“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!” – Psalm 95:1-2

A little under a year ago, we began our surgery journey with our son who was born cleft lip and palate. Since then, he has had six procedures (some planned, some unplanned). One thing has carried through all of these procedures – that child is filled with a joyful spirit.

The last procedure we had was delayed. First, we were moved from 8:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon. That meant that we now had a one-year-old fasting all day long rather than fasting while asleep, then heading right in for surgery. Then, when we arrived for the procedure, it was delayed another two hours while the doctors dealt with complex cases and the OR schedule was shifted around to accommodate emergencies.

Atton didn’t shed a single tear. Not from being hungry, missing his nap, or from being bored waiting in the little pre-op room. Nope, the kid sang, danced, played with the toys provided by the Child Life Department (hospital God-send), and genuinely had a good time. We called his sister on FaceTime a couple times, and we even got some giggles out of the lad. The only way to really describe him is a true champ.

Towards the end, nurses, doctors, CNAs, random hospital staff started stopping by (at an appropriate physical distance of course) and asking about this little one-year-old boy that was just so happy waiting for his procedure. They were all completely amazed. A few thought that he had been given an extra dose of calming medicine, but he hasn’t needed any calming medicine in any of his procedures so far.

I attribute his behavior to two things: trust and his joyful spirit.

He trusted that we were there for a reason. He trusted his doctors to know what they’re doing. He trusted the nurses to care for him (this continued to letting one of the nurses carry him to the operating room chatting and cuddling all the way). He trusted me that I wanted only the best for him.

His joy carries him through every stressful situation and buoys the rest of us up too. As you can probably attest, a baby’s laughter is the best medicine, and our little boy is no different.

Why share this story? Well, if a little guy that is barely one and has gone through 6 pretty significant surgeries still has trust in humanity and takes life on with joy, can’t we? Let’s channel that spirit and bring greater good to the world.

Emalee

Lord, may we find joy amidst all that is happening in our world. May we see your presence every day, and in that put our trust. Amen.

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. – Exodus 20: 8-11

Recently, Brenda posted an updated version of the 10 Commandments from the Contemplative Monk on Facebook. The modern version of the fourth commandment really stuck out to me: “Do not use productivity to dominate life.” This spoke to my soul, as I’m one who crams my life to the brim with activities, work, and my own driven expectations, then says yes to just one more thing.

Maybe because I have lifelong anxiety and can’t slow down. Or I never feel like I’m really doing enough to prove myself. Or I’ve spread myself so thin that I don’t really think I’m serving anyone to the best of my ability. Or I just don’t want to let anyone that I know, love, or care about down by saying no.

Needless to say, I’m completely guilty of letting productivity dominate life. Maybe you are too. Perhaps the pandemic forced you into slowing down, or like me, you just got busier. So, where do we go from here? How can we find a way to celebrate the Sabbath and make it holy? How do we stop productivity from driving our lives?

The world we live in today certainly doesn’t make it easier. With work expectations, club and team sports (when they start up again) forcing students to choose between playing and church activities like Youth Group, family expectations, and social media distractions, there is always something available to fill your time.  

Let’s challenge ourselves to fill some of that time worshipping our God, finding sabbath (whether on Sunday morning or whenever you can connect during the week), and releasing the control of productivity. Maybe it starts with 5 minutes here or there. (As the mother of toddlers, that’s probably all the uninterrupted time I can fathom at the start.) Then, may that time and spirit grow into a true sabbath dedicated to rest and worship.

Lord, for some, this pandemic has become a time of true sabbath, turning to God as their lives have slowed down. For others, the rat race has continued or sped up. Thank you for your presence in both scenarios. Through productivity and peace, may we grow closer to you, finding Sabbath by releasing control. Amen. 

Emalee

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
– Exodus 20:4-6

God is perfect. And God is jealous. How can both be true? Jealousy, as we understand it in human experience, comes from a place of fear; from a sense of inadequacy. The person who is jealous worries that the beloved will discover their shortcomings and will find something better. Human jealousy is inward oriented. This isn’t the way that God is jealous. God is sufficient – God is more than enough to fill every need of the beloved (that is, us). So the jealousy of God is not a sign of insufficiency.

The “jealousy” of God is different. It is outward oriented. God knows us (God made us, after all) and God knows what we truly need. God loves us deeply and passionately; so much so that God allows us to choose to listen or to turn away. God knows what is likely to happen when we turn from God and begin to worship something else. We will eventually find that the something else will be inadequate – insufficient – and we will get hurt.

What we experience as “punishment” is simply the consequence of following something other than God. And that often extends through generations in a family. Look at the way that abuse can affect generations following the first abusive relationship; or substance abuse can alter entire family systems. And then look at the resilience of individuals in families who keep first things first through generations.

God knows that we will face hard times. Often dreadful things happen that defy explanation or blame. God wants what is best for us especially in these times. So while God gives us freedom to choose, God continually invites us to make the love of God first in our lives. God’s will is frustrated when we choose something else. God longs to be in a deep and meaningful relationship with us.
We will be exploring this and more on Sunday morning in worship. We will be talking about “Getting Unstuck.” Here are some questions to get you thinking, and for discussion following the message:

1. What distracts you from fulfilling your purpose? (“I Know Better”, “If I only had that thing/gift…”, other)
2. What helps you stay focused?
3. What is one small step you can take right now?

Gracious God, we thank you that you seek us out when we turn away. We thank you that you stand at the door and knock. We thank you for Jesus, who invites us to take his easy yoke and light burden upon ourselves. Help us, especially in this time, to keep your love in our hearts, on our lips, and moving through the work of our hands. May we see the spark of your divine grace in everyone we meet. Amen.

 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part,but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

 1 Corinthians 13

Blessings can come from expected and unexpected places.  This past week, I would have normally been at the Leadership Institute at the Church of the Resurrection in Leewood Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City.  Obviously that conference was online this year.  I have been blessed to go to this conference several times, and every time I come away refreshed, renewed, and excited about ministry.  This time I wasn’t so sure about going, with it all being online.  Then I remembered that our keynote speaker was going to be Bishop Michael Curry from the Episcopal church. You may remember him from delivering the sermon at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.   

Bishop Curry spoke of power of love and what it means to be the church today.  He spoke of the profound division we face as a country right now.  He spoke on how love is how we stay decent during indecent times.  He spoke of how we are a country segregated by zip codes.  He also spoke of the racial divide we are experiencing; he also spoke of hope and love.

He preached on Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.  He reminded us how divided the church in Corinth was and how Paul told them that they needed to basically get over themselves and learn to live together.  How do they do that – they love.  They need to love each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. For as Paul stated, if you do not have love you are nothing but a noisy gong.

If we don’t show love, our words mean nothing.  This is how we turn chaos into community, love.  The church needs to be in the forefront in showing love to our larger community.  Bishops Curry’s words gave me hope, refreshed my spirit, and gave me hope for our country and for the future.  One day I hope to be able to share his speech, sermon for a class.  What caught me by surprise is that I was crying tears of hope after he was done talking.  Remember that I was watching him speak on my computer, not in person.  We have hope in Christ and when we live out our faith, we can help to bring community out of Chaos. 

Bishop Curry has a new book out called “Love is the Way; Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times” I haven’t had the chance to start reading it yet, but I would highly recommend it.  You will be blessed.

Gracious and loving God, we are so blessed.  We are blessed to be in relationship with you.  We are blessed to have the example of your son Jesus on how to love others. We are blessed to have your love, mercy, and grace.  Create in us a heart that wants to share that love, grace, and mercy with others in tangible ways.  Give us courage to listen and act to your nudges. Be with those who are struggling right now, in a variety of ways, and help us to be able to there for them as well.

Amen

Stay well, stay connected and be the hope you wish to see in the world.

Suzanne

I’m sure about this: the one who started a good work in you will stay with you to complete the job by the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 CEB

Lately, I’ve been reading and enjoying Nadia Bolz-Weber’s book, Accidental Saints and participating in the church book study. As I was reading chapter 4, a flood of memories came rushing back to me. She was talking about being asked to speak at the Lutheran National Youth Gathering and how unqualified she thought she was, and could not fathom what she had to offer that these young people would be interested in. Not that I have ever been asked to speak at a National Gathering, but God has called me to speak at Senior High Camp at Lazy W; and the same thought ran through my head, what could I possible have to offer.

I remember it vividly because it was a whole week of saying no to God. It was only my second time working camp, the Day Team that I was a part of was on Friday, the last full day of camp. The Theme that year was “Connected.” I kept feeling God nudge me that I needed to speak at campfire on Friday night…I responded with a laugh and “nope, I think you have the wrong person.” The nudge was there all week but with each day got stronger. “No God, I have nothing to say that these kids want to hear!” So Friday morning came and strangely enough I found myself saying to the Leadership Team, ”I would ‘like’ to speak at campfire tonight” and of course they were all for it.

I prefer to have things written down, so when the nerves kick in I still know what I’m saying, but God, true to form made sure that I stayed busy with camper issues all day so I would have no time to be silly enough to write anything down. What I kept hearing God say to me was, “talk what you have experienced, no one knows it better or can tell it better than you.” Oh God there you go again… all you want from me is to trust, trust, trust!

The week began with how we originally connected with God, then how we disconnected and ending with how we reconnected. So Friday night came, very grateful I could not see the camper’s faces staring at me in the light glow of campfire. I stood up and opened my mouth and God took it from there, sharing my experience of connecting, disconnecting and reconnecting with God. Not really a profound story but it reached and resonated with a few young people that heard it. No matter where we are or what situation we might be headed into God is always there, shinning the light on the next step forward, all that is asked of us is to trust.

Even during all of these difficult days of social distancing, of the unknown of when it will all be in the past, there is a true assurance that God is with us, guiding us and filling us with abilities we may not have known were there. Even if we are unsure of ourselves and only think of our limitations, when we trust the One who created and loves us beyond our understanding, then anything and all things are possible. 
As it says in Philippians 4:13“I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength.”

Loving God, thank you for your assurance that all things are possible in you. That your love and compassion surround us even when we struggle to say yes. Thank you for walking with us and going before us during these unsure times. Help us to rest in the knowledge that nothing will ever separate us form your love and grace. Amen.

Brenda