-19
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your cleansing power. May we follow in the
footsteps of our ancestors as we look to you for guidance! We praise you
together with the Holy Spirit for anointing us with the precious blood of Jesus
Christ. Amen.
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Presentation of Our Lord
O God, you have blessed the venerable groundhog with the mantle of
prognostication, and raised him up as a sign of coming spring: Grant that we too
may reflect the light of your Son and bring new life and hope to all who await
the dawning of a new day; through the same Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
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When We Are Reborn
Author Marianne Williamson shares a conversation she had with a young man named
Andrew. In his first year of high school, Andrew had acted like a self-described
"jerk" and a "total loser." He treated people badly. Then, he moved to a
different high school for a couple of years. Now, he dreaded returning to his
old high school for his final year.He knew how people remembered him. They would
treat him like the old Andrew. But he wasn't that guy anymore; he had matured
and had a new perspective on his life. He didn't want to be dragged down by old
memories and old patterns in his life.
Williamson advised Andrew to ignore what others thought of him. Soon enough,
Andrew's old classmates would start to see the contrasts between the old Andrew
and the new Andrew. They couldn't hold the past against him for very long. She
prayed with Andrew that God would give him a brand new start, with brand new
relationships. As Williamson writes, "Spiritually, we are reborn in any moment
we do not take the past with us."
Andrew later reported back on his school situation. It was nothing short of a
miracle. He had made new friends among the people he had once alienated. No one
treated him like the old Andrew.
Sometimes the biggest barrier to starting a new life is fear of how those
closest to us will react. If we do change, our relationships will inevitably be
affected. Other people are involved. We have responsibilities. If we change, how
will our spouse react? How about our friends? It's easier to stay in our comfort
zone if we feel that others will regard us negatively if we seek to change.
King Duncan
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