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Monday, December 21, 2020
“These people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote.” —Isaiah 29:13
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shares a beautiful teaching about how we should speak. At the heart of Jesus’ teaching are the virtues of integrity and honesty. Jesus says not to pile up oaths and promises, swearing that this time (perhaps unlike all the other times) we really are telling the truth. Some Jesus-followers take this teaching literally and refuse, for example, to swear to tell the truth with a hand placed on the Bible. The idea here is of course not that we shouldn’t tell the truth. Rather, our word should be reliable enough that a simple “yes” or “no” is all we need to say in order to be believed.
Jesus tells another story about a son who says he’ll help his father with some work, but doesn’t end up showing up to help. The willingness to say he would help was worthless divorced from the act of actually helping.
In today’s verse, the Lord speaks through the prophet Isaiah, describing his people as having a sharp disconnect between their external words and their internal reality. Words alone are cheap, worse than useless, in fact, if all they do is demonstrate a lack of integrity.
The implications aren’t difficult to figure out: God is not fooled by empty words. (Nor, it should be said, are other people, at least most of the time.) When we find ourselves saying things we don’t really mean, it’s time for some self-examination. Where’s the disconnect? What do I need to stop saying? Or what do I need to start doing in order to better line up my lips and my heart?
There’s good news here. In the verse immediately following today’s, just after God has laid bare the brokenness of his people, he follows with his plan: “So I will again do amazing things with this people, shocking and amazing” (Isaiah 29:14). Reading along, we expect God to say he’s giving up, but that’s not the kind of God we have. Given the starting point, these “amazing things” God is going to do may not be easy, but they will be good. God hasn’t given up on his chosen people. And he hasn’t given up on you or me either. So we can come to him honestly, vulnerably, acknowledging the gap between our words and our actions, between our lips and our hearts, and we can ask God to heal us, to make us whole, to give us integrity through his mercy and life-giving power.
Friday, December 18, 2020
Today’s reflection is by Deacon Karen Katamay.
“Hear the word of the Lord, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: ‘There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.’” —Hosea 4:1
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” —Matthew 3:2
As we celebrate Advent and look forward to Christmas and the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the second verse today, from Matthew, is a good reminder that when Jesus came into the world, he brought the kingdom of heaven with him. These are the words of John the Baptist, whose task was to prepare people for the coming of Jesus: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” It is a reminder that we are unworthy on our own of being saved and we must repent of our sins, but through God’s loving grace we are forgiven and saved and drawn nearer to God.
God really has a unique way of doing things, doesn’t he? He brought the kingdom of heaven to earth in the form of a tiny baby. That baby then grew up to demonstrate God’s love and grace by teaching and healing others. He challenged the people of his time to be more kind and loving and to do God’s will in the world. And then he died and rose again for us, saving us from our sins and from the wrath of God that we see in the first verse today, from the prophet Hosea.
Christmas will be different this year with the pandemic, as many of us forgo or shrink our family gatherings and stay home. So that gives us more time to reflect on the meaning of Christmas and how we can still be loving and generous while staying safe from the virus. Whenever we give of our time, talents, and money to further God’s will in the world, we are helping to bring a little of God’s kingdom near for others. And the prophet Hosea’s warning then can serve as a reminder for us that God wants us to be faithful, he wants us to love, and he wants us to remember him. What better way to do that than to show our love for God and for others? Amen.
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
“To his saints God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:26-27
This text hits on what we heard in the message on Sunday. “Christ in you,” the Holy Spirit was sent into this world, filling believers then and now with the same Spirit that raised Jesus to resurrection life.
When Paul talks about “the riches of the glory of this mystery,” he is pointing out that no one expected this to happen. No one dreamed that God’s plan was going to involve changing or eliminating the markers that had been used to determine who was one of God’s chosen people. This was a mystery that only God knew. But now, “the hope of Glory,” the promise of experiencing relationship with God, receiving the blessings that come from knowing and relying on God, experiencing a resurrection life in the presence of the glory of God for eternity, is available to everyone.
May the promise of “Christ in you” give you…
courage to let go of what God wants you to let go of…
the strength to leave it behind…
the confidence that comes from forgiveness…
and the hope that comes from the new life God promises.
