Exodus 20:1-17

I can remember when I had to memorize the Ten Commandments as a fourth grader in Sunday School. We had to be able to say these ten laws in order even though we didn’t really know what they meant. No one would explain to us what “Thou shalt not commit adultery” meant. Did it mean that we were supposed always remain children and not become adults? If so, then our parents, teachers, and other adults were in big trouble. Did it have something to do with sex? But what was sex?
When I got to be an adult and knew what adultery meant, there was that adult Sunday School class that decided to study the Ten Commandments and vote on which ones were still relevant and should still be kept. They were still mainly a list of things I wasn’t supposed to do with little other meaning.
Then I decided to preach a series of sermons on them. As I began to study them and their meaning for the ancient Hebrews, I realized that they were a set of living commandments that still spoke to us about God’s faithfulness to us and what it means to be in covenant with God. God’s grace had already been offered to the Hebrews and these commandments set the stage for how the Hebrews were to live in relationship with God.
Today the Ten Commandments are a hot topic. Should they be posted in our courthouses? They are the basis of our law codes. We are a Christian nation. The debate goes on.
But for now we are in the middle of Lent and reflecting on God’s covenants with humanity. How do they speak to us in that context? Are they to plunge us deeper into our remorse and repentance or are they to lift us up to see that God’s promises are true and that God is faithful? What is their story for us today?

Mark 1:21-28; Deut. 18:15-20

Eleven years of my ministry were spent serving a church that is about 1 ½ miles from Western State Hospital, the psychiatric hospital for the Puget Sound region. It was not uncommon to have patients from the hospital join us for worship or wander into the church during the week just to visit with someone or play the piano. Sometimes someone would talk at an inappropriate point in worship. At times the congregation would take under its wing someone who had become consistent in attending worship. The presence in church of persons with mental illness was just a fact of life. I can imagine though that some churches are not as comfortable as that church was with ministering to those with mental illness.
Also I just watched a movie entitled “Lars and the Real Girl” which is a beautiful movie about a man struggling with mental illness. Lars has such serious social anxiety problems that it causes him physical pain to be touched by another person. The movie is about the way that his church and his community surround him with love and support as he struggles.
Here in the scripture readings for this week we encounter two images: God calls out prophets in our midst and that the greatest of those prophets is also a man who reaches out to heal.
So I read these passages and wonder what does this passage have to say to our world concerning who Jesus was and who we are as the body of Christ? What does it say to us about God’s radical hospitality that reaches out to this one who is untouchable? What does it say to us about holistic healing of body, soul and relationships? What happens today if we accept this invitation to be God’s partners in practicing prophetic healing of persons and/or institutions?

1 Samuel 3:1-20

The call of Samuel begins with the words “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” As God calls Samuel, the divine word is “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears it to tingle.” When was the last time you felt a “tingle” in your spiritual life? When was the last time you experienced hope to such a degree that you tingled all over? When was the last time you felt forgiveness touch the very core of your being? We spend so much trying to disconnect from the pain and suffering of our world that we also find ourselves disconnected from the hope and joy as well.
Maybe we can’t feel that way because we are moving through life too fast. Are we numb to world? Are we afraid to truly experience life for fear of getting hurt or lost? Are we afraid to listen for the word of God because we are comfortable and think God will ask us to do something we don’t want to do? Maybe we feel the tingle of fear more than the tingle of hope.
Or is there more to our inability to hear the voice of God? Have we turned our backs on God’s way? Have we chosen to move through life making choices that are contrary to God’s way and God’s promises? Have we left God’s way of peace, justice, and mercy for the ways of the world – violence, war, selfishness?
God is still there with a word for us. God is still doing a great thing for the world. Do you hear God's voice?

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Are we a “joy” family or a “peace” family? My daughter and I talk about that each year when we put up our Christmas decorations. We have several pieces among our decorations that say either “joy” or “peace.” Neither of those is easy to live out in our day. There is much around us that doesn’t make for peace and it is just plain hard to be joyful all the time. Both peace and joy take practice.
Our video clip for this week offers a fun way to think about this. We will be showing a clip from the extra items on the DVD of the movie “Evan Almighty.” It is segment on how they trained the animals for that movie. For those who have not seen the movie, it is modern day "Noah's Ark" story with lots of animals on the set.
This lesson from 1 Thessalonians invites us to practice rejoicing. While Thessalonians is one of the earliest writings that we have in the New Testament, it already raises the question of how to remain hopeful even though Jesus did not return as quickly as the early Christians thought he would. Paul is instructing the church on how to live in the meanwhile – the time between Christ’s first and final advents.
We still live in the “in between” time. Even after all these centuries, we still need to practice our waiting skills. We need to train ourselves. What wisdom can we find in this passage on how to live as Christians? What practices does Paul offer to us for this “in between” time? What kind of training do we need?

Isaiah 41:1-11

Before I headed off to seminary and the ordained ministry, I thought that I would have career as a junior high geography teacher. I amazed my students by being able to identify the states simply from seeing their shape aside from a map. I knew all their capitals and other facts. I could also tell them all about far away places like Peru and India. I will save the story of how I went from being a geography teacher to a minister for another time.
I bring that up this week because I was struck by a thought as I read this passage from Isaiah. God is creating a new geography here for his people who have been in exile. God is raising valleys and lowering mountains. This newly smoothed path will lead them back to Jerusalem – the heart and center of their faith.
Imagine the sense of peace that would have come over those who first heard these words. They are tired after years of war and being refugees. They have been in a foreign country for years unable to practice their faith. Now they hear these words that come as a peaceful balm on their ears. The image of a loving shepherd is repeated again and again in scripture for there is no better way to understand this gift of God’s presence and care. Nothing could be more soothing than being held safely by the shepherd at the end of a difficult day.
But after the other harsh words of judgment that Isaiah offers earlier these words bring a great sense of peace. Where have you experienced God’s peace in your life or in your relationships? Where have you been surprised by a peaceful gesture in your life?
What a great metaphor after years of trudging up and down mountains to know that God will make the way straight and flat! What a great sense of peace to know that no matter what God’s peace abounds!

Mark 13:24-37

What would I do if I knew I had only a short time left to live? What would be on my “bucket list?” I would want to do some traveling. I would want to spend as much time with my family as possible. As I write those things, I am struck by the fact that my first thoughts are about me and making me feel good. Is that the kind of watchfulness that the gospel writer Mark is inviting us to? I wonder.
The young boy dying of leukemia in Seattle whose dying wish to help the hungry led to a very successful drive for food donations inspired me. Surround by his family he appealed to the entire region to remember those who are hungry. He didn’t get hung up on the politics of homelessness or the legality of the tent city. He just saw people in need. That is a vision of faithfulness that would bring an “amen” from an Old Testament prophet.
Perhaps as we begin our journey to Bethlehem we would do well think about our “bucket list.” We do not know the day or the hour. Each day should be lived as though it is our last.

All Saints' Sunday

I sing a song of the saints of God,
patient and brave and true,
who toiled and fought and lived and died for the Lord
they loved and knew.
And was a doctor, and one was a queen,
and one was a shepherdess on the green;
they were all of them saints of God,
and I mean, God helping, to be one too.

That is the first verse of the hymn “I Sing a Song of Saints of God” which is a favorite song in our family. While it is not very familiar to we Methodists, it is a song from my husband’s childhood. It reminds us of the “everyday saints” that we meet each day.
On Sunday, I learned from parishioners from a former church that a dear saint of that church passed away recently. It brought a flood of memories to mind. I had served as her pastor when her husband died and while she recovered from several health problems. She was a powerful pray-er and strong spiritual presence in my life often challenging me to be more honest and prophetic in my preaching.
Who are the “everyday saints” in your life? Maybe a neighbor or family member? Maybe someone who has made the transition to eternal life or someone that still walks among the living? I would love to hear your stories.,