Day 38-Three Women at the Tomb

"But on the first day of the week,at early dawn, they (the three women) came to the tomb, taking spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled aweay from the tomb, but when they looked inside they did not find the body." (Luke 24:1-2)

If I asked you to think of three women who made a difference
in your life and faith- who would you say?
For me those three women would have to be my mother Carolyn
Who grounded me in the faith that I have today;
My wife Joan who is my partner in ministry and life and inspires me
To be the best pastor, husband, father, brother, I can be;
And last might well be my mother-in-law Almira whose wisdom
Inspires me to strive to be patient, kind, wise and faithful
As I live the second half of my life on earth.
Yes, I believe that these are three women
who made a difference in my life and faith.
And I bet you can think of three influential women in your life as well.

But I would suggest that even though we would each name different
Women in our individual lives, that the three women
Who went to that tomb on that first Easter morning
Were influential in all of our lives:
Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary mother of James.

As I reflect on these three women, I am thankful for their faith, hope and love.
Their faith allowed them to go to the tomb even though they didn't know how they would roll away the stone to get to the body- but they went believing that God would open up the possibility. Their love allowed them to go to annoint the body of Jesus even after he had been brutally killed. And their hope allowed them to proclaim the Gospel of Christ's resurrection even when the people didn't at first believe. Only one disciple, Peter was curious enough to check it out for himself. And with that journey, the Christian church and witness in the world began.

Who will you witness to this Easter? If only one person is curious to follow up on your testimony, them God might just change the world through you as well.

Day 37 in the Wilderness with Jesus

Tonight we will act out the story of Jesus Last Supper with his disciples and the washing of feet. I will have the privilege to act out the role of Jesus and Pastor Laura will play the part of Peter, having his feet washed. The contemporary Bible paraphrase "The Word on the Street" (by Rob Lacey) reports it this way:

So Jesus gets up from the table, takes off his jacket, rolls up his sleeves and puts a towel around his waist. He pours water into a bowl and, one by one, washes his team's dirty, sweaty feet and dries them with a towel.
Pete's next in line and he can't quite handle it: "Boss, no way you're washing my feet, surely?" Jesus answers. "You can't take it in right now. But one day you will get it." "No way!" says Pete. "I'm not having you wash my feet." "If I don't, you're not part of it all," says Jesus. "OK, then wash me head to toe. I'm in- totally!" When Jesus finished all twelve (including Judas Iscariot!) he explains: "If I've washed your stinking feet and I'm your boss, your mentor, your coach, then you've got to wash each other's feet. As ever, I'm not asking you to do something that I wouldn't do. I'm your example- so copy me: get washing!" (John 13:3-15)

What do you suppose Jesus was thinking? What is it like to wash another's feet? It is certainly humbling- servants usually had that job. The use of the word "dirty, sweaty" and "stinking" in Rob Lacey's paraphrase really hammers home the fact that it was humbling for both Jesus and the disciples. It is actually an intimate act to wash someones feet. It is what your mother or father does for you after a day at the beach. It's what a nurse does for you when you are bedridden in the hospital. It is the powerful act of hospitality and compassion. And that was, I think, Jesus' message for us- to dare to enter into this intimate community in which he is the center. And it is messy- to be in community with each other, to be vulnerable with each other, to care for each other, and to wash each other's "stinking" feet. Jesus loves us enough to wash our feet. To enter into the grimy parts of our life and help us to clean up our act. And he commands us to do likewise but also to receive the love and care and concern that others offer us in Christ's name and by Christ's example. We are called to be both- the foot washers and the foot washees- that's the Jesus way.

Day 36 in the Wilderness with Jesus Christ

Today is Maundy Thursday. It is always confusing for people who ask: "Is it Monday or Thursday?" The name comes from the Latin for command or mandate that Jesus gives in John 13:34 "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

I preached on this passage on my first Sunday at Covenant and I have spent the last nine years seeing it lived out in the life and faith of the congregation. It was lived out last night as Josh, Lilly, Callie, Christina, Lauren and the children of Covenant served us dinner at Wednesday night fellowship. They were loved and encouraged by the congregation that appreciated them. It was acted out in the Palm Sunday service when several of our deacons left worship for a moment to give food from our food cupboard to a family who was hungry. It was lived out as phone call after phone call came into the office to check how Laura V. was doing after we prayed for her in worship. (She and the baby and Guy are doing fine.) It was lived out as April (or was it Amber) came up to me and motioned for me to pick her up and hold her during Wednesday night supper. It was lived out as the prayer group gathered to lift up their brothers and sisters in prayer on Wedneday evening.

I thank God that in the midst of a busy, impersonal world; that we have the opportunity to live out this command of Jesus and to enjoy the ocmmunity in Christ that results. Thanks be to God!

Day 35 in the wilderness with Jesus Christ

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” just say this: “The Lord needs it.” ’ So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ They said, ‘The Lord needs it.’ Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,
‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,and glory in the highest heaven!’
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’ (Luke 19)

When I was growing up in Lincoln, Nebraska we would often have parades in the summer with all the neighborhood kids. So on Palm Sunday this year we gave out tabourines to the kids in worship and we marched around the Sanctuary, beating on the tambourines and collecting money for One Great Hour of Sharing. I expected it to be a good way to enter into the celebration and festivity of the day, but I was overwhelmed by the interaction between the children and the adults. What I had expected to be a little 3 minute parade turned into a 6-7 minute connection and affirmation between the adults and the children as we collected more money that we could have imagined in those little OGHS fish. And the money we collected will go to build up the Kingdom of God as disaster relief efforts around the world. Certainly the children who encouraged us in our giving on Palm Sunday were blessed in the name of the Lord!

Day 34- With Christ in, over, and around us in the wilderness

I thank God today for the devotions of Michael Lindvall "Knowing God's Triune Story". I met Michael at the Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators (APCE) this year and was introduced to his devotional guide as the 2010 Moderator's Lenten Bible Study. And it is every bit as good as the Moderator, Bruce Reyes-Chow had suggested. While I have been writing devotions each morning for my congregations, I have been fed by the devotional insights of Michael Lindvall.

This morning as I was feeling particularly overwhelmed by the demands of life and ministry and relationships, Michael reminded me of the Prayer of St. Patrick of Ireland (translated from Gaelic by Kuno Meyer): "I rise today through God's strength to pilot me...Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me. Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise. Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. I arise today through the mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in threeness, through the confession of the oneness of the Creator of Creation" (St. Patrick as quoted in The Presbyterian Outlook, May 13, 1996)

If you are feeling overwhelmed this morning by life, I invite you to pray the Prayer of St. Patrick today as your own prayer for Christ to be with, in, over and under you as you journey through the wilderness with Christ.

The 33rd Day in the Wilderness with Jesus Christ

As Jesus prepared his disciples for his death on the cross and resurrection to new life he said: "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you." (John 14:18-20)

As I stood with a friend at his mother's funeral, I was aware that he and I were both orphans- our parents had both died and even though we were fully grown adults, that we were orphans. Then the funeral started and Pastor Laura read this line from John 14, a line that often gets left out in the funeral litany, and I heard Jesus speaking those words to me and my friend for the first time. It is a comfort to know that even when our earthly parents do pass on, that we have the promise from Christ that we are not orphans. We have a heavenly Father to care for us, and protect us and advise us, and keep a room for us in his house.


As an earthly father and grandfather, I hope all my children and children-in-law and grandchildren and grandchildren-to-be know that there is always a place in my house for them. As a spiritual father at Covenant, I hope and pray that my spiritual children and grandchildren will know that this home, Covenant Presbyterian Church, is their home. They are always welcomed here. They don't need a reservation. They/we are family.

Day 32 in the Wilderness- Joy and Agony together

As we celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, we are profoundly aware that this journey into Jerusalem is not triumphal in the way we usually think of triumph. Jesus does not win a contest. In fact, his journey into Jerusalem is his final journey, culminating in his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, trial before the Sanhedrin and Pilate and crucifixion at Golgatha. The triumph is that Jesus dies on our behalf so that in his resurrection we are raised with him above our sin into new life. It is a paradox of the Triune God who is willing to participate in the very depths of human existence so that he can redeem us to new life by his death.

When I was thinking about the paradox built into this event, I was struck by the Olympic mantra "The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat" and the whole idea that the world is made up of one winner and everyone else is a loser. Christ turns this around by his willingness to be THE loser, dying on the cross for the sins of all people, so that all the rest of us can be WINNERS instead of sinners.

It was the Paralymics and not the Olympics where I saw this radical reversal of what we normally think of in Olympic competition. When the Paralympians marched in their Vancouver opening ceremony weeks after the "other Olympics" they were accompanied by their trainers and people who would help them compete. They each had a "disability" that they had to overcome just to compete in the games. And yet there was a joy and a triumphal attitude in these athletes that was contagious. And there were not just one winner and many losers but all winners by virtue of what each had overcome to get there. One athlete in particular grabbed my attention, Lauren Woolstencroft from Canada. She was born without either leg below the knee and without her left arm below the elbow. And she won, not one or two gold medals but 5 gold medals in virtually every downhill skiing event possible. She was truly an Olympic Golden Girl and a testimony to the way that faith can transform hardship and trajedy into joy and triumph.

Day 31 in the Wilderness with Jesus Christ

"Jesus Christ, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross." (Phil 2:6-8)

This passage from Paul's letter to the Philippians is humbling and essential to our journey with Christ this Lent. In Christ, God is expressing God's desire to get down on our level and to walk with us in our life journeys. God is even willing to crawl with us if necessary, the way a parent or grandparent gets on the ground with an infant who is learning to roll over or crawl. We had that opportunity in our recent trip to Germany as we got on the ground with Evan. As we got on his level and connected with him, he learned to roll over and had the biggest smile on his face. So it is when we realize that God has come down to us to be with us, to teach us and to live with us in Jesus Christ!

There was a prayer from the Taize worship service that remembers the God who accomodates to us in Christ: "Risen Jesus, you are there close beside each person, you descend to where we are, to the very lowest point of our human condition, and you take upon yourself all that hurts us, both in ourselves and in others. You accompany every human being. Go with us as we leave this place. Remind us daily that we represent you to the world." Amen

Day 30- Walking with Jesus through Holy Week

Isn’t it amazing to imagine that we stand within the same community of disciples who witnessed the risen Christ on that first Easter morning! And like those disciples, Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John; we are also called to go and tell someone. Unlike those disciples, we know enough about what happens on Holy Week to actually invite our friends or our family to come with us and see this whole story unfold. If you have never been to the array of services that happen on Holy Week, I would invite you to make a commitment to walk with Jesus Christ through his last week. On Palm Sunday the children and Choir will lead the way into the sanctuary as we sing Hosanna, Loud Hosanna. The choir will sing and the Rainbow Bells will ring as we remember the Triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. I will be preaching on the theme “The Joy of Victory and the Agony of Defeat” as we remember that Jesus' entry into Jerusalem was the first step in his journey to the cross. On Maundy Thursday, we will gather in Fellowship Hall, just as Jesus gathered with his disciples in the Upper Room to share a communion meal around tables. Our elders will preside at each of the individual tables as we experience what it would have been like to break bread together and share this special meal in small groups. We will have the music of our Praise Team as background to this gathering and we will witness the washing of the disciples’ feet as we hear the story read from the Gospel of John.

On Good Friday we will hear the story of Jesus trial and crucifixion presented in story, music and pictures. We will imagine what it would have been like to be in the shadows during the trial of Jesus or at the foot of the cross during the crucifixion. We will come face to face with the Wondrous Love of God revealed on the Cross. And then on Sunday morning as the dawn is breaking we will gather outside as Mary and the Women did when they went to the tomb on that first Easter morning. We will hear the songs of faith and share the stories of faith as we become the people of faith. We will be fed by modern day angels (messengers of God) as the Men’s group cooks breakfast for us on Easter morning. Then we will join with the Chancel Choir and the Instrumental Ensemble “Atonement” to raise our voices in celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ at our 8:30 and 11 am worship services. We will celebrate between the services with breakfast and an Easter Egg hunt for the children as we’re reminded of the mystery and new life of that first Easter morning.

Now you know the plan. What none of us knows is how God will use that plan to transform us and build up God’s kingdom.

29th Day in the Wilderness with Christ

I love drama in worship. Part of the reason I like it is that it allows us to enter viscerally into the biblical stories and even start to imagine how the people must have felt or how we would have felt if we had been there. It brings our emotions into the story. Like the times I have run down the aisle during church, to welcome the prodigal home. It is a strange feeling to be running in a Geneva preaching gown but it is helpful to remember how the father would have felt as he ran with his arms open to receieve his lost child.

I love the acting out of the Last Supper that we have done as a congregation: the Men's reenactment to the Women of Easter Play to the youth acting out the Seder Supper Passover. It is always exciting to enter into the role of disciple and start to imagine how one would have felt.

This year for Maundy Thursday we will be having our communion meal around tables with elders presiding at each table in Fellowship Hall. We will all have a chance to use our imagination to remember that first Seder Meal as it was transformed by Jesus into the communion meal we share even today.

Day 28- In the Wilderness with Christ

Yesterady, I had the opportunity to walk the "Stations of the Cross" in the Great Room with the "Unbinding Your Heart" class. I was struck by the words of Christ "My destinity was to die for you but your's is to live for me." It was a poignant reminder that when Jesus tells his disciples "If any want to become my followers, let them take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who would save their life will lose it, but those who lose their life for my sake will save it." (Luke 9:23,23), that he was telling them to live, full robust, daring lives for him.

I was thinking about those people who have taken up their crosses in history- Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr., John Calvin, Mother Theresa, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. They each made a difference in the world. I am also struck by those people who are slightly less famous, but who have made a difference in the faith community in which we live- Jim Naylor, Kelly Cox, Bill Brewer, Calvin Ross, Sarah Johnesee. I have been reminded this week of each of these saints and the vitality and life that they shared in Christ. And they are only a few of the saints who have touched my life and yours at Covenant. I invite you to remember some of those who have taken up their crosses and followed Christ in their lives and the impact they have had in our lives.

I am reminded of the Heidelberg Chatechism: "What is my only comfort in life and death? That in life and in death I belong not to myself but to my faithful savior Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him."

In the Wilderness with Christ- Day 27

When Jesus was in the synagogue in Nazareth, he read Isaiah 61 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor". (Luke 4:18,19)

Sometimes we are tempted to think that Jesus was only speaking those words of healing and hope to people long ago and a place far away. But yesterday, I had the opportunity to see these words of hope come alive in our church, among our people. I had a chance to see one our our folks eat for the first time in three months- it was a miracle. I heard from another of our sisters in faith, that she had started to walk again- another miracle. And a Presbyterian colleague reported that he had just returned from a medical mission to Haiti where they treated 1100 patients in 8 different villages- many miracles. Jesus Christ is still healing and we are still proclaiming that good news today.

Day 27 in the Wilderness- Lions and Tigers and Bears

"The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them." (Isaiah 11:6)

Yesterday, the second to last day of spring break, it was beautiful outside and everyone and his brother went to the zoo. And I also went to the zoo with my future grandkids, Phoenix and Gracie. I love the zoo and I'm always on the lookout for people to go with me to the zoo and Gracie and Phoenix and their mom, Brooke (Adam's fiance) were willing partners, so we went. It was amazing how close we could get to the lions and the gorillas. Only a sheet of plexiglass separated us. And I remembered this summer when I visited the Little Rock Zoo with my already grandkids, Ashton and Ethan, and we were actually in the cage with the parrots and birds. It reminded me of the Isaiah 11 passage and that we are still far from that time Isaiah spoke of and that the painter Edward Hicks painted. We can get close to creation but we are still far from being reconciled with creation. But that is my prayer, that as Ashton, Ethan, Phoenix, Gracie and Evan grow up, that they will grow up into a world that is more peaceful and in harmony between humans, animals and nature.

Gathering around the Table- Day 26 in the Wilderness

I am on a roll, three meals in a row with with friends in faith at church. We had a wonderful meal prepared by Roger and the men on Wednesday evening. We gathered for breakfast and Bible study and prayer at the Riverside Cafe for the Men's Prayer Breakfast Thursday morning and I just got back from the Karl Barth Study lunch at LaGalette. Is all this eating necessary in the Kingdom of God? Luke 13:29 says: "Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God." When we gather together at table there is a certain fellowship that happens. We find ourselves in fellowship even as we are fed. So it is good and biblical to gather at table with brothers and sisters in Christ. "When he was at table with his disciples, Jesus said 'This is my Body broken for you". Our communion meal is a time of being with God and with each other in Christ.

But what about the wilderness? The Psalmist asks: "Can God spread a table in the wilderness?"(Psalm 78:19) When I was growing up my family used to go out for breakfast in the park. We weren't a camping family but there was something about eating outside that was appealing to my mom and dad. It was kind of like the story of Jesus after the resurrection eating breakfast with his disciples on the sea of Galilee. We somehow felt nearer to nature and to God when we broke our evening fast and ate breakfast in the midst of nature. Of course when I went hiking with the youth in the mountains of Sonlight Camp in Colorado our meals were a time of respite from the strenuous hiking. And when we gathered one evening, fished at a lake, and ate the fish we had caught and cleaned ourselves, we felt particularly close to God and to God's creation and to each other. And so even and especially in the wilderness, we need to take time to break bread with each other and fellowship at Christ's table.

Psalm 23 speaks of a God who feeds and comforts us in the wilderness: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff- they comfort me. You prepare a table in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long."

Day 25 in the Wilderness- Team Work

Twenty-five was my favorite number when I played team sports- basketball and baseball. My biggest problem with team sports was that they never actually were about team but about individuals- what individual do we claim for the victory or blame for the defeat. Perhaps that's why I ended up concentrating on track as my main sport in college. Then you only had yourself to blame in victory or defeat.

Have you ever paused to consider how the Triune God is the perfect team. Consider the words of Jesus, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own ; but the Father who dwells in me does his works". (John 14:10) And later Jesus says, "I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate , the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will sned in my name, will teach you everything and bring all remind you of all that I have said to you." (John 14:25,26) There is no sense of ownership in these words of Jesus. Everything is shared between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Such is a team in it's best sense. The team works together, builds each other up, and shares in the successes AND the failures. The team is not about blaming but about sharing the good news. E. Stanley Ott wrote a book, "Transform Your Church with Ministry Teams" and he reminded me of the ministry we share regularly at Covenant. "And when member of a staff team are enjoying friendship with other team members, being encouraged in their faith and faithfulness, and relishing the challenge of their ministries, their attitude will be infused throughout the entire congregation." (pg. 45) As we laughed and cried our way through our most recent staff meeting I was glad that we function as a ministry team and I am glad that ministry teams are thriving at Covenant. The Bulletin folders are a ministry team that gets together and does a task but in the process builds each other up. The Men's and Women's Bible Studies on Sunday morning and Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning are groups that not only study a book or scripture but also attend to the emotional and spiritual needs of the members and the church. The choir not only sings together but prays together and supports each other. And the list goes on. I am profundly aware that as we go through the wilderness, we cannot do it alone and so I thank God for the ministry teams that we share in Christ.

Day 24- A New Way in the Wilderness

Do you ever just wish for a god who was completely predictable all the time; where there was no mystery and you could understand everything about that god? I must admit that even as a theologian who is trained to appreciate the paradoxes that are part of our faith, that there are times when easy, simple and straightforward might be appealing. And yet the one Triune God of Scripture is indeed the God of mystery and selfless love and paradox who reveals himself to us in ways that are both enlightening and confusing at the same time. When this God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob called the people into the wilderness with signs and wonders through Moses,they thought the journey would be short and straight and sweet. Then they spent the next forty years in the wilderness, learning who God is and who they were as God's chosen people. Through the prophet Isaiah, God explained in part why it took so long: "I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a new way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." (Isaiah 43:19) God was teaching the people a new way of being the people of God and that way was through a relationship of love and trust with God and with each other.

Shortly before his death, Jesus told the disciples "'And you know the way to the place where I am going' Thomas said, 'Lord we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?' Jesus said to him, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.'" (John 14:4-7) Jesus was telling his disciples the same thing, that following the way of the Triune God is not about travelling the same path over and over again but about being open to new paths, new relationships and new ways of experiencing and expressing God's love. And Jesus is careful not to conceptualize this but rather to personalize it. It is through Jesus, God's Son, that we know God fully and completely and yet...there is always a mystery and a what next and a new possibility that God offers in Christ.

The early Christian community that started to live out the teachings of Christ were not called Christians but rather "The Way". It was a reminder that our Christian faith is not static but a dynamic expression of God's love alive in the world through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. So as we spend time together in the wilderness with Christ this Lent, let us look not to the way we have always done things but to a New Way to walk through the wilderness with Christ. As we build a new chapel in Westminster Woods, as we give out prayer shawls to people in times of need, as we worship in different ways this Lent, help us to see Christ along the Way.

Day 23 in the Wilderness- Partner for the Journey

"Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner." (Gen. 2:15)

It is not good to be in the wilderness alone. When God created Adam, he also created Eve. When when Noah spend forty days and forty nights on the ark it was with his wife and their sons and daughter-in-laws (and Noah's wife's name was not "Joan of Ark"). When God called Abraham to journey to a far away land he called Sarah on that same journey. And when Jesus sent out the disciples in mission, he sent them out two by two. God created us in community in the very beginning and intends for us to be in community with God and with each other throughout our adventures in life. It is good to have a partner in the wilderness.

We were very excited this week when our son Adam and Brooke told us they were going to be married. We are excited to welcome Brooke into our family and her kids Phoenix and Gracie as our newest grandchildren. Who we share our life with is one of the biggest determinants of success or failure in life. God's call to partnership is part of what determines who we become in our life journey. It has been a joy to see Adam and Brooke developing as partners- in church, in music, in parenting, in life.

It doesn't seem that long ago when Joan and I got married. (We just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary at Covenant Presbyterian Church.) We have always claimed each other as partners in the adventures in life whether it was raising a family, leading church, teaching college classes together, travelling or participating in Presbytery. God intended Adam and Eve to take that notion of partnership seriously and joyfully and I see our Adam and his Eve-Brooke taking that call to partnership seriously and joyfully as well.

Day 22 in the Wilderness- Tabernacling with God

"For in the day of trouble God will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me on a high rock."(Psalm 27:5)

When the Israelites were in the wilderness God tabernacled with them. God gave them explicit instructions on building the tabernacle, but it was God's presence that made the tabernacle a place where they experienced God in their midst. As I write this devotion, our youth are at Sterling with advisors Joe and Katie. They are worshipping at the Sterling College auditorium in which God's presence is palpable and real. I remember the times I had the privilege of serving communion with the youth at Sleepless and feeling the energy of God and God's people in that place. I remember feeling that same energy in worship at Westminster Woods as we would worship God on the edge of the woods and the water and know that God was tabernacling with us there. As I write this devotion, the new chapel is being built at Westminster Woods and I know that it will be a place where our young people meet God in the wilderness. Today, I thank God that God is still tabernacling with us today. And I look forward to going "to church" tommorrow knowing that God is tabernacling with us in the sanctuary of Covenant as well.

Day 21 in the Wilderness- Imago Dei

One of the greatest gift we have in relating to each other is to see the image of God, Imago Dei, in each other. I remember when I was hiking with the senior highs in Colorado, I was expecting to see the glory of God in the wonder and majesty of creation and instead I saw the glory and majesty of God in the grimey faces of my fellow travellers. Ray Anderson reminds us in his book On Being Human, that "each human person exists in the image and likeness of God." Of course you don't have to believe Ray or me, you just have to believe Scripture: "Then God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness...so God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:26,27)

Today I received some wonderful pictures on the internet and was reminded of that wonderful "Imago Dei" in each picture: my youngest grandson Evan; my friends and collegues in ministry- Eric, Laura and Daisy; my hiking buddies from my one Sonlight Backpacking trip.

Dear God who guides us as a loving Daddy/Mommy, walks with us as Brother and breathes your own very life into us as Loving Spirit, I thank you that I need only look to my brother or sister in Christ from any nation to see your image. In Christ I pray, in God I trust, in the Holy Spirit I live. Amen

Day 20 in the Wilderness- Don't forget your humanity

One of my pet peeves is when a politician or sports figure falls into disgrace through some indiscretion, people inevitably say: "He or she's only human." I find that disturbing because I recall the scripture from Genesis after God created humanity and said "It was very good." We were created to be the best of God's creatures, not the worst. The Westminster Shorter Catechism response to the question, "What is the chief end of humanity" is "To glorify God and enjoy God forever." And so I am saddened when we suggest with our words that poor ethical behavior is "only human".

Karl Barth says we must first go to Christ to learn about our humanity and then to Adam. Theologian Paul Lehmann says: "God's purpose is to make and keep human life fully human in the world". Ray Anderson in his book On Being Human says: "The humanity of Christ, by which he shares our creaturely nature and bears our sin, discloses the radical form of true humanity and how reconciliation leads to wholeness and holiness alike" (pg. 19)

Jesus Christ gives us a glimpse of who God is but he also gives us a vision of who we are in our best human selves- compassionate, caring, selfless, creative, forgiving and merciful. Psalm 8 says: "When I look at the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established. What is man that thou art mindful of him?...Yet thou has created him little less than God and dost crown him with glory and honor." (Psalm 8:3-5)

I must admit I was pleased after the US/Canada hockey game, not with the result but to hear the sports announcers comment as they celebrated the character of the hockey players "There are some real human beings." As we journey in the wilderness, let us remember that we are HUMAN BEINGS created in the image of the Triune God as revealed in Christ. Amen

Day 19 in the Wilderness- Endurance and Character

"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God though our Lord Jesus Christ, though whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given us." (Romans 5:1-5)

This Romans passage was in my devotional reading for today from Michael Lindvall's book "Knowing God's Triune Story". It is a great devotional book and a wonderful reminder of all the places where God's Triune story shines through in scripture. I have to admit that I have read this passage many times and been baffled by it's claims many times but never realized that the Trinity was explicitly named in this passage. Perhaps the mystery of God in relationship with Godself and with us is part of the answer to how Paul could make the claim that suffering ultimately produces hope.

This morning already I have spoken and prayed with people whose places of business were broken into, another who was in the hospital trying to recover from a chronic disease and another who is battling with the fatigue of cancer. I have written notes to a young person who just lost their job, and talked with another whose work is in jeopardy. None of these people spoke positively of the suffering and yet...they did have hope. Where did it come from?

As I read the writing of Paul and reflect on the people of God, I am convinced that the hope in the midst of suffering does come from the Triune God who does not lose hope in us- in the wilderness with Moses or on the cross of Christ or in the Spirit that came upon the fearful disciples in that Upper Room. This God is in a passionate relationship with us and will not let us go. This God is with us in our suffering and so we do have hope. And in the process of living with this God who suffers with us and receiving the hope that God alone brings, we discover that we can endure. And we develop as disciples whose strength of character depends not on the circumstances of life but our faith in Christ. And whose character does not shift with the whims of culture but is rooted firmly in the Triune God whose being and action are one.

Day 18 in the Wilderness- What's next?

We're just about half way through our wilderness time: like Jesus after the first temptation, without bread to eat and yet getting ready for the second temptation to take the world's version of power ; or like the Israelites who had received manna in the wilderness but still weren't convinced Moses knew where they were going; or Noah and his family who had a boatload of animals but no land in sight. The middle of the wilderness is a scary place to be. It is tempting to bail out of the journey at that point because it is difficult to see the end.

And yet this is the time when the Holy Spirit, freed of all the constaints we impose, is free to act. It is the time when we are free to think outside the box, because we've lost track of the edges of the box. It's a time to move forward because it's just too far to go back. Our mission committee met to figure out how we going to raise $2,000 for our part of the Habitat for Humanity Build and decided to have a "Palm Sunday Cake Auction" to raise a significant portion of the mission money. It is a time when the "Faith Connection" met on Sunday night without the usual commitment of young people from First Presbyterian or Westwood or Covenant and yet we had a wonderful Spirit filled worship service with college students from Russia, Tanzania, Uganda, and all around the world. Palm Sunday is three weeks away and yet the next two weeks will be a time to celebrate a grant from Self Development of People to Sunflower Action Community and a time to receive three new members, Susan, Kevin and Danielle as brothers and sisters at Covenant.

There's no going back but the adventure in faith is always before us. Blessings on the journey as the Spirit that drove us into the wilderness continue to guide us, inspire us and revive us to journey on.

Day 17 in the Wilderness- Finding a Safe Place to Rest

"Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true." These first words in the song "Sanctuary" provide a wonderful challenge for living in the wilderness today. Our world is so busy and "productive" and "crazy" (as my brother so often says) that we need to intentionally seek out those places that are sanctuary for us so that we can find peace within ourselves.

Margaret Wheatley makes this point in an article "Reclaiming Time to Think" in her book Finding Our Way: Leadership For an Uncertain Time. She says "As the world speeds up, we're forfeiting these wonderful human capacities. Do you have as much time to think as you did a year ago?...But don't expect anyone to give you this time. You need to claim it for yourself." (pg. 214-215) She is challenging us to take time, find a place to rest, so that we can think and feel and care.

As I write this devotion, I am at one of my favorite sanctuary places, "The Daily Grind". It is a quiet coffee shop near my home. I know the proprietor. His family in Pratt is connected to the church where my son Adam is youth director. It is a quiet comfortable place...to have a cup of coffee, to feel welcomed and to think.

I was at an Association of Presbyterian Church Educatiors Conference in Vancouver several years ago and the keynote speaker and author Leonard Sweet, challenged us to think of the church after the model of Starbucks. It is a place where hospitality is central, where community is provided and where people learn the language (tall skinny late' !?)in order to participate fully in community and hospitality and refreshment. He argued that the church is such a place. I resisted the image because of the crassly commercial nature of Starbucks. But as I sit in my own coffee shop "The Daily Grind" I resonate with the idea that our churches are sanctuaries, where we come in from the wilderness, find community, hospitality and a connection in Christ. As I listened to new members sharing the warmth of community they felt at Covenant, I was encouraged that sometimes we are that safe place to rest, think, and center ourselves on Christ as we prepare to face the wilderness that is all around us.

Day Sixteen in the Wilderness- Curiosity over judgement

On Saturday, I had a chance to sit in on a Southwest Kansas cluster gathering of the churches at Dodge City. It was part of Presbytery's sabbatical year of Bible study, prayer and discernment. The consultant, Larry Peers from Alban Institute, challenged us to suspend our judgement for the day and replace it instead with curiosity. I think that is good advice for our lifetime wilderness journey as well.

Certainly the Apostle Paul was curious when he travelled to Ephesus, Corinth, Galatia, Philippi and Athens and Rome and all the cultures he encountered on the way. He didn't succumb to fear but operated with a curiosity that allowed him to share the gospel by drawing alongside the people he encountered.

Curiosity has served me well in my faith journey as well. Curiosity allowed me to go on an Interfaith Trip to Israel, the Occupied Territories and Jordan 20 years ago with Joan and a group of Presbyterian pastors and last year with Christian, Jewish and Muslim friends and learn about their faiths as I became more grounded in and committed to my Presbyterian Christian faith. My faith curiosity was fed this winter as I travelled with and explored Germany with Joan, my son Stuart, daughter-in-law Megan and grandkids. And my curiosity is fed each month as I gather at Brotherhood with folks from around the world- Russia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania- and worship the Triune God.

Day Fifteen in the Wilderness- Temptations

One of the things I don't want in the wilderness is temptation and yet that is the very thing that I'm sure would follow me into the wilderness, even and especially if I am with Jesus. Even the Apostle Paul said "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." (Romans 7:15)

What is it that gets in the way of your doing and being the person God wants you to be? For me that temptation is television. While the Olympics were on, it was a way to connect with the world and start conversations and learn about other countries and people. Now that the Olympics are over it is just a way to waste time alone. Sometimes it is a good relaxant but often it is just a distaction and waste of time and temptation. It's like the fictional conversation from one old devil to a young one that C. S. Lewis writes about in Screwtapes Letters: "All healthy and outgoing activites which we want him to avoid can be inhibited and nothing given in return, so that at last he may say as one of my own patients said on his arrival down here, 'I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought nor what I liked.'" (page 64, Macmillan Edition, 1960) C.S.Lewis was writing before television was such a great distraction, but he is making the point that whatever distracts us from the purpose and power and presence of God is a worthy temptation. What is your distraction...internet, television, alchohol, drugs, food, fear, work.
Whatever it might be, let us fervently pray that God will lead us not to temptations and when that temptation has a prominent place in our home and lives, that God will deliver us.

Day Fourteen in the Wilderness- Music

Whenever I encounter the question, "If you were on a desert island, what would you take?", I have evolved to including two items in my list every time: the Bible and a guitar. I guess I would answer the same if I were asked what I would take "into the wilderness". The Bible is an easy answer since it is "The Book" that tells the story of God's love so convincingly and dynamically that one can read it over and over again and continue to discover something new and exciting and life changing every time. I love to read and the Bible is a virtual library of poetry, prose, narrative, soap opera, adventure, romance, theology and mystery. The Bible is God's love letter to us and if I were on a desert island or in the wilderness, I would want to be reminded over and over again in many different ways of that love.

The second item I would take is just as vital to my physical and emotional and spiritual wellbeing- my guitar. Now I am not a great guitar player or a great songwriter and yet the guitar gives me an opportunity to express myself through music and I have discovered that for me, that is a life giving, life saving necessity. During times in my life when I was going through a time of struggle and change, I have found myself writing songs. In those times in my life where things are going well and I look for a creative outlet to share that positive feeling- I write songs. When I worship in small groups or alone, I find that singing is a vital part of that worship experience for me. I understand that music is not as crucial of a part of everyone's worship or creative experience but I do think that everyone has a creative outlet that allows them to express themselves when words don't seem to be enough- knitting, cooking, music, physical exercise, woodcarving, carpentry, art, scrapbooking, dancing, poetry. Just as Scripture is God's word of love to us, these creative outlets are often our word of thanks and gratitude and creativity and joy back to God. It is exciting to pass this love of music on to my sons and sons and daughters in faith.

It has been a joy to see and listen to the CD that Ryan and Josh and Adam have made together and to rejoice in their chance to make music together. I am happy that Adam has been able to dedicate a room in his house in Pratt to be a music studio. In a sense it is a sanctuary, because beatiful, creative music is made in that place and spiritual gifts of singing, playing and songwriting are encouraged. It is an expression of Psalm 150:

"Praise the Lord! Praise God in the sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Prasie him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; Praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud crashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!"

Day Thirteen in the Wilderness with Christ- Patience

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans "But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." (Romans 8:25) He lists patience at one of the fruits of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians: "The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and self-control." (Galatians 5:22) Of all the fruits of the Spirit, I think patience is the one that is hardest to learn, to live and enjoy. We learn patience sitting in a hospital bed waiting to recover from a mysterious disease or waiting beside the bed waiting for a loved one to recover. We learn patience waiting for a child to come home from his or her first date or waiting for a child coming home from their first day at school or waiting for a son or daughter or husband or wife or brother or sister to come home from his or her deployment to war. Pateince is hard to learn. I have been known to discourage people from praying for patience because the answer to those prayers is usually long and trying. And yet patience is one of the six fruits of the spirit, right up there with love and kindness. It must be of great value to God and an important gift to us as God's people. And it is invaluable as we find ourselves more and more engaged in the wilderness of life.

The root of the word "patience" is the Latin "pati" or "to bear". The meaning is "sustaining pain, long suffering, waiting for calmness, perserverence". It is the gift God gives us in the very person of Jesus Christ, who suffered on our behalf so that in our suffering we would know that we are never alone. And yet patience is not a veil of tears activity but as way of expressing faith in the midst of stuggle. It is not a curse of God, but rather a gift of God to allow us to get through the difficult parts of life. So I thank God for patience as we head into day 13 in the wilderness. And I pray along with Reinhold Neibuhr, the whole Serenity prayer:

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking as He did, this sinfulworld as it is. Not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will. That I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy in the next."

Day Twelve in the Wilderness- Directions

One of my favorite disciples, Thomas, once broke the cardinal rule (supposedly) of all men...he asked for directions. After Jesus had said "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way you are going", Thomas asked "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" I am thankful that Thomas had the courage and honesty to ask the question so that we could hear the timeless, priceless answer "I am the way, the truth and the life." It got me thinking about where we go for directions in our lives.

When we were traveling in Germany we were often lost and supremely thankful for the GPS system that Stuart and Megan had in their caravan. It was a comfort to hear the British accented voice saying "Turn left in 200 meters". We didn't understand the street signs (they were in German) so we just trusted that the "British lady" knew what she was doing. We did get a map as well but we discovered that none of us was very adept at reading a German road map. One day, we were meeting Stuart in Worms, Germany since he had to fly a mission while we were visiting Heidelberg. For that day, we printed out a mapquest set of directions (like we would do in America)and hoped that somehow he would be able to find us in this completely foreign country and city. As one might imagine, he got completely lost and finally called up Joan on the cell phone. Her advice was to "look for the steeple of St. Peter's Cathedral and our guest house is right next to it". He did what his mother told him, and within minutes was able to join us at the guest house.

This life parable was a reminder to me of the guides we rely on in our faith journeys in the wilderness. We listen to those voices who have been there before. That "cloud of witnesses" (that Paul talks about in Hebrews 12) are like that GPS system that continually guided us in our journey around Germany. We also look to our roadmap- scriptures- to guide us. We continue to be thankful for Martin Luther's efforts to translate the scriptures into the vernacular of the people since we became very aware of how hard it is to read a map or road signs in a foreign language. And we look to the church to be our guide in those times when all else fails. It was conforting to Stuart to be able to look up in his confusion and see the steeple of the church and to follow it to sanctuary.

While I was writing this devotion, a person came in to sit in our sanctuary at Covenant. She just wanted to spend a little time in the sanctuary in the midst of the wilderness of life. So as we struggle to hear the words of Christ, through the "cloud of witnesses", through the scripture and through the church, we are reminded that it is ultimately Christ who we seek: "The way, the truth and the life".

Day 11 in the Wilderness- Worship Together

Last week we started our worship service with the words:
Leader: In this season, we worship remembering Jesus death in love for us and all people.
People: Lent is a time of tears.
Leader: But out of tears, joy is born- the joy of sin forgiven, hope reborn, and life restored.
People: We stand in awe of the God who brings joy out of tears, and life out of death.
Unison: Let us worship with reverence.
It is a reminder that worship is an imprtant part of our journey in the wilderness and that communal worship is a place we find the strength and wisdom to journey on.

While we were in Germany, we worshipped once at the Base Chapel (on Boy Scout Sunday) and once at St. Peter's Cathedral in Worms. You couldn't ask for two more different worship services. At the Base Chapel the service was in English, and while it was a Lutheran Style worship service we recognized every element of worship. At St. Peter's Catherdral, the worship service was a Catholic service in German and while we recognized the major elements of worship, we were at a lost to know exactly what was happening at any point. We were glad that Martin Luther translated the Bible and the worship service into the vernacular of the people. We do like knowing what's going on and what's being said.

And yet in both worship services, we felt the presence of God. In the worship service on Base it was the presence of the incarnate God finding expression through a young Eagle Scout and his brother (a Life Scout) who read the scriptures, not with perfection but with energy and enthusiasm. They read like modern day James and John, Sons of Thunder and disciples of Jesus Christ. The sanctuary was modern and modest and it was the community in which we felt the presence of Christ. At St. Peter's Catherdal in Worms, the Priest stood in the front of the church in his best vestments as the intermediary between us in the wooden pews and heaven, represented by the beautiful gold inlaid statues at the front of the sanctuary. It was absolutely beautiful and awe inspiring. The canter was note perfect even as she battled a cold. And as the priest offered the meditation, the laughter of the congregation warmed us to the words we couldn't understand. And so I read a Children's Bible to Ethan as we listened to worship in a foreign language and sensed the presence of God here in the awesome beauty of the sanctuary and the light laughter of the people of God.

It was hard to leave Germany but I thank God that the first event when I returned was the Ash Wednesday Worship service at Covenant. Even though I had to leave Stuart and Megan and our grandchildren in Germany and Joan in Little Rock, I was thankful for my faith family at Covenant. And when one is in the wilderness, it is good to worship and to realize that in one's loneliness that God is with us and the people of God support us.

Day 10 in the Wilderness- Travelling with Forebearers and Descendents

When Moses was getting ready for his forty-year journey in the wilderenss he asked God, who shall I say sent me, God replies: "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:15a) God was telling Moses that not only was he going into the wilderness with thousands of people from the 12 tribes of Israel but that they we also travelling with the forebearers who have gone before them and the descendents who will follow them.

Joan and I were reminded of this when we visited the Heifer International Center yesterday in Little Rock. We had ordered a brick to be placed in the plaza in front of the Heifer Education Center in honor of our parents, Bob and Carolyn and Jack and Almira. It was exciting to see the brick with their names inscribed on the walkway, since they are an implicit part of every journey of faith Joan and I take together. When we have gone in mission to Israel, Mexico and New Mexico, their influence is part of that journey. When we travelled to Germany to visit our son Stuart and his family or to England to celebrate our 25th Anniversary, we remember our families of origin who were willing to go on adventures as a family and experience different parts of the world. And as we serve the church in Wichita and Little Rock, we are walking in the footsteps of our parents who served God in churches everywhere they went.

And now our calling is to continue to share that faith with the generation to come so that they might not be afraid of the wildernesses that are ahead of them. Whether the wilderness is a country or city or town different from any we grew up in, we know that God is with us on that journey. With every different job experience and every new community we meet, God is there to nurture us,guide us and remind us that we are part of a larger community that includes those who have gone before us and those who will come after us.

Friday, Day 9 in the Wilderness- Resting

"Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work- you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock ot he alien that lives in your town." Exodus 20:8-10

Sometimes we forget that the commandment to rest is actually a command, not a suggestion. We get caught up in the business of life and forget that God desires us to rest for God's sake as well as our own.

I was the one in Germany who had to be talked into resting. And when we did take time off from visiting and touring, I discovered that the rest time was some of the best time we had together as family. We napped with Evan. We played Starwars with Ethan and Ashton. We took walks to the bakery with both of the grandkids. We had a snow ball battle in which no grandfather or father or grandchildren were injured in the process. We had wonderful meals at home and a chance to watch the Olympics and snuggle with grandkids early in the morning. I thank God for the Sabbath.

Prayer: Dear God of the Sabbath, thank you for commanding us to rest, so that we might enjoy community, build relationships and be renewed and energized to be a faith family together. In the name of Christ I pray, by the power of your Holy Spirit, I live. Amen

Day 8 In the Wilderness- Bread for the Journey

"Give us this day our daily bread"
This line in the Lord's Prayer is crucial for our journey in the wilderness. When we read about Jesus' journey and his ability to fast for 40 days and to resist the temptation "If you are the Son of God, then turn these stones into bread", we are profoundly aware that we cannot do this. We cannot exist without food for 40 days so as we go on our wilderness journey we will need bread for the journey.

When we were travelling with our family in Germany, eating was a special time of getting warm (it was cold in Germany in February), of getting fed (we worked up an appetite going through castles and cathedrals) and getting acquainted with the local people and customs. We met more people in our eating time than any other time so that the journey was not so strange. We met the waitress in Worms, who directed us to the Martin Luther museum. We met the owner of a ma and pa restaurant near Stuart and Megan's village who held Evan while we got ready to leave. We had time with our grandchildren getting to know them better. Every meal was a time of fellowship and fun. One day we even decided that it would be fun to eat each meal in a different country so we had breakfast in Trier, Germany; lunch in Luxenburg; and dinner in a Patissserie in Thionsville, France.

So it is with the community of faith in our wilderness time together. The Men's Second Chance Valentine Dinner and the Women's Salad Supper were both opportunities to enjoy fellowship in the midst of Lent. The Wednesday Night suppers are a great time for the extended family of faith to gather and be nurtured as we share birthdays and anniversaries together. And our communion meals on the first Sunday of each month in morning worship and the fourth Sunday at the evening Taize worship services are opportunities to gather around the Lord's Table and to be fed by our Savior Jesus Christ. And then our Food Cupboard and Lord's Diner outreach become places where we share that meal and the bread of God with others. I thank God this Lent for opportunites to feed others, to be fed and to gather as the community of faith around the bread of Christ.

Day 7- Light in the Wilderness

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid." (Psalm 27:1,2)

As I study this passage for Sunday, I am reminded of our trips to Westminster Woods and the moment in almost every trip when we realize that even though we know our way pretty well, that we really should have brought our flashlights with us. It gets really dark in the woods, and there are so many things to stumble over in the dark. Inevitably the person with the flashlight becomes the person you want to draw close to as we walk through the woods together.

So it is in our faith journey. There are certainly times when we think we have it all figured out and we are ok walking along on familiar paths without a light. But then we stumble. There is a rock or a branch that wasn't there before. Something blocks our way in the journey of life and we start to be afraid. We lose our job, we struggle in a relationship or we fail just when we think we are invincible. The light doesn't get rid of the obstacles but helps us to see and deal with the hurdles we encounter. The Psalmist is making the same point in the Twenty-seventh Psalm. "Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident." The light that the Psalmist is talking about is the light of Christ shining in the darkness. We often evoke this light imagery in Advent but I think it is equally important in our Lenten journey through the wilderness. We need the light of Christ so that we will not fear as we journey in the wilderness.

This year Joan and I presented our VBS curriculum "Renaissance Faire: A Rebirth in Faith" at the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators Cofnerence in Nashville. People loved the pictures and the stories we shared and it was a joy to share what we had learned with the greater church. We were also nurtured by the conference and especially the evening that Amy Grant came and sang and chatted with us. Her song "Thy Word" is a regular part of our worship services so it was wonderful to hear her telling stories of her life and family and then to share this song that speaks a word of hope and light into our lives. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path...When I feel afraid, think I've lost my way, still you're there right beside me. And nothing I will fear as long as you are near, please be near me to the end." That is our prayer for our wilderness journey. As the church, let us reflect the light of Christ. Let us be that body people draw close to on our wilderness journey.

Day Six in the Wilderness- Stay Together

I always find it interesting to note that after Jesus' wilderness temptations, as he starts his ministry that he calls twelve very flawed people- his disciples- to journey with him. I always imagine that it would have been easier for him to journey by himself but for some reason, Jesus' first act was to call people to share with him in his journey. And so it is with the people of God. When God called Moses, God called him to go to the people of Israel and take them also into the wilderness. When God called Abraham and Sarah, he also called the thousands of descendant who would come after them. When Paul wrote his letters it was to the whole church at Corinth, Ephesus and Galatia. God always calls us in community as the whole people of God to journey together in our journeys of faith. We aren't called to do it all alone. We are not lone rangers in our faith journeys.

It is like the journey our senior highs take to hike the mountains of Colorado. We do not send them out on their own. If we did they would probably perish. Instead we send them out with a guide who knows the mountains and knows how to gauge the weather warnings to stay safe on the journey. We send them out in a group who looks after each other. If one person has trouble with their backpack, we don't leave them behind but we share part of their burden so that they can continue. And on the trip we become profoundly aware that God is with us on the journey- in the beauty of creation, in the image of each person we travel with and in the strength God's spirit gives us to continue on the journey. The power of this trip is that we can't do it on our own, any more than we can go on our Christian journey of faith alone. We are part of a community even and especially as we travel through the wildnerness of life together.

Think about the journeys you have taken and the people you have journeyed with. I remember each person that went with me on the backpacking trip five years ago and some difference they made in the trip. I remember how fun it was in my recent Germany trip to share these new experiences and trials of travel with each other and how together we were able to turn things that would have been problems into times that were fun and memorable and tranforming.

I guess God knew what he was talking about when he said "It's not good that man should be alone". I guess Jesus knew what he was talking about when he sent the disciples out two by two. I guess the Apostle Paul knew what he was talking about when he said "If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." (1 Cor. 12:26,27)

Day Five in the Wilderness- Finding Forte/Strength

"You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, 'My refuge and my fortress: my God in whom I trust.'" Psalm 91:1,2

When I read this passage after our trip to Germany, I was reminded of the many fortress castles that people put their trust in and were disappointed. We saw a magnificent castle in Heidelberg built on the side of a hill in the 17th century And yet it had been destroyed first by the 30 years war and then by lighting in the 18th century. It was a poignant reminder that no matter how strong we build our fortresses that they can't really protect us from the worst that humanity and nature can throw at us. Within the Heidelberg Castle is the largest winevat in the world. Another place that people go for comfort is "liquid strength" and that never seems to work either. But as we looked down on the city of Heidelberg from the castle and saw the Cathedral, we became aware of where our real strength comes from. It doesn't come from the church per say but from the one to whom the church points- our God revealed in Jesus Christ. That's why Martin Luther wrote "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." Our strength and comfort come from the Triune God.

Now this wasn't news to us since we had gone to Heidelberg because of the Heidelberg Catechism. The Heidelberg Catechism was written in 1562 by Professor of Theology, Zacharias Ursinus and preacher, Kaspar Olevianus to try to bring the gap between the Lutherans (followers of Luther) and the Reformers (followers of Calvin). The Catechism was written to bring these sides together around the sovereignty and grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ. But as we stood in the ruins of the castle, looking down at the city with the church in the very midst we were reminded visually of the God who chooses to dwell with us and in whose shadow we are blessed to live and abide. The first line of the catechsim is the best known and a powerful reminder that God is our strength and shield and comfort in life and death.

Heidelberg Chatechism
Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I belong- body and soul, in life and in death- not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit according to his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

Day Four in the Wilderness- Put on the Armor of God

When Joan and I presented the Renaissance Faire VBS Curriculum at this year's Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE) Conference we had the whole group sing a song Joan had adapted to describe the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-13 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you will be able to stand agaist the wiles of the devil. For our struggle in not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, agaist the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm." When we were singing the song in Nashville: "Salvation- Goodness- Truth and Peace- Truth and Peace" to the tune of "Heads-Shoulders-Knees and Toes"; I didn't imagine that just weeks later I would be trying on armor in Germany. It was however, a good exercise in learning what that verse of Ephesians really meant.

While we were visiting Stuart and Megan and the grandkids in Germany, we went to the town of Kaiserslautern to see the Cathedral. Right outside the Cathedral was an impromptu Medieval Festival to raise money for Haiti Relief. One of the characters, Thies the Wildhunter, invited me to try on the chain mail and armor. It was hard to get on and took three of us (I now know why knights have helpers). It was heavy, but it was distributed over the whole body and didn't feel as heavy on the body as it did off. And when you had the armor on, you did need to stand firm with you feet apart to keep your balance. And it did protect the body.

It was fun to be dressed as a knight after reading about knights my whole life. It was especially fun to see my grandsons looking up to me with amazement and even a little pride. Then it was fun to share the armor with them and let them try it on for size. So it is with the Armor of God. One does need help putting on the full armor of God. Those are our mentors and teachers along the way. The armor seems heavy when you are young in the faith, but as you live into the faith, it starts to feel like outer skin. It becomes part of you. And it does protect you on the outside and give you courage on the inside. Such is faith. I thank God for the impromptu opportunity to try on armor and to understand just a little better the imagery Paul uses in Ephesians to describe the whole armor of God: belt of truth; breastplate of righteousness; shoes of the gospel of peace; shield of faith; helmet of salvation; sword of the Spirit- which is the word of God.

Learning- A Guide on Day Three in the Wilderness

When Jesus was in the wilderness, being tempted by Satan he quoted Deuteronomy 6 twice and Deuteronomy 8 once. "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." "You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only him." "Man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." I never stopped to think where Jesus learned these lessons of scripture until I realized this week that Deuteronomy 6 is where the Shema states "Hear O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you this day in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise." I am guessing that the words of Deuteronomy are words that Joseph and Mary told Jesus as Jesus walked to the well with Mary or hung out at the carpenters shop with Joseph learning a trade. They were part of the everyday life of Jesus family and they were the words that he realied upon to deal with the temptations in the wilderness of life.

These words came to life as we were wandering around the first Berg Nanstein Castle in Landstuhl with our grandchildren in Germany. It was a small castle but because they had been there before they were ours guides. They showed us the "dungeon", the "look out tower" and all along the way we were swordfighting and imagining what life would have been like back then. They were our guides through this castle. We entered into their world to understand their castle and in the process it became our castle. We fell in love with it in part because we caught the love that they had.

So it is with our faith journey. We can't force anyone to see or feel anything that isn't there for them but we can draw alongside each other as guides. We can share what we know and what we feel and the excitement that is in our hearts and minds and it is contageous. And when we share our faith with our children and grandchildren as we walk by the way, when we rise and when we lie down, it becomes a faith and love we hold together.

Lost- Day Two in the Wilderness

"I once was lost but now I'm found"
These famous words from the hymn "Amazing Grace" certainly describe the starting point for many of our journeys, and journeys of faith are no different. Right when we think we have everything figured out, we discover that we're actually lost and need help. When we dare to ask for help is when we start to be found.

I had this experience when Joan and I started our trip to Germany. We met in Dallas-Fort Worth Airport so easily without any real planning ahead of time that I commented "I know my way around airports pretty well. I figured we could find our way." That was in America. After 10 hours on an airplane flying through the night to Frankfort, Germany we woke up (actually we hadn't slept much) to a completely different airport, where the signs were mostly German and our cell phones didn't work. We saw a sign that said "Meeting Place" so we started walking to that place assuming that maybe in this country everyone ended up at one common meeting place. When we got there there was still no sign of our son and his family. We were lost. We had no German money, no cell phone and we didn't know where our family was. We knew that we needed to talk to our family to let them know when we were so that we could find them and they could find us.

I exchanged some dollars for Euros, asked how to operate a pay phone (how quickly we forget in this age of cell phones) and finally got hold of our son Stuart. They were back at the gate where we had come out after customs. They were there waiting for us and would have found us if I hadn't been so anxious just to start walking without any idea of where I was going. We found them and it was a grand reunion with son and daughter-in-law and grandkids after five months apart.

As I started reflecting this Lent, I was struck by the reality that our faith journeys are like that. Right when we think we have everything all figured out, when we try to go off on our own, when we trust random signs more than trusted friends and family, when we are out of communication- we are in trouble and usually lost. When we take the time before we start to talk with God and when we keep those lines of communication open through prayer, then God will find us and guide us and walk with us on our journey. Prayer is our connection with God, and if we find that we can't reach God through our impromptu personal prayers, we can always fall back on the "Old Fashioned" prayer that Jesus taught us so long ago:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen

As we prayer this prayer together in hospital rooms, in church, in mission trips, in crisis and even on international plane rides we know that the God who created us is with on on every journey of life. Amen

Ash Wednesday, 40 Days in the Wilderness

Forty Days in the Wilderness
Deuteronomy 8:1-10; Luke 4:1-13
What would your response be if I told you that for the next 40 days
We would be spending that time in the wilderness.
Would you be excited about the possibility or terrified?
I would guess terrified.
And yet that’s what Lent is intended to be
40days in the wilderness with Christ just as the Israelites
Spent 40 years in the wilderness with God.

For Jesus the forty days were not just figurative.
In my visit to the Holy Land, I got a chance to see the wilderness
where Jesus was tempted
And it really is hostile dessert- not a nice retreat.
Humorously there is a restaurant there today
Called the Wilderness Temptation Restaurant
Maybe the place the angels took Jesus
To nurture him back afterwards 

But the wilderness for Jesus was a time of real testing.
Just as the wilderness for the Israelites was a time of testing.
The Israelites were tested with temptation to worship idols- and they failed.
Jesus was tempted to worship Satan and he responded
“You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone.”

The Israelites were tempted to take more manna than was allotted them
And they failed. Jesus was tempted with bread and responded
“You shall not live by bread alone but by every word that
Proceeds from the mouth of God.”

The Israelites demanded water from God and Moses struck the rock and
Water did appear- but in the process they lost the right to enter
The Promised Land because they had tested God
Jesus was tempted to throw himself down from the Temple
And he responded “You shall not test the Lord your God.”

So in every case the Israelites failed their temptations
And yet Jesus came through with flying colors.
So it doesn’t seem like a good idea for us mere humans
To purposely go into the wilderness.
Perhaps that’s why Jesus says in his prayer
“Lead us not into temptation”
Since we are more like the Israelite people than Jesus
We succumb to temptation more
It seems than we resist.

And yet this Lenten time in the wilderness in not a time to put
Ourselves into more temptation but rather to acknowledge
The temptations we face everyday
And the wilderness that is part of our regular life.

This Lent we recognize that the wilderness is all around us
And that there are temptations that are part of that
Everyday wilderness.
When I was visiting my son and his family in Germany
They have Armed Forces TV which is like US TV
Except instead of the commercials they have
A stream of public service announcements
That try to help soldiers cope with
The temptations of life.
Depression, sexual harassment, family violence,
Sexting on internet, corruptions and greed.
It was actually depressing to watch commercials.

But we have temptations on our television in America as well
It’s just disguised better.
Television's purpose seems to be tempting us to eat more, spend more, covet everything our neighbor has, and wish that we were different than we are.
-The temptation of the internet is with us daily and parental controls
May be even more helpful for the adults than the kids;
-The economic wilderness has become more prominent
As credit card companies and banks try to entice us
To spend more money than we have;
-The political wilderness in which debate and destroy
And win at all cost seems scarier and more hopeless
And more contentious than just decades ago.
-And there is even the religious wilderness which constantly tempts
Us to a corporate mode of consumerism where bigger is better.

So the truth is that we are in the wilderness, whether we like it or not.
We are tempted whether we acknowledge those temptations
As acts of Satan or just a way of life.
And the good news in this Lenten Season is that God will not give up
On us any more than God gave up on the Israelites.
Just as God tabernacled with the Israelites in their wilderness
Just as Jesus wonders into the very real wildernesses that we endure-
We know that the Triune God is with us in our wilderness journey.

And unlike Jesus, we are not forced to endure our wilderness time alone.
We have our church family, our pastors, to surround and support us
When we dare to acknowledge the wildernesses we encounter.
We have a community of faith that believes God is with us
by the power of the Holy Spirit not just two thousand years ago
but in the very wildernesses we wander today.
And God will not give up on us.
God will not abandon us.
God is with us- Emmanuel.

I invite you to journey with me and your church family during Lent
in a series of Lenten devotions each day in the next 40 days
on this blog site named appropriately- Adventures-in-Faith
In this time together we will reflect together on where God is in the midst of our wilderness.
I will be drawing on my own experiences in the past several months to start the conversation
but I want you to feel free to take off from my stories and share you own stories.
In this way our devotional journey will truly be a shared communal journey.

I want you to know that you are not alone in your journey.
God is with you, God has given you a faith family to walk with you
And in Jesus Christ, God has set apart this time to draw alongside you
And take hold of your hand as you walk through the wilderness of life.