Setting Our Stones

SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY Year B

2012-02-10T16:49:00.001-05:00

2 Kings 5:1-14 • Psalm 30 • 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 • Mark 1:40-45

Chronic physical pain is a big deal.

I have never had serious chronic pain...only small tastes of it.

People who live with chronic physical pain are carrying around
something that the rest of us cannot imagine or understand.

Most folks I have known that are suffering from chronic physical pain
have tried all possible options to get rid of it.

Eating better foods, less sugar, prayer chains (of every faith), more
yoga, acupuncture, hanging upside down, more sleep, less sleep, kale
tablets, cleansing diets, medications (tested and untested),
surgeries, therapists, water aerobics, trips to special
healers.....the list goes on and on.

Even the most even-minded and grounded among us work hard to find
relief when we run in to physical pain.

And the further we go down the list of options, the more faith we
place in the next option on the list.

Now we don't know exactly what folks were dealing with when in
scripture we find someone labeled with 'leprosy'. It seems it was a
skin disease that may or may not have been contagious.

And it appears to have had a variety of social effects on people. Just
in this week's readings we have one story from the second book of
Kings where there was a military commander who suffered from leprosy,
and we see in Mark a leper who seems to be more of a social outcast.

Now obviously these stories are in societies separated by a few
hundred years, so all sorts of differences can be noted and applied.

But something that is consistent between them is that they both had
been suffering with this physical affliction and were desperate to be
healed from it.

I am not 100% certain of this, but I am fairly confident that in every
culture that has ever existed there have been people who have good
intentions that would see someone suffering from pain and would offer
'helpful' suggestions. "Leprosy? Oh...just eat the root of this
tree......Leprosy? You can get rid of that...make sure you are not
sleeping directly on the ground. Leprosy? No problem, I know a guy
who will cut all of the bad spots out of your skin and it will clear
right up. Leprosy? You must have done something wrong for it not to
have cleared up yet. Leprosy? Just rub some dirt on it."

I am sure that each of these men, Naaman and the unnamed leper found
in Mark, had tried every treatment and heard every suggestion.

And then Naaman heard one more suggestion. The more he learned about
it the sillier it became. Gratefully, he had a friend with him that
essentially reminded him of his struggle and encouraged him to have
faith that these instructions might bring healing. And they did.

The person with leprosy we find in Mark was approaching the problem
from a different direction. We do not really know how this person
heard about Jesus. We do not know who this person may have known that
Jesus may have healed. What we do know is that this person was
suffering from a chronic physical condition and somehow had the belief
that Jesus would bring an end to his pain. And he did.

When we are really suffering, we find ourselves trying things that we
normally would not try to find an end to the suffering.

When we are really suffering, we continue to look for ways to receive healing.

In the face of long term, seemingly unabating physical suffering, they
did not give up.

Even though the point of Paul's message is not addressing physical
pain, we see the same message of physical perseverance in this week's
passage of his letter to the followers of Jesus in Corinth. He
encourages his readers to press on toward the goals set in front of
them.

Where do we put our faith in the face of pain that seems to have no end?
At what point should we 'give up' and stop trying to make suffering different?
What do you need to keep alive the hope that there are better days
ahead than this one?

God, when we are sick,
help us to have faith.
When we suffer,
help us to believe.
When we live in darkness,
help us to know there will again
be light.
Amen.
© matt norvell 2012 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY Year B

2012-02-03T15:25:00.001-05:00

Isaiah 40:21-31 • Psalm 147:1-11, 20c • 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 • Mark 1:29-39

Why do we work so hard to earn things that others are willing to give us as a gift?

For some reason, it is difficult for many of us to accept gifts.

I am not sure what it is about us humans, but there is something about us that gets in our way of just being gracious when another person wants to offer us either a physical gift or offers us help when we need it.

I don't think this is just a male issue. I also don't think it is just an American issue (although both of those qualities may exacerbate the situation).

Being given something that we did not work for and we did not deserve and that we could not have earned on our own is often tough for us to accept.

And when we get promises like the one in Isaiah 40, it makes for a different situation: "those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

See, this one is tough because it implies I might not only have to accept something I did not earn, I might also be weak and/or helpless AND will find myself accepting a gift.

The writer of Psalm 147 apparently has no problem accepting the gifts of God and understanding that there is nothing he has done to deserve it. In fact, this writer seems to be rolling around in the gifts he has received.

In Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Corinth he shows the great lengths he puts himself through to be able to give the gift of the gospel to people that are different from himself. Paul seems to recognize he has been given a grand gift and he is making great effort to then turn around and give that gift to others.

And what about the people who Jesus healed? Was it hard for them to accept the gift of health and restoration they were given? Do you think any of them were ashamed that they could not pay him? What is it like to be in a situation where you are given a gift that there is no way you can repay it....and your only option is to be gracious?

Are you able to gratefully accept what others are willing to give you?
Do you find yourself attempting to 'earn' gifts?
Can you trust that you will be given all that you need?

God,
I am suspicious
when I don't have to
work for things.
I get uneasy
when I
assume
others might
perceive me
as weak
or unable
(you made me complicated!).
I need peace.
I need to trust.
Help me as I learn
to allow you
to help me.
Amen.

© matt norvell 2012 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY Year B

2012-01-27T11:21:00.000-05:00

Deuteronomy 18:15-20 •

Psalm 111 •

1 Corinthians 8:1-13 •

Mark 1:21-28

How close can we be to God?

How close should we be to God?

How direct of a relationship do we want to have with God?

In a lot of our modern Christianity we see people reaching out and yearning for a Direct Relationship with God. And this shows up in a lot of ways.

Some folks talk say with pride, "I don't need anyone to talk to God for me". Some folks refer to Jesus as their "buddy". Some refer to Jesus as their True Love.

Of course, there are some among us today that have a different view of this relationship:

"On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of the conditions. Does any-one have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake some day and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return." (Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk, Harper & Row, 1982).

One way or another, it seems this might be something important to think about.

In the passage this week from Deuteronomy 18 we see the words of Moses speaking to the followers of God. He is reminding them of what they said when Moses was receiving the commandments from God on Mount Horeb. The people said, (in Exodus) "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die." Moses is reminding them that they asked for an intermediary and he is telling them that another prophet will rise up one day. Moses says (on behalf of God) "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak--that prophet shall die." There have been, and are, arguments about who this references. Some say Jesus, some say Mohammed, some say it references a prophet (messiah) still yet to come.

In the passage from Mark we see Jesus relieving a man of an unclean spirit and observers wondering by what authority a person could do this. The people in the synagogue were amazed that he could command spirits and he could teach scriptures with authority and he could do both of these like no one they had ever seen. At this point, Jesus is not talking too much about who he is or by what authority he is doing these things. But the people are certainly seeing experiencing something that was unusual for them. They did not appear to have a direct experience of such spiritual events.

In the passage from Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Corinth, we find Paul working to work out some of these relationships. The primary issue he is addressing revolves around eating food that has been sacrificed to idols. He is working to draw a wide circle of inclusion here. He is allowing for folks who do not hold the exact same belief as the followers of Jesus. He acknowledges there are those who do not yet understand the 'system' - There is God the Father, and Jesus Christ the Lord - and believe that 'idols' may or may not have some sway in the world. And for those people, eating meat sacrificed to idols is an abomination. And so, Paul says, even though I don't agree with them, I can avoid eating that meat so that I do not offend them so much that they will not listen to me. All of this speaks to the role that Paul understands that we as individual followers of God play. It is our responsibility to help point others toward God through Jesus. We are not playing the role of prophet or intermediary, but we do have some responsibility to help set the stage so that others may believe.

What is our role as follower of Jesus?

What is our relationship to the God we claim to serve?

God, help us to know our place in the world.

Help us to respect who You are

and who we are.

Help us as we attempt to reflect

Your Light

to those who

find themselves

in darkness.

Amen.

© matt norvell 2012 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY Year B

2012-01-20T15:56:00.000-05:00

Jonah 3:1-5, 10 •

Psalm 62:5-12 •

1 Corinthians 7:29-31 •

Mark 1:14-20

This week in the story of Jonah, in Psalm 62, in an early moment in
the active ministry of Jesus, and in a letter from Paul to the
followers of Jesus in the city of Corinth we read messages telling
folks that the ways they were living were about to change
significantly.

This particular passage in Jonah comes after the scenes that make
Jonah famous. Before this passage, Jonah had resisted sharing the news
God had asked him to share....and he ended up inside a great fish. But
we see him here, telling folks that God had told them that their city
would be overthrown.

In Psalm 62 there is lots of language about trusting fully in God
because so much of the rest of the world is but a breath and a
delusion.

In the passage from the early part of Mark's gospel Jesus says "The
time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and
believe the good news" And then walks out and starts asking fishermen
to leave their livelihoods and start a brand new venture.

In Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Corinth he warns his
readers "the appointed time has grown short...the present form of this
world is passing away."

And so what do you do...what do we do when we are directly faced with
messages of certain change (positive or negative)? How do you respond
when challenged, or called to account for your misdeeds, or promised
that a new way of believing will bring joy to your life?

We are all faced with situations like these. We are told things will
be different--sometimes better and sometimes worse--and we have to
choose what our response is going to be. Will we try to ignore the
message? Will you take note but keep going in your own direction? Will
you drop your net and follow?

God, I know I sometimes complain
about what I have.
But I don't know that I am ready for change.
At least I am familiar with these things
that I have to complain about.
Help me as I learn to trust
and rest in
Your love
and Your protection
In the face of whatever
change comes my way.
Amen.

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY Year B

2012-01-13T08:51:00.000-05:00

1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20) •
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 •
1 Corinthians 6:12-20 •
John 1:43-51

All of us are Connected to 10, 000 things in 10, 000 different ways. Socially, physically, emotionally, we are Connected.

But some folks have....a different Connection.

Some people have an awareness...maybe it is a knowledge of themselves, or a knowledge of people, or a knowledge of the world...but some folks have an awareness and a sensitivity that allows them to Just Know things.

Some people call it intuition. Some call it the connections of the universe. Some call it insight given by God...some call it the Voice of God.

Some folks seem to have an intimate knowledge of themselves, of people, and the world that not all of us have access to.

I don't claim to know what it is. However, I do know some people are Connected in a different way than others.

A great example of this is found in the story of Samuel and Eli. Both were servants in the temple, Eli was the elder and Samuel was the younger. In the night Samuel hears a voice calling him and thinks it is Eli. It turns out it was the LORD calling out to Samuel and the LORD told Samuel that the house of Eli would be punished in an extensive and unforgiving way. It was in these moments that Samuel came to be known as one who was Connected....he was a prophet of the LORD.

In Psalm 139 we have a beautiful (and classic) song of knowledge and Connection. This is written by a person who has a deep and serious understanding of the ways that the LORD is Connected to him. He understands the intimacy of the knowledge God has of him.

In Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Corinth, Paul is explaining the importance of the Connection between their human bodies and their spiritual relationship with God. And because there is such an important Connection, each person should pay attention to what s/he does with his/her body, because that matters. This is important for us too. There is a chance that treating one's body well can bring you in to closer Connection and treating your body poorly can impede your Connection to God.

Huh.

And in the text from John this week we see Jesus showing his Connections. Basically, as a new guy named Nathaniel walked up to him, Jesus spoke to him and knew things about him that made Nathaniel immediately respond, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Now, we don't really know what Jesus knew of this guy...we don't really know what Nathaniel knew about Jesus. But what we do know is that they shared a sudden, profound, and unusual Connection in that moment.

Trying to write about this feels like I am trying to draw a picture the wind. It is hard to describe, but I suspect we have all had moments where we experienced one of these profound Connections.

Can you identify those for yourself? Are there ways you have learned to pay more attention to those Connections?

God, we know You are always with us.
We know You surround us.
And yet we are not always there.
Help us as we learn to clear away
the obstacles that
we build
between Us
and You.
Amen.

© matt norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

EPIPHANY OF THE LORD Year B

2012-01-07T10:41:00.000-05:00

Isaiah 60:1-6 •

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 •

Ephesians 3:1-12 •

Matthew 2:1-12

As Americans, we have a natural barrier to reading the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.

We are inherently suspicious of royalty.

Whether you agree with the current Libertarians or not, our early American (the formerly British ones...not the nice folks that already lived here) brothers and sisters came to this land with a clear "leave me alone, you stinkin Monarch" vibe.

AND when we read our scriptures, the passages are filled with references to King and Lord. The context in which most of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures are written is a context in which there is a King, or the threat of a King, or the memory of a King...and understanding this is important to our reading the stories and instruction we find there.

And in this week's lectionary readings where we are remembering the beginning of the liturgical season of Epiphany, our lack of royalty enthusiasm can inhibit our reading a bit.

The season of Epiphany celebrates the coming of Light to the world. On this day we remember the three Kings (from the 'east'....often named Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar) stopping to visit King Herod to ask where the King of the Jews has been born. Today, we can work to try to understand what all of the implications of this event might have been, but it is awful difficult for us to really crawl in to the context and understand what it might have meant to King Herod (a friend of the Romans and overlord of the Jews) to have three foreign Kings show up ask about a new King of the Jews that had been born.

And, as anti-royalists, we also have to do some extra work to join with the excitement that we find in all of these passages this week where folks are so happy that a King / Lord has come to bring light in to their world. In the passage from Isaiah, we read, "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you." In the Psalm from this week we see a prayer that God imbue the King with power to defend and protect them forever: "May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations. May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth." In Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Ephesus he talks to his readers about the ways that the coming of Christ has realigned the balance of power that he understands.

However, our current context can give us some some unique ability to read these scriptures in a different way that might be just as valid. We may not have the understanding of what it means to live under the rule of a King, but each of us as individuals can understand what it means to live in darkness and be revived by the Light. Each of us either has experienced (or knows someone who has experienced) oppression at the hands of a system not of our own creation...and we can understand a yearning toward a leader that will right those wrongs.

Have you been brought out of darkness? Can you imagine what it means to put your hope and trust in a King? Can you imagine traveling many days to search for a King that will bring Light to the world?

God, help us as we attempt to

be servants

and followers.

Help us as we attempt to

subvert our independence

and individualism

in an effort

to accepting

Your authority

in our lives.

Amen.

© matt norvell 2012 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS DAY Year B

2011-12-31T10:52:00.001-05:00

In the realm of giving and receiving gifts, there is a particular moment that some people are good at and some are not.

Gratitude.

You have just received a special gift and now you are in the position of finding some way of attempting to express how grateful you are.

Obviously, the depth and expression of gratitude correlates with the gift. AND the depth and expression of gratitude also correlates with the life experience and understanding of the receiver.

Often, the more one understands the circumstances of a gift (what the giver may have had to sacrifice to give the gift and how this gift might change the receiver's life), the more one is able to express gratitude.

This week we see examples of people who were expressing deep gratitude for life-changing gifts.

In the passage from Isaiah we are seeing the words of a prophet that is excited because he has been given the gift, opportunity, and challenge of proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor to the people of Israel. He is overflowing with excitement for the chance he has to tell of all the great things The Lord has promised to do for the people.

In Psalm 148 we see another classic example of exuberant praise and gratitude. This writer is so grateful for what he sees God has done in his life and in the world that he is encouraging everyone (all the way down to the sea monsters) to praise God.

In Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Galatia, we see Paul offering some direct explanation of how / why they should be grateful: "Because you are his heirs, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but God's child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir." Paul wants to make sure they see and understand the place they were and the place they are.

And in the second chapter of the Good News according to Luke, we see one of the most beautiful expressions of gratitude. It is a passage that has become popularly known as the Song of Simeon. In this scene Mary and Joseph have taken baby Jesus to the temple. According to Jewish custom, it was the time for the purification of the parents of a newborn, and it was also the time when Jesus would be circumcised "as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord". And while they were there a devout and righteous man named Simeon arrived. Simeon was a special guy. "It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah." When he met the baby Jesus, these words flowed from his mouth: "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel."

Gratitude.

How do you, how do we say or show we are grateful for an almost incomprehensible gift?

God, guide us as we attempt

to Thank You

with our lives.

Each day,

each moment,

may we show gratitude

with our

words

actions

thoughts

relationships

interactions

foul-ups

successes

bright spots

dark holes

conscious choices

unconscious reactions

(and on and on and on)

.....God,

we are grateful.

Please be patient with us

as we attempt to express it

with all we are.

Amen.

© matt norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you

NATIVITY OF THE LORD - PROPER I Year B

2011-12-23T11:48:00.000-05:00

Isaiah 9:2-7 • Psalm 96 • Titus 2:11-14 • Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

What is the best news you have ever received?

Let's think about it for a minute.....Good News.

What made it so good? What was different between the moment before and the moment after?

The moment you learned you were going to have a child? A grandchild? The moment you learned about a new job? The time the mechanic said your car wouldn't start because of a broken $5 part rather than a $1000 repair? The moment you learned the pain in your side was not cancer?

In many instances that I can think of, Good News often brings with it the promise of a brighter or better future. Good News brings hope. Good News improves a situation that is already pretty good. Good News brings light in to dark situations. Good News helps people move forward another day. Good News gives the future a future where maybe there was no future before.

In Isaiah we see Israelites who are excited about the reign of a new king. This passage refers to King Hezekiah coming to be the ruler of Israel. Often any new King was greeted with exuberance and excitement. And obviously his ascent to the throne brought with it some hope for how the future might be better than it is today.

The writer of Psalm 96 seems to be living with some Good News. His opening line is "sing to the Lord a new song". He has a motivation sing a new song because he has hope of a bright future loved and protected by a strong God.

In this passage of Paul's letter to Titus (one of Paul's early missionary companions) there is a lightness present. There is an optimism about the future based on the grace and salvation (for all) brought in to the world through the appearance and presence of Jesus Christ. The message is hopeful toward the future.

And when we look specifically at the passage found in Luke chapter 2, we see the primary recipients of Good News are the shepherds. Jesus is born and the first people to get the news (other than mom and dad and their stable mates) are shepherds. Now the life of a shepherd around Bethlehem was likely not that easy. They were essentially nomadic ranchers who were likely under the same Roman oppression as everyone else at the time. And the little town is not surrounded by flat land with lush fields of grass...it is rocky and hilly and likely took significant effort to feed sheep. And they were the first ones to get the Good News: "Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger."

Imagine the effect this Good News might have had on them. Imagine what sort of a vision of the future might have opened up for them on the side of that hill that night.

As we prepare to remember the birth of Jesus of Nazareth,
May the futures of all people be filled with the hope and promise of Good News.
May you live today in a way that helps to make the Kingdom present here today.
May all beings be filled with the Grace and Peace of God.

© matt norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT Year B

2011-12-16T12:12:00.000-05:00

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 • Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 • Romans 16:25-27 • Luke 1:26-38

I don't know about you all, but it is difficult for me to pay attention to news right now. Sure, this can be a hard exercise at many times of the year, but for me it is a particularly trying right now because we are in political primary season AND we are in the Christmas season.

As I watch all of these well-intentioned people attempting to become the Republican Candidate, it seems like a child's class room with all of the students eagerly raising their hands hoping to be chosen to lead the class out to the playground. It is tough to watch all of these folks and their spokespeople clamoring to be at the head of the line because they expend so much effort hiding their own cowlicks and pimples while throwing elbows and drawing mustaches on their opponents.

As I read the scriptures that tell the Christmas story, I see people who are Chosen without volunteering or advocating for themselves. I see people that God selects. And I see people that thoughtfully (sometimes with some doubt) choose to accept their assignment.

It seems we are caught in between knowing we are Chosen and loved by God just as we are, and working so hard to gain God's favor by our own efforts. There is a distance between being Chosen and working to be noticed.

It is interesting to watch the story of David and his rise to becoming King and all that happens during his reign. He is initially Chosen by God, and then in this scene he gets a bit prideful and tells God he would like to build God a house, and God reminds David that God will be in charge of his own house AND will also remain in charge of the people of Israel AND of their King (David). And David's story goes on and on from here. Back and forth. Remembering he is loved and Chosen by God just as he is, and then trying so hard to gain God's favor. Back and forth.

Psalm 89 is a poetic retelling of God's choosing David. Historically, it seems important (even within our own political struggles) to note that in every time and every land every leader is criticized and every leader and candidate is marked as Chosen by God by somebody.

The passage we have from Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Rome is the end of his letter. It is a final blessing to he readers. It is a final exhortation to them as he closes this letter of counsel and instruction. And in this closing he is recounting things he wants to make sure people remember. It is a little difficult to read, but if you know the back stories that led to this point, it has several references to people who were Chosen. He refers to himself (Paul) who was dramatically Chosen, and it refers to Jesus, who was significantly chosen.

And in the passage from the first chapter of the gospel of Luke, we see two more great examples of someone Being Chosen. We see the stories of both Mary and Elizabeth learning they are Chosen to be the mothers of Jesus and a baby named John. Imagine what it would have been like if Mary had run for the office of Mother of The Son of God...what would that have been like? What if she had worked and worked to be noticed? There is a great distance between being chosen and working to be noticed.

God, help us to allow ourselves
to be your Chosen people.
Help us to know we cannot
earn Your love
and guide us
as we
allow it.
Amen.

© matt norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT Year B

2011-12-09T13:14:00.000-05:00

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 • Psalm 126 or Luke 1:46b-55 • 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 • John 1:6-8, 19-28

There are some days when everything is obviously going your way.

You wake up a minute before your alarm so you don't have to be shaken from sleep, you remembered to wash the coffee pot before you went to bed last night, you get to your desk and there is only one email in your inbox and it is from someone thanking you for being you, it turns out today is a day when you are able to get a free lunch while listening to a presentation about beautiful art, the letter carrier brings you news that your investments are on the rise, a friend invites you over for dinner, and your favorite song is playing on the radio as you brush your teeth to prepare for bed.

Some days, things really go our way....AND we are lucky enough to be aware of what is happening.

In contrast to some of the other messages of woe we have read in the last few weeks, this week's lectionary readings show us some words from folks whose stars are on the rise.

The passage from Isaiah is all positive. Here the writer certainly understands the difficulty of the current situation, but he can see how things are going to be Great. He can see it and can describe it in detail. "Good news to the oppressed, bind up the brokenhearted, liberty to the captives, release to the prisoners..."! The old will be made new again, and the people of God will be restored. This is a message that brings life to a people who are living in darkness.

The writer of Psalm 126 gives us a perfect opening line: "When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream." This is a psalm of a people who have been restored and are now giggling from morning to night because they know what it is like to be without and they now know what it is like to be restored.

The passage from John is similar to last week's gospel text. We again see people questioning Saint John the Forerunner as to what he is doing and by whose authority he is baptizing people. And at the end of this passage I imagine John having to stifle his joy and having a bit of a grin on his face as he says "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." John knew that better days were coming.

And in this week's selection from the first letter of Paul to the followers of Jesus in Thessalonica, Paul gives some great (and direct) instruction to his readers. He is teaching them how to live so that they will be able to experience the same joy he experienced. He is offering them a blessing and praying that they will find themselves in the Light of God.

Some days it all goes our way.

God we are grateful for the lives we are able to live.
We are grateful for the sunrise.
We are grateful for our heartbeat.
We are grateful for the morning frost.
We are grateful for our breath.
We are grateful to know that even in
Darkness,
We are Yours.
We are grateful to know that even in
Light,
We are Yours.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT Year B

2011-12-02T15:16:00.000-05:00

Isaiah 40:1-11 • Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 • 2 Peter 3:8-15a • Mark 1:1-8

Expectation and Anticipation.

We can optimistically and hopefully expect, or anticipate, something. We can also expect, or anticipate, something with dread.

Looking forward to the future.

Waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The season of Advent is traditionally charged with Anticipation and Expectation. And when we look at this week's scriptures we can see these themes present--sometimes with great hope and excitement, and sometimes with some dread and trepidation.

The passage from Isaiah is so beautiful. This is being spoken to a broken people who have been held down in a variety of ways by a variety of people. And these words of God, shared by the Prophet Isaiah, are so uplifting and encouraging. It really must have given its hearers a lot of optimistic anticipation.

The passage from Psalm 85 is similar. And in both of these passages there is this forward looking expectation that God will continue to be faithful to them and bring the people out of their difficult situations and continue to protect them and hold them up.

The passages from 2 Peter and Mark are similar in their optimistic anticipation, however they are also heavy with some negative, or at the least uncertain, images.

In this passage from the beginning of Mark there is not as much of a beautiful image of an ideal future as there is the anticipation of a coming Lord. Saint John the Forerunner is baptizing people in preparation for the coming of this Lord, and in this particular passage all the information we get about him is that he is powerful and will baptize people with the Holy Spirit. Now, I can imagine this was encouraging and welcome to some, but it seems like this is a message that could go either way as far as being encouraging. News of a coming powerful Lord planning to baptize me with the Holy Spirit does not always give me something to look forward to.

In the second letter of Peter we get a message of how God will come and set the heavens ablaze and dissolve them and replace them with a new heaven and a new earth, etc. Violent, world-changing, reality-changing imagery. And, certainly, that could be positive especially for those who are desperate for things to change. But what about those folks who are reasonably pleased with how things are right now?

Honestly, there are days we eagerly anticipate things dramatically changing. And there are days we are hesitant for anything to be different because things seem pretty good right now. However, we are also aware that there are always those for whom dramatic change is the only good option.

The coming of the Lord who will bring change to individuals and to the world is not always an exciting thing to anticipate...however, we are promised it has come and is coming. How do we live in this space of the already and the not yet?

God, we are not certain which voice to listen to.
We hear Yours
We hear Your promises
We hear Your call
And
We hear the call of the world around us
We hear the world's promises
We hear our own desires
And we don't always know which voice to listen to.
Guide us.
Be gentle with us.
Be forceful with us.
Help us as we attempt to follow You.
Amen.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT Year B November 27, 2011

2011-11-25T10:47:00.001-05:00

Isaiah 64:1-9 • Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 • 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 • Mark 13:24-37

Some folks reading this know what it is like to beg for your life.

Some of us have been faced with dark circumstances or dire situations that we thought we might not survive, and we pleaded with Whomever might listen so we might be spared and live on to see another day.

The people of Israel were desperate for their circumstances to be different. In this passage from Isaiah, we see people who are scared for their lives and are calling for help. They are describing what a dire situation they are in, and we see them pleading with God to reach down and please do something to relieve their suffering and make it different.

In Psalm 80 we see another petitioner who is searching his own experience and mind to understand what might have gone wrong to create this current circumstance. And we see another (similar to Isaiah) desperate plea for God to reach down and intervene and change the difficult circumstance.

At the end of both the Isaiah and Psalm passages there is even some deal making going on in an attempt to add incentive the request to God: O God, if you save us, we will never turn our backs on you again.

These were people who were afraid the history of their people was about to end. They were facing the possibility the people of Israel might cease to exist, and they were desperate to find a way to turn it around and make it different.

We traditionally read these passages here on this first Sunday of the Advent season and we look at them as a People, a Nation, calling for the Messiah to come. The children of Israel had been through so much and had the relationship history with God that they were calling on God to send a Saviour, a Messiah, that would restore them as a people. The hope and expectation was that, at a minimum, they would be brought back out from under the oppression of other people; and, at a maximum, they would be restored to a place of prominence culturally, nationally, and religiously.

And so then Jesus enters the scene. Good news, right? Problem solved, right?

At the end of the gospel of Mark we get these less than encouraging words from Jesus. This is after he has done miracles and taught and led disciples, and it is just before he is betrayed, killed, and brought back from death. And in this important time Jesus himself is talking about what it will be like when the Messiah comes.

Huh?

Jesus is telling them about the End Times that are to come (future tense) and the Son of Man / Messiah that is to come (future tense). He is still continuing the hopeful message that a Messiah will come and restore the right order to the world and the 'correct' position to the people of Israel. He is offering Hope and Promise...and he is encouraging Faithfulness and Awareness...and he is saying that all is still to come.

This doesn't seem like a really satisfying answer to folks who are looking for visible, concrete change.

And in the passage we have from Paul's first letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Corinth, we see the message has evolved a bit. Paul is talking about the work of Jesus in a "Both - And" sort of way. He talks about the ways the work and message of Jesus that they have all received is there to continually encourage them as they strive to be faithful followers today; AND he talks about how they are doing this so they will be prepared and 'blameless' on the 'day of our Lord Jesus Christ (future tense).

Both Jesus and Paul and working with people who are still desperate for a new way of life. Their listeners and readers are on the low end of society and are hoping for a social and a spiritual revolution. Jesus offered such a message with his teaching and Paul reemphasized it with his teaching and guidance. BUT (or should we say AND?) they are both still looking ahead and pointing toward a change that is still yet to come.

Where do you look when faced with dark circumstances or dire situations? What sort of an answer are you hoping for? What sort of intervention are you expecting?

God, help us to see the short and long view.
We are so desperate to get away from
the pain of this moment.
We are afraid of the current circumstance.
We need to be saved.
We need to be assured.
We need to know there is Hope.
And we need to have our
Vision of Hope
our realm of expectations
our list of possible answers
loosened and expanded.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

Twenty-first Sunday After Pentecost, Year A

2011-11-04T08:30:00.001-04:00

Joshua 24: 1 - 3a, 14 - 25
Psalm 78: 1 - 7
1 Thessalonians 4: 13 - 18
Matthew 25: 1 - 13

Think back on your commitments - on the big promises you've made in your life. What motivated you to make those commitments? Ambition? Fear? A promise of something? Reward?

Here on the brink of the KC commitment retreat, we can't help but read this week's text through the lens of commitment. How do our motivations affect our commitments? What do we expect to happen to our commitments? Do our past commitments affect those we make going forward? In the KC community, we reconsider our commitments annually. Are their other places we should/shouldn't do that in our lives?

Hmm.

Joshua addresses the gathered Israelites in a farewell address. They are in the Land, and Joshua is challenging them to renew their covenant to One God, Yahweh. Joshua knows the hearts of these people well, they've been through a lot together. And so he's not looking for an easy promise. He challenges them, reminding them of their faithlessness. He warns them that God is a jealous God who will not tolerate their infidelities. But they insist - they will serve only God. We sort of wonder if Joshua walked away shaking his head, knowing that the commitments they made were beyond their human capacity.

The psalmist reflects on promises the Israelites have made to look to the past and tell future generations about the covenants made and returned to time and again between God and God's chosen people.

The parable of the 10 bridegrooms can be a little daunting. Jesus is teaching about end times and encouraging the gathered to wait with readiness. A coming of end times was a prevalent belief in Jesus' time. He was foretelling a thing foretold by prophets for hundreds of years. For this week, we're tuned into his warning to be ready. Ready for what? And how do we commit to being ready? Do we assure that we're not left trimming our wick without a bridegroom by making some special commitment? It kind of feels like we've heard it interpreted that way - turn or burn sort of stuff, you know.

In Paul's letter to the church at Thessalonica, he's addressing the community's grief over those who have died before Jesus' return. Like many of Paul's letters, he's encouraging the community to care for one another in uncertain times. He's also addressing God's commitment to believers, assuring them that they need not fear being separated from their earlier departed loved ones - all of them will be gathered up into the clouds at the appointed hour. Paul interprets that as a commitment that Jesus made in some way. How does the commitment of Jesus differ from our commitments to the world?

God, save us from making
Commitments we don't intend to keep.
Save us from making
Commitments out of fear.
Save us from making
Commitments out of personal ambition.
Help us to
(as best we can)
be pure with our intentions
be pure with our commitments.
Help us as we attempt to
Commit whatever portion of our lives
we are able to Commit
to You.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

PROPER 25 (30) Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost Year A

2011-10-21T09:52:00.000-04:00

Deuteronomy 34:1-12 and Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 • Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 and Psalm 1 • 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 • Matthew 22:34-46

This may sound silly and obvious to you, but we will say it anyway: Our (yours and ours) current Story is a part of a Bigger Story.

Now we are not necessarily saying we are all a part of One Bigger Story....some would argue we are all a part of a Bigger-Uber-Meta-Narrative...and while that may be true, that is not what we are poking around at today.

Each of us have a Story we came from. Even those of us who never met our parents or those of us who do not talk to our family or those of us whose country of origin is elsewhere or those of us who have no idea where we came from--even a lack of Story is a Story....your Story is that you do not know what your Story is.

And we tell our Stories. Our Stories are how we identify who we are. As we tell our Stories (the good and the bad) we are processing where we have come from, who we are, how life has shaped us, and where we might be going.

It is the telling of our Story that helps us to integrate our current experience (our current Story) in to the Bigger Story.

And when we examine the world of the Hebrews and the world of early Christianity we see again and again the ways folks were remembering their Stories and telling them again to connect them both to those they came from and to those that were coming behind them. Constantly in scripture we see people working to connect their current Story to their Bigger Story.

Look at this week's passage from Deuternonomy. The connection of the current Story to the Bigger Story is as easy as the sentence, "the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." Here God is talking to Moses and telling him that the land Moses is looking at is the land God had been promising the Israelites for generations. And every time in scripture the trio of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are invoked, it is a reference to the Bigger Story of the people of Israel.

Just about every one of the Psalms are a connection of the current Story to the Bigger Story. So many of them are directly historical and the rest of them are poetry recounting where the people had come from and the variety of things folks had been through to get there. Look at the opening line of Psalm 90: "Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations." And then the writer goes on to recount the Bigger Story and then ties it to his or her current Story.

In the letters of Paul we see him continuously working to place his current Story in the context of his Bigger Story and the Bigger Story of the Jews and the Bigger Story of the followers of Jesus and the Bigger Story of the development of the history of God. Paul was a part of a society that valued its connection to ancestors and past leaders. He was always working to show that his / their current Story was really a development and extension and re-writing of a Bigger Story that already existed.

Jesus also was living in a world where making the connection to those that had gone before was vital to having credibility in the current moment. Look at this passage from Matthew 22. The people who are questioning him (Keepers of The Story) were asking him about his understanding and connection to the Bigger Story of the history of the children of Israel. He answered their questions and then asked his own question of them. He wanted to know what their understanding of how their current Story fit in with the Bigger Story. Specifically he wanted to see how they understood the Bigger Story of the Messiah as a part of their current Story.

It is important for all of us to tell our Stories. It is important for us to work to figure out and remember the Bigger Stories we are a part of and how we fit in to them. Telling our Stories gives us the chance to integrate our current experience and understand where we fit in to the Bigger Story.

God, guide us as we discover our place.
Guide us as we look back and connect our dots.
Guide us as we leave signs and markers for those who come behind us.
Guide us as we remember where we have come from.
Guide us as we courageously live in to our Story every day.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21), Year A

2011-09-23T11:01:00.003-04:00

Authority is a slippery thing.

We almost said Authority and Power are slippery things, but that is too much to think about at once.

This week many folks in this country have openly struggled with (or firmly stood on one side or the other) the question of a judicial system having the Authority to kill a man who may or may not have taken the Authority upon himself to kill another man several years ago. And so many questioned the Authority of local Georgia courts, they questioned the Authority of federal courts, and on and on.

We are all under many levels of Authority. Some we choose, some are chosen for us, some are given to us, some are imposed on us.

But it seems we have always had a notion as humans that we can question Authority.

Even those of us who are obviously not as experienced or educated as those in Authority over us....even we feel we have the right to question an Authority. Reason is not necessarily applicable.

When put in a tight spot, we question the Authority of our leaders.

Moses was leading the descendants of Israel away from Egypt and slavery as God had instructed. In fact, at the beginning, most folks seemed to be in favor of not being slaves in Egypt any more. But things got hard...they got thirsty...and they questioned the Authority of Moses to be leading them. All that questioning got Moses worked up to make him question what God would have him do.

Again in Psalm 78 we see the revised and glossed over version of that situation. Years later the Psalmist is remembering what happened as God opened doors and rivers to keep the people of Israel safe and alive. The Psalmist doesn't mention all of the questions that came up, but since we can read the first part of the story we know what happened.

Paul pretty consistently is dealing with questions / issues around Authority. In this passage from his letter to the followers of Jesus in Philippi he encourages his readers to honor the Authority Christ has over them, he reminds them of the Authority he has as their mentor and teacher, and he helps them think about the Authority each of the people might have over his or her own thoughts and actions.

In this week's passage from Matthew we see the the Authority of Jesus being questioned. He counters with a question about the Authority of John the Forerunner. And then, while the chief priests and elders were contemplating that, he tells a parable of two sons who say one thing to their father and then do another (obviously respecting their father's Authority in different ways).

Authority is slippery. When do we honor it? When do we question it? When do we subvert it? When do we build it up?

God of Creation and Covenant

Help me to recognize

Authority that matters

and to Question

the Justice

the Mercy

the Validity

of the authority

that arises from Murkier Places

and overshadows You.

Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

Proper 20 (25) Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost Year A

2011-09-16T09:52:00.001-04:00

* Exodus 16:2-15 and Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45 •
* Jonah 3:10-4:11 and Psalm 145:1-8 •
* Philippians 1:21-30 •
* Matthew 20:1-16

Both of us work in institutions surrounded by people at the top of the academic world. We work with people who revere knowledge. And not just any old knowledge, but logical, rational, provable, cite-able, repeatable knowledge.

In general our society holds on to the idea that the best information is backed up by facts. Success is identified most of the time by the accumulation of 'things' we can point to. In the order of the world, everyone has someone above them and someone below them. Social order is one of the ways we can Prove who we are and what we have accomplished.

We (the bigger, close to universal 'We') are people who appreciate Proof.

Even the Pre-Enlightenment folks of the Hebrew and early Christian world struggled with needing Proof.

In this week's passage from Exodus we see an example of God looking for Proof of commitment from the Israelites and the Israelites looking for Proof of commitment from God. The people of Israel had been wandering around in the wilderness for a while (little did they know how long this would last!) and they were COMPLAINING...lack of food, lack of water, lack of safe and dry places to sleep...of course, it had slipped their minds that there was also a lack of Egyptian slave holders. They were unconvinced that this trip to the desert was God's work and they needed Proof Moses was the right guy to follow. And in turn, God told Moses that every morning there would be bread on the ground and every evening there would be quail on the ground and all they had to do was Prove that they could follow instructions and only take as much as they needed for the day. Both sides were testing the relationship.

Psalm 105 is the beautiful, lyrical, revisionist history version of the story of the Exodus. Go read it. It describes the story in an almost completely positive tone without remembering the dirty and hard parts. It is sort of like us singing patriotic songs of American wars without recounting or remembering the sweat, blood, and death that occurred.

In this week's passage from Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Phillipi, we see some interesting stuff from Paul. At the beginning of this passage he talks about the struggle he is having between wanting to 'go' and be with Christ and needing to stay and be a leader to others. Today, Paul would get admitted for a psychiatric work-up the way he is talking about possibly wanting to die to achieve a goal. But then he goes on to emphasize what a good thing it is for him to live and how important it is for these new followers of Jesus to live fully because that will continue the witness of Jesus. And then, as he does in many other places throughout his letters, Paul talks about how suffering in this life is Proof of salvation and Proof that an individual is on the right path. This is a message that many still carry today--if you are a follower of Jesus, a life of suffering if Proof you are on the right track. Of course, there is also a popular notion today that if you are a follower of Jesus you will be prosperous and not have a care in the world. Feel free to reconcile these things on your own. : )

The passage from Matthew this week gives us a parable from Jesus. You all know it. A landowner hired laborers to work for him at four different times throughout the day and at the end of the day he paid them all the same. The guys (we assume they were guys...maybe not) hired first were angry that the ones hired last were paid the same amount but did not work the same amount. Evidently the guys hired last had nothing to say on the matter.

But why were the first set of workers upset? They got paid what they expected to be paid at the beginning of the day. Our suspicion (based on personal experience) is that they wanted Proof that their extra effort had more value. They needed Proof...they needed validation that their work was appreciated more than the workers who did not break a sweat.

And the landowner / Jesus ties it up with "So the last will be first and the first will be last."

That is not all that satisfying for folks who need Proof, is it?

But Jesus is saying that there is Proof enough to go around. The last person is loved and valued as much as the first person...equal...no divisions...no preference based on preference, size, shape, color, or hours worked.

Hmmm.

Is that Proof enough for you?

God, help me to stop worrying about
who is above me
and
who is below me.
Remove the desire for rankings
and competitions
from my heart.
Be with me as I attempt to be at
Peace
with who
I am
and the knowledge
that who
I am
is
loved
by
You.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

PROPER 19 (24) Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost Year A

2011-09-08T10:46:00.000-04:00

Exodus 14:19-31 and Psalm 114
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35

We live in a "post-9/11 world." In the United States, there is no way
to escape that chronological designation...9/11/01 marked the end of
an era and the beginning of a new era. But how the new era is defined
is still within our influence. It could be an era marked by
polarization, by conflict, by pointing to our differences. It could
also be an era marked by grace, mercy, reconciliation, drawing the
circle wide. We have the opportunity to remember and in remembering,
remold ourselves within our human family - to find the new shapes and
attitudes and behaviors that bring us closer together instead of
further apart.

"Where were you when..." is a common refrain right now. But today
we're wondering, "Where are we now?" How have we been shaped and
changed? How have others been shaped and changed?

The lectionary texts for this week are the very same texts that
followed September 11, 2001. Uncanny? Yes, especially when you read
them. Go do it. We've got time.

In Exodus, we read the account of Moses parting the Red Sea and
leading the Israelites across. As the Egyptians follow, the sea
closes back over them, consuming them. The Israelites still had a long
journey ahead of them, but they were finally rid of the Egyptians. We
know that in the wilderness, there came a time when those Israelites
thought it might be better to return as slaves to Pharaoh. They must
have been shaped by the experience of slavery, by the Exodus, and by
their encounters with the living God. It changed their behavior
(sometimes only temporarily), their traditions, their loyalty. The
dramatic events of the Exodus reordered their lives. And what about
the Egyptians who lost all of their first born children? Whose
husbands and sons drowned as the sea closed in? Were they reformed?

The psalmist recounts the mighty acts of God in the Exodus. If God
can do these things to free his beloved people, how much more can God
do? The psalms are full of acts of worship that recall specific
life-altering things, good and bad.

Paul's letter to the church at Rome is a reflection on judging others.
Simply put, he asks that his readers not do it. God is the only
judge. He also suggests that intention is more important than the act
in some cases. Some choose to eat a certain thing to honor God.
Others choose to abstain from eating to honor God. What is important
is the intention to honor God. As we approach September 11, the word
"judge" makes us squirm just a bit. We've heard/seen/participated in
some "judgment" around the events of 9/11. Has our judgment of other
cultures, of our political system, of our safety nets, of our economy,
of our neighbors changed in that passage of time?

Perhaps this week's reading from Matthew is most haunting. Peter has
asked some tough questions about forgiveness. And Jesus' teaching is
every bit as tough. Do it again and again, without condition and
without end. Loving one another is an exercise in forgiving - all the
time, every time. Who's mastered that? And since 9/11, how many
times have we been challenged to forgive someone or some idea or some
institution?

Where are the places that you've struggled to forgive
since that day? Has your struggle to forgive reformed you? Are there
things/people/ideas that you've packed away rather than do the work to
forgive?

God, we are caught with such short vision.
We only see the injury or wrong that was
just done
to us.
We preach forgiveness
during times of peace.
When pressed, we often to not respond
graciously
or gently
or with forgiveness.
Help us as we attempt to
love
as we have been
loved.
Help us as we attempt to
forgive
as we have been
forgiven.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18), Year A

2011-09-01T14:47:00.003-04:00

Exodus 12:1-14 and Psalm 149
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20

"I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me
to see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
I thought that you were gone, but now I know you're with me.
You are the voice that whispers all I need to hear."
(from CROSSINGS by Y.M. Barnwell (c)1992) Recorded by Sweet Honey in the Rock

What are the memories and rituals and rules and laws that guide your
daily actions? We're not talking about the progression through a
four-way stop here - we're talking about root values (and maybe that
means we are talking about a four-way stop afterall). What governs the
way that you understand your relationship with family, with
co-workers, with neighbors nearby and across the globe?

Our scriptures for this week include stories and instruction intended
to guide us in a right way. But they caused us to wonder about
different types of instruction and how it shapes us not just our
behavior, but who we are in the deepest parts of our soul from
generation to generation.

The book of Exodus is the story of the Israelites flight from Egypt
and their time in the wilderness under Moses' leadership. (We're
really fond of this story. We have a dog named Moses and he's
currently leading us through wilderness. He's not handy with the water
from a rock trick yet, however.) Anyway... We're reading a dramatic
moment here. The plagues to this point have had little affect on
Pharoah, and God has decided that something drastic must be done. He's
giving instructions for how the Israelites should sacrifice and
prepare their homes so that they are "passed over" by the final plague
- the death of the firstborns. By marking their doorposts with blood,
they can be assured that the Lord will pass over their homes and leave
their firstborns unharmed. In order to remember all that the Lord has
done, faithful Jews today observe many of the ritual suggested in this
passage in their Passover seder. They remember by doing and in doing
they are shaped. And their shape should affect the way they make daily
choices about their life.

The psalms is praising the Lord's action and remembering how the
people are saved by such actions. The psalms were written as acts of
worship - praise, petition, lament - so that the community could
remember and attribute to God the appropriate response at similar
times.

In the passage from Matthew's gospel, Jesus has come down from the mountain after
the transfiguration and has been teaching lessons that clarify or cast
question on the Law and how it is enacted and what it really means.
In the verses read this week, Jesus is teaching the proper ways to
handle conflict among the disciples. He recognizes this is bound to
happen. We don't know about your life, but there are about 15
practical applications of this teaching in our life DAILY. Imagine
reviewing this prior to staff meetings or visiting it at a family
dinner once a week. These are practical guidelines - especially for
groups working together in love. If we truly are living out the
command to love one another, doesn't this set of guidelines help us
out?

And finally, in Paul's letter to the church at Rome, Paul has been
teaching about authority and has turned to Love - not the love of self
but a guiding love of "other," of the neighbor, that he understands
should permeate our lives. He's providing guidance - the commandments
he references all come down specifically to loving with selfless care
and concern another person.

We are where we are today because of the places from which we have come and the rituals and practices that have shaped us.

God, help us as we attempt to
focus our energies
on loving
and respecting
each other
while we
remember
the ways
we have been
loved
and
respected.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 17), Year A

2011-08-24T08:48:00.001-04:00

Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-28

Sometimes we are given tasks that seem impossible.

Losing weight.

Living within our financial means (personally or nationally).

Allowing a teenager to make his or her own (potentially painful) choices.

Telling the leader of a country that he should let all of the slaves go.

Blessing those that cause us harm.

Feeding our enemy.

Giving up all the other things of life to focus on following where we
are called.

How are we supposed to achieve these things? Part of the difficulty is
that we are drawn to fulfill these tasks and take on these callings.
Sure, some of us are highly driven and disciplined folks who can
simply choose to do one thing or another without much of a question.
But what about the rest of us mortals who struggle with greed and ego
and self preservation and control issues and such?

Certainly we see examples of tasks that seem impossible throughout our
own lives and also all through scripture. In this week's scriptures we
see some significant challenges being laid down.

In the story of Moses found in Exodus we find Moses finding himself
talking with the presence of God in a bush that is on fire. Now that
is an important part of the story, but the burning bush is not the
thing to remember about this passage. The important thing here is to
pay attention to what God says to Moses in / through this bush. He
tells Moses to go in to the house of the Pharaoh (the family / house
that raised him) and tell the Pharaoh that he should let all of the
Israelites (who happened to be a great source of slave labor in Egypt
at the time) freely go back to their homeland. Seems like a tall
order. Sure, God (through the voice of a burning bush) offers Moses
some reassurance that he will be supported and God will make it all
happen, but Moses still had the job of going in to deliver the message
to the Pharaoh.

The selection we have from Psalm 105 is recounting this story (years
and years and years later) of Moses leading the Israelites out of
Egpyt. Moses's responsibility was high and the impact of his faithful
following had lasting impact.

Jesus continues the trend of suggesting seemingly impossible tasks in
this section of Matthew. "Those who will save their life will lose it,
those who lose their life for my sake will find it...if any of you
want to become my followers, deny yourself and take up your cross and
follow me." These must have been (and still are) fairly radical and
inflammatory words to those who were just hanging around on the edges
following Jesus around. Again, Jesus does suggest that help and reward
will be offered to those that follow him, but he also is putting a
seriously challenging task in front of folks.

And then we see the ways Paul was encouraging the followers of Jesus
in Rome to live. Again, as we remember that many of the letters Paul
wrote and that we have collected in our bible were him offering
direction of how they (as the new and often only followers of Jesus in
the neighborhood) should behave and interact with the world. And this
is a great example of the ways Paul (like Jesus did) encouraged his
readers to go literally above and beyond the modern and conventional
expectations. He sets a high bar because he understands the stakes to
be high.

Help me God
to see past my own amazement
at your presence in my life
to DO something
that honors you
and brings the Kingdom
to light
as you will have
it emerge.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share
this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that
you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be
with you.

PROPER 16 (21) Tenth Sunday after Pentecost Year A

2011-08-21T21:51:00.003-04:00

Exodus 1:8-2:10 and Psalm 124 •
Romans 12:1-8 •
Matthew 16:13-20

The biblical text was a written work of art, meant to be read -
consumed in fact - time and time again...until it became memory.

Sometimes it's fun to look at different translations to appreciate the
drama that specific words can add. And so, this week, from the King
James Version:

Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. (Exodus 1:8)

Sounds a little foreboding, eh?

Or how about this, from Paul's letter to the church at Rome:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of
God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable
to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you
may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and
perfect.

Quite a challenge to be transformed rather than conformed. We feel
confronted by this challenge daily.

Or perhaps from the Gospel of Matthew (imagine the red letters of your
study bible as you read...):

"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not
revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you
bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth
will be loosed in heaven."

This week as we read the scriptures, we were reminded that life
doesn't always unfold the way that we expect it to. Sometimes it takes
dramatic turns. It's a little bit like being on an ever-changing
amusement park ride. Sometimes its like floating in a swan boat on
quiet water. Sometimes it is like a death-defying set of corkscrews
at 75 miles per hour. Sometimes it is smooth track and other times
it's the classic wooden coaster that knocks your head around and jars
your vertebrae. And you don't really ever quite know what is next.

Joseph has been a favorite of Pharaoh, and as a result, the Hebrews
have been able to prosper and grow in Egypt. But there arose a
Pharaoh that wasn't buddies with Joseph. Gulp. Now, the story frames
the birth of Moses and his placement in the household of Pharaoh, but
let's imagine Joseph's dread as he watched his favor disappear, his
people falter, and grief and fear come upon them. How often are we
moving along when circumstances change and everything we thought we
knew evaporates. (We're thinking, in part, about the economy. How
about you?)

The psalmist is lifting praise for God's saving action. Israel, by
the time the Psalms were written, has seen good times and bad. And
through it all, they've come to respect God's action, even when it
doesn't always make life simple. In general, the psalmist believe
that even the bad times would have been much, much worse without God's
presence.

In Matthew's gospel, we see Jesus as he is really getting in to the swing of things. Before this scene he has had a serious interaction with the Phairsees and Saducees, and he has had some sort of shaky interactions with the disciples that seem to have left him a little frustrated with them. He was not being warmly welcomed with open arms. And now
remember that Simon Peter was destined to be a fisherman. But with
Jesus he's become a fisher of men. And he's now being told that he is
the rock upon which Jesus' church will be built. Do you suppose this
was a radical departure from his expectations? And Jesus is sort of
cornering Simon Peter - Who do you think I am? And when Simon Peter
confesses his faith that this Jesus is the Messiah, he's blessed as
the Rock. Umm...change of destiny? And then, by the way, don't tell
anybody. Poor Peter.

Finally, in Paul's letter to the church in Rome, he uses the language
of sacrifice, a concept that would have been well-understood by
observant Jews at the time, and turns it on its ear, suggesting that
the believer should offer themselves as holy and LIVING sacrifices.
This believing stuff...it requires that you give something of
yourself, that you remove yourself from the world in some way, and
that you will use your gifts to the benefit of others. He claims that
we all have gifts - not all the gifts, just a few - that the community
needs. Now what if you want to have the gift of prophecy and get the
gift of teaching? Start teaching.

So what hairpin curves have been thrown your way of late? In what ways
has this ride called life flipped your stomach? Or maybe you're
enjoying a quiet ride right now?

Where is God on the journey?

God, we scratch and fight every day to have things be
a little easier.
And they get tougher.
We try hard to be responsible
and understand
and plan
and look ahead.
And then the things we counted on
fail
and we have to
start over.
Forgive us when we curse
our circumstances.
Forgive us when we are so focused
on the frustrations
of re-navigating.
Be with us as we continue to learn to trust
and keep walking
toward You.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Ninth Sunday After Pentecost, Year A

2011-08-13T15:24:00.002-04:00

Genesis 45:1-15 and Psalm 133 •
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 •
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28

We all have many different genres of relationships in our lives. We have friends, co-workers, neighbors, acquaintances, faith community members, and we have an important and slightly mysterious one we call Family.

We (Laura and Matt) have just spent the last week with two different sets of Family. We both had the opportunity to spend time with Family we are related to by blood and also Family we are related to by marriage. As far as we know, they were all great visits with our extended Family.

But the term Family doesn’t have a universal meaning and definition of relationship, does it? Some of us have Family that we don’t like. Some of us have Family we never see. Some of us have Family we love and appreciate and maybe even live with. Some of us will do anything in the world for our Family…and some of us will not.

Some of us think of our Church Family. Some of us have a work Family. Some of us have neighbors that are more important to us than our blood Family.

The word and idea of Family can mean a lot of things and can generate a wide variety of responses within each of us.

This week we see some different examples of what Family means to different folks and how Family plays out in different lives.

The first story is one of the most beautiful stories of forgiveness found anywhere. The short version is that Joseph reveals to his Family that he is alive and a big deal in Egypt and that he loves them and is going to take care of them even though they tried to kill him and sold him in to slavery. Wow. Family ran deep and important for Joseph.

The Psalmist is praising blood relations, and after the whirlwind tour of various family relationships in Genesis this summer, it is understandable that the Psalmist would observe the benefits of peace among kin!

In Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in Rome, while struggling with some bigger questions of obedience, is also wrestling with the question of who is in and who is out of God’s Family. He certainly continued to claim his Israelite heritage and Family connection, and he is telling others outside of the Israelite Family that there is a place for them at the table too.

There are a couple of different things happening in the passage from Matthew this week, but they are generally connected. First, the second part. We see a Cannanite (non-Jewish) woman come to Jesus to ask him to heal her daughter. Jesus shoos her away because she is not a Jew, and she comes back asks that maybe everyone might deserve his healing and love.

Jesus was drawing his circle of Family very specifically, and this woman gently invites him to re-think who got included in his Family.

Now this reflects back to the first portion of the selection from Matthew. Jesus has just offered a teaching that takes a swipe at some of the traditional dietary laws—“It is not what goes in to the mouth that matters, but what comes out of it”. In that teaching itself, he is breaking down some of the traditional lines folks were drawing. And after that teaching, a woman who may have been listening to him asks him to really apply what he had been talking about more broadly.

Sometimes it is dangerous for us to think about who we might have responsibility to as a part of our family. Sometimes we might find ourselves being called to include someone in our Family we have not before. Sometimes we might find ourselves being called to leave a Family table we always thought we were a part of.

Abba,

Open our eyes

And our minds

And our hearts to see

The Family

In our midst

And beyond our current vision

So that we may

Include

Those you would have us

Include.

Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Year A

2011-07-29T14:05:00.002-04:00

Genesis 32:22-31 and Psalm 17:1-7, 15
Romans 9:1-5
Matthew 14:13-21

Have you ever felt you have seen the Face of God?

Now before you start asking, 'what do you mean, the Face of God?', let us say...we are not really sure ourselves.

Maybe the question is better stated, Have you ever felt you were in the direct and obvious presence of God?
Certainly there are many examples where folks talk about seeing the Face of God in everyone they encounter, in those they serve, in the homeless, in the sick, in children, etc. And maybe that is as close as any of us ever get.

But we are wondering about something a little more dramatic and cosmic...have you ever experienced the Face of God?

In the is week's passage from Genesis Jacob names a physical location Peniel (the face of God) and says, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved." This happens after he has a fantastic struggle with an unidentified man all through the night. As day is breaking, Jacob asks the man for a blessing and the man says, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed." Yup...this is where Israel was born, right here...without this moment there are no Israelites, no Israel. Jacob saw the face of God and his name and destiny were changed.

If you have read much of our stuff at all you know we really dig the writer(s) of the Psalms. If there ever was anyone who really connected and saw the Face of God, it was her / him. Here in the 15th verse of Psalm 17 we see the bold statement of a hope, a dream, and maybe a reality:
"As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness."

In the passage we have from Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Rome, we see a guy who had seen the Face of God and was still working out something of an internal struggle. He is a Jew...for a while he was an Uber Jew...who is now a guy who has seen the Face of God in a blinding light and is now having to struggle with the understanding he has of his Israelite heritage on one hand and his personal and intimate knowledge of God and and through Jesus on the other. And as a Jew, he's been grounded in an understanding that the God of the past is concerned and will act in the future. So if Jesus is the Messiah, and Jews reject this, is God still with his covenant people? Sometimes Paul sounds like he thinks this is the case. From a perspective of 2000 years later, we think maybe Paul saw God and could only understand his here and now. We get that.

And then we get one of the great Jesus / disciple interactions in the passage from Matthew. The folks of the area around the Sea of Gallilee were following Jesus around and wanting to get close to him to hear his teaching and be healed, and there was a constant resource question--with all of these people sitting around all day listening to teachings, how do they get fed? The disciples want to send the folks home, and Jesus wants the disciples to feed them. They give him a sheepish look and start pulling food out of their baskets. Imagine being the disciples after this happens. Certainly, leading up to this point they had experienced a wide range of stuff that gave them insight that Jesus was someone special. But this really pushed the envelope. Jesus made food show up from nowhere! It seems that after that moment, they had to be aware they had been looking in to the Face of God.

Have you seen the face of God? Did it leave you limping?

Bruise me,
blind me,
baffle me God.
I want to be
marked
by seeing you.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A

2011-07-22T11:42:00.003-04:00

Genesis 29:15-28 and Psalm 105:1-11, 45b or Psalm 128 •
1 Kings 3:5-12 and Psalm 119:129-136 •
Romans 8:26-39 •
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

The Space Shuttle touched down at Cape Canaveral, Florida this week ending an iconic age of space travel for the US. Our lifetime was marked by the development of this program - the narrative of "normalizing" space travel followed us through childhood. We can remember where we were for both the Columbia and Challenger disasters. We watched technology unfold in practical terms as the space program morphed and grew with reusable transportation into space.

And the generation right before ours marked time through Sputnik and the Apollo missions. The space race. The realization of accomplishments once only the fantasy world of Buck Rogers.

At some point, a journey into space was beyond our collective human imagination. But not anymore. Over time, the unimaginable was imagined and realized.

And if we look just at technology, we can point to so many examples of this. A friend was pondering her new external hard drive with a terabyte of capacity. Remember when 64K was "all that?"

There is a special element of the unimaginable that connects God's work in the scripture readings this week. And it has us wondering, can we ever really begin to fathom the God of creation? Can we anticipate the "next big thing?" Or are we going to always be amazed and surprised by God's movement - some of which seems like gift, some of which seems like tragedy?

In the ongoing drama of the generations of Abraham, Jacob gets double crossed by Laban while trying to earn the right to marry the graceful Rachel. After years of Jacob working for the right to marry Rachel, Laban pulls a bait and switch on the wedding night - a fact Jacob doesn't discover until the next morning (we'll not even go down the path of believability there...). Jacob awakens to discover he's spent his wedding night instead with the older daughter Leah. Laban's response was matter of fact - this is the way it is done - the older daughter is offered in marriage first. In another amazing and unimaginable turn, Jacob agrees to work another 7 years to marry Rachel as his second wife.

In the alternate text from 1 Kings, Solomon has a dream in which God asks him for his wish, and Solomon requests wisdom. Now if you read some of Solomon's backstory, that might be a little bit surprising. And God's response is over-the-top generous. Because Solomon didn't ask for riches or long life or power, God throws all of those into the mix along with the requested wisdom. Unfathomable generosity possesses this Creator.

The psalmist is full of praise for a gracious, generous and abiding God. There is a common thread in the Hebrew texts about asking and receiving. The psalmist understood this interactive relationship with God. God was there to attend and expected the people to show up.

In Matthew's gospel, Jesus is teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven in parables - stories with their own form of somewhat unfathomable hyperbole. Here we have the mustard seed - a tiny seed that, when tended, becomes a huge and wildly productive plant. The mysterious action of yeast. The puzzling notion of hiding treasure and then going away to sell all we own to buy the field in which we've hidden the treasure. We tend to look at these teachings slightly cross-eyed. Can it really be that we would sacrifice our all for treasure we ourselves had planted? As life unfolds, we know more and more people living in materially sacrificial ways to tend to loving others, helping the poor, mending the sick. Is it possible that what is imaginable becomes imagined and realized in our relationship with God?

And in Paul's letter to the church at Rome, he's swimming around in some heady doctrine. If you have spent too much time in the world of denominational quibbles, you might want to side-step words like "predestine" and "elect". But Paul's also painting a beautiful picture of our interaction with the Spirit and the Spirit's interaction with God and God's resulting interaction with us. He's marveling that God loves creation so much that Jesus would be sacrificed for our awareness, our attention and our very salvation. We assume that these early Christians to whom Paul writes were experiencing great persecution. They were possibly being asked to sacrifice a great deal for their faith. And Paul is encouraging them to imagine the unimaginable commitment God has made to them through Christ.

If God is for us, who is against us. Fathom that!

God, we assume that you see
every mustard seed,
every smile,
and every step on the moon
as a miracle.
Of course you would...
You are God.
Help us to see
every moment,
every blade of grass,
every sun-warmed tomato,
every rabbit that eats the tomatoes,
every laugh,
every tear,
every sweaty moment in traffic
every line of binary code...
help us as we attempt to see
your presence
your miracle
in every
drop of our lives.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11), Year A

2011-07-15T15:56:00.000-04:00

*
* Genesis 28:10-19a

* Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24

* Romans 8:12-25

* Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Some hours, some days, some weeks just don't seem to work. Maybe it's nothing specific, just a vague feeling that something is "off." Or it could be the non-stop stream of "why me?" moments and seeming bad luck. Flat tire, burnt dinner, lost wallet, you name it.

There are hours, days, weeks that need a reset button to be sure.

Maybe when we're "aware," we know something in our "off" days needs fixed. That's why the self-help section of the bookstore is vast and ever-growing. Surely we can just implement a three step plan and fix whatever it is that is "out of tune?"

But really, when we slow down and take a deep breath, we know (Laura & Matt, Matt & Laura) that these times are often times when we feel disconnected - we've lost touch with the fact that we are created beings created to be in connection with God, our creator. And not in just vague connection - in relationship. For some that is a father/child relationship. For others it might be a confessor/confessee relationship. Or a playful exchange relationship. Or a channeling artist relationship. No two relationships are alike...surely it is true of our relationship with God. And when we're not taking time to tend that relationship, nothing seems to work - not our self-discipline, not our desire to light the world, and most certainly not our relationships with our fellow creation.

In those moments, we need a bit of a spiritual reset - a CTRL ALT DEL and the resulting reboot of our connection to God and the world.

In the passage from Genesis, we continue to unfold the narrative history of the people who will eventually be known as the Israelites. Jacob (remember his power struggle with brother Esau) has a dream in which God promises him really big things. But most of all, God promises to be with his people. All the time. In lots of places. With LOTS of descendants. We know both from where this story has come and by where it will go, those people were in various stages of "connectedness" with God throughout the story. And God remains.

The Psalmist is praising with wonder God's presence in good and bad, desired or not. There's an important recognition here about God being with us even when we're not particularly excited about that. It sort of calls to mind that classic kid stunt of plugging the ears while chanting, "I can't hear you!"

In Paul's letter to the church in Rome, one picture he paints for his hearers is that of our "sonship" with God. Now clearly there are some gender-based language hurdles here, but Paul is defining the relationship that Christians have with God - heirs to the Kingdom. This is a community facing great difficulty. And Paul is reminding them of a "not yet" reality that belongs to them as heirs. We don't know that these people were not actively seeking to relate to God - it's very possible that they were. But in the midst of their ugly circumstances, they are still children of God.

Finally, the text from Matthew is one of the "the Kingdom of Heaven is like..." parables of Jesus. Weeds sewn among the wheat require that the healthy crop share its soil, air, water, and space with the weed crop. Do you ever feel squeezed by fellow humanity in those moments when nothing is quite right? The inward pressing of our fellow created humans can sometimes indicate that something is not quite right. And in some ways, Jesus names it pretty plainly. The wheat has been sewn by the Son of Man (presumably representing those in relationship with God?) and the weed has been sewn by "evil powers." Our favorite definition of sin is "that which keeps us from being in full relationship with God."

God, help us as we attempt to live in to the
simplicity of our relationship
with You.
Guide us as we attempt to do away with
projected expectations
and assumed requirements.
Help us to
reset
and
be
present
with
You.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 10), Year A

2011-07-07T12:06:00.001-04:00

Genesis 25:19-34 and Psalm 119:105-112
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

There is no getting away from ourselves.

Our minds and bodies and spirits are all connected. They always and constantly influence each other.

Sometimes we fall in to a belief that our mind is our Most Important Part...and then our body reminds us we need to eat or move or sneeze.
Our we reach a place where we put so much emphasis on taking care of our body...and then we notice our brain doesn't work as well because it hasn't been used much recently.

Or we get so wrapped up in ourselves we are convinced that as long as we are good thinkers and eat all our vegetables, we need nothing else....and then we recognize we are empty shells because we have not given appropriate respect to our own spiritual life and development.

And every once in a while we ONLY pay attention to our spiritual life and development...we set it up as the greatest good believing that if we attend to our spirit, everything else will be okay...and we find ourselves unhealthy because we don't eat well or move our bodies. Remember, even the most remote and ascetic monks eat a bit and take a walk each day.

The point is that in each of us, all of our parts are connected. And when we don't pay attention to a particular part or if we take one part for granted, we can find ourselves unbalanced.

We are integrated beings and when we put too much emphasis on one aspect of ourselves, it is easy for us to lose other parts of ourselves.

In this week's passage from Genesis we get the next phase in the story of Isaac and Rebekah's life together. We jump from her watering his camels to them having children--Esau and Jacob. Most of us know the story...after they were older, Esau was out hunting and came in famished and asked Jacob for some stew he had made. Today it sounds like a couple of kids just playing around, but Jacob gave Esau some stew only after Esau swore to give over his birthright (privileges accorded to the firstborn male of the family) to Jacob. Esau's words mattered here. Body, mind, soul, spirit, property, respect...so much was tied up and tied together in a person's birthright....and Esau gave that up for a bowl of stew because he was intensely focused on a bodily need. On a side note...for those of you keeping score at home, it was Jacob...who later had his named changed to Israel...who gave birth to the twelve tribes, etc that tricked (or screwed) his brother out his birthright and inheritance. How do we reconcile Judiasm and eventually Christianity developing out of this snookering (which was just one in a series of snookerings)?

The writer of Psalm 119 certainly understood the ways his self was integrated. He understood the ways his oaths to God were connected to his physical condition. He understood that he needed to trust God spiritually and physically....he understood that his spiritual life had a direct connection to his physical life and safety.

In Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Rome, he does more to dramatically demarcate the body (flesh) from the spirit. He is really parsing out how the indwelling of the Spirit of Jesus Christ actually works in each of us individually...he is almost focusing on the mechanics of it. But in the end, he still says that if a person is filled with the Spirit of God, then that person's body will be filled with life also. If the spirit is healthy and connected, then the body will be healthy and connected.

And in the passage from Matthew we get a beautiful picture of integration from Jesus. He tells the parable of a sower who scattered seed...some fell on good earth, some fell on thorny soil, and some fell on rocky ground. As he describes what happens to the seeds in each circumstance we can see that the ultimate hope is that a seed is a good seed, takes root, flourishes, and produces fruit. It is not enough to be the best seed ever, or just grow roots, or to only have leaves...ideally, a healthy seed eventually produces fruit. And we, as integrated beings are meant to be physically and mentally and spiritually healthy (all) so we may grow in to what we were created to be.

If we ignore any part of who we are, we will never become all we were created to be.

Creator and sustainer
Keep me mindful
of the complexity of your creation
and who I am in that creation
and who I am as creation.
Help me see the fruits of all my parts
- all my integrated created wonder -
so that all of me
is fruitful
for Your Kingdom.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Second Sunday after Pentecost, Year A

2011-06-24T11:58:00.001-04:00

If you have followed us for long, you probably understand that sometimes (? all the time ?), writing these reflections give us the opportunity to work out our personal demons.

And in that tradition...here goes:

Amy Delong, ordained United Methodist Elder who has lived in a loving and committed relationship with another woman for 15 years, has been on trial with the church. She was charged with two violations of church law as an ordained Elder - one being an avowed homosexual living in a relationship, the second having conducted a commitment ceremony for another gay couple in 2009. As this is written, the jury has delivered a split verdict, finding Amy innocent of the first charge and guilty of the second.

There is a movement afoot in the United Methodist church. A lot of people think that the church's rules about homosexuality are wrong. A lot of people think homosexuality is wrong and therefore the church should have rules. As a global church, the rules of the United Methodist church are built by people living with diverse cultural norms. The dialogue has been going on for a long time. Both sides probably have moments of thinking there is an obviously dominant solution to all of this. But only one thing is clear...there is NO clear answer. And all of this is the divided moral compass of just ONE community. Most of us belong in some way to many, many different communities.

It's all so messy. Life is SO messy.

The is no ONE answer to solve complicated and messy situations. However, there are opportunities for each of us to find ways to love each other and love ourselves in small areas and corners of the larger situations.

Our scriptures this week plunge us into the messiness of a life with God. Our Year A tour through the Israelite history has us reading a difficult story in Genesis about Abraham and Isaac. Remember that Abraham (born Abram) and his wife Sarah (born Sarai) agreed to follow God where he would lead them, and in exchange, God has committed to make of them a great nation. Even from the point of this covenant forward, Abraham and Sarah lead messy lives with messy moral dilemmas. In this week's reading, God has asked (told) Abraham to take his beloved son Isaac and offer him as a burnt sacrifice. Now Isaac is Abraham's only legitimate son...and God has promised great things to come from Sarah and Abraham's family. Imagine Abraham's confusion. But Abraham goes. He makes the journey to Moriah, Read this text. And then read it again. It is a skillfully told story with Abraham leading an unsuspecting Isaac along. Isaac is carrying the wood and Abraham the fire. Isaac asks about the lamb, and Abraham responds, God will provide the lamb. It is a story that gives us chills. And just as Abraham draws his knife, an angel calls him back. He passed the test.

The psalmist laments the very hardship of life...and fully expects God is present in the hardship. And the faithful soul rejoices amidst the lament for that!

In Paul's letter to the church in Rome, he is examining some of the messiness of our human nature. He has a bit of a concern that the promise of God's grace in Christ's death and resurrection may lead some to a life of sinfulness...because we're forgiven, right? He insists instead that we are sort of obligated by our union with Christ (through baptism) to be righteous - as sin free as we can manage. He knows that will be hard, that as humans we are slaves to something and we have to choose between being slaves to our sinful nature or slaves to our allegiance to God in Christ. Messy stuff.

Now certainly Jesus didn't speak the words selected from Matthew for this week's reading for the purpose of summarizing a discussion about the messiness of life with an assurance that messiness is ok - live into it and love others and you'll be ok. But hey, that's sure how it draws these passages together. Jesus also cuts through some of the complications it is easy for us all to get caught up in. We find ourselves wanting to make a huge deal out of things and we try to create a greater "system" around providing love and care, and Jesus sums it up with "

whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple -- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward." Life and circumstances are SO MESSY.....AND we can still love others with a simple gift of a cold cup of water.

And so...I suspect that everyone on all sides of that tricky trial have a chance to love each other in a variety of ways and certainly are still beloved in the eyes of God.

Life is messy.

God, so often we are desperate to see the BIG picture

We want to know THE solution

We want to solve ALL the problems.

And in that process

We forget it is not our

Responsibility to SOLVE

It is our responsibility to LOVE

In whatever way is in front of us.

May it be so in our lives

Each day.

Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Second Sunday after Pentecost, Year A

2011-06-24T11:58:00.000-04:00

And so...I suspect that everyone on all sides of that tricky trial have a chance to love each other in a variety of ways and certainly are still beloved in the eyes of God.

Life is messy.

God, so often we are desperate to see the BIG picture

We want to know THE solution

We want to solve ALL the problems.

And in that process

We forget it is not our

Responsibility to SOLVE

It is our responsibility to LOVE

In whatever way is in front of us.

May it be so in our lives

Each day.

Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Trinity Sunday, Year A

2011-06-18T16:53:00.003-04:00

We have said this before: The Trinity is a tricky idea to grasp.

Sometimes folks talk about different persons of the Trinity...sometimes folks describe the Trinity as different manifestations of God...sometimes people delve in to metaphors (three points of the same leaf, three folds in a napkin)...the difficulty is that all of these, while partially illuminating, all fall short.

The term The Trinity was created by Christians. Jesus doesn't talk about it, Paul doesn't use the term, it is not found in your bible or mine. As far as we know it was first used (at least written) by a guy named Theophilus of Antioch in 180 BCE. As the Christian faith grew and matured and folks were trying to get a handle on these three ways of experiencing God and express them in credal statements others could agree on, the term was born.

And so, what do we do with it?

How is the Trinity important to us?

chapter of Genesis. Here we see God specifically reaching out and creating and caring and loving the Creation. An interesting bit in this passage creates some possibly different Trinitarian questions....in chapter 1, verse 26 God is quoted as saying, "Let US make humankind in OUR image, according to OUR likeness..." (emphasis ours). What do you make of that? Who was God speaking to or with at the beginning of Creation? Could be angels....could be Jesus...could be.....?

In Psalm 8 we see an example of how we has humans relate to God the Father. Much of the time we see God the Father as a protector and provider and the creator. An omnipotent presence in the world and our lives. Now this can become problematic for folks who have a negative experience of "father." We happen to think that there is flexibility here (although many will argue with that) - this passage is about a protector, provider, creator.

In the end of Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Corinth we can see some of the beginning of Trinitarian thinking. He closes his letter with, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you." Wouldn't it be fantastic if we ended every interaction that way?

And in Jesus' closing words as recorded in the gospel of Matthew we find Jesus offering us a phrase that is still used in many ways in churches today...."baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit....". This is new language to them. Jesus is certainly clearly laying out for his followers where his authority comes from and how it connects to God the Father, AND he connects himself to the Holy Spirit / Comforter that he had promised would be with them. We wonder how long they "chewed" on that commission.

God interacts with us in a variety of ways, and we interact with God in a variety of ways.

We wonder, how do YOU describe "God in three persons, blessed trinity?"

God,

when I rest in the palm of your hand,

when you rest at the table with me,

when your presence is in the very air I breathe,

remind me that Your essence,

Your presence

Your provision

Are for me

to witness

and to share.

Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Year A - Easter Day of Pentecost

2011-06-09T22:16:00.000-04:00

Numbers 11:24-30
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Acts 2: 1 - 21
John 7:37-39

Ever have that moment when you have experienced some great awareness, insight or revelation. You try to name it, to share it, to tell someone else. And the experience is lost on them. They register no understanding of the profound nature of your experience.

Maybe in a moment of great nerve, you actually tried to share your experience, your insight, your revelation with a room full of people.

And flopped?

They stared blankly and blinked. Or they might have even chuckled. Made demeaning suggestions about your state of mind?

Pentecost is the day in the liturgical year where we recognize the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised his followers a presence that would always be with them. And 50 days after Easter, Christians recognize the arrival of this presence. Some think of it as the birthday of the church - the arrival of the Spirit to guide and be present with early Christians as they sought to enact the teachings of Jesus in a "post-Jesus" age.

Our readings for today give shape to the story of Pentecost. But they also shed real light on human response to things not easily understood - more of our rational mind battling with our spiritual selves to determine what can be real -- true?

In Numbers, Moses has shared his experience of God and gathered a group of 70 elders, upon whom the spirit descends. They prophesy during the experience, but the scripture tells us that they do not prophesy again. However, while the 70 are gathered and doing "important work" with Moses, two others back at the camp have the experience of prophesy. Someone runs to report this to Moses - surely they weren't "chosen" and therefore shouldn't be doing this right? But Moses has a different response - hey, it's ok. Wouldn't it be great if we could ALL do that.

Now that Numbers passage has been interpreted for the Christian lectionary as a prophesy of its own - a foreshadowing of how Jesus' life and presence would change things. (Hmm. Do we think that the Spirit was NOT present among the Jewish people?) In the Acts passage, a group of believers is gathered and they have an amazing experience of wind and tongues of fire and of hearing truth spoken in words that they understand in spite of a difference in languages actually being spoken. Imagine the times you have been engaged in some difficult dialogue and although you were speaking the same language, no one understood the other. Makes this experience of the gathered pretty amazing, doesn't it? But again, there is a naysayer in their midst...they are drunk with new wine. Moses was probably on to something...because it's pretty possible that the people suggesting drunkeness were just a little self-conscious about the fact that THEY weren't also miraculously able to understand all that was going on.

The passage from John recounts an earlier experience of Jesus and his followers. He names that out of believers' hearts will flow rivers of "living water". Living water is a theme that would have been understood among the Jewish people. The gospel writer interprets pretty directly for the reader - these are words spoken about the Spirit - a Spirit not yet with the people because Jesus wasn't through with what he needed to do and be. Believers will be a source of life.

Have you ever been the doubter? The person who couldn't quite understand the enthusiasm, the vision, the passion in the voice that is speaking to you? And instead of embracing that enthusiasm and giving thanks that SOMEONE had it, indulged in some judgment instead?

Is it possible that every day, a source of life is spoken into being by a believer in our midst? Or we are the speaker?

Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer God
May the words of our mouths
and the meditations of our hearts together
be holy and acceptable
and heard
and understood
by those in our midst
And may we hear
and understood
the words of others' mouths
and meditations of others' hearts.
For You are our Rock and our Redeemer.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Ascension of the Lord Year A

2011-06-03T11:39:00.001-04:00

Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47 or Psalm 93
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 24:44-53

Ascension?

Really?

Being taken up in to the clouds?

How serious do we need to take this? How serious was it? How important is it? What is the point?

Well, at least one of us has no problem believing Jesus was taken up in to the clouds in front of some of his followers. We have never seen any one do that, however we have also not ever stood in the physical presence of the God-Man / Man-God. We like to make room for the possibility that he could do what he felt appropriate at the time.

The fact of Jesus being physically whisked away in to the clouds (as fantastic as it may sound to us today) doesn't seem to be the primary point of the scene. As we read the story as presented in the gospel of Luke and in the book of Acts (which many suspect were written by the same author) we see Jesus gathering his followers for one last bit of instruction before he goes. This is something of a parallel to the "Great Commission" found at the end of the gospel of Matthew. In both Luke and in Acts he instructs those listening that they will be His witnesses to all nations.

In Luke he instructs them to proclaim repentance and forgiveness in his name to all nations and in Acts he simply tells them they will be his witnesses to the ends of the earth.

And then he rises up in to the air and disappears.

What an exclamation point! That is such an impressive way to show the importance of a teaching. Most folks are doing well if they can pound the table a bit or get folks to clap after an important point. For Jesus, he emphasizes his words by Completely Leaving.

But it seems like those words would stick, doesn't it? It seems like after hearing that instruction and seeing Jesus disapparate, Peter must have turned to James and said, "Well, I guess we should get on with telling others about Jesus...right now."

Paul wasn't there, but he was certainly privvy to the witness of the folks that were there that day. And evidence of how seriously he took that teaching is present in the letters he wrote and the work he did to spread the Good News throughout the world.

This seems like an important message for us to pay attention to.

It seems like it is set apart and put at the end to make sure we do not miss it.

It seems we should each take some time and think of how the last words of Jesus connect to us today.

You will be my witnesses to all the ends of the earth.
What does it mean to witness?
What is the hope to which the early church was called and what is to be done with that hope?
What does it mean to proclaim repentence and forgiveness to all the nations?

Where do we start?

God of amazing miracle and unknowable strength,
Unbind me from the limits of my vocabulary
and culture
and tradition
to witness to your power and your ability and your grace
to the ends of the earth.
Give me grace and love and mercy
to do it as you would have it done.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year A

2011-05-28T09:05:00.002-04:00

* Acts 17:22-31
* Psalm 66:8-20
* 1 Peter 3:13-22
* John 14:15-21

We all have commitments in our lives.

Some of them are easier to keep than others, but all commitments take some effort and work...that is an important difference between an interest and a commitment.

You have commitments. Commitments to your self, your family, your relationships, your work, your neighborhood, your spiritual life, etc.

And each of these commitments in our lives have a spectrum of being easy to keep and being difficult to keep. Some days we are happy to exercise and eat well, and some days we are not.

An important difference in what makes it hard or easy to keep our commitments is whether or not we are going it alone or if we have someone encouraging us toward our commitment.

Every once in a while we have commitments in which we have some help...in which we have an encourager...where we have a cheerleader.

This week's scriptures give us some examples of encouragement being offered to those making and keeping commitments to their faith in God.

We see the Psalmist offering his experience as encouragement to others whose belief in God might be challenged by the tests and difficulties they run in to as they face life.

In John we see (for Christians) one of the more encouraging encouragements from the mouth of Jesus himself. He promises that if we love him and keep his commandments, we will not be left alone. He assures us God will send The Spirit of Truth to be with us to support and protect us.

In Acts we see Paul offering encouragement to folks as they are pondering becoming followers of Jesus. From their place of believing religiously in something, he is encouraging them to consider the power of believing in ONE thing, a single God of creation of whom they are offspring, in relationships with Jesus Christ.

And in the letter shared with the early church under the name of Peter, we see some loving and gentle instruction as to how they might behave in the world in light of their new commitment to Jesus.

Commitment is so much harder when we go it alone - when we rely upon our own selves, our own strength, our own story. But we can be encouraged and can be encouragers. Perhaps this is the most important role of community in our lives. In what ways are you inviting your community into your commitments?

God of Creation, of Sustenance, of Presence,
I want to be committed to things that matter.
Help me to not be alone in my commitments.
Help me to hear the encouragement
of the world around me
and lean into the arms of those
who will help me stay committed
to things that matter.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A

2011-05-21T11:42:00.003-04:00

Acts 7:55-60 •
Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 •
1 Peter 2:2-10 •
John 14:1-14

Some say that on May 21st (today!), the world as we know it will be altered. The Rapture, long expected by some followers of Jesus, will occur, and in the process, those "saved" will be swept from the earth and those not saved will find themselves "left behind" to live through the trials of end times. Response to these predictions is far-reaching, with some giving away their worldly possessions and contracting with avowed atheists for long-term care of pets who will be left behind. Others mock the faith of those who have adopted this prediction.

Weeks ago, Rob Bell released a book entitled "Love Wins." It presents an alternate view of heaven and hell and how we are or are not "saved." The book up-ends some of the more traditional evangelical views of how we as humans interact with a judging God. Bell believes that God is eager for us to turn to God and is willing to wait and love us through the process. He doesn't come out and say there is no hell. He suggests hell is of our own making and right here among us. By many, he's been labeled a heretic for putting his understanding of truth out for the world to see.

The scriptures this week invite us to consider how we react to people and assertions that don't necessarily fit our understanding of God or salvation or righteousness. What a time-worn reality, from those who witnessed Jesus's miracles with disbelief, to disciples who lived with him day in and out and still did not understand what it meant for him to be the son of man, to the early church leaders who argued and died over their understanding of what happened in the communion or how the trinity was understood. How we hear belief different than ours and how we respond really does matter to the balance of creation.

From Acts of the Apostles, we read briefly about the stoning of Steven. As he asserts his belief, the author describes the crowds reaction..."But they coverd their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him." It's a sad story. And it also calls to mind the image of a child who doesn't want to hear what another is saying, covering their ears and mindlessly babbling, "I can't hear you," in a desperate effort to shut out a truth that might threaten when they think they know well.

From the Psalmist we read a plea for God's divine protection in times of hardship. God is a rock, a fortress. The line, "Into your hand I commend my spirit," is familiar as words spoken by Jesus as he breathes his last breath on the cross. It was his faithful response as he faced the will of others who believed just as firmly in a different reality.

In the letter 1 Peter describes the response of those who believe and those who don't. And it suggests some strong differences between those two groups. Is it possible that disbelief makes us fall? Whose disbelief? In what? Are their ways that people abuse our belief or disbelief? Pervert it somehow?

And in the selection from John's gospel, Jesus is engaging with the disciples as they struggle to understand and believe what he has presented. And there is a lot here... "In my Father's house, there are many dwelling places." "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." "Believe me..., but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves." Clearly here is Jesus really addressing this group's struggle to share his understanding and assertion of how things work - specifically how God works. He engages their disbelief...but does it make a difference at that point in the story?

So...if by the end of today The Rapture has begun, we hope it worked out well for you. If it turns out this Saturday has simply been another Saturday in which for you to appreciate The Creation, we hope you have had a chance to do that.

Either way, we pray you are able to pay attention and hear, see, and feel the presence of God in your life.

God, thank you for the variety of life.

Thank you for the variety of people.

Thank you for discernment.

Thank you for judgment.

Guide us as we

attempt

to respect all life

and all people.

Guide us as we

attempt

to use

discernment

and

judgment

to see

and

Your work

in this world.

Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year A

2011-05-14T06:09:00.001-04:00

Acts 2:42-47 .
Psalm 23 .
1 Peter 2:19-25 .
John 10:1-10

The idea of Putting All Your Eggs In One Basket is a helpful image.

If you have ever been around chickens especially, it is easy to understand.

The warning often goes, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." And the intention behind the warning is if you put all of your eggs in one basket and something happens to that basket, then you might lose all of your eggs (eggs being a valuable commodity in this scenario).

This saying is really about Trust.

IF you are going to put all of your eggs in one basket, you sure as hell better know that basket is strong and true and safe.

HOWEVER, we all know it is often too risky to put ALL of our eggs in one basket. There are too many dangers. Too many things could go wrong. Foxes, faulty baskets, clumsy basket couriers...there are lots of ways you could lose all of your eggs at once.

SO, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Disperse them. Don't trust just one method of getting your eggs home or to market. Put some in your pocket. Maybe try a few different baskets. Trusting one mode is not smart. Even if it is a basket you have had for a long time and you trust completely, it may turn out to not serve you well.

This is a message we often get from the world around us: do not put your trust in Just One Thing. It makes sense. We don't want to have one accident or misstep cause us to lose all that we have. It is why we both pay rent and insurance.

Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Basket.

But when we read scripture, we are essentially told There Is Only One Basket, Trust It.

"All who believed were together and had all things in common."

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."

"For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls."

"I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture."

How do we reconcile our natural tendency to minimize our losses with the example from Acts of the first Christians selling all of their stuff and living communally?

How do we balance our inherent inability to not Trust with the message from Psalm 23 to give ourselves over to God?

How do we accommodate our visceral need to avoid pain with the admonition in 1st Peter that intentionally and willingly suffering in the name of Jesus returns us to the care of our Shepherd and the Guardian of Our Souls?

How do we subvert our tendency to keep our options open when we read Jesus's instruction that all others are thieves and bandits and that it is only through him that people will be saved and have life abundantly?

These are sometimes tough messages to hold together in our own hearts and minds.

For us this is another version of the classic question: How do we live in the world and not be of the world?

Being a called and loved Child of God is not easy some days.

God of mystery, of three but of one,
In a world that asks me daily
to multitask
to diversify
to hedge my bets
help me ease into knowing you...
You as the One Thing
the One Way
the Big Tent
where the world melts
away
and I am fully
Yours.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Third Sunday of Easter, Year A

2011-05-07T09:17:00.001-04:00

Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
1 Peter 1:17-23
Luke 24:13-35

This week's lectionary selections offer us examples of what we all dream of: a chance at rebirth, a chance to be re-created, a chance to realize a new beginning.

That is what we all want, isn't it?

So much of what we do each day pushes in this direction.

In some way, most of us feel that some part of our life or some part of the world has gotten so far from its original intention and purpose that the only thing to do is to start over.

And today we try to accomplish this ourselves in a variety of ways. We knock down old buildings because we can no longer care for them, we buy the next size up of clothing because we cannot care for our bodies in the same way, we kill people to stop their intention and remove their opinion.

But....in many, maybe most cases, there is always a chance of redemption. Hardly ever is the path to rebirth and re-creation the easy one, but there is always an option to take that path.

What responsibility do we have to be reborn?

This week's psalmist shows us that we have some responsibility in our own salvation. He recognizes he is in great distress and suffering, and he has faith that God will save him, AND he recommits himself to God as God's servant. As he calls to God to be redeemed and re-created, he seems to know that he has some responsibility in faithfully walking in the direction of God.

In the passage we have from Luke we see Jesus (incognito) meeting up with some disciples on the road to Emmaus. The disciples were walking with their heads hung low because they had hoped Jesus would be the one to bring salvation and re-creation to the Jews, and at that point they had not seen any evidence of it. They were still looking toward some sort of military victory and political power surge. They expected salvation to come from outside of them. In their discussion Jesus chronicles all of the efforts of both God and humans throughout history. And when Jesus reveals himself to them, we can almost hear the collective hand hitting the forehead as the disciples said, "how did we not see who that was?!" It was not until they were given 'new vision' that they were able to really understand what was being shared with them.

In the portion of Acts we see this week Peter is explaining (to those who would listen) that Jesus is the Messiah. AND that forgiveness and rebirth and re-creation are available to all when they choose to repent from their corrupt ways.

In the passage from 1 Peter the writer explains to them that because of the work of God in and through Jesus, this community had come to trust in God themselves. What they do with that trust can change the world.

What is your dream of rebirth? starting over? growing anew? What helps that to happen? What keeps it from happening?

Spirit of the living God,
fall afresh on me.

Help me to step out in faith
to believe that rebirth can happen
and to pursue the self you created
me to be
relentlessly
fearlessly,
singly,
determinedly.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Second Sunday of Easter, Year A

2011-04-29T13:31:00.001-04:00

Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Psalm 16
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31

A quick note on the structure of Lectionary readings: During the 50 days of Eastertide, the lectionary forgoes readings from the Hebrew scripture and instead pulls in readings about the "resurrection" of the earliest Christians in the wake of Jesus' death and resurrection.

Well now what?

For weeks, the paparazzi have been focused on the impending nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton. There have been countdowns and speculation, blogs and bets. And as this is being written at 8:14 on April 29, 2011, the ceremony is over, the couple duly declared husband and wife, and they have returned to Buckingham Palace for a full day of toasting and posing and smiling. But really, the deed is done. They are wed in the eyes of the church and the law. All the rest is window dressing.

After a week of preparation that began on Palm/Passion Sunday with shouts of Hosanna and the waving of palms, continued through the breaking of bread and sharing of cup, the snuffing of candles, the persecution, trial, and suffering of Jesus, the crucifixion, death and burial, we entered into the dawn of Easter Sunday proclaiming a risen Christ. Resurrection happens.

Well now what?

Here in the 50 days of Eastertide, our readings have us reflecting on that very question.

In Acts, Peter is "recentering" the disciples, who we can imagine after experiencing the risen Christ are still struggling to make sense of what has happened and what it means for their motley band of evangelists and teachers. Part of Peter's comforting reminder to them is to connect what they have experienced back to the fabric of their faith tradition - the understanding that a messiah would emerge from the Davidic line. He reminds them of their importance as witnesses to the fulfillment of this age old prophecy.

The psalmist really addresses the choices that humans face - thousands of years ago as today. We can imagine that many were faced with choices after the resurrection - to believe? to follow? to continue a movement?

In the epistle 1 Peter, the writer greets his audience reminding them of what they have inherited in the resurrection. This is a new beginning, as God has promised time and time again. These are not people who actually encountered the presence of the living Christ, but they are gathered as believers. How are they going to live out their belief?

Finally in John's gospel we encounter the story about the notorious "doubting Thomas." But this year, our attention was captured by Jesus' early act while he is with some of the disciples. Jesus breathes the holy spirit into the gathered and essentially commissions them - empowering them to forgive. And that commissioning is for us too...we are infused with the holy spirit and commissioned to be agents of forgiveness and peace.

Easter is NOT one day on the calendar. We might even suggest Easter is not a function of chronological time. Perhaps Easter is an attitude of accepting, knowing and sharing resurrection power? And so, what next? How do we live Easter?

God, I am going to try again this year.
I am going to try to not take
You for granted.
I am going to try to
be aware of the
Love I receive
and
the Love I give.
I have not been
super successful at this in the past.
But I am going to
try
again
this
year.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Resurrection of the Lord, Year A

2011-04-21T13:52:00.000-04:00

* Jeremiah 31:1-6 •
* Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 •
* Colossians 3:1-4 •
* John 20:1-18

Not only is Easter late this year, but it feels like Spring is dragging its feet as well. It's funny how, despite the dates on the calendar, the actual arrival of "new life" seems to coincide once year after year...just at widely varying times. Because really, for folks who track with liturgical tradition, Easter does arrive each year, just like tulips and green grass. And every three years, the same scriptures are revisited. We enter Lent facing our human mortality and we emerge from Lent pondering the Resurrection and its impact in our own lives.

Some years, it is easier to walk into the wilderness and dwell in the slightly haunting time in between considering the life, ministry, death and resurrection of a human named Jesus. And sometimes, like winter that just won't melt away, those six weeks seem like an awfully long time to maintain any sort of direction or focus.

This might have been one of those years. Maybe. We pretty actively jumped into the Lenten season and have ended by being on the Worship Task Group that plans worship for the month of April in our worshiping community . In that time, both of us spent time preparing the "sharing" for a Sunday, we diligently addressed the lectionary on our blog, we each had private Lenten practices to observe. And here comes Easter. And we have to ask ourselves, at the end of this journey - this year in 2011 - what does Resurrection mean for us? How are we changed?

The story doesn't change from year to year, but we do. And inevitably, new things show up as we revisit words we have read many, many times before.

In the gospel of John, Mary Magdalene weeps at the tomb, having discovered Jesus' body is gone. His followers must have suspected the possibility - authorities stealing his body to assure no resurrection claims or further shenanigans from this group of "rabble-rousers." The scripture tells us that one of the disciples saw the empty tomb and 'believed.' Others departed because they 'as yet did not understand the scriptures.' Even as Mary tells the angels why she's weeping, she doesn't seem to realize that she's talking to ANGELS in an EMPTY TOMB. It's as though she's forgotten that there was a miraculous possibility. We can imagine Mary torn up by the trauma and grief of the past days. When Jesus himself appears to her, she doesn't recognize him--in fact she assumes he's the gardener. But when he says her name, she knows him. Think about that. That is really powerful. She knows this is the man she has been following, learning from, calling teacher. Because she heard him say her name. All the other clues passed her by, but the sound of his voices speaking her name reaches something deeper.

The prophet Jeremiah tells of God's return to Israel. Keep in mind that this is a prophet speaking to a war- and conflict-weary Israel. But the tradition of prophecy was strong and the fact that this prophecy remains is testament to how it must have been received. Do you suppose that like Mary Magdalene, the tribes of Israel gasped in recognition of their situation when the through the prophet Jeremiah, the LORD spoke their collective name... 'Again I will build you, and again you shall be built, O virgin Israel....' Clearly Israel experienced the Lord firsthand time and time again...something must have gotten their attention in each new episode.

And so, as we read the letter to the Colossians, we see a community pretty deeply involved in a disagreement about how to access God, and the writer is reminding them that as they believe they have been raised with Jesus Christ in resurrection, they can keep their minds set on higher things. Now it's a stretch, but we suspect that it is a lot easier to hear God/Jesus/Holy Spirit calling your name when your mind is in the right place. It's not exactly what the writer was going for...but for us, for THIS Easter, it's where it lands in our hearts.

And so, we wonder if this year, we might be listening a little closer to hear our name so that we may not KNOW, not UNDERSTAND, but perhaps just BELIEVE and be glad for the experience of believing.

God, we pray we do not fall in to
the trap of
Another Easter.
Help us to be Present.
Help us to be Aware.
Help us to Believe.
Help us to Trust.
We know this Easter
has a chance to be
The Best Easter Ever.
And we know we must
choose to see it that way.
Thank you for loving us
in our wayward adventures
and thank you for always
being glad to see us
when we finally
show
up
here.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Liturgy of the Palms, Liturgy of the Passion, Year A

2011-04-14T21:17:00.002-04:00

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 • Matthew 21:1-11 •
Isaiah 50:4-9a • Psalm 31:9-16 • Philippians 2:5-11 • Matthew 26:14-27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54

The scripture readings from Matthew this week (and there are a LOT of them) tell the story of Jesus returning with his disciples to Jerusalem, Jesus sharing a final meal with the disciples, Jesus being arrested and abused, and finally of Jesus being executed on a cross.

There is so much here.

This stretch of the story of Jesus is so important. It is setting us up for the story of Easter and Resurrection. As this part of Jesus's life unfolds we get closer and closer to learning if Jesus really was the Son of God or if he was a lunatic.

However, also included in this week's readings are two other short passages. One from Isaiah and one from Philippians. They don't normally get much air time during this time of year, but they illuminate something important for us to pay attention to as we think of the Passion story.

Isaiah tells us about the trials he has endured as he has attempted to follow the direction of God. He talks about how he has been Obedient throughout whatever sort of abuse has come against him. And it appears that Obedience has gained momentum and turned in to Confidence that God will continue to protect and sustain him...which helps him to continue to be Obedient.

In his letter to the followers of Jesus in Philippi, Paul encourages his readers to follow the example of Christ and embody Humility in whatever circumstance they might find themselves in. He points to the example of Jesus Humbly submitting himself and being Obedient to God. And in that Humble Obedience, God was there to lift up and sustain Jesus through the worst stuff that any one might encounter.

As you read through (or listen to) the Passion story this year. Pay attention to the places where Humility and Obedience show up....and see the places where Pride and Disobedience show up. How do they play out in this story?

How do they play out in your life?

The week unfolds with time to read and to think and to reflect. It's worth doing all of those things.

Abba,
the world draws us into places
of self-absorption,
self-pity,
self-aggrandizing.
We expect obedience
from others.
It's hard to imagine
choosing the hard way
for higher reasons
when simple
or pain-free
are options.
Help us look hard
at our lives
and give of ourselves
so that your Kingdom
comes.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year A

2011-03-29T12:13:00.002-04:00

1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41

Sometimes it is difficult for us to see the miracles that are in front of us.

Most of us have grown up in a society that trains us to make quick evaluations. Evaluate products quickly. Evaluate situations quickly. Evaluate people quickly.

This is a skill that benefits us as humans and helps us each to survive to live longer and grow older.

We are taught to search for the strongest and smartest people. We are taught to investigate situations to understand why something happened. We are encouraged to find the people, places, and things that help us to become more efficient, more successful, faster, and stronger.

This is also a skill that sometimes blinds us.

This week we see Samuel the prophet receiving instruction from God to stop spending time worrying about Saul and to go find the next King of Israel. Samuel had a list of reasons this would not be smart (among them that Saul might kill him), but eventually he begins his mission. He goes out to meet Jesse and Jesse's plethora of sons. One by one, Samuel looked at the young man in front of him, saw the smartest and strongest and fastest and most successful...and one by one God told him to keep looking. Samuel (a guy who was talking with God, by the way) was caught in the habit of only seeing with his eyes.

In a Psalm that was likely written by David (who was finally the candidate Samuel anointed) we see the words of a man who had been through so much he was obviously no longer only looking at the things he could see with his eyes. This Psalm is often thought of as one of the greatest faithful examples we have in scripture. Faith that believes in things that cannot be seen.

In Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Ephesus he takes a slightly more ethereal approach to thinking about being able to see. He is encouraging his readers to understand that before they were followers of Jesus, they were darkness (not they were IN darkness....they WERE darkness) and now in the Lord they are light (not they are IN the light....they ARE light). And since they are now children of light, they should shine their light and awake those that are in darkness.

And finally, in John's gospel, we read about people failing to see a miracle of sight restored as they are busy looking for something else. Here, Jesus heals a man blind since birth. It would have been a common understanding that this man's blindness was punishment for the sins of his parents. First, the surrounding crowd asks how this has happened. Then the Pharisees insist on an explanation. And they pass judgment...who would do this on the Sabbath? Even his own parents can't seem to grasp what has happened. All the while, the man who had been blind knew one thing for sure...now he could see. Everyone else seemed too busy looking for something else to really SEE his restored sight for the miracle that it was.

Perhaps seeing really is believing.

Faithful, creative, patient God,
Bear with me.
Gently remove the log from my eyes.
Gently remove the scales.
Wipe away my blindness and help me to See...
to really SEE
that which is wonderful
that which is amazing
that which is created
that which is Your design.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Second Sunday in Lent, Year A

2011-03-17T08:33:00.000-04:00

Genesis 12:1-4a • Psalm 121 • Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 • John 3:1-17

Some weeks, the lectionary selections offer a slippery slope. It's one of the reasons that really spending time with scripture and with others who spend time with scripture matters. These passages require us to be in dialogue, to keep our minds and our hearts open, to see both the good and the bad of what is written down at a point in time by a human with an agenda. This week is a slippery slope.

You see, it is way too easy to look at what is said across the selected passages and conclude that Jesus arrived on the scene and corrected some religious missteps and replaced a lot of history to become the only path to righteousness and salvation.

We're playing our theological hand here. We're not buying that interpretation. That's not how we understand God. We want to read the text carefully, respectfully, critically and in dialogue with our lived experience of God and of our fellow created humans.

Since creation, God has sought to be in relationship with the created world. God has watched rock erode, seas churn, galaxies collapse. God has watched humankind evolve through time, evolving religion, spirituality, economics, politics, sociology, medicine. The sacred stories of scripture tell the story of God's relationship across thousands of years and countless surprises, successes and disappointments.

This scripture story tells us about a covenant - a mutual promise between God and humankind - that at various times has been honored and destroyed. But what the story also tells is about God's faithful return to relationship with God's creation in myriad ways and forms.

In Genesis, the LORD addresses Abram and makes him a promise - a promise to bless him and and to make of him a great nation. Now the size of your kin was an important economic and social factor in these cultures. And Abram has yet to have any children (and it takes a while if you'll recall). God doesn't ask for much - just that Abram leave his country and his kindred and his father's house to go obediently to a land that God will show him. It's a big risk and a big promise. And Abram goes. He goes. Into the unknown. Now the rest of the story is not marked by unfailing obedience or abundant blessing...but Abram, later Abraham, keeps his promise and so does God. Abram shows faith in what God has promised.

The psalmist expresses a keen faith in the role of the LORD as protector and provider. There is assurance of protection and well-being through time. And as we read these words, it seems a little like the Psalmist might be reminding himself or talking himself in to holding up his end of the covenant relationship with God. We sometimes use this self-talk method when things are difficult: "Where does my help come from? It comes from the Lord."

In the passage from John, we are introduced to the Pharisee named Nicodemus. He shows up a couple of times in John's gospel stories. Here he arrives by night to ask some clarifying questions of this rabbi, Jesus, about his teachings. Specifically, he's curious about this notion of being born of the spirit. Nicodemus can't reframe the concept of being born from his physical understanding. Jesus is trying to explain that there has to be some sort of formation/transformation/birthing process connecting one to a belief in God. If Nicodemus cannot receive their testimony, witness the work of Jesus and the disciples and be changed by it. Nicodemus is pretty sure he cannot wrap his mind around the idea of being born in a spiritual way. Now the rest of this selection includes probably one of the most oft referenced scriptures (perhaps most notably at professional sporting events). "For God so loved the world, He gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." This is where the slope gets slippery for some. It's easy to read this selection from John, especially if you go beyond the selected passages through the 21st verse, and use it to beat people over the head with a "turn or burn" message about Jesus being the one way to salvation. But that's not how we've experienced God. It's not how we've seen God work in others. We think maybe it's not quite that easy.

In these selections from Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Rome, we find Paul working hard to explain how everything fits together. Paul was the first Christian systematic theologian that we know of, and in all of his writings he makes efforts to give words to the many mysteries of the developing faith. In an effort to underscore the point that a person's salvation or righteousness is found in faith rather than in works he reaches back and uses Abraham as an example. He holds Abraham up as a prime example of salvation and sustenance through faith. He does not re-write the Hebrew story...he takes it and uses it to shine light on the faithfulness of God to the covenant.

There are many days it is hard to believe a promise that sounds too good to believe. It does not make logical sense to think that God will remain faithful to a covenant where we are almost certain to fail at holding up our end. And yet these are the examples we are given and this is what we are called to do.

God, I try so hard to impress you.
I want you to be proud.
I want to be worthy of your love.
I want you to know I am trying.
Because
I am certain there are days
it doesn't look that way.
I am certain there are days
I wonder if I am trying
to hold up my side of the
relationship.
I am grateful beyond words
for your faithfulness.
I am grateful beyond words
for your forgiveness.
I am grateful beyond words
for your generosity.
Thank you, God.
*amen

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

First Sunday in Lent, Year A

2011-03-10T20:47:00.001-05:00

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11

So let's start with a simplified definition.

Sin = things you think or do (or don't do) that take you further away from being in relationship with God.

Maybe you agree with this definition...maybe you don't. Either way, this is the definition we are working with as we write.

We all sin.

We are 100% certain we do. We are fairly certain you do.

Sometimes we intentionally do it. Sometimes we accidentally do it. Sometimes we actively go out looking to choose against God. Sometimes we close our eyes and try to ignore things and end up choosing against God by not choosing.

It would be easy to be completely intimidated by sin and feel we are totally hemmed in and will never be able to do anything without sinning.

But there is good news. We are never forced to sin.

That is worth repeating.

We are never forced to sin.

Sure, it comes naturally to us all. Many of us are quite good at it. But we are never forced to sin.

We always have a choice.

You might be thinking, "Laura and Matt, do you have any examples of this?"

We are glad you asked. This week's lectionary readings are all about people making choices that take them closer toward and further away from God.

In these passages from Genesis we see the classic concept of sin develop. We see God hanging a 'Do not eat' sign on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and then we see a talking serpent convincing Eve and then her husband to eating from the forbidden tree. Then 'their eyes were opened, and they knew they were naked.'" Now it is important to note that nowhere here is the word Sin used....neither is the title Satan. Instead, God sets a boundary, the humans transgress that boundary, this transgression breaks trust between God and the humans, and the humans begin moving further away from God.

Bummer.

The writer of Psalm 32 obviously knew this passage from Genesis. Look at the opening line: "Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven." Ain't that the truth. Once we can recognize and admit that when given the choice we are transgressors....when given the choice, we often choose to move further away from God, it is deeply true that the happy people are the ones whose transgressions are forgiven.

In the passage from the gospel of Matthew, we see Jesus facing the choice of staying where he was (we assume that since he was God he was quite close to God) or choosing to put his faith in something else and moving away from God. Jesus was in the wilderness and the Tempter offered him bread and power and safety in exchange for choosing to move further away from God. Jesus, being 100% God in addition to 100% human, chooses to not choose against God.

And in the passage from Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Rome, we find what we often find with Paul: he spends a lot of time intellectualizing the situation and trying to systematize what it means to be a being who is prone to turning his back on God and how the insertion of Jesus impacts that system. He is explaining to these new believers the importance of Jesus and the forgiveness that he personified. He's creating a contrast between the fall of one man (Adam) and the ascension of another (Jesus).

So...Sin.

Choices moving us further from God who created us.

We always have a choice. And when we make a bad choice, we have the choice of turning back and restoring the relationship with God.

God,
Here I am...
me and my sometimes good
sometimes neutral
sometimes bad choices.
All of me.
Here I am.
Here with you.
Here we choose to be.
Today.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Transfiguration Sunday, Year A

2011-03-03T08:51:00.005-05:00

* Exodus 24:12-18 •
* Psalm 2 or Psalm 99 •
* 2 Peter 1:16-21 •
* Matthew 17:1-9

Laura writes:
"I stood in chapel this week and recited the Nicene Creed. Now our church community (Kittamaqundi Community Church) is NOT a credal community, meaning we don't as a group subscribe to one creed and share that as a central commitment of membership, participation, and belonging. But at the seminary where I work and attend, creeds are a shared experience of that community. And I was aware that as I read the words, I felt both myself sculpted and molded into the shape of the beliefs I was articulating. And frankly, it was comfortable space. My rational mind can sometimes trip over these words...words like "eternally begotten of the Father" and "he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man." Yes, my rational mind sometimes can't wrap itself around these concepts.

But there in the space of worship, having just heard a powerful message on these very texts, these words and their tradition and comfort was shaping my soul and I was leaning into the sculptor's hands, allowing myself to be shaped. They were warmth and light, infused with the ringing of voices who had spoken the same words over thousands of years, ringing with the spirit of early Christians who chose them so carefully. These words and the emotion and sense of well-being they evoke are a revelation to me of things that I cannot know in my rational mind but of things that my very cells know somehow to be true. They call me back to being God's beloved."

It is "Transfiguration Sunday" on the liturgical calendar - a time when Christians reflect on the visible revelation of Jesus Christ in his lifetime before his disciples Peter, James and John -- Jesus bathed in glittering light, standing alongside Moses, the Lawbearer and Elijah the Prophet as if he were a completion of the two kinds of Godly revelation - the law and the prophets - all in one human divine package. Then clouds gather and a voice emerges, "This is my Son, the beloved..." It is the Sunday that precedes Ash Wednesday and the Descent into 40 days of Lent, a time of reflection, of penance, of awareness of our humanity, our mortality, our sinfulness and our fellowship in that space with every other human on the planet.

But if the journey begins today, it begins in the light of God's revelation to the disciples on that mountainside. And the disciples weren't invited or encouraged to stay there in the light...instead, Jesus sent them back down the mountain to face a lot of hard work, travel, dusty feet, persecution, criticism and self-doubt. In our artful imagination, we are guessing that these disciples needed to face all of what was coming to even begin to understand what they experienced on that mountain. We are so like that...we can't see the gift that life is sometimes except from the depths of pain or unbelievable mistakes...and it is that realization that drags us out of that low place and back to the mountain.

Our texts for this week all tell a story of revelation - of God showing God's self to God's creation. Each revelation, like a creed, is a reminder of who God is.

In the passage from Exodus, Moses heads up on to Mount Sinai which is then covered by a cloud for six days. On the seventh day, God's voice is heard to Moses, and the people that Moses had left at the base of the mountain knew God was there on the mountain because of the spectacular firey vision of the mountain. Moses entered the cloud and then spent 40 days and 40 nights with God. Now beyond this verse, we know that Moses comes down off the mountain with the ten commandments, the laws that were to be central to the Hebrews that had fled Egypt and were moving toward the promised land. God has made a covenant with the people and named the expectations they are to keep in the Law.

We have two different messages from the psalmists. First is a warning - a threat - a reminder that none of this world is wholy ours. The second is a brighter message - a praise psalm for God's revelations to Moses and Aaron and Samuel.

In Matthew's gospel, we have a detailed account of the magnificent transformation of Jesus that Peter, James and John experienced on the mountain side. They want to hold on to the moment, to create a Place for Jesus and Moses and Elijah, to bask in the presence of the light. But Jesus not only sends them all back down the mountain -- he tells them that they cannot tell of their experience until he has been raised from the dead. We can only imagine this must have been a let down. First, they weren't able to share their story and second, they've been told that their first reaction (building a shelter for everyone to hang out in) was inappropriate. Their experience on the mountain certainly was different from that of Moses. However, both experiences offered a chance for them to see their lives and purposes from a different perspective.

In the 2nd epistle of Peter, the disciple is finally able to tell of his mountain experience...and he is less telling of his own experience but of his experience of God. He encourages the early church to be watchful. Prophecy doesn't come out of our human experience, it comes out of our experience of God. We are not telling our own story when we witness, we are telling God's story. And that story is shared by so many others and it echoes through time and space and shapes hearers.

We repeat these stories because they have power. We tell them around dinner tables, we re-read them, we recite them in creeds because they form us. The biblical stories of transformation Transform us.

God, I want to be open to change.
I want to be open to allowing
Your Spirit
to seep in to all of the cracks
and crevices of my life
and direct my steps
and inspire my actions
and redirect my ugliness
and empower me to be
the beacon of Light
You have created me to be.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Eighth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A

2011-02-24T10:59:00.000-05:00

WARNING: this is a dangerous line of thinking.

What if we were to really trust God?

What if we were to really completely and honestly and completely throw ourselves in to believing God will provide for the things we need?

Of course an important first bump in the road for us comes when we are discerning the things we Need.

Does anyone else feel uncomfortable with where this might lead?

In this week's lectionary selections we have readings that are encouraging the reader to trust and depend on God.

We will approach them in reverse order this time....mainly because Jesus's message is such a counter-cultural message, we cannot turn away from it.

In the passage from the gospel of Matthew, the first statement we have is "no one can serve two masters.....you cannot serve God and wealth." Okay....so we have to turn down the volume on our plasma television, put away our pay stubs, and stop our dishwasher so we can read that again.

"You cannot serve God and wealth."

Jesus goes on to offer several reasons why it is important to just focus on serving God. He even offers some insight in to how this might be done--primairly, the message is each of us should focus on being who we are and what we have under our control (what we actually have under our control, not what we would like to have under our control) and leave the rest of the orchestration up to God.

This does not sit well with us. For those of you who know us, you know that we are Accomplishers. We are Doers. We are Assessers and Control Takers.

Of course, we are also often Stressed Out. We are often Pulled Tight. We often are near the edge of being Burned Up.

Side Note: [Some scholars argue that this is evidence of Eastern / Buddhist influences in the Palestinian culture. The Buddha's teachings had been percolating for about 500 years at this point, and these points of Jesus seem quite similar to the Buddha's teachings of finding peace and resources within one's self and the contemplation of the smallest parts of creation. Consider the lillies.]

In Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Corinth he focuses on an important message that it is not a human's job to judge him or her self or anyone else. Judgment belongs to God.

The psalmist describes something that might be bewildering for us - a peace that passes understanding, if you will. Like a child full dependent and fully trusting on its mother, the psalmist rests in the hope of the Lord.

And in the passage from Isaiah we hear another message directly from God as to why we should trust God to provide for our Needs. For 8 verses here God recounts to the people how God has provided for them in the past and how God will provide for them in the future.

This is dangerous thinking.

It is uncomfortable to think about.

And it just might be a message of freedom that we all need.

God,

I've lost touch with my roots...

with my flying instinct

while I am spinning in the world.

But as your creation

I seek deep knowing

of what I really need.

Help me rest

in knowing that You

are God.

I am not.

Amen

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A

2011-02-17T09:44:00.001-05:00

We live with three young people (and two dogs and two resilient goldfish) who are, every day, actively learning about how to operate their own bodies and how to interact with other humans and the world around them. Of course, each of us continues to work on this no matter how old we are, but it is overtly obvious with teens.

How much food you need to eat for breakfast to make it to lunch. How much one needs to study to do well on a test. How much notice an adult needs to change driving plans. What happens if you never clean your room. How smelly can I be and stand to be around myself? How much do I need to eat for lunch to make it through school? Where do I need to write down important events so I can remember them? How much do I need to eat after school so I can make it through sports practice without passing out? What happens if I get upset and yell at my friends / my teacher / a stranger / my parents? How much do I need to eat for dinner to make it through studying so I can go to bed? The list goes on.

Some of the answers to these questions can be dictated from an adult. Some of them cannot. Some of them require new information. Some of these questions can be answered by inferring from other information you already know. We learn ways of living and surviving from experience, from mentors, from authorities.

The Hebrew and Christian scriptures have many directives in them. There are many many instances where its readers are told how to live and behave and conduct themselves. And the directives from one scripture to the next are not always compatible.

This week in Leviticus we see Moses getting instructions from God that Moses was to share with the Israelites. These instructions range from when and why to harvest to how judgment should be rendered and who should render it. There is a funny rhythm to the refrain...many lines end with "I am the LORD." On first reading, it might sound a bit familiar - a refrain almost like, "because I said so..." But as we sit with this passage, the lines blur, and suddenly it is as if the directives become descriptions. Created in God's image seems all encompassing - we're called to make our very behavior reflect God's nature.

In Psalm 119 we see the writer pleading for God to offer direction in a variety of areas in his or her life. And at the end of the selected text, there is a very touching plea, "in your righteousness, give me life." It is as if life comes from doing as God would have us do.

In Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Corinth we see him offering his readers some instruction and direction on the ways they are connected to God. In a way, Paul is describing God's indwelling with us. With Jesus as our foundation, we have to build in accordance with God...otherwise we might lose our building permit. We've been given this magnificent example, our Emmanuel. And we're charged to live out that example.

And in Matthew we see Jesus offering some direct reinterpretation of Hebrew law where he elevates the commitment and the consequences a bit. He's telling his listeners (and we think he's telling us) that we really must be living up to the expectation set by the blurry lines of Leviticus - that we are are to act as God acts with mercy and love, not just for those who will be merciful and loving as well, but for our enemies and our persecutors.

Growing up in and around a variety of church settings we have heard folks say, "The Bible has an answer for any question you might have."

On the surface, this statement is sort of comforting. However, it isn't easy to tease out simple truths. If you start to poke at this statement a bit you find that either you do not get a satisfactory answer to where dinosaurs came from and went, or you get the answer that you are a sinner or unbeliever for thinking the earth is over 10,000 years old. And there are a lot of conflicting directives there too. But isn't that sort of "true to life?" Aren't we getting all sorts of answers from all sorts of places at different times and in different circumstances?

All of this is to say that the Hebrew and Christian scriptures give us many many commandments and directives for how to live our lives. And, no matter how thoroughly Leviticus is read, there are still some things that we have to take responsibility for ourselves and discern on our own how it is we are to live. But we're given great examples in the life of Christ and in the generations of those who have followed by loving their neighbor, the widow, the orphan and the enemy.

Creator God,

There is conflicting information

flying at me faster than the speed of light.

Be present with me,

dwell in my very breath

so that in breathing

I am able to discern

how to be your creation

in the confusion.

Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Sixth Sunday After the Epiphany, Year A

2011-02-10T14:56:00.002-05:00

* Deuteronomy 30:15-20
* Psalm 119:1-8
* 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
* Matthew 5:21-37

This week, our readings all point to a common theme - God's investment in human will, and the outcome of our choices. We have choices of how to live, and there are consequences to those choices.

In Deuteronomy, as the Hebrews are receiving the the commandments, they are warned - the choice is theirs...blesses or curses. This passage pretty specifically lays out what happens when we obey the commandments and what happens when we do not obey the commandments.

The psalmist sings praises for those who choose a right path. The opening phrase says it all: Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD.

And in Paul's letter to the church in Corinth, he sort of turns this theme around a corner...the choices don't matter as much as the fact that we are God's and therefore have those choices.

The real meat (sorry vegetarians) of this week's readings comes in the passage from Matthew.

For several weeks at this point in the church year, we are reading from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in the gospel of Matthew. It’s a long teaching offered to a large crowd of people. It twists and turns. Two weeks ago, we heard Jesus name those that were “blessed…” – the meek, the poor, the weak, those that hunger and thirst for righteousness. In last week’s readings, we heard Jesus proclaim all to be salt and light – essential elements of the well-rounded life – and then challenge all to share that salt and light boldly to the glory of God. It was all pretty comforting to that point.

And then in a quick turn, just about the time we’re feeling empowered – blessed, light, bright and salty - Jesus warns that unless our righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees (we’re talking people who would be seen as Uber Holy) we will NEVER see the kingdom of heaven.

And this week, believe it or not, it gets even tougher.

Jesus is unpacking Jewish law – the Torah that has ordered the civic, religious, spiritual and economic lives of the Jewish people for thousands of years. He’s speaking to a crowd that is watching the world change rapidly. Occupied by Rome, the tribes long-established in this land have lost so much. Surely their laws and customs and traditions cannot be far behind. And Jesus speaks in terms that make the law bigger, more encompassing, more comprehensive… He makes these laws not just prohibitions but imperatives. Not only should we not kill, but we must love ABUNDANTLY. Not only should we not be adulterous, we must not even have desire for another. Not only should we not swear falsely…we must not swear at all! In the midst of so much cultural change, Jesus takes the bedrock of the law and makes it even harder to be righteous.

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ 22But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister,* you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult* a brother or sister,* you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool’, you will be liable to the hell* of fire. 23So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister* has something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister,*25Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court* with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” and then come and offer your gift.

Whoa. We have to be more righteous than Scribes and Pharisees to see the Kingdom of Heaven, AND if we bear a grudge or act in anger or call people names, we will experience a Hell of Fire.

We're sort of losing sight of being salt and light. Are you? We're not feeling real hot about the state of our righteousness.

True confessions: We are not very nice people sometimes. We haven’t ever killed anyone…we don’t even think we’ve ever physically hurt someone, at least not intentionally, but we’ve said some pretty nasty things…and thought some pretty nasty things. And meant them. We get angry. We feel hurt and strike out with words or by withholding affection.

Recently Laura had a heated conversation with her ex-husband, the father of her children, about a matter of the children’s safety and well-being. She was “alone” in our bedroom. As she hung up the phone, she shouted out her grief and her anger and her hurt…and the kids heard. You must know that this passage has set heavily upon her since then. There is some reconciling to do. In their hurt, they said and did things that caused their father to know what Laura had done. In his hurt, there were more ugly things said.

Hell of fire.

As Laura's father was dying, they engaged in a deep written dialogue about God and Jesus and faith…he spoke these words: “I do not believe in a vengeful God, Laura. I believe in a very gentle handed God who allows us to create our own heaven and hell.”

Kingdom of Heaven, Hell of Fire – both products of our human choices.

During the last 3 miles of Laura's first half-marathon, a coach stood on the side of the road and yelled, “The next 5k is what you make it. It can be the best 5k you’ve ever run. Or it can be the absolute worst. Heaven or hell, what will it be?”

In a way, Jesus is like that coach standing on the side of the road, reminding us that we have choices…that we create our own Kingdom of Heaven or Hell of Fire right here.

Really. We choose.

You are blessed, light, bright and salty…. You have the power to be graceful, merciful, light-filled, and loving. And when you are not, you are forgiven.
It’s your race. You get choose: Kingdom of Heaven or Hell of Fire.

God, the world of intention is tricky.
Sometimes I say things I don't mean
(good and bad)
Sometimes I say things that are mean
(accurate and otherwise)
Sometimes I lust after things and people
(that are mine and that belong to others)
Sometimes I love others
And sometimes I don't.
It is hard to control this fantastic biologic
Spirit Container
You Created.
Guide me as I learn and relearn
The ways that bring me
Closer
To
You.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

5th Sunday After the Epiphany, Year A

2011-02-03T22:01:00.001-05:00

* Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12) •
* Psalm 112:1-9 (10) •
* 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16) •
* Matthew 5:13-20

We are BIG on Grace and Mercy and Forgiveness. There is no way around that.

Both of us have been people who did not offer Grace, Mercy, and Forgiveness, and both of us have been people who have not received Grace, Mercy, and Forgiveness....and after some consideration, we both believe it is better to offer and receive Grace, Mercy, and Forgiveness rather than withholding it.

There is so much to be said about the notion that we do not have to do anything....actually, that there is not anything we CAN do....to participate in or receive salvation.

AND there is so much to be said about what we do with our lives and how we respond to ourselves, the world, and God once we understand our role and relationship and place with God.

This week's readings all talk about how important it is to really be doing something with the faith we profess.

Isaiah has so many wonderful interactions between God and God's people. Some of them warm and fuzzy and some of them maybe a little uncomfortable and aggressive. This week's passage shows God (at least the inspiration of God through the pen of Isaiah) sort of poking the people and accusing them of being less than consistent between their words, actions, and intentions. The people think they are being righteous, but God says they are fasting with the intention of personal gain and recognition. And then God makes clear that if they remove the contentiousness and quarreling and evil from among themselves, if they offer food to the hungry, then God will be there to support and satisfy them at every turn.

We don't often like to think of faithfulness to God as a contingent relationship, but it appears that God does have some expectations of the people.

The message of Psalm 112 is summed up in the first verse: Happy are those who fear the LORD, who greatly delight in his commandments. There is much more commentary about how happy and how the happiness will manifest itself, but that is the basic point: Delight yourself in God / the commandments of God, and you will find happiness.

Paul goes at this from a slightly different direction. He illustrates the things / revelations that come to those who are Believers / Followers / Spiritual. Paul has a way of making things sound complicated, but really, when you are really tuned in, really aware of God and your relationship with God, do you suppose it is easier...or maybe just a natural outflow...that you are better able to love others?

In the passage from Matthew, Jesus talks of the product of a person's life being changed. When you have received the Light of God, it is your responsibility to share it with others. And that light illuminates those around you in ways that light the whole world. Laura recently tapped into a memory about her father's first bout with cancer and the way he suffered with damage to his taste buds. Who knew that salt made the whole world better? Italian artists began to play with the way that light fell in their paintings - chiaroscuro was born. The way that they depicted light changed the art world....but isn't that what light does? Changes the world?

Created by God, sharing our humanity with Christ, infused with the Holy Spirit...change the world.

God,
somedays we just check the box
we just show up at worship
we put a check in the basket
we make our commitments
and follow along
and forget
forget the beauty
of our interrelatedness
and our creation
and our dependence
on your very breath...
the essence of our BEing
ruach...
breath...
and we can
exhale
and share that breath
Amen.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany, Year A

2011-01-27T12:47:00.002-05:00

Preface: We highly recommend that you navigate here http://www.mp3rocket.com/mp3/-1_00/Sweet-Honey-in-the-Rock-Beatitudes.htm and listen to Sweet Honey in the Rock while you read this week...

Micah 6:1-8 • Psalm 15 • 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 • Matthew 5:1-12

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God?

If you love me, feed my sheep.

Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.

And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

We swim in a faith with a simple premise: because God first loved us, we are called to love one another.

But somehow, the noise in the world around us drowns that out. Our to do lists surely have more than one simple item - love others. In general, we measure our life's value on things far from the number of people we love. And even if we have our eye on that priority, the world conspires to drive it further down the list.

Our readings for this week ground us in the things that matter most.

The prophet Micah lived amidst great political unrest - kings sought to gain power through the acquisition of territories. Time and effort are dedicated to fortifications, supply stores, military prowess and power. And the widow and the orphan suffer. Micah is a fan of the tradition of Moses, and he calls the people out - religiosity is empty without social justice. He reminds the people of what God has done...and God isn't seeking a new temple, a new territory...all the Lord requires is that we do justice (notice, DO justice - not just talk about it), love kindness and walk humbly with our God.

Similarly, the Psalmist recalls some really simple, basic ways of sharing existence with our fellow human.

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul is troubled by some brewing divisions in the community. The first line of this week's reading reflects on the meaning of the cross. In the Roman society of Christ's crucifixion, the cross was a way of defeating someone, of breaking their will and of making them an example to the down-trodden. But here, Paul really recalls Jesus's obedience as an act of Love poured out for others..."God chose what is low and despised in the world...to reduce to nothing things that are..." Perhaps in this community, people are focused on things that don't really matter - what is different between them rather than how they can simply love one another.

Finally, after launching a ministry of teaching and healing, Jesus gathers a crowd for a teaching that many know well. You can probably imagine the gathered hearing this message that turned the world of their daily lives and expectations on its ear. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted and you when you are reviled and persecuted... Really? We thought we were blessed by our house and our car and our checking account and our meaningful jobs. Sure we're blessed by family and friends, but we feel awfully blessed by the wealth and privilege of our freedom, our education, our consumption. This "sermon" continues through a lot of important messages - being salt and light, reinterpretations of the Law how to pray. It is a base teaching in being simple, obedient and loving

Just in case you made a bunch of resolutions to do and be and get at the New Year, this might be a refreshing week of simplification. God loves you. Love one another.

God, I want to believe that you love me.
I want to love others.
God, I want to trust that you love me.
I try to love others.
God, so often I don't believe I can be loved.
I cannot love others.
God, I feel I need to earn your love.
Why should I love others?
God, I want to accept your love.
I want to love me.
I want to love You.
I want to love others.
I love you God.
Thank you for loving me.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Third Sunday after the Epiphany Year A

2011-01-22T11:45:00.001-05:00

Offering relief to one who is suffering may be one of the holiest gifts that can be given.

A suffering person often feels alone, hopeless, and helpless. A person who is suffering cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel...in fact, there is often no light at all....and no tunnel....just limits and walls and darkness.

Suffering shows up in 10,000 ways. And being able to offer some relief from suffering can happen in 10,000 ways.

You know this from your own life. You have suffered. We all have suffered in some way or another in our lives. In one way or another we have all found ourselves sitting in darkness.

And (hopefully) we all also know the great relief that can come when someone else reaches out and brings some Light to our dark and hopeless situation.

Often, when Light comes, we are filled with more than relief....we are elated....we know that we are not alone and that there is a chance things will be better.

This is an important theme through all of scripture. Some folks even believe that this is the primary message of the bible--the Light of God always overcomes the darkness of the world.

In this week's reading of Isaiah we see one of the happiest moments in all of scripture: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them a light has shined." Isaiah was actually writing about things that had already happened and things that he hoped would happen again in the future. The people reading / hearing his words knew and understand darkness and oppression, and they also could understand the dream of the Light shining on them again. An interesting side note in this passage....look at one of the ways Isaiah said they would rejoice: "they rejoice....as people exult when dividing plunder". Now it is fun to make a modern day comparison here to kids dividing up Halloween candy, but I think Isaiah had something else in mind.

In Psalm 27 we see a person who has experienced both darkness and Light....we see a person who knows what it means to be down and what it means to be up. Read Psalm 27 and then read Psalm 23. There are so many of the same images and messages shared between the two.

In the portion of Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Corinth we are looking at this week we see Paul doing a bit of housekeeping around what appears to be a quarrel within that community. People were fighting over the lineage of their belief--one was baptized by Paul, others were baptized by Apollos, or Cephas, etc. Paul appears to be upset about this for a variety of reasons, but the primary issue is they were putting themselves back in to a darkness from which they had been pulled. He wanted them to understand that they no longer needed to divide their loyalties among gods or people, but that there is power and Light and relief and freedom found when focusing on Christ.

The message that Isaiah shared was so powerful, as the writer of Matthew was telling the story of Jesus, he quoted it to emphasize what it was that Jesus was doing. That writer saw that Jesus's message of repentance as bringing Light in to the darkness. And this is a hard message to argue with....after calling disciples, what do we see Jesus does? He travels "throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people." That seems to be a great example of offering relief to suffering people and bringing Light in to darkness.

God of Light,
why do I love the darkness so much?
Why can I not accept the Light
you shine?
Why is it important for me to
keep my head under the covers
and make myself suffer?
Help me as I attempt to accept
Your Light.
Help me as I learn to
follow your example
and bring
Light
to
the
World.
Amen.

Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A

2011-01-13T17:08:00.002-05:00

Isaiah 49:1-7 • Psalm 40:1-11 • 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 • John 1:29-42

We often begin things and are called to things that take us in wide and varied directions. Sometimes we begin with one intention and we end up doing things and going places we could never have imagined.

We all have examples of this in both pedestrian and dramatic ways.

Have you ever been hired for a job and six months later wonder how you job description has any connection to what you actually do?

Or maybe you struck up a conversation with a person who is homeless and found yourself running a Day Center.

When Barack Obama took his oath of office, he had no idea he would be giving the eulogy for a 9 year old girl in Arizona.

None of us can ever know where things will lead.

It is especially hard to predict where we might end up if we are following...or being pushed or pulled by God.

Imagine Isaiah's situation. Isaiah talks of how he was intimately known by God before he (Isaiah) was born, and when Isaiah talks about how he feels unworthy God tells him that Isaiah would now have greater responsibility than God originally intended.

The Psalmist was doing his best to follow God and evidently found himself in a desolate pit. However, he continued on trusting God and God set his feet on a rock and made his steps secure. He began to follow, found himself in a sticky bog, continued to follow, and found himself secure again.

In Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Corinth, we see Paul giving thanks for all the changes he has seen in them as they have followed Jesus. He is offering them a bit of re-framing so they can see some of where they have come from and to.

In the gospel of John we get another view of our friend Saint John the Forerunner. He is telling a bit of his own story that he did not understand when he began. In this account we see some disciples that began to follow Jesus who had no idea where they would end up. Peter surely didn't imagine that he would be the rock upon which Christ built his church. And we see Jesus himself on the front end of his ministry that he may not have had an idea of where it would end.

We all look for and find our piece of work in this world. Sometimes our work seeks us out and finds us. And it is our responsibility to attempt to be faithful every day to the work and to the lives that get laid out in front of us. And over time, we might learn to roll with the surprises, with the unexpected terror and joy that is the life of the called.

God
What makes you think that I can do what is you ask me to do?
What makes you think that I can stretch this way and that?
What makes you think that I will hear and listen and obey?
Oh, yes. I am your creation. And I am in your presence.
Surely I will come around.
Walk beside me.
And give me a push out of the safe places.
Thy will be done.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Baptism of the Lord, Year A

2011-01-05T22:07:00.001-05:00

Isaiah 42:1-9 •

Psalm 29 •

Acts 10:34-43 •

Matthew 3:13-17

Throughout the Advent season, we consider the incarnation - the idea of the Word made flesh to dwell among us. Emmanuel - God with us.

That is a wild idea, isn't it? God. With. Us. Here.

Flash forward - Jesus has aged a bit, and he's baptized by Saint John the Forerunner (remember, we talked about him during the Advent season, too!). He's all grown up and his ministry is beginning to really sizzle. How did we get from incarnation to baptism? Do they have anything to do with one another? And what does that mean to us?

God is with us in a very intimate way - we are potentially filled with the Holy Spirit and have the opportunity to be the light of Christ to those around us. We're called to do just that, to be the incarnate hands and feet of Christ in the world.

The prophet Isaiah is recounting the Lord's words. And at first, it sounds as though God is talking about one specific person he's chosen to bless and to strengthen to establish justice on the earth. But if you read on, there is a wider promise here. "I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand...to open the eyes of the blind..." As God's creation, we seem to be empowered to a greater mission far beyond satisfying the world. We seem to be empowered to free the captive and to declare the year of the Lord's favor.

The psalmist is lifting an litany of positive attributes of the Lord. But the litany ends with a petition that the Lord give strength to his people and bless them with peace.

Matthew's gospel describes Jesus' baptism and the miracle of God's voice heard proclaiming, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." These are the words that launched Jesus' ministry. For those of us baptized, does our baptism initiate a new obligation or a new embodiment? A new incarnation?

Finally, in the account from Acts, Peter is addressing the apostles who were early witnesses of the resurrection. He is reminding them of their duty - their responsibility - to testify to what they had seen, experienced and learned.

God, it seems there is something in the water.

As much as we attempt to discount the physical

and emphasize the metaphysical,

it seems there is something that is vital

about the water.

There is something important

in the flesh and blood.

There is something about

this breath

and this sweat

and these tears.

Help me to appreciate

the water

and not get lost

in the clouds.

Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2011 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Nativity of the Lord, Proper III, Year A

2011-01-03T22:03:00.001-05:00

Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98
Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12)
John 1:1-14

A nephew posted this quote as a recent Facebook status:

"Sometimes I wonder...will God ever forgive us for what we have done for one another? Then I look around and realize...God left this place long ago."

It is from the movie, Blood Diamond, an dramatic adventure released in 2006. But citation aside, what a stark statement of belief...or lack thereof. What a sad reflection, especially in a season many of us recognize as one of waiting and watching.

But it has us thinking...how are we evidence that God IS in the world? How are we proof that God has NOT left this place?

In a season where seekers and believers are anticipating God, there is much to be done to be the hands and feet and heart of God among those who hurt, who ache, who long...and for those who don't even know to ask questions.

The text from Isaiah is rejoicing at the opportunity to return to the and - to Jerusalem - from exile. At the time, the opportunity to return would have been understood as evidence of God's favor. It was a tangible sign that God had turned back to his people Israel, had maintained his promises, and kept covenant and would expect the people to do the same.

Similarly, the Psalmist sings praise for the marvelous works of God. Perhaps it helps to envision David dancing before the Ark with great joy and thanksgiving as it is carried into Jerusalem, returned to its rightful place in the heart of Israel, marking God's presence with God's people. Do we have sure evidence - a real presence - like that with us today? If we did, where would it be housed?

But Paul reframes God's presence in his letter to the Hebrews. He talks about God's presence being known through the birth of a real human being - a man named Jesus.

And the well-known selection from John's gospel describes a presence that was in the beginning with God, that was through all of creation with God, that was the light of life in all people..."And the Word became flesh and lived among us..." Here is a pretty good case for our ability to be the real presence of God to others. If we accept the challenge, we are infused with this light by our very creation. We are light in the world.

But there are so many who do not experience this light.

Oh come Emmanuel
And equip me
Not to say the right words
Or pray the right prayers
Or sing the right hymns
Or even to do the right things.
Equip me to embody the very light
Of your creation
That others can See
And be Warmed.
Amen

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Fourth Sunday in Advent, Year A

2010-12-16T12:22:00.000-05:00

Isaiah 7:10-16 •
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 •
Romans 1:1-7 •
Matthew 1:18-25

We are all looking for different things. It seems like we spend a lot of time talking about individual context here......but it is true....we are all looking for different things.

Just ask two other folks you know what they think about God or Jesus and see if you come up with more than three answers among your three opinions.

When we read these four scriptures this week it is easy to see that they were written in four quite distinct contexts. And while there are many commonalities between what each was hoping for and expecting in / from a Savior (a person who Saves), there are some important differences.

The 7th chapter of Isaiah was written at a time when the Kingdom of Judah was caught between and among competing regional powers. Ahaz has made a political choice that threatens his position of power. As he prepares to be deposed by two other Kingdoms, Isaiah tries to reassure him and encourages him to ask God for a sign of deliverance. Ahas was looking for a military leader that would come and Save himself and all of Judah from ppressors. He sought Savior that would arise from within to Save Judah from an outside threat.

In Psalm 80 we also see a writer who is entreating God to Restore and Save the community from their physical and political enemies. The writer of this passage seems to be writing from a place of oppression (at least great distress) and is hoping for an intervention from God to Save them. AND THEN once they are saved "we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name."

Interesting.

In the passage we get from the beginning of Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Rome, we can see that Paul was looking for something slightly different than his Israelite forebearers. In this passage he does not specifically mention a Savior or Being Saved, but he does give us his understanding of the Christological history up to that point. He understands that it was through Jesus that "we have recieved grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name." In this particular reading at least we seem to find Paul being grateful for Jesus the Savior because he inspired folks to Save the Gentiles.

And then in the passage from the first part of Matthew we find the conversation between Joseph and the Angel of the Lord concerning Mary's miraculous pregnancy. The angel tells Joseph his fiancee "will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will Save his people from their sins."

Notice the difference between the Salvation those in the New Testament readings were looking for? They were not looking for political Salvation or (at least in these passages) Salvation from an oppressor....they are hoping for someone that will Save them from themselves or from their Sins.

And what does that mean--to be Saved from our sins? It seems like a heavy statement. Are our sins the things in life that stand between us and God and Salvation from them will bring us back in to relationship with God? If that is true, then what does it matter if we are oppressed?

Or are our Hebrew friends correct and the primary need to be Saved from oppression because oppressed people cannot appropriately serve and follow God?

Maybe as history unfolds we are all looking to be Saved from different things. Maybe some days we need to be Saved from others and some days we need to be Saved from ourselves.

Yahweh, Creator, Light-bearer,
You know me.
You know my sin.
You know my heart.
Help me see
What you know
and help me look
for Salvation
from all oppression
(My Own and
That which Presses on Me).
Free me for service
to your Kingdom.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Third Sunday in Advent, Year A

2010-12-07T15:30:00.000-05:00

Isaiah 35:1-10

Psalm 146:5-10 or Luke 1:46b-55 •

James 5:7-10

Matthew 11:2-11

This week NPR reported on the closing of the infamous Cabrini-Green - a Chicago Housing Authority project - a crumbling cluster of high-rise housing that became symbolic of the concentration of poverty amidst a bustling and sometimes affluent city. The unexpected twist to many listeners who grew up with stories of the violence and crime in these "projects" was the grief and resistance expressed by long-time residents.

Rat-infested, crime-riddled...This was home. It has been community for those that had no choice but to live there. And now it is being take away.

Imagine a time when you sat in a committee meeting about a project for which you cared deeply and someone, perhaps new to the project, suggested a change. Did anyone at the table resist, saying, "We've never done it that way?" Or, "We tried that once before and it was a complete failure?" Bumps, warts and all, this beloved project needs protected from a future unseen, yes?

During this season of advent, we find ourselves claiming to wait for God to show up...for the incarnation to take place...for the Kingdom to appear...to take shape. But we wonder, are we really ready for and receptive to whatever actually shows up? Can we let go of our vision of the ideal to receive the reality of Emmanuel?

The prophet Isaiah describes an idyllic scene of dry places set to bloom, infirmity overcome, a clear path to follow. Consider the confusing times from which this writing came. Of course this sounded like a wonderful breakthrough. But did the Israelites experience the described reality? Ever? Or did they perhaps encounter it without recognizing it?

The psalm or the alternate reading from Luke (often called as the Magnificat - Mary's song of praise after the visit from Gabriel) are both joyful, willing and reverent responses to God. Let's spend a little time particularly with Mary's response. She's just been asked to conceive God's son out of wedlock in a society where women are stoned for sexual impropriety. Who will believe this? What does she risk by saying yes? Can she possibly envision what will come next, let alone what will come over thousands of years to follow?

James' epistle urges the community to be patient. Ha! Patient because the Lord is coming near. What does that even look like...patience?

Finally, from the gospel of Matthew, John has sent word to inquire whether this Jesus is really "the one." Now we don't know what John was expecting...but he had to ask clarifying questions. Jesus alludes to the visions of the prophet Isaiah...the blind will receive sight, the lame will walk, the deaf will hear. As they depart, Jesus turns to the gathered crowds and asks them to consider what they expected in the arrival and proclamation of John the Baptist. Did they expect the voice crying out to be clothed in soft robes? Did they expect preparation to be a light task? How willing were they to listen to this messenger and respond in faith? Is their faith colored by their preconceived notions?

In advent, we light one candle after another, watching and waiting. We sing O Come O Come Emmanuel. We remember a story of a precious baby born to a scared young woman in a cold stable. God touched the world in an unexpected way. How can we have any expectation of what happens next? Will we resist what shows up?

Sleepers, awake!

We've quoted Annie Dillard more than once:

"It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews."

Lord,

Prepare our hearts

so that we

are truly able

to prepare the way...

whatever that way

may be.

Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Second Sunday of Advent, Year A

2010-12-01T22:59:00.001-05:00

Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12

In our house, there are at least 5 and sometimes 15 different views of what would be a Perfect Day.

This is true for all of us--if pressed, we would likely all have different ideas of what would make the Perfect Day.

And this is true if we were to poll folks about a Perfect Meal or a Perfect Home or a Perfect Mate or a Perfect President.

We all come to this current moment with different experiences and different preferences and different needs and desires and hopes and dreams. And when faced with the same problem or event we would all likely have at least a slightly different solution or view of what happened.

This week's lectionary passages give us four different views of what a Savior might be or do.

The passage from Isaiah 11 is familiar to most of us. Many are familiar with Edward Hick's painting, "Peaceable Kingdom", that shows the wolf and the lamb and the baby and the snake all playing together. The words of Isaiah are a prophecy spoken / written to an oppressed and defeated people who have primarily known pain and suffering. This passage is written from the perspective of people who are dreaming and hoping about how things might be better one day. Isaiah is drawing a vision of the Perfect Day. And for these Israelites, the hope is that things will be better when one of their own (a shoot from the stump of Jesse) raises up who has all the right looks and knows all the right moves. He will judge against the oppressor, he will be righteous and faithful. And perhaps most importantly, he will bring Peace to the Israelites, to all of nature, and to all nations. When we look at other parts of scripture we are able to piece together that this was their expectation of a Messiah...this was a sketch of their Perfect Savior.

In the section we get from Psalm 72 we see another idyllic vision of a leader. This description is of a King that existed in real time...not the dream of a future leader. Read the passage. It is ideal. It is everything you could want in a King, or a President, or a mate.

In the passage from Matthew we see a different expectation set out by Saint John the Forerunner. Remember, he is under a different set of oppressors than those in Isaiah's day were. And not only was he bothered by Roman occupation and rule, he was obviously also upset by the hypocrisy of the keepers of the Jewish law at that time. As he stood there under the trees baptizing people in the Jordan river, he described a dangerous leader that was coming. John has his own view of what was needed in a Savior. Someone that would bring a kind of other-worldly and fiery judgment. John does not comfort folks with talk of a Bringer of Peace here. John warns them of a Bringer of Judgment.

And then in Romans Paul offers us one more perspective. When he is writing this letter to the followers of Jesus in Rome, Jesus had already lived, taught, been killed, and resurrected. By this time Paul had already been a vehement persecutor of followers of Jesus and then was dramatically converted to being a vehement evangelist in the name of Jesus. Paul had a lot of perspective of what a Savior might be and do. Paul was also among the first to be able to reflect on who Jesus really was and what Jesus really did. And what was his take? In this particular passage he does not focus on the need of the Savior to bring judgment. Paul talks about how Jesus brought reconciliation and Peace. He talks about how Jesus came to serve Jew and Gentile alike. Paul talks about how Jesus...the Savior...came so all might live in harmony.

We all come at this from our own places.

For some of us, our Savior is a long haired blonde man.
For some, our Savior is a diminutive Macedonian woman.
For some, our Savior is a healthy bank account.
For some, our Savior is perfection.
For some, Peace must come through force.
For some, Peace can only come through love.
Dear God, please don't let us choose.
Help us to quiet our judgment-biased and category-creating minds
and seek Peace in any way we can find it.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

First Sunday in Advent, Year A

2010-11-27T08:37:00.001-05:00

Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44

It is a dark season. The sun disappears late in the afternoon and even throughout the day, the quality of light is thin and cold. And we have not yet come to the shortest days.

In our shared life of faith, it is a season of waiting. We are moving toward a keystone in the Christian year, but first, the waiting is important. And the gathering darkness reminds us of the work to be done.

The season begins with just one candle, one small light in the darkness and with a vision of gathering light that lies ahead.

The prophet Isaiah speaks of a time when Judah and Israel are gathered together, when many come together as one, and when swords have no purpose. This is a vision of Peace for many.

The psalmist, too, is singing a song about Peace that is hoped for. Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem is important for the greater good.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes to a waiting community. He encourages these people to stop waiting in the dark and instead to move toward light. Focus on the right things - not your material needs, not needs of the flesh. Not food, not sex, not fast cars or big TVs. What then, are the right things?

The passage from Matthew is troublesome. The idea of a thief in the night taking one and not another is hard for us to grasp. But remember that it is a dark season. And this is a warning to be watchful. It is important to note that Jesus uses the Flood story as an anchor and an example. We also know that after the flood, God made a promise that never would God's creation be destroyed again.

Our prayer is to be transformed. To join the gathering light. To be light. God-filled and overflowing with the abundant love of our creator, abundantly able to love creation and to generate more light, to spark light in others. Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Reign of Christ (Proper 29), Year C

2010-11-18T13:55:00.001-05:00

Leadership is a pretty intense calling.

At some point in our lives, we are all called to take on a mantle of responsibility not only for ourselves, but for others as well.

Slow down and read that again.

We are called to take on a mantle of responsibility not only for ourselves, but for others as well.

Sometimes that leadership role is pretty obvious - we are parents or we are teachers or we are managers or we are group facilitators. Other times it is more elusive - we vote, we spend money, we make consumer choices. We lead by action, by intention and by example.

This is the last Sunday in Ordinary Time, traditionally a time of recognizing the Kingship or Lordship of Christ. In Christ, God chose to take on the mantle of flesh and walk amidst the creation to set an example and show the way...to lead in a new direction and do a new thing.

The prophet Jeremiah points to an image that Jesus understood deeply and used in teaching - the shepherd. The prophet is delivering God's judgment on those called on to shepherd a flock. Over the course of Israel's history, God has provided a changing model of leadership - prophets and judges and kings. David was raised up as God's anointed and promised a secure family line of kings for the future. Here we have the voice of Jeremiah naming and shaming bad leadership while pointing to a day when God will again do a new thing, raise up a new shepherd. Jeremiah wrote from a time when the Kingdom was divided - when Jerusalem and Judah were grappling with neighboring powers for status and influence. God's chosen people didn't seem very attuned to God's leadership through the anointed lines.

Instead of a Psalm, we have a passage from Luke - It is Zechariah's prophecy, spoken as soon as his tongue is freed from the curse he encountered at doubting God, about what is about to unfold in the birth of John the Baptist and the revealed pregnancy of Mary. The story is pointing us toward a new idea of leadership, a new fulfillment of the covenant promises God made to Israel thousands of years earlier.

In Paul's letter to the Colossian church, he frames Christ as the "head" of a body. Now there is a leadership model that we can probably fully understand. But if we know the other ways the "body of Christ" is described in history, we also know that the body is less effective without hands, fingers, elbows, knees, feet and toes. While this passage doesn't quite go this far, it's not really a stretch to say that the head can't lead without the rest of the body.

Finally, there is sort of a chronologically offbeat selection from the Gospel of Luke. In the moments before Advent, we are called into the Easter story. Jesus is on the cross accompanied by other criminals. The crowd and one of the criminals is mocking Jesus, who's cross is labeled "King of the Jews." In some ways, this is a crowd that had hope for the new king they had long been promised. This is not the turn they expected and they are sorely disappointed. This king (Leader) has not achieved success by their understanding. (It's hard to accept that we might not really know how to measure "good" leadership, isn't it?) But Jesus seems to understand this state of confusion..."They do not know what they are doing." Indeed. How often that is the case as our expectation of leadership and the reality of leadership clash.

Leadership is an intense calling. It is not always an easy task. It is not always a rewarded task. It carries with it a weight that is not present for those who are led.

And even though these difficulties are true, sometimes we are called to take on the mantle of responsibility not only for ourselves, but for others as well.

God, I often am not sure I want to follow my own advice
much less to have others looking to me for direction.
I want to be a good leader for others
And I want to follow you
And sometimes those two don't match up.
Guide me as I try to understand how to
follow
and
lead
at
the
same
time.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 28), Year C

2010-11-12T09:25:00.001-05:00

Isaiah 65:17-25 and Isaiah 12

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Luke 21:5-19

What if we have it all wrong?

Not just "we" individuals. What if we, as an American society, have it all wrong?

What if power and wealth do not matter? What if the house you live in and the car you drive and the clothes you wear and the education you attain do not matter? What if the American dream is really a nightmare that is sucking the resources of creation dry? What if our economy is collapsing because of our greed? What if when you were baptized or what creed you say or what cross you wear does not matter?

And what if "we" individuals have to take a stand as we figure that out and comes to grips with it, no matter the social, political, economic, physical or spiritual price in order to set things right? What if the answer is not in a better health care system or a better tax base or a better educational mandate? What if the answer is not simple or easily discerned?

What if the best we can do is love God and love one another and wait for the answer to show up?

What if it all depends upon loving God and loving one another, no matter how counter-cultural that may be? And there is no other way...

The writings we know from the prophet Isaiah actually cover writings from at least three different circumstances. The first part of this week's selected text is actually written by the latest writer. It is written to a community who has returned from exile in Babylon to Judea, only to find that things aren't all that fantastic back in Judea. But like the first writer, the prophet reports a new promise from God on the horizon - a new heaven and a new earth. Instead of a Psalm response to this reading, we get another reading from Isaiah...ironically from the earliest writer - a hymn of praise for God's mercy and for perhaps undeserved salvation.

In the second letter to the church at Thessalonica, the writer is grappling again with dashed expectations. The first letter looks forward to Jesus' immanent return. But this letter seems to be a reminder that lots of things have to happen before that. It encourages patience and warns about false teachers. It seems to have been written in response to a sense that somebody got it wrong.

Finally, in the gospel of Luke, Jesus is suggesting that there will come a time when the temple crumbles, when everything is tossed into chaos by natural disaster and war and conflict and financial collapse. (Hmmm.) He suggests that there will be an opportunity for his followers to testify with their very lives. Jesus promises to give wisdom and words to respond. I wonder if people expected this to all come to be quickly - in months or years? Did they understand every word literally? Do we?

God has hung with creation through aeons of having it all wrong in myriad different ways. And God continues to show up. Are we watching, waiting, listening?

Yahweh,

We raise our weary hands and hearts

and confess that we have had it all wrong

once again

and we need someone

to hit the rest button.

Soon.

Amen.

All Saints Day, Year C

2010-10-30T09:18:00.000-04:00

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 and Psalm 149 •
Ephesians 1:11-23 •
Luke 6:20-31

All Saints Day is an important one to us in the Christian year.

As we get older and experience more life and have more people who are
important to us die, this day becomes more and more significant.

There are certainly historical underpinnings found in many
denominations of the Christian church. And, while those are important,
they are not as important as the opportunity for personal reflection
it provides.

Unfortunately, as Christians, we don't get a good religious holiday
that sort of orders us to reflect on our year. Our Jewish friends have
the High Holy Days that encourage believers to think through their
last 12 months and remember positive things and repent of negative
things. This is an important practice for us humans.

Of course, there are plenty of opportunities for people to reflect on
their lives. Many do it at / around the New Year, many Covey fans do a
day in review., etc. But there seems to be something important about
doing this review of your life and the ways the important people in it
have influenced you within the frame of a person's spiritual life.

It helps each of us pay attention to where we fit in to the world.
When we remember those we love who have died, we are doing a lot.

We remind ourselves of the fragility of these bodies.
We remember the depths of love.
We remember the ups and downs of relationships.
We remember that love and money can sustain life, but they cannot prevent death.
We find ourselves thinking about how we might fit in to the Big Picture.
We are forced to ask what we really believe about what happens after
our last breath.

All Saints Day really is an important day. If we are willing to engage
in the process of remembering who we have been with and what we can
learn from them, it can be an important day for us.

Have I done enough?
Have I done the right things?
Am I following the right path?
Do I stand on the right side?
How much time do I have left?

All Saints Day provides a chance for some weighty and beneficial
reflective time.

On the average day, questions of Significance and Life and Death are
never too far from the surface.

We believe every story and statement of scripture engages its reader
around these same sorts of questions.

For example this week, we see the prophet Daniel struggling with
visions of life and death for his people and the land he knew. He was
put in a position to offer prophecy against all of the current
inhabiters of the land - all of the controlling kingdoms of the
time....if that does not make you examine your own mortality, nothing
will. His vision foretells the fall of four powers and the rise of s
single power...a single way of life.

Psalm 149 is singing praises to God for a few different stated
reasons, but the underlying one is that The Lord has kept the writer
and his people alive and has punished or killed those who might want
to oppress them. The culture at this time was marked by two ways -
good and bad, right and wrong, allies and enemies, life and death.
There were no shades of gray. The souls of the enemy were not of
great concern.

In the greeting from a letter to the followers of Jesus in Ephesus,
Paul is encouraging his readers to remember that the life and death of
Jesus and the ways they are following / serving God all have bearing
on each individual's possibilities after death.

In the passage from the gospel of Luke we see Jesus teaching the
disciples. He is offering a series of Blessings and Woes.....and the
Blessings and Woes seem to be instructing folks that their actions
today matter and have repercussions. He is encouraging them to think
about the lasting significance of who they are and what they are
doing. He also encourages them to bless those that may hurt them,
that may curse them, that may repress them - to love their enemy as
well as their neighbor, not in the future but right now. Jesus is
encouraging them to live with some shades of gray.

It is fitting that, as the leaves turn from green to red to yellow to
brown and then fall, leaving branches bare, that we consider the
departure of breath...of life as we know it right now. It is a
fitting time to think about the Saints, all the saints, and the ways
that their lives made a difference.

Gracious and mysterious God,
I want to pay attention.
I want to remember.
I want to love and be loved
even when it seems unlikely.
Amen.

Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 25), Year C

2010-10-21T14:51:00.002-04:00

Joel 2:23-32 and Psalm 65
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Luke 18:9-14

Maybe it is just our current station in life-what we bring to the text
often shows up-but it seems we often see in scripture an emphasis
placed on Humility.

Here are some questions that keep rattling around for us:
How is Humility important?
What happens to us when we become 'less Humble'?
What role does Humility play in our relationships? Is it important
there? Why or why not?
Are the Humble somehow rewarded?

Certainly, in this week's scriptures the question is driven by a
fantastic line from the writer of the Gospel of Luke: Jesus also told
this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were
righteous and regarded others with contempt.

We had never noticed that this parable was set up with such a
directive stage setting!

Jesus goes on to talk about the Pharisee (pious religious figure)
patting himself on the back in prayer while the Tax Collector (assumed
social low life) is praying only for the mercy of God. Jesus then
offers the commentary to those "who trusted in themselves that they
were righteous and regarded others with contempt": "All who exalt
themselves will be Humbled, but all who Humble themselves will be
exalted."

That message is a rare one today, isn't it?

Matt just finished an annual performance review and was encouraged by
his supervisor to cut down on Humility some and "advertise himself" a
bit more.

And how do we balance Humility and confidence?

Is the writer of this passage in 2nd Timothy Humble or arrogant? "I
have fought the fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the
faith.....from now on there is reserved for me the crown of
righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on
that day, and not only to me but to all who have longed for his
appearing." Is he simply confident in his faith, or has he stepped
over a line and is "tooting his own horn"? Or, has the author truly
"poured" himself out and as a result, is claiming righteousness as a
response to his self-sacrifice to this point? Can we be proud of who
we are and how far we have come and how far God has brought us without
becoming arrogant?

And what happens if we do slide over the line and become arrogant?
What happens if we stray from our Humility?

Our guess is that a healthy element of Humility keeps a person
reminded that s/he lives in connection to others and that others are
important to his/her existence. And a derth of Humility puts a person
in a place where s/he is only dependent and trusting in his/her own
abilities.

In the Hebrew culture, there was a prominent tradition of Wisdom. The
culture was underpinned by a notion that there was a right way and a
wrong way. In the passage from Joel, we get the impression that the
people have chosen a right way and will be rewarded in some way. The
Lord is present and vindicating their hardship with early rain, ample
supplies, good health and annointings. It is as if the prophet can
promise these things because of the Humiliating circumstances the
community has endured.

We live in a sharply divided space where we are sometimes convinced
that success is based on our achievement (as defined by our material
culture). But Jesus taught in a world that was much less divided.
Success was interlaced with God and with righteousness and with how
people lived out the covenant of the Israelites. Somehow Humility
seems more palatable when its interlaced in a total package of Life
and Balance and Humanity.

God,
I want to humble myself before you...
to be ok with falling to my knees
to be ok with taking the lesser share
to be ok with pouring myself out
and receiving no notice
no accolade.
Help me taste righteousness
in all its combined flavor
both the sweet and the bitter
balanced -
full.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 24), Year C

2010-10-13T22:41:00.001-04:00

Jeremiah 31:27-34 and Psalm 119:97-104
Genesis 32:22-31 and Psalm 121
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Luke 18:1-8

So much of our existence as humans revolves around relationships.

If you are physically and intellectually talented enough to be reading
this on a web page or in an email, you certainly have your fair share
of experience navigating, succeeding, trying, failing, and exploring
relationships with other folks. It is often tough work to be in
relationship with someone else.

Even in situations where you may not have much of a connection with
the other, it can still be difficult for you to express your needs /
feelings / desires and for the other person to express their needs /
feelings / desires and for the both of you to understand one another.
We all show up with our own stuff and experience the world (and other
people) through our own histories.

And in relationships that are important to us, even greater challenges
can show up because we might feel we have something at stake. Maybe
our life depends on getting something from the other person who holds
the power, maybe we need to preserve the relationship because it helps
to give our lives definition, maybe the important relationship helps
to define who we are and without it we would find ourselves
directionless.

Having some skill at being in relationships and preserving them is
important to our survival.

In this week's lectionary selection from Jeremiah we see God reaching
out and re-committing to the relationship with the Israelites. And as
often happens when two parties are re-committing to a relationship
where trust has been broken in the past, some different expectations
are set out this time. God says it will not be like last
time...individuals will have more responsibility for their own
actions. And most importantly in this passage, God forgives the people
so that they can re-enter relationship with one another.

In the short passage we get from Psalm 119 we see the writer
essentially singing a love song to God about how wonderful it is to be
in relationship with God. How wonderful it is to know the law of God
and have insight in to the world because of that relationship.

The alternate reading from the Hebrew scriptures is the familiar story
of Jacob wresting with a stranger that he later recognizes with God at
night in the Wilderness. Our relationship with God isn't always some
corporate thing - God and The People. Sometimes it is deeply
personal, one on one, physical. Wrestling.

In this week's passage from II Timothy we continue to see a writer

whose world has been shaped by faith in the stories of God's actions
in Jesus Christ. From the way he writes, we assume he would resonate

with John Wesley's sentiment about sharing the good news of Jesus: "I

set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn." He wants
everyone to know what he knows about God and he knows that it is
urgent to tell the story because there are others telling a different,
false story. Our telling the story from day to day and generation to
generation really requires that it is Our story - Our relationship
with God that becomes witness to God's grace.

And in Luke's account of the life of Jesus we find Jesus giving us
encouragement about a way to commit ourselves to relationships when
there is something that is vitally important to us. In this story of
the widow incessantly petitioning the unjust judge we find
encouragement to persist even if the relationship is not one that we
want (or need) to be in long term.

We have a choice about engaging in a relationship. And then we have
myriad choices within that relationship about how we will act, how we
will persist, how we will continue. It is overwhelming to count the
relationship we find ourselves in. And yet, just acknowledging that
they exist calls us to a different way of being.

Yahweh,
I am here. I wait for you.
And sometimes, you wait for me.
Thank you for showing up...
for engaging...
for reaching out to me.
I pray that I learn
in relationship to You
how to reach out and engage
with the rest of creation.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 24), Year C

2010-10-13T22:39:00.001-04:00

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 and Psalm 66:1-12 •
2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c and Psalm 111 •
2 Timothy 2:8-15 •
Luke 17:11-19

Once, while in graduate school, while Matt was thrashing around
attempting to dream of a future, he sought council in his friend
Scotty. Matt told Scotty the big dreams he had, he told him the depth
of vagueness he could not see through, and he shared with him a
general hope that somehow by not making a vocational decision
something might just magically 'show up' that was right. Scotty wisely
reflected, "Matt, that all sounds wonderful, but eventually you are
going to have to start chopping wood and carrying water."

Profound.

It is easy for us to all get sucked in to dreams of grandeur. We hope
for the infamous aligning of the planet. We get caught in our own
expectations of how something Should look or how it Ought to be. We
project on to others and other situations what we think they might
want us to do or be.

And often, other solutions show up. Many times less fanfare also
accomplishes the same task. For some reason we like to complicate
things when they do not need to be complicated. We can find ourselves
dreaming of other places and other tasks that are weeks or even years
away from today, and as a result we lose our chance to experience
today.

Think about the refreshing satisfaction that comes from a clean pile
of dishes or a freshly raked yard.

There is healing found in simple acts of obedience in the present.

Jeremiah sends word of behalf of The Lord that the folks who are in
exile in Babylon....a long ways from home....should make the best of
it there in the foreign land. Spend some time with this statement:
"seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and
pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your
welfare." Wow.

Psalm 66 is really full of positive messages expressed through stories
/ memories of painful / frightening days. The writer is praising God
for turning the sea in to dry land...of course this was so they could
escape torment and torture and slavery; the writer praises God for
power and might....within the context of enemies rising and attempting
to overthrow them; the writer praises God for keeping us among the
living, testing us, trying us, bringing us in to the net, letting
people ride over our heads, and taking us through fire and
water....and then bringing us in to a spacious place. This must be one
of the earliest examples of finding the silver lining on a storm
cloud!

In one of the great stories in all of scripture we see Naaman (the
commander of a foreign army who has some sort of skin disease) going
to a foreign land to be healed by someone he does not know. Elisha
offers him a simple solution toward healing, and Naaman refuses to do
it. He wanted it to be more complicated than that. Why is it we want
healing to be more complicated? Why do we try so hard to create a
situation where we must earn healing?

We've struggled with the Timothy text. There is a tone of "Keep it
Simple" to this week's reading. An overarching concern of the author
of this letter is to warn Timothy about "false teachers," those who
were circulating an altered version of Christ's teaching. The writer,
throughout the letter, is warning against being sucked in to things
that aren't true, that do not matter. Here, a portion of a hymn
reminds us that if we believe, we live. If we work, we participate in
God's reign. Even when we can't do what is expected, we are still
loved.

In Luke we see Jesus meeting 10 folks who had been ostracized because
of a skin disease. They seemed to understand how important the present
moment was.....they immediately beg for Jesus to heal them. Jesus does
not bring down a bolt of lightening, he does not use a magical cloth,
he does not even spit in the dirt. He just tells them to go and see
the priest. And they are healed. All they had to do was listen (in the
current moment) and obey his simple direction, and they were healed.

Simple obedience in the present moment. Where is there space for this
simple obedience in our daily lives?

God,
we like to complicate things.
No, really, we do.
We get involved in the process,
in the fanfare,
in the details.
And we don't see what is
right in front of our faces.
Help us to be present
with what shows up
each and every hour
of each and every day.
And help us rejoice
in how Your hand
is at work.
Amen.

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22), Year C

2010-10-02T13:30:00.001-04:00

Lamentations 1:1-6 and Lamentations 3:19-26 or Psalm 137 •
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4 and Psalm 37:1-9 •
2 Timothy 1:1-14 •
Luke 17:5-10

So....is Faith a choice? Or could it possibly be a requirement? Is it naturally built in?

Of course, we are limiting the choices here, but when we read the lectionary selections this week we were struck by the different representations of the ways people responded with Faith.

When we look at the two passages from Lamentations, the passage from Habakkuk....even the Psalms...we see people who are at the end of their Israelite ropes; and yet, these folks still are expressing messages of hope and trust in God.

These folks have had their homeland invaded and destroyed, they have been displaced, they have been insulted and beaten and run down.

And yet, they are still talk about their faith in God. They are still in conversation with God about how they can get back on top and how their enemies might be subdued.

We talked recently at KC on a Sunday morning irrational hope in the face of insurmountable situations, and that is what we see here.

But this Faith these folks display.....where does it come from? Do they choose to have it? Are they born with it? Do they have any other choice?

There is a chance there might be some illumination of this question from an unusual passage in Luke. We see Jesus in conversation with the disciples. Just prior to this passage Jesus commands them to always (seventy times seven) forgive folks who sin against them. The disciples response is to ask for more Faith. And then Jesus responds telling them that a person does not need a Great Amount of Faith....just Faith the size of a mustard seed. It is almost as if he is telling them that you either Have Faith or You Don't....it is not an issue of quantity. He goes on to further illustrate this with a story about a servant / slave's responsibilities. As we read this it seems Jesus is saying that a slave / servant does not look for a reward or gratitude for simply doing his job. And it appears Jesus is connecting this to a Duty of each of us to Have Faith. It is not an option, it is not something we should expect an extra reward for, it is something we should Just Do....Have Faith.

And in the 2 Timothy passage, an experienced and faithful voice is giving encouragement to Timothy, reminding Timothy of the faith that has passed on to him by his mother and his grandmother and God's given gift of power and self-discipline. Timothy is being encouraged to weather the hard times by relying on what he knows deeply about his own faith. We sometimes refer to this as cell memory...the stuff deep within us that when we remember it is there, we can rely on in dark moments. A built-in safety net.

We are puzzled and amazed by the Faith we have. And sometimes we are puzzled and amazed by the Faith we do not have. And it is intriguing when we are able to hold someone else up because they cannot hold themselves Up. And when someone's Faith boosts us when we are in the pit.

God,
In my dark nights
be present with me
in ways that I cannot fully understand
or explain
and
in my light days
help me share
those ways with others around me
when they cannot fully understand
or explain.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21), Year C

2010-09-23T21:42:00.002-04:00

Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 and Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 •
1 Timothy 6:6-19 •
Luke 16:19-31

Depending on how well you know us, this may or may not surprise you: we like having Things.

We enjoy Beautiful Things, Well Made Things, Amusing Things, Things that Provide Security, Things that Provide Sustenance, Frivolous Things, Things that Are Useful, Things that Sit on a Shelf, Big Things, Little Things, and on and on.

The world is full of Wonderful Things for us to possess. And if you were in our home, you would see that we do.

Possession is a tricky thing though. On the most consumeristic end of the spectrum folks believe that we should own any and everything we see--from shoes to forests--and we will make a space in our garage or off-site storage space to keep it. And then on the other end of the spectrum folks believe we should own very little if anything at all. Some orders of monks who sleep in a space that is not their own and wear clothes that are not their own borrow a bowl to acquire anything they might eat in a day.

It seems we all have a drive to possess things. Most of the time it comes from each of us discerning the Things we MUST have to survive, and owning those things and keeping them close. Of course, in our culture there is a pretty wide interpretation to the question of what is necessary to survive.

There is some personal satisfaction that comes from owning something. There is some healthy pride involved in working to earn enough money to buy something that keeps you alive and prospering.

This week's passage from Jeremiah finds Jeremiah in the middle of Jerusalem being seized by Babylon. And in the middle of this fight, surrounded by what we imagine to be high anxiety and stress, God instructs Jeremiah to conduct some Real Estate business. Jeremiah was to gather two land deeds together, and then preserve those deeds so that one day, when Israelites returned to Jerusalem "fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land." This was an issue of the preservation of a people and their history and their land an their Things.

Perhaps the psalmist is hinting at where we should put our faith and our effort? Perhaps the song is one that reminds us that God - not Things - is our comfort and our strength?

In the letter to Timothy we get a couple of popular phrases people use around money and possession of Things. "We brought nothing in to the world, so that we can take nothing out of it." and "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." In this passage the writer is encouraging his readers to appreciate the Things that are necessary for life, but to not put too much focus on the Things themselves.....use the Things as tools to help you focus your life on God and on doing good works for others. He is saying that Things are not evil themselves, but focusing too much on those Things will get you off track.

And in the Gospel of Luke, we read another troubling parable about a fine man dressed in purple and Lazarus, the man covered with sores lying at the fine man's gate. After they've both died, the fine man faces Abraham and asks why Lazarus seems so comfortable in the afterlife. He's told that he had his comfort in his earthly life...and now he's condemned to flames. Um....does that mean we have to suffer? Oh dear. Please say that isn't true. Surely there is middle ground.

We have laughed these past weeks about a couple of mishaps in our world. First, pantry moths invaded (INVADED) our stockpiles of flour and grits and oatmeal and beans and pasta (not once, but twice). Yuck. And then, one of our very full closet shelves fell (not once, but twice). And we wonder, is there some reality to the wrongness of having too much? Of storing too many Things. Are we lacking Faith that we will have what we Need when we Need it?

God,
help me to remember
that I am loved
that I am sheltered
that I have hope.
And when I don't
have these Things
help me remember
that You are waiting
to hear my voice.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

17th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20), Year C

2010-09-15T20:13:00.001-04:00

* Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 and Psalm 79:1-9 •
* Amos 8:4-7 and Psalm 113 •
* 1 Timothy 2:1-7 •
* Luke 16:1-13

You are focused on the wrong things.

For the better part of our existence, this is a woeful understatement. Of course we (Matt & Laura) spend a decent amount of time focused on the wrong things. How about you?

Really - it's not a difficult reality to name and to look at. We can all look back on our lives and see spaces where we put all of our energy and all of our time in to exactly the wrong things. We know these things happen, but what do we DO about it?

This week the lectionary readings have us keenly aware of how often we are focused on the wrong things...things that do not matter...things that might provide some comfort, some pleasure, some measure of superiority. But do they make the world a better place? Do they call forward the Kingdom of God into this time and this place among those with whom we interact?

The passage from Jeremiah begins in a dark way. We spent some time really sorting through who was speaking here. We are hearing the divine God through the words of Jeremiah. God is sad and disappointed and weary and frustrated. It isn't often that we attribute these emotions to the Divine. But here, God has tended the people of Israel, he has saved them from captivity, he has set leaders before them time and time again. When judges and priests were not enough, the God of Israel raised up Kings, even though it supplanted God's sovereign power. Now the people are focused less and less on their relationship with God and more and more on their safety, their supremacy, and their political might. How frustrating that must be for the Creator and Liberator who has turned back to these people with mercy and grace time and time again.

In Luke, we are faced with very difficult parable about a wealthy man's business manager who is found lacking. When he realizes that he is going to lose his job, he goes out to the wealthy man's debtors and colludes with them to falsify what they truly owe, endearing himself to these people so that they might be kind to him later when he is without a job. It helps to read the parables and teachings surrounding this one. This parable follows on the heels of the story of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son. And it precedes a teaching about the Kingdom of God in which Jesus tells the pharisees that while they justify themselves based on what others think, God knows their hearts and judges them accordingly. There is a warning among these stories...God knows God's creation and will seek after it. Does God know you? How will God find your heart?

1 Timothy is a letter to a community written before the early church sorted out its understanding of the Trinity - the relationship between God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We were drawn to a few things here. In this translation, the author is pretty clear that Jesus is a mediator of God, the only one mediator, and a human. Let all of those things sink in. The author is also encouraging the community to pray for its Kings (occupying leaders like the Romans and Greeks? neighboring Kings?). So the passage begins encouraging a universalism of sorts - pray for everyone. Then it quickly limits the focus - there is only one mediator of the one God. Ouch. (Go ahead, read further...1 Timothy is also source text for many controversial teachings about women's roles in the church).

Lay all of these things beside one another and the result can be a baffling patchwork - if we're trying to make it all work together.
But that brings us back to our original thought. When we look at all the different things these passages aim toward, how do we know if we are focused on the right things?

God, we hear so many messages
and it is hard to know which one to
listen to.
Even beyond the average voices
that compete for our competition,
it is tough to know
which is the right thing to
focus on.
Guide us.
Help us discern.
Be with us as
we find our way.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world; we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words. May Grace & Peace be with you.

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 19), Year C

2010-09-12T13:23:00.001-04:00

Preface: This week, we are sending this out late. No excuses. We
could have skipped, but this week's texts are just too meaningful for
us...touched places that are raw and reactive...there is too much here
for us to pass it by. And so, we're at the beach and this is sort of
worshipful engagement - finishing this up over muscadines, tidewater
peaches and a view of the water at Ocracoke Island. Recently, several
folks have asked how "we" (Laura & Matt) do "this" (co-author these
reflections). Generally speaking, we read the text, have a brief
conversation about what we took from the text, and then one of us
(Matt or Laura) writes out of that conversation and personal
meditation. Then the other takes it, tries to complete what was
started, and it's all ready for readers. It's not always that
seamless. But in general, it works. It enriches our lives and helps
us be mindful of how these stories shape our lives and how our lives
shape our understanding of these stories.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable
in your sight, O Lord, for you are my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm
19:14, paraphrased)

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 and Psalm 14
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 15:1-10

Have you ever been the receiver of Mercy?

Have you ever been Forgiven?

Have you ever gone so far afield....done things SO wrong....been SO
off....ventured SO deeply into SUCH darkness that you felt you were
unlovable?

....and then....

you were loved again?

That does not make any sense, does it?

(For the record, Laura can't read these first few sentences without
crying. It is overwhelming and real.)

In the stories we find in scripture we see so many times where the
People of God egregiously transgress and God again and again reminds
them that they are the Loved Creation of God. To the worst offender,
the farthest outcast, the most lost sheep, Mercy is shown and
Forgiveness is offered. Sometimes the transgressor is seeking that
Mercy, and sometimes they are not. And still, time and time again,
God shows up...often in unexpected ways.

The passage from Jeremiah this week is DARK. It talks of devastation
and judgment and about a God who will not relent. And to those who
heard the prophet, this must have been scary indeed. Prophets were
called to name injustice, to envision and describe the results of the
communities action, to foretell destruction. Jeremiah lived in
precarious times - through many kings and the fall of Solomon's Temple
in Jerusalem. Israel has evolved to be much more than a band of
tribes living in covenant. There is great political wrangling among
various Kingdoms. Jeremiah is warning what this build up of power and
tension will bring. The tone and threat are repeated again and again
through the Hebrew scriptures, calling the faithful back to God.
There were lots of dark times in Israel's past. But even as bad times
continue to unfold, Yahweh did relent, time and time again as the
story goes on (right up to now!).

The Psalmist has shared this lived history of dark times followed by
light times. With this experience in the background, the prayer here
is for deliverance - for Mercy.

In Luke's gospel, Jesus shares two parables for the same teaching.
The first is about a Shepherd who, when losing just one of 100 sheep,
will go looking for the One that is Lost. Now we've talked about
sheep before. They are not bright. The are fully dependent upon
their shepherd. And really, 1 in 100 doesn't seem like a terrible
loss. But the shepherd will go looking...that is the shepherd's job.
And the woman with 10 pieces of silver loses one. The one that is
lost has no value until it is found. She goes to great lengths to
find that one lost piece of silver. It is a time of rejoicing - what
was lost is now found. Both parables leave us with questions (which
is what parables do, right?). Does the value of the 99 sheep or the 9
unlost coins change? Are they part of a greater whole that relies on
finding what is lost? What makes the shepherd or the woman go to such
lengths to find what is lost?

The letters of 1 and 2 Timothy are written to be read as if they were
written to Paul. They were probably written later than Paul was
writing and they were probably written at a time when early churches
were really struggling to understand who was teaching "truth,"
understandings of Jesus' life and ministry that were real and
undistorted (sounds familiar?). The writer is grateful to Jesus
Christ for the grace and mercy received through Jesus' life, ministry,
death and resurrection. The bulk of the rest of the letter is
instruction of how the church and its leadership should behave in
response to that Mercy and Grace.

And so we ask the "So what?" We are receivers of Mercy and Grace.
We've experienced being unlovable and finding ourselves loved. What
do we do with that?

It is not just God. Humans appear to have at least SOME capacity to
show Mercy and Forgive. Because we are Forgiven, we are called to be
vessels of Forgiveness. Because we have been shown Mercy, we are
compelled to be Merciful. Because we have experienced Grace, we are
inclined to be vessels of that same Grace extended to others.

Redeeming and Relenting God,
thank you for Grace
for Mercy
for Love where I feel unlovable.
Help me to turn
and embrace others
with your embrace.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

15th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18), Year C

2010-09-02T22:26:00.000-04:00

Jeremiah 18:1-11 and Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
Philemon 1-21
Luke 14:25-33

Is God in charge of All Of This (this world, our daily lives, etc)?

How much control do we have over All Of This?

We don't know about you, but we go back and forth about what we think and what we hope the answer is to these questions.

Because there are times when the ends of the spectrum of possibilities could be comforting. For example, if God is completely in charge of things (read here No Free Will) we would all be able to blame EVERYTHING on God....suspicious moles to hurricanes could all be put on the virtual shoulders of God.

Or

If we are able to act and control things all on our own, then we could really be living out the American (Emersonian) Dream of Self Reliance. We would ultimately get exactly out of life that which we put in to it and that which we earn by the sweat of our own brows. The good and the bad would happen, and it would all be our responsibility-no one else to blame...no one to take the credit other than ourselves.

Our life experience and our reading of scripture tell us neither of these approaches are all that accurate.

This week we see God speaking to the people of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah. They are communicating through the image of a potter working at a potter's wheel. The potter was creating a vessel, it does not work out right, the potter breaks down the clay, and then he makes a new vessel. Now this analogy breaks down a bit because the clay does not have a choice in how it is misshapen in the first place or if it wants to try again. BUT God says to the people that since they have strayed (become a misshapen vessel), if they choose to turn from their evil God will reshape them in to God's people. The people have a choice in turning toward or away from God AND God will then exercise a choice to welcome or turn away from the people. It turns out there must be some sort of interactive relationship present here.

Psalm 139 is one of the greatest examples of a portrait portraying this intimate relationship. This does not speak too much to who is responsible for actions or how decisions are made, but it does point to a human who is ultimately aware of his/her connection to, and dependence on, God as his/her Creator.

In Paul's letter to Philemon we see Paul attempting to model the God / Human relationship. He is reaching out to a slave master named Philemon on behalf of a slave named Onesimus that he has befriended. This letter is modeling the same relationship we see set up in Jeremiah--Paul has chosen to put his faith in Philemon to ask for his help and then it is left up to Philemon to choose how he will respond. The other thing that is significant here is that Paul is appealing to Philemon's common faith in Jesus Christ as a base upon which they can build their relationship. It seems that in most relationships all sides play an important role in how things work out.

I the passage from the gospel of Luke we find Jesus sharing what seems to be some of his 'harshest' teachings. He is encouraging folks to think about themselves and what they might have to give up or sacrifice if they want to follow him. He uses the example of a builder estimating the cost of an entire building before beginning the project so he does not get halfway through and run out of money. Jesus is illustrating that we have a choice to begin something or not....and if we are not prepared to begin it, we should not!
In every situation, from individual relationships to cosmic relationships, all sides have some influence in how things get played out. Of course there are always consequences in all directions, but every time, we make our choice of how we will behave in the situation and then others get to make their choices.

There is a magnificent realization here. We are created for relationships. And we are created by relationships. And we create in relationship.

God,
Here I am.
Thank you for hearing,
responding,
reacting,
loving...
even when I don't like
the response.
Thanks for showing up.
Use me. Hear me.
And send me out
to hear and respond
to react and to love.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Proper 17 (22) Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

2010-08-24T13:50:00.000-04:00

Jeremiah 2:4-13 and Psalm 81:1, 10-16 •

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 •
Luke 14:1, 7-14

Humility, in theory, is an easy concept to grasp.

It is the act or ability of a person to have a modest opinion of one's own abilities and importance. Being Humble is not synonymous with being self-deprecating. A person who is Humble is aware of her / his abilities and does not attempt to show his / herself to be something s/he is not.

But when we take it a step further and think of how the Humility of one person connects to the rest of the world it seems to be a bit more complicated. It doesn't matter if you call it evolution or nature or nurture, as humans we seem to have a drive built in to each of us where we want to prove our abilities and worth as greater than the next person. It seems we all want to show we are special and unique and often we attempt to do that by finding ways to be stronger, faster, more beautiful, smarter, funnier, more serious, more giving, more industrious, cleaner, more efficient, or more spiritual than the next person. And actually, reflecting on our own experience, we often don't even need another person to compare ourselves against.....we (We) often spend a lot of time imagining ourselves and our abilities to be more than they are....and not in a Positive Self Esteem sort of way.

Most of us have a natural tendency to develop in wonderful ways and then, unfortunately, we somehow cross a line where we lose our place. One of the favorite quotes in our house is "You have obviously forgotten that someone is in charge and it is not you."

Time to time, we all forget that someone is in charge and it is not us. We forget that we did not get to where we are only by our own devices. We forget that where we are today is a product of our families and our friends and the world and God loving us and guiding us and keeping us safe and teaching us and reprimanding us.

Again, call it nature or nurture or evolution or the human condition or sin, but the reality is that it is easy for us to lose our handle on having a Humble view of ourselves and our place in the world.

We are not sure if this is comforting or not, but we can look through scriptures and see examples of folks losing their own grip on Humility and we can see examples of teachers attempting to guide folks in the way of Humility.

In Jeremiah we read one of hundreds of Humility Reminders found given to the people of Israel. Through the mouth / pen of Jeremiah, God mourns that the people have turned their backs on Him even though it was God who brought them to the plentiful land.

It appears a lack of Humility might somehow impede our ability to love those that are important to us. In having too high an esteem of our selves and our abilities, we are actually insulting and hurting those who helped us to get where we are.

In Psalm 81 we read in the words of the Psalmist God again mourning that the the people of Israel would not give themselves over to Him. Instead, God says "I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels."

Following our own ways and not allowing ourselves to be in relationship with those that love us appears to do damage to the very ones we love.

In the passage we get from the writer of Hebrews and from the gospel of Luke we get some pretty direct advice and examples on the importance of being Humble.

Of course, the writer of Hebrews appears to simply be talking of love. It almost feels like it is this writer's interpretation of the famous section of Paul's letter to the Corinthians that gets so much play at weddings today. This passage in Hebrews is explaining that readers who follow Jesus should love. And when we look at how it is advising its readers to love, it is hard to not see (if followed) how all of these things help a person to maintain Humility....by loving everyone from the stranger to the prisoner to your leaders to Jesus Christ.

And then we get Jesus Christ himself directly telling folks how to maintain practices that help a person to develop Humility. He says, "For all who exalt themselves will be Humbled, and those who Humble themselves will be exalted." The common theme here? We are all going to be Humble either by our choice or by the actions of others.

We are so driven sometimes to be better, faster, smarter, more righteous. And Jesus' words ring true for Us as well...We've certainly found ourselves Humbled beyond our choice! And we remember that someone is in charge, and it is not Us.

God,
Help me see
the places where
I can love
rather than to see
the places where
I can win.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 16), Year C

2010-08-19T08:11:00.000-04:00

Jeremiah 1:4-10 and Psalm 71:1-6 •
Isaiah 58:9b-14 and Psalm 103:1-8 •
Hebrews 12:18-29 •
Luke 13:10-17

True confession time.

Writing these reflections each week is tough. Sometimes it is a grind. When we started almost three years ago, we were enthusiastic...we looked weeks ahead. We were often done by Sunday afternoon the week prior. We had robust conversations over the texts at dinner, on walks, before we dozed off. But slowly, life slipped in and it has gotten progressively more difficult to sit down each week and make time for really thinking about how the text speaks to us. Somewhere about Advent during this Year C, we both thought about quitting. But we'd been at it for two years and we wanted to see the three year cycle through to completion.

This summer it has been super hard. Oh, you've noticed. Sometimes you don't get a reflection until Friday! Not so much time for YOU to reflect then, is there? Sometimes you don't get a reflection at all! After our week of vacation, we couldn't muster the strength or discipline for facing the text. We called it a second week of vacation.

But if you've been watching the text over the past several weeks, you also know that we are moving into the calls experienced by the prophets. Somehow, these texts are speaking right to the struggle we're having today with this discipline of writing each week about the text. And in some ways, it is this struggle with call that brings us back each week. And probably for another full three-year lectionary cycle. You see, we feel pretty strongly called to engage these texts from different points in our life. And starting in Advent, we'll be back in Year A - and life for us has changed SIGNIFICANTLY in that time. We've both moved, at least twice. We've changed jobs. We've bought a house and a car. We've gotten married. We've vacationed with the kids as a real family. So there is a pretty good chance that we're bringing new life experience in the Kingdom to these readings for another three years.

So let's dive into the text that helps us recognize that.

The text from Jeremiah is a call story. God calls to Jeremiah and Jeremiah protests that he lacks experience and sophistication to do what he's being asked to do. Now, perhaps you have this experience. God doesn't very easily take NO for an answer once God's called you. Whatever you are called to has this way of continuing to surface. God takes a pretty active role in Jeremiah's decision. Jeremiah tells of the Lord reaching out and touching his mouth...literally putting God's words there for Jeremiah to speak. God goes on to make it very clear that Jeremiah is charged with great responsibility - "I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, and to build and to plant." In some ways, Jeremiah is being called to be part of a new creation.

The accompanying Psalm praises God for protection since birth, and pairs well with the Lord's words to Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you..."

Throughout Isaiah 58, the prophet calls the Israelites to authentic service to God rather than ritual. Essentially, the promise is of the Lord's guidance if only we will feed the hungry and tend to the needy. If you look at the prophecy closely, not only does the prophet promise God's protection, but also the restoration of Israel. Responding to our various calls makes the world a better place - but imagine it being even better than better. Better than what we currently envision as "good." Kingdom on earth as in heaven, perhaps.

The accompanying Psalm is a praise Psalm that includes an often quoted revelation about how the psalmist understood God...the Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Now we've read a lot of Hebrew scripture this summer in which God seems pretty angry. But true to the covenant with the Israelites, the Lord keeps returning to them...and expects the people to keep returning to God. Is God patient with our failed recognition or acceptance of the things God calls us too? Given our tendency toward procrastination or cluelessness at times, we sure hope so!

The reading from Hebrews continues from reflections of the faithfulness of Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Sarah, Rahab and many other Israelite "heroes" toward an encouragement to recognize the gift that we receive in God's grace. Christians refer to Jesus' death and resurrection as a sign of a new covenant relationship with God. As in days of old, we are called to keep returning to relationship with God. Life changes. We stumble and stray and make mistakes. But we can return. If we miss a call, perhaps another will surface. God loves us. And it would seem God waits for us. But in recognition of that, this letter encourages the community to give thanks with reverence and awe.

Finally, in Luke's gospel, we read about Jesus healing in the synagogue on the Sabbath. This isn't the first time he's found himself caught up in a controversy with the religious leaders about what he should or should not be doing on the Sabbath. Do you ever find yourself in that spot where there are layers of rules, and what you feel is the right thing to do really is forbidden or not generally acceptable? It sort of reminds us of the conversation we had at KC recently about how to serve our homeless brothers and sisters. I mean, there are social workers telling us not to give the homeless person on the corner money. And sometimes, a few dollars in their pocket will really make the difference. There are all of these shades of gray. Call feels that way sometimes, too. Recently, we've felt pretty called to speak out against the anger and controversy brewing over the construction of a Muslim community center near the site of the World Trade Center attack. There are people who will tell us that by supporting our fellow Muslim citizens in their quest for a community center that we are being insensitive to the families who lost loved ones there. It seems like a personal no-win situation. And sometimes we're called into sticky spots like that. But it's hard to listen when it isn't comfortable. Ugh.

And so...on this journey for us through "Proper 16," it feels all about call. We feel called. It's not always really clear. It's not always really easy. We don't always feel well-equipped. But if we're faithful, we know that God is with us, right? That maybe in our faithful response, we shed a little light on the Kingdom, right?

God,
put your words
into my mouth
that I may speak
your Kingdom
into being...
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you.

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 15), Year C

2010-08-12T13:24:00.000-04:00

Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Luke 12:49-56

Do you have a vision for personal success and achievement that pulls you forward? Maybe you are a goal-setter? A list maker. A caster of vision.

Perhaps you have studied a self-help books - Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, The Purpose Driven Life, A New Earth.

Both of us have lived in spots of time where we were pretty driven to measure life (explicitly OUR life) against a very material ruler - the right job, the right clothes, the right house, the right friends, the right restaurants, the right vodka. And really, those self-help books had some pretty handy tools for getting us to where we wanted to be - good solid guidance.

But over the past few years we had to examine our defined destination. We can't really blame the guidance system for getting us exactly where we wanted to go. But where we were going wasn't really making the universe a better place (even if it was a divine place to be us!).

As we read through the passages for this week, we felt a little tension between expectation and resulting judgment. And that got us thinking - is it possible that our expectations lead us astray? I mean, I suppose we could use those same self-help books for other goals, right? For improving the environment, achieving global peace, eliminating poverty and hunger? Could we use those books very specifically for seeking the Kingdom of God?

The passage from Isaiah is a prophecy of God's judgment of Israel. We were caught by the language of expectancy - God's expectation for Israel - "When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes." It's hard to be disappointed without an expectation. And once we have an expectation, it seems pretty easy to be disappointed. The prophet tells us that where God expected to see justice, instead there was bloodshed; where God expected righteousness, there were cries. [Geek break: Read the language in a good study bible. There is actually a pretty brilliant play on words in Hebrew for those interested - mishpat (justice) and mispach (bloodshed) - tsedaqah (righteousness) and tse' aqah (cry of the oppressed). These writers really worked on this stuff! And we miss some of it in translation.]

The Psalmist is responding to God's judgment with some indignation. Why would God make it possible for others to destroy God's own chosen people? The petition is for restoration - for a return to favor that will save the people of Israel.

Go back to that good study bible and read ALL of Luke 12 as a single unit - and then move into Luke 13. Jesus really gets his preach on in this chapter. He's really working this gathered crowd. Beginning with a teaching on discipleship, he continues to warn against needless worry, moves on to encouraging watchfulness and then frames his own ministry as one of judgement and division. He ends all of this by calling for repentance. Preach it. In the selection for this week, after telling people about how he has been brought to divide, he goes on to say something very interesting. "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'It is going to rain'; and so it happens...You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?" Wow. You've got the ability - why are you misusing it so? Damning, isn't it?

And then, if we finish with the passage from Hebrews, we are encouraged to lay aside every weight that clings to us and to run the race before us with perseverance. Now after reading Isaiah and Luke, we read this with eyes that draw us back to our expectations. Is it possible that our own expectations are the very thing that weighs us down?

Victor Hugo has a great line in Les Miserables where he says sin is like gravity-it is the thing that holds us down. It seems like we could add Misdirected Expectations to that list. Of course if what we have written here is true, it puts a lot of emphasis on discernment, doesn't it? And discernment, while usually a step in the average self-help book, doesn't get a lot of emphasis because it is not the sexy and exciting part of the success formula. And the interesting thing we have learned in our own lives is that discernment of direction may be the most important part of the process.

How do you discern where you are going? What helps you discern your expectations for yourself? How do the communities you are a part of (family, work, church, etc) discern corporate expectations?

This prayer of Thomas Merton never seems to wear out.....

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this, You will lead me by the right road.
Though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me. And you will never leave me to face my struggles alone.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you

Ninth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 12)

2010-07-23T10:29:00.001-04:00

So this feels dangerous to ask. In fact, we do not really want to either ask the question or think about the possible answers.....but, unfortunately, we have to bring it up: does God hold an entire group (i.e. nation, state, denomination, church, community, family) on the basis of the actions of it's individual members?

[See? We told you this might be uncomfortable]

This week we get some really charged passages from the Hebrew scriptures. The passage from Hosea offers an awful and definite condemnation on the people of Israel because of their actions...more specifically, "for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD." Now, when we read this passage (which isn't long) we see that this message of punishment is couched in a continued promise of continuance. In the last verse we have here we God saying the people of Israel will still be like the sand of the sea and children of the living God, etc. But that comes after some threats of ALL of the people of Israel being punished.

This question is similarly pursued in the passage from Genesis. It is the story of God planning to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham trying to negotiate with God on behalf of the few righteous men that might be present in those towns. It appears that in this instance, two entire towns / cities are going to be destroyed because of their "grave sin." Notice, it does not say that the people of those towns will "get theirs in the end" or that they will have to face their actions on "judgment day". This story shows some people that will be destroyed fairly quickly as a result of their behavior. But then, with Abraham's probing questions, God does seem to relent. If there can be found a "critical mass" of righteousness, the community will be spared.

Were the circumstances different for them since Israel is God's Chosen People? Or might these same circumstances apply to us?

Psalm 85 continues to tell this story in a slightly different way. It remembers how their people were restored and forgiven and pardoned before, but that God is currently "angry" with them right now. There is a lot of faith that God will preserve them again in the future, but that in their current situation all of their people are suffering punishment.

Something interesting happens when we make the shift to the scriptures of the New Testament. Both Paul and Jesus continue to talk to groups of people about their behavior, but a couple of things are different: first, there is not as much emphasis on how all of the people will be destroyed or punished because of the actions of a few, and connected to that idea there seems to be a lot more emphasis on individual responsibility to the message they have received.

For example, Paul continues with his message to the Colossians where he is lining out what it means to live as a follower of Jesus....he offers details on personal conduct and also some greater (more philosophical) instruction of how they should think of themselves and their relationship with God.

And Jesus also points people toward thinking of their individual responsibilities for their relationships to God. This is one of the passages where Jesus teaches the disciples how to pray. We have come today to call this The Lord's Prayer. It was a big deal for him to teach this prayer because it is an unusually personal and direct way for the average person to communicate with God.

And so, what do we do with all of this? Are these stories different? Can we all be individually responsible and also still be corporately responsible? If we are corporately responsible for our actions, what do we do to make sure our entire city is not wiped away because of the actions of others? If we are all individually responsible, to what extent do we need to bother ourselves with the behaviors of others? Even absent God's action, is it possible that the way we live, the choices we make, the lives we live affect those around us in life-altering ways? Good and bad life-altering ways?

God,
we give thanks for our created uniqueness
and as for the wisdom and patience
and grace and mercy
to add our one-ness to the whole
in ways that move your Kingdom
forward, not back.
Amen

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you

Eighth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 11), Year C

2010-07-15T12:33:00.001-04:00

Amos 8:1-12 and Psalm 52 •
Genesis 18:1-10a and Psalm 15 •
Colossians 1:15-28 •
Luke 10:38-42

It's Complicated.

In the world of Facebook (a social networking tool on the internet where people post information about their lives and keep track of other people they may or may not know), "It's Complicated" is a relationship status. You know, like Married, Single, In An Open Relationship (seriously), and It's Complicated.

There is something to be said for "It's Complicated." It says a lot. It doesn't say too much. It leaves room for speculation and interpretation. Surely each of us has had a relationship best described as "It's Complicated."

And this week, this is our response to the lectionary. It's Complicated - both from a base level reading and integration of the various stories and from the things it says about our relationship with God, with Christ, with the Divine, with one another. It's Complicated. Back in May we talked about God being complicated, but this week, we're feeling it much bigger than that. IT'S Complicated.

This is a week when it pays to remember that we bring our own life experience with us into the reading of any biblical text. Our life, our experience, our witness of God at work in the world will affect the way we read the stories, the way we understand these stories, the way we apply these stories to our current circumstance. For us this week, these readings drew heavily on our experiences with current events - the oil spill in the Gulf, the state of political gridlock our country seems to be finding itself in, the economy, the environment. They also drew heavily on our frantic need to please those around us. And it drew on our sense of being unable to crack some elusive faith code that makes knowing and understanding all things somehow easy.

And running with that chaotic, It's Complicated sense of things, we chose to read both of the Hebrew scriptures for this week. Sometimes we are gluttons. And God spoke to us in both of them. It's Complicated. Right?

The prophet Amos can't see anything but a basket of summer fruit. Isn't that a spectacular sight? Imagine some mangoes and some apricots and some pomegranates and some almonds (we're trying to think Mediterranean). It's a lovely vision. And the Lord responds with a pretty harsh response. He doesn't tell Amos he's wrong, but he does reinterpret what it might symbolize. The Lord is finished with Israel, frustrated by the greed and the lack of care for creation. That basket of summer fruit represents the peak, and it's all downhill from there. Fall and winter, kaput. The Lord describes darkness at noon (uncanny to read during an eclipse week), feasts turned into mourning, sackcloth on every body. Reading this through our lens of experience and understanding today, it's not hard to see some parallels. We are a nation that has been perhaps "fat, dumb and happy." We've been drawing on our summer fruit, plucking it off the trees. And now, we are facing some difficult times. Did God make it so? We don't necessarily believe that - we tend to believe that we as a society have created our own chaos. How does that make us feel? About ourselves? About God? It's Complicated.

In the reading from Genesis, Abraham gathers with three strangers beneath the oaks of Mamre. He hustles to be sure that Sarah is on deck to provide them with a feast. He quickly slaughters the best calf. He quickly (quickly?) processes some fresh milk into curds for their enjoyment. None of this sounds as quick or as easy as a trip to Costco. He's putting some time and resource into providing hospitality for these strangers. Why? Does he think he knows them? Does he expect something from them in return? Well...if he wasn't expecting it, he sure got it. They inquire about Sarah, and then announce that when they return, she will have had a son. This is one of those pivotal stories - Abraham's line is going to continue (legitimately). And it provides the necessary plot twists for "the rest of the story." Now, we don't know that all of Abraham's hospitality was directly related, but we can assume there is a reason the story is told the way that it is. There is some connection between his keen attention to the stranger and the continuation of his blood line. What is it? It's Complicated.

And then, we have the familiar Luke story of Mary and Martha. Mary is sitting and Jesus's feet, deeply engrossed in all that he has to say. Martha was "distracted by many tasks" and comes to Jesus complaining about Mary the slacker. Jesus scolds Martha, telling her she is distracted by the wrong things. He lifts up Mary's choice as the right one. So setting the story from Genesis beside the story from Luke, we're left with the question of how we set priorities. How do we know what to focus our efforts upon. How do we know to choose "the better part?" It's Complicated.

And as if things were not Complicated enough, we get a part of our friend Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in Colosae that opens with, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers--all things have been created through him and for him." Paul is certainly not cowed by topics that might be Complicated. We see this throughout his writings and especially here. He is jumping off in to an attempt to explain the cosmic and eternal and universal and divine relationship of Jesus the Christ to God the Father. Even today, our best minds and our best explainers end up (after saying a lot on what the Trinity is or might be) saying that while we might have some ideas of how this relationship works, we still have to take it on faith that it does exist and it does work. Paul even says he is attempting to explain "a mystery" that has been hidden to all the prior generations. That Relationship Is Complicated.

This is a week of wrestling with these themes. It seems important to Do the Right Thing at any point in time. Because in some ways, if we don't, we are subject to the vision the Lord shared with Amos. But it seems that sometimes choosing the right thing is slippery. It depends on the circumstances, and how we read them and interpret them and understand them. And that isn't a very accurate science, is it? It's Complicated.

God, for the places in this life
where things are Truly Complicated,
we ask for wisdom
and discernment
and Peace.
For the places in this life
where we
make
things
Complicated,
remind us that
Someone is in charge
and it
is
not
us.
Amen.

© matt & laura norvell 2010 www.settingourstones.org
we want to share this with you and hope you'll share with the world;
we simply ask that you let people know where you found these words.
May Grace & Peace be with you