Blog
Monday, March 22, 2021
“This poor man cried, and was heard by the LORD, and was saved from every trouble.” —Psalm 34:6
Abner Mikva told a story about trying to get involved in Illinois Democratic Party politics in the 1940s. When he went to the party office in his Chicago ward, he was asked who had sent him there. When he said nobody had sent him, the ward committeeman said, “We don’t want nobody that nobody sent.” This oft-repeated story illustrates the insular world of machine politics: it was all about who you knew.
There are lots of areas of life in which access is predicated on some kind of status. Jeff Bezos is probably more likely to be able to get 10 minutes on the phone with Jay Inslee than I am with J. B. Pritzker. That’s the way of the world.
But it’s not the way of the kingdom of God. In today’s verse, David the psalmist describes how he cried out to God when he was in great danger, on the run from King Saul. David would become a great king, but he recalled a time when he was a poor man, unjustly persecuted by the king he’d faithfully served, facing threats all around. As a “poor man” he cried out to God, and God heard him.
God does not reserve access for the elites of society, or the wealthy or beautiful or smart. There’s no need to put on airs with God. There’s no need to get references from higher-placed friends. In fact, these pretensions only serve to alienate us from God.
God is our Father. He wants us to talk with him, to cry out to him in our times of need. So today, whatever you face or whatever you need, bring it to your Heavenly Father.
Friday, March 19, 2021
Today’s reflection is written by Deacon Karen Katamay.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” —Matthew 7:24
I remember first learning about the wise man/foolish man story in Sunday School a long time ago, and to this day I still remember most of the song we learned along with the story. Songs are such a fun way to learn stories, aren’t they? And a great way to help you remember. In the song for this story, the first verse teaches us that the wise man built his house upon the rock and when the rains came down and the floods came up, the house on the rock stood still. The second verse teaches us that the foolish man built his house upon the sand and when the rains came down and the floods came up the house on the sand fell down. But the third verse is my favorite. It tells us that when we build our lives on the Lord, Jesus Christ, the blessings will come down as the prayers go up. Building our lives on the Lord fills our lives with blessings and gives us a firm foundation for those stormy times in our lives so we don’t come crashing down.
I’m not sure if they still teach this song and others like it in Sunday School, but I hope they do. From the wise man/foolish man story to this little gospel light of mine, the words of Jesus (and the songs based on them) still teach us today how to live and love and care for others. And as Jesus reminds us in Matthew 18:3, when we become like children, with open minds and hearts, eager to learn, we will begin to truly see the kingdom of heaven! Amen.
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
You are the God who sees me. — Genesis 16:13
Well before COVID-19 forced us into isolation and reminded us how much we are made to be in community, loneliness was being talked about as a public health crisis. In 2019 the American Psychological Association reported that the toll loneliness can take on a person is more detrimental than obesity and can heighten health risks as much as smoking 15 cigarettes a day or extreme alcohol use. There are plenty of stories from the Old Testament where you can imagine that loneliness was felt (Joseph when his brothers sold him into slavery, Sampson after being weakened and imprisoned, etc.) but for me, the story that cuts the deepest is that of Hagar.
When God promises Abraham and Sara that they will have children, it takes a while for God to make good on that promise. Abraham and Sara get tired of waiting and take it upon themselves to try and expedite God’s timing. They decide that Abraham will marry Hagar, one of Sara’s slaves, so they can have a child. Unsurprisingly, their marriage gets more complicated because Abraham is now married to two women. Ultimately Hagar gets mistreated so badly that she decides to run away. Imagine that—Hagar was already enslaved when she is forced into a marriage to produce an heir; and then, when things go according to Abraham and Sara’s plan, Hagar is further mistreated by the very people who put her in this situation.
Hagar runs away and is at the precipice of traveling by herself through the dangerous wilderness to find her way to Egypt, when God intervenes. God sends a messenger who promises that, should she return to Abraham and Sara, God will work so that some good will come from the suffering she’s endured. Hagar was certain that she was completely alone until God shows her that she has never really been alone. God has seen what she’s been through and God has pursued her so she doesn’t just disappear from this story. God sees her and pursues her so she won’t be forgotten. It’s in that moment that Hagar names God, El-roi or “the God who sees me.” Hagar’s story shows us that when we feel overwhelmed by loneliness, God sees us and is pursuing us.
