Family,
In the past, if i missed a blog, it was because of poor planning or poor management of time. I name it. This time, however, it had nothing to do with planning or time managment. Kendra and I got back from Kansas Tuesday night, and then the journey into returning back to work, catching up on the immediate things, took over. But we had some hurdles to overcome. One, because of an unplanned change in childcare, Daniel didn't have anyone to watch him Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, so Kendra and I took turns.
She watched him Wednesday, which allowed me to come to work. The first day back, after vacation, is always a catch up day. What has happened? How did worship go? I heard it was amazing! Who is doing ok? Do i need to check on anyone? And we had a busy week, apparently. Praise God that everyone is home, at least to my knowledge, and all are doing ok. Well Thursday was my lucky day: I got to spend the day with Daniel. I had planned on Friday being my day to blog, but life took over.
Im not sure whether it was something i ate or something else, but early Friday morning i started to cramp in my stomach, and it has carried on to today. I only write this, because i need your prayers. I thought it was a short day of just not feeling right, but i still dont feel well, and there are more symptoms now than before. I am, as odd as it sounds, praying for food poisoning, so it will go away, but if it doesn't, then tuesday morning i am off to the hospital.
That's why there hasn't been a blog, yet. I just wasn't able to do it. Sorry life got in the way.
But it always does, doesn't it? Doesn't life always get into the way? We meant to go back to school, but it just wasn't time. We meant to go on vacation, but we didn't save up enough. We meant to start a family, but the job promotion was offered. Good intentions have a way of paving a treacherous road to somewhere less enjoyable.
Joseph is no different. He meant to make his brothers suffer, at least a little, in the same way he did, so he could enact revenge, but life got in the way. Or more correctly, God did. When Joseph had a perfect plan in place, God shocked Joseph. Jacob, Joseph's father, was still alive. The one person Joseph was closer to than Benjamin, his father, was still alive. That revelation changes everything.
Revenge was not necessary; reconciliation and reunion were. Staying angry and feeling sorry for himself was trumped by "God meant for good..." And so it should be for us too. When are we going to quit relying on our own will and ability to accomplish things and surrender, totally, to God's? When we do, truly give ourselves over to God, then we can, just as Joseph did, view the world through God's eyes. These are eyes that see good in evil, light in darkness, and hope in despair. And it is these eyes, this faith that will enable us to move forward and become who God created us to be.
In Joseph's case, it led to a family reunion that moved him to tears. For us it could be something greater more amazing, but we won't know unless we let God lead. Amen.
Shalom,
jerry
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Even if...
Dear family,
I am not leading the message on Sunday, Todd Hammond will be, but i did read Genesis 43, and i want to share some of my thoughts. First of all, my sense is that Joseph is beginning to show his true colors to his family. He feeds them. His servant reassures the brothers that the silver was a gift from God, and they had nothing to worry about. And when Joseph finally sees Benjamin, well Joseph has to leave and weep. Even those who have, seemingly, hardened hearts, are still human. They still weep when something moves them. For Joseph, this was the reunion with his brother, Benjamin.
And what does he do? He gives them a feast, not unlike what the prodigal son received when he came home. Joseph extends fellowship, hospitality, and acceptance. I had a friend, growing up, that he would do his best to be mad at you. He would scowl. Growl. And just do his best to make you feel his anger, but in reality, right after the scowl, no matter how hard he tried, my friend would laugh and say, "I cant be mad at you. You are my friends."
My sense is that when we have deep connections to one another, truly Godly connections, it doesn't matter what we do, because the love we have for one another is stronger than whatever damage we perpetrate onto each other. If Joseph can lavish this love upon his brothers, what can we do to each other? My sense is that when we hurt each other, in the church family, it is not intentional. We are simply not aware of how our words and our actions affect others. We mean well, but we are human. We will alienate and hurt each other.
But if our relationship is grounded in Jesus, then we can move past this misunderstanding and return to the table and break bread together. Returning to the table doesn't dismiss the hurt, but what it does do is make reconciliation and reunion possible. In order for these to be authentic, though, the victim of the hurt must offer the perpetrator the following: Forgiveness. Redemption. And a chance to rebuild the relationship. Because if we are anchored in Christ, then we will find ourselves saying, "I cant stay mad at you..you are my sister, you are my brother."
Pastor Todd will talk about redemption on Sunday, and my sense is that it will be a poweful message about the power of God to redeem even the most heinous act. But for us, redemption, based in forgiveness, overwhelmed in love, becomes the means by which we rebuild our relationships inside and outside the church. But for us, it means we invest time, energy, love, and effort into making the table open for friend and alienated friend alike. Let's eat. Let's laugh. And lets love. When we do, we will experience the power of God's redemption. Amen.
Shalom,
Jerry
I am not leading the message on Sunday, Todd Hammond will be, but i did read Genesis 43, and i want to share some of my thoughts. First of all, my sense is that Joseph is beginning to show his true colors to his family. He feeds them. His servant reassures the brothers that the silver was a gift from God, and they had nothing to worry about. And when Joseph finally sees Benjamin, well Joseph has to leave and weep. Even those who have, seemingly, hardened hearts, are still human. They still weep when something moves them. For Joseph, this was the reunion with his brother, Benjamin.
And what does he do? He gives them a feast, not unlike what the prodigal son received when he came home. Joseph extends fellowship, hospitality, and acceptance. I had a friend, growing up, that he would do his best to be mad at you. He would scowl. Growl. And just do his best to make you feel his anger, but in reality, right after the scowl, no matter how hard he tried, my friend would laugh and say, "I cant be mad at you. You are my friends."
My sense is that when we have deep connections to one another, truly Godly connections, it doesn't matter what we do, because the love we have for one another is stronger than whatever damage we perpetrate onto each other. If Joseph can lavish this love upon his brothers, what can we do to each other? My sense is that when we hurt each other, in the church family, it is not intentional. We are simply not aware of how our words and our actions affect others. We mean well, but we are human. We will alienate and hurt each other.
But if our relationship is grounded in Jesus, then we can move past this misunderstanding and return to the table and break bread together. Returning to the table doesn't dismiss the hurt, but what it does do is make reconciliation and reunion possible. In order for these to be authentic, though, the victim of the hurt must offer the perpetrator the following: Forgiveness. Redemption. And a chance to rebuild the relationship. Because if we are anchored in Christ, then we will find ourselves saying, "I cant stay mad at you..you are my sister, you are my brother."
Pastor Todd will talk about redemption on Sunday, and my sense is that it will be a poweful message about the power of God to redeem even the most heinous act. But for us, redemption, based in forgiveness, overwhelmed in love, becomes the means by which we rebuild our relationships inside and outside the church. But for us, it means we invest time, energy, love, and effort into making the table open for friend and alienated friend alike. Let's eat. Let's laugh. And lets love. When we do, we will experience the power of God's redemption. Amen.
Shalom,
Jerry
Friday, May 7, 2010
Curious
Dear Family,
I have wrestled with our text all week, and i dont have any clear approach to the text. If you have had the chance to read Genesis 42, you know that it is the rehearsal of Joseph's brothers journeying into Egypt for food, only to have Joseph, whom they did not recognize, speak harshly to them and treat them as suspected spies. Again, we are in the section of Genesis that is more often worked through, so we are more familiar with the texts than we might have been otherwise. But that doesn't mean we should just gloss over it and assume it has nothing new to reveal to us. Because i think it does.
The small group looked at the narrative through the lens as "what goes around comes around." And that Joseph had every right to treat his brothers that way. Some claimed Joseph was setting the stage for his dad, Jacob, and his brother, Benjamin, to make the trip, so that Joseph could have his entire family there. And others feel like Joseph's replacement of the silver was a trap to make the brothers feel worse and be more paranoid. One mentioned Reuben's willingness to give up his two sons, so that they could go back and and do as Joseph commanded.
Whatever we glean from this story, my sense is that it has plenty to say to us, today. I have a friend who refuses to forgive McPherson College for what he perceives is a wrong they did to him, specifically, he refuses to forgive the former athletic director and a president that was in the administration when my friend was slighted. My friend still jokes about how to "get even" with those persons who hurt him, and to some extent he is serious. He wants them to feel his pain, even if he has to inflict pain upon them. At times it can consume him.
Joseph seems to be, at least to a certain degree, consumed by the need to inflict as much pain on his brothers as he has felt, and i wonder if this is honorable? Is it right to punish those who hurt us? Is it right to make them feel as bad as we do? Is it right to hold a grudge? Is it right to verbally destroy or abuse someone when they hurt us? Is it right to treat anyone, no matter who they are, as if they were some social parasite that needs to be extuinguished?
I dont think so. But how hard is it to forgive AND forget? Without God, i say impossible. But it is a commandment, from Jesus, so perhaps we should get moving on that forgiveness thing? I know I have a lot of work to do before i honor the commandment to forgive those who hurt me, completely forgive them. But then so does Joseph. Here's the beautiful reality of walking with God, as Joseph proves, God enables us to forgive and move on and see those who hurt us as blessings. Isn't it time we live that way too? Then ask God to remove our scales of anger and hurt and give us eyes to see ALL as He does. Amen.
Shalom, Salaam, Peace...
Jerry
PS. Please continue to pray for the clean up efforts in the gulf, pray for the people of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama as they recover from the floods, and pray for our church that we might, once again, catch the fire of God. Thank you for being my fellow pilgrims on this amazing journey...
I have wrestled with our text all week, and i dont have any clear approach to the text. If you have had the chance to read Genesis 42, you know that it is the rehearsal of Joseph's brothers journeying into Egypt for food, only to have Joseph, whom they did not recognize, speak harshly to them and treat them as suspected spies. Again, we are in the section of Genesis that is more often worked through, so we are more familiar with the texts than we might have been otherwise. But that doesn't mean we should just gloss over it and assume it has nothing new to reveal to us. Because i think it does.
The small group looked at the narrative through the lens as "what goes around comes around." And that Joseph had every right to treat his brothers that way. Some claimed Joseph was setting the stage for his dad, Jacob, and his brother, Benjamin, to make the trip, so that Joseph could have his entire family there. And others feel like Joseph's replacement of the silver was a trap to make the brothers feel worse and be more paranoid. One mentioned Reuben's willingness to give up his two sons, so that they could go back and and do as Joseph commanded.
Whatever we glean from this story, my sense is that it has plenty to say to us, today. I have a friend who refuses to forgive McPherson College for what he perceives is a wrong they did to him, specifically, he refuses to forgive the former athletic director and a president that was in the administration when my friend was slighted. My friend still jokes about how to "get even" with those persons who hurt him, and to some extent he is serious. He wants them to feel his pain, even if he has to inflict pain upon them. At times it can consume him.
Joseph seems to be, at least to a certain degree, consumed by the need to inflict as much pain on his brothers as he has felt, and i wonder if this is honorable? Is it right to punish those who hurt us? Is it right to make them feel as bad as we do? Is it right to hold a grudge? Is it right to verbally destroy or abuse someone when they hurt us? Is it right to treat anyone, no matter who they are, as if they were some social parasite that needs to be extuinguished?
I dont think so. But how hard is it to forgive AND forget? Without God, i say impossible. But it is a commandment, from Jesus, so perhaps we should get moving on that forgiveness thing? I know I have a lot of work to do before i honor the commandment to forgive those who hurt me, completely forgive them. But then so does Joseph. Here's the beautiful reality of walking with God, as Joseph proves, God enables us to forgive and move on and see those who hurt us as blessings. Isn't it time we live that way too? Then ask God to remove our scales of anger and hurt and give us eyes to see ALL as He does. Amen.
Shalom, Salaam, Peace...
Jerry
PS. Please continue to pray for the clean up efforts in the gulf, pray for the people of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama as they recover from the floods, and pray for our church that we might, once again, catch the fire of God. Thank you for being my fellow pilgrims on this amazing journey...
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