Nine of Ten

Count your blessings

Name them one by one.

Count your blessings

See what God hath done.

Count your blessings

Name them one by one.

Count your many blessings

See what God hath done.

 Luke 17:17 Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?  18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"  19 Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."

It's interesting to notice how sometimes it is the nonreligious population that is startled into outward gratitude. We can learn from them not to take our faith for granted but to be refreshed in the spirit of gratitude.

God is working in our lives constantly. Nine of ten times we don’t notice. Or if we do notice we don't think to give thanks.

This morning I scraped a heavy frost off my windshield. I drove down 1st Ave., East which is filled with trees changing color and some extraordinary bushes flaming red. I spent some time reviewing pictures from the young adult gathering last night. I will admit, however, that I didn't give thanks to God until I was reviewing my sermon notes for Luke 17.

Especially if it's been a while since you've been to worship make a point to come and give thanks.

Bent Out of Shape

God calls us. Whether we are young or old, bent over or standing tall, or somewhere in between; in dry deserts and beside springs of water, when we feel strong and safe, and when we feel scared or abandoned. God calls all of us, and offers to set us free from whatever keeps us bound.

Luke 13:10-13   ¹⁰ Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.  ¹¹ And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.  ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment."  ¹³ When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 

It's important to bring all of our struggles to God regardless of how trivial they seem at the onset lest they build over time and cripple us.

Sometimes when we find that we've gotten ourselves all bent out of shape it's because our little hurts have gone unseen by others and therefore unaddressed. The longer they go unaddressed the more they build and bend us over in pain.

Jesus’ greatest gift is his ability to see people when the rest of the world turns a blind eye.

Find a place of worship and be open to God's healing.

No Wimpy Mother's Day

“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. … She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. … Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate” (Proverbs 31:10, 26-28, 31).

And all the people said…”Happy Mother’s Day!”

But how about instead of a sentimental Mother's Day we celebrate the power and courage of women who have changed the world. After all, whoever declared that women are the weaker sex… was obviously a man.

Matthew 23:37-39   ³⁷ "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!  

Come this Sunday and hear the stories of some of the badass women of the Bible and how the first Mother's Day proclamation in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe was a passionate demand for disarmament and peace.

Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or tears!

You may not go away feeling gushy and sentimental but you will go away (both men and women) empowered by the Holy Spirit and raised with Christ.

Violence at Christmas

Matthew 2:13-16  ¹³ Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."  ¹⁴ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt,  ¹⁵ and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."  ¹⁶ When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.

What can we say in another day marked with senseless violence.

God always comes to us in the very midst of the worst of our human sinfulness. Throughout the Scriptures we see the violence and God’s call for resisting evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves. Whether evil’s name is Pharoah or Herod or a school shooter in Connecticut God brings Light.

John 1:4-5   ⁴ in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Our response to evil must not to return evil with evil but to testify to the light and teach the ways of unconditional love that might save those so lost in hate and fear that they act in violence.

Come Sunday we will listen to the chancel choir tell the story of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us and we will also confess our brokenness and recommit ourselves to a different way of living; the Way of Jesus in our community.

Do Good

“Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.” – John Wesley

We move in our church’s study of the three simple rules from “Do No Harm” to “Do Good.”

It’s harder than it may seem. What does it mean to take the 2^nd vow of baptism seriously and accept the freedom and power God gives us to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?

It is not enough to refrain from evil. We must actively resist evil and proactively do good. Come Sunday we will reflect on those random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.

Do No Harm

The first step in learning to live into this rule is awareness of what it means to do harm.

Where is harm being done in your household or circle of friends, your family, your church, your community, your city, state, nation world?

More specifically:

•  Who is being harmed?
• What harm is being done?
• Who is doing it or causing it? (The “who” may be one or more people, groups, corporations, institutions, states, or nations.)
• Why is it happening?
• How is harm being done?

 (these questions are from Jeanne Finley's study guide)

If you’re following the study on your own reflect on these questions and maybe post a comment on our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/epworthkalispell

Sunday’s worship will center around the difference between THOU SHALT NOT and ‘do no harm.’ Are we just following rules and restrictions or are we intentionally following the Way of Jesus?

As we dig deeper we examine the unintentional harm we do and the harm we don’t do directly but are complicit in. It is a fascinating journey. It is the way of Discipleship.

Will Jesus approve our message?

I woke up this morning to the news of the attack on the Libyan embassy on 9/11. Initial reactions include the sadness of the violence of our world. I had wondered Tuesday morning of there would be some attack somewhere to play on our emotions of 11 years ago.

I prayed for the peace of Christ to reach out to our world.

Then my sadness turned to despair as I listened further and heard that it wasn’t just a 9/11 reminder but a response to a film produced by a California filmmaker who identifies himself as both American and Israeli. The film was being promoted by an extreme anti-Muslim Egyptian Christian [emphasis mine] campaigner in the United States. Excerpts from the film dubbed into Arabic were posted on YouTube.

I can’t imagine God adding the tag line to this whole affair, “I’m Jesus the Christ and I approved this message.”

James 3:5-6  ⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!  ⁶ And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell.

James 3:8-10   ⁸ but no one can tame the tongue-- a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  ⁹ With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God.  ¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.

As Christians we are the ads people see and hear every day. We can’t control all people who claim to speak for Christians but we can control our own words, actions and responses to those with whom we disagree.

Join us Sunday as we consider how we can have “holy conversations” about tough issues – in church and beyond.

Peace,

Steve Hermes

Continually creating an inclusive and accepting family of God by modeling our lives after Jesus the Christ.

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Blood, Sweat & Tears *(with a bit of Grace)

A week ago at this time I was in Paradise looking forward to a sweaty week of getting the ranch pretty for a wedding. The next day I was in a helicopter over Flathead Lake. Not much sightseeing on a life flight however.

Blood

Not much use in going over the gory details. X-rays of the compound fracture will be kept for the scrapbook but my mental image was of a Far Side cartoon called the Boneless Chicken Ranch with my foot draping over at a strange angle. (For the younger generation; think of Harry Potter in need of Skele-Grow)

  

Sweat

I had already invested a lot of sweat into making the ranch look pretty for the upcoming wedding. If asked if I would be ready on time I would say ‘no sweat’ knowing that things have a way of working out. I sweated out anesthesia chemicals in the days following three surgeries and would love to attend Fred and Alice Nicol’s sweat lodge again for some extended healing.

Tears

Physical pain is a lot easier to deal with than emotional pain. My primary tears once I knew I would survive were for the attention I would be drawing away from my Son’s wedding and the real possibility that I would miss the ceremony. Tears still are coming easily. They vary from self pity to gratefulness for Chris’ ongoing support. (today is our 30th anniversary)

Grace

It’s not my head. Actually that is among a list of things that I am grateful for in light of the fall but it not what I mean by Grace. I mean the Grace by which God fills our human suffering with divine presence.

Certainly I practiced prayer over many years but was presently surprised how quickly and effectively I could call on those centering meditative prayers to manage pain and maintain perspective. I have no real fears of the future. This incident is just that little pebble in my shoe that dares me to walk a broader path.

Watch me walk

And when we both have had enough
I will take him from my shoe, singing
"Meet your new road!"

Then I'll take your hand
Finally glad
That you are here (you are here)
By my side