Conviction and prayer

Tomorrow is Florida's turn in the world-round prayer vigil for General Conference.

A lot is happening at General Conference, but the most public conversation concerns questions of inclusion--especially marriage and ordination for LGBQT disciples.
So--of course--as I googled "pray for general conference 2016" (why should I reinvent the wheel if someone else has already made a beautiful guide?) there were tons of articles with varying opinions.

One article, in particular, was followed by extremely hurtful, bigoted and small-minded comments. There, in black and white social media, I watched Christians bite, sneer, and slander other Christians--and it made me angry and embarrassed to call them part of our faith family.

I sat there; horrified and furious at these people who appeared only as screennames and profile pictures... and then my computer chirped that a new e-mail had arrived. And Sojourners sent me the following conviction:

This is the message we have heard from [God] and proclaim to you, that God is light and in [God] there is no darkness at all. - 1 John 1:5

For myself, I find I become less cynical rather than more — remembering my own sins and follies; and realize that men's hearts are not often as bad as their acts, and very seldom as bad as their words. - J. R. R. Tolkien

Prayer: We rejoice in your light, O God. Help us to bask in the light of your love as it emanates from our neighbors and from the rest of your creation.

I was NOT looking fto be convicted of my own sins, but there it was. So now I'm praying for my own humility and non-judgment of others. Thanks General Conference prayer initiative. Thanks a lot.

(P.S. the e-mail came from Sojourner's 'Voice and Verse'. I definitely recommend it.)

Bold. 4 on the 4th

Someone shared this a long time ago but since it's part of today's reading, I had to post it:

Notes/reflections from Luke 4:

• on the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness: Food/comfort. Power/fame. Safety/self-reliance.
    Jesus is faithful ...but what are my temptations? And where do I fail?
• vv 16-40
  ...the people are fine with Jesus until he calls them out. They pat him on the head with nostalgia and appreciate his 'gracious words' --but when he suggests that all of them might not be faithful, they run him out of town. Courtesy turns to critique and they stop listening.
  Do I allow the Gospel to convict me? Am I open to critique from Christ? ...or is my faith safe?

Mostly, though, I keep noticing this theme of authority.

Jesus is matter-of-fact with the devil (leaning on the authority of Scripture). In Capernaum, the people are astounded at Jesus' teaching, "because he spoke with authority. ...He commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!’"

Similarly, Acts 4 opens with Peter and John "speaking the truth" while the temple leaders are "much annoyed."

On trial, the disciples are equally truthful and the leaders "saw the boldness of Peter and John and recognized them as companions of Jesus."

                     Boldness. 

                                    Wasn't it always a companion of Jesus?

The leaders realize they can't refute the disciples, so the command them not to speak.

                   ...so the disciples respond by praying for boldness.

(a prayer that I should totally pray more often)

‘Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them... grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ 

When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.

Lord, grant me boldness.
in life.
in word.
in deeds.
Help me to testify with great power to your resurrection.
so that great grace may be upon us all.

Deferential. 3 on the 3rd

Luke 3 (from The Message):

"the people were filled with expectation...wondering, 

“Could this John be the Messiah?”

But John intervened: “I’m baptizing you here in the river. The main character in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out."

Acts 3
(After Peter and John heal a crippled man in the temple)

All the people ran to them, utterly astonished. 

When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, 

‘...Why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus..."

Altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald

In both of these passages, we see incredible biblical figures turning attention away from themselves and towards their God. It's not about our power or our piety. It's about the God who works through and in us. ...and when God does wondrous things, then we have the opportunity to point others towards Christ! (or, as Rev. Dan Bell has said--'like John the Baptist in Grunewald's painting, we gave to give people the finger that points to Jesus').

Amazed. 2 on the 2nd

Yesterday, I started a chapter-a-day challenge through Luke and Acts (chapter 1 on the 1st, 2 on the second, etc...). A few folks from the church are joining me and I'm hoping the accountability will keep me focused. 

It seems that we have a wondrous capacity to be amazed and then immediately disinterested. I'm in chapter 2 of Luke (after Gabriel appears to Mary and after Elizabeth and Zechariah AND Mary proclaim wondrous thing about Jesus) and as soon as Jesus is born, a bunch of shepherds show up talking about how angels appeared and filled the sky with the proclamation of this kid's wondrous birth... but eight days later, Mary and Joseph show up for a typical temple ritual like everything is normal. 

Trip to Jerusalem? check. 

Name for the kid? check. (epic name, true, but it's been chosen for a while)

Doves for sacrifice? check. 

Strange guy filled with the Holy Spirit who shows up to take your baby and say incredible things about his future? ...wait. what??
"The child’s father and mother were amazed." ~Luke 2:33

The disciples are amazed at Pentecost, too. (And they just finished up 40 days with a previously dead guy--you'd think resurrection would be amazing enough).

Why are we constantly surprised by grace? At some point, you'd think we'd get used to God showing up in our lives... but we never seem to take it seriously. (or maybe our experience fades due to our own preoccupations and then we suddenly re-remember God's goodness when it catches our attention?) I don't mean normality or boredom--we SHOULD delight in the awe and wonder at being in God's presence--but eight days after angels fill the sky and you'd think people would be a tad more expectant  (less 'whaaa???' and more 'wow! It's just like God to do that').

But I confess: it's only been a week since Easter and I'm certainly fighting the temptation to leave it like pastel chalk on the calendar behind me...  Resurrection feels less like a present miraculous reality and more like last Sunday's sermon. 

But what if I expected God to keep showing up? What would unabashed Easter-life look like even after the baskets are packed away? What WOULD it look like for me to expect the fullness of God's life and Spirit?