“Light is always costly and comes at the expense of that which produces it.  An unlit candle does not shine, for burning must come before the light.  And we can be of little use to others without a cost to ourselves.  Burning suggests suffering, and we try to avoid pain.

We tend to feel we are doing the greatest good in the world when we are strong and fit for active duty and when our hearts and hands are busy with kind acts of service.  Therefore when we are set aside to suffer, when we are sick, when we are consumed with pain, and when all our activities have stopped, we feel we are no longer of any use and are accomplishing nothing.

Yet if we will be patient and submissive, it is almost certain we will be a greater blessing to the world around us during our time of suffering and pain than we were when we thought we were doing our greatest work.  Then we are burning, and shining brightly as a result of the fire.

Many people want the glory without the cross, and the shining light without the burning fire, but crucifixion comes before coronation.”

He is Risen by Michael Jothen

He is risen, Alleluia! Christ is risen from the dead.
He has ris’n to conquer sin, He has ris’n to save us.
All good Christians sing today!
Wipe the tears of death away.
He is risen, Alleluia! He has ris’n to save us.

“A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are surely coming when they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’”

- Luke 23:27-29

“Salvation involves the whole person, body and soul. Salvation also includes the restoration of wholesome community among Christians. Its effects spill over into the entire social order…

No amount of good deeds in noble social action can earn divine forgiveness. The only way to enter Jesus’ kingdom is by accepting it as a gift (Luke 12:32). But kingdom people embrace kingdom values. Sixteen times the New Testament calls Jesus Savior. Four hundred times it calls him Lord.

We will not receive Christ’s unmerited forgiveness if we persist in rejecting him as Lord of our whole lives. We must ‘work out’ our salvation through lifelong discipleship that pursues purity and justice (Phil. 2:12). The God who made us for community insists that a right relationship with God is inseparable from right relationships with our neighbors.”

- Ron Sider in Churches That Make A Difference: Reaching Your Community With Good News and Good Works

This morning our priest read this beautiful prayer from the Methodist Covenant Service.

I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing, put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,
exalted for you or brought low for you;
let me be full, let me be empty,
let me have all things, let me have nothing;
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone.”

- Isaiah 9:1

Anna’s wedding day must have been a joyous occasion, a most important day in the life of a young Jewish woman. And she almost certainly would have married as a young teenager, according to the custom of her day. It was the hope of every Jewish maiden to marry and bear children. But Anna had been chosen by God for a unique purpose. Luke tells us that she was a prophet, gifted with special wisdom and insight. Did her husband realize what a treasure God had given him?

After only seven years of marriage, Anna’s husband died. Her world was torn apart. She was only in her twenties and already a widow. Anna could have become bitter and angry at God for allowing this tragedy in her life, but instead she let her suffering draw her closer to God. Believing in God’s special purpose for her life, she devoted herself to serving him.

For many decades, Anna lived in the Temple, spending her days in fasting and prayer. She lived in a time of great political upheaval and religious corruption, yet she faithfully interceded for her people, trusting in God’s promise of a Messiah. Throughout the year, Jewish families came to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices and celebrate religious holidays. Year after year, they saw Anna serving in the Temple; she had been there as long as most people could remember and they admired her devotion.

By the time she reached eighty-four years old, Anna’s physical health had no doubt deteriorated, but her spiritual senses were keen and sharp. A lifetime of diligently seeking the Lord had made her uniquely sensitive to his leading. Anna was a woman devoted to prayer, not just talking to the Lord, but listening to his voice. Like Enoch and Elijah before her, Anna truly walked with God. That is why when a certain young couple came to the Temple to dedicate their infant son, she knew immediately that this was no ordinary child.

Anna recognized that this tiny baby named Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. Her heart leapt within her; God’s promise was at last being fulfilled! The Deliverer had been sent! And as the culmination of a lifetime of humility and obedience, God had allowed Anna to see the Savior before she died. Luke says “coming in that instant, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (2:38).

Anna’s joy was boundless and she shared the exciting news with all the faithful believers with whom she came in contact. People must have been surprised, and even doubtful, when she proclaimed the message, especially when she said that the Messiah was a poor peasant child. Anna lived in a time when a woman’s testimony was not even allowed in a court of law.

But Anna had built her credibility through years of faithful service to God. People recognized her as the woman they had seen praying and fasting in the Temple, year after year, the one who radiated love and joy. Some of them truly surely knew that Anna was a widow and that her loss had only deepened her faith in God’s promises. The Redeemer of Israel had come at last! This was no ordinary message, but Anna was no ordinary messenger.

Because she chose to trust God and follow his direction for her life, Anna was able to fulfill the special purpose for which she was designed. Her obedience and humility had placed her in the right place, at the right time, with a spirit sensitive to God’s leading. And she had the honor of being one of the first evangelists recorded in Scripture, one who gladly proclaimed the Good News of the promised King!

“People with power never think about it; people without power think about it all the time.” -Thomas Friedman, quoted by Brian McLaren

“Unwillingness to hear, listen, and connect is a serious form of sin.” -Todd Hunter

“Remember that when the chips are down, the buffalo is empty.” -Richard Twiss (Rosebud Lakota/Sioux)

“The practice of Christianity, done well, is both dangerous and magnetic.” -Diana Butler Bass

“We are the survivors of the American imperial holocaust.” -Richard Twiss

“To deny that we have privilege is an abuse of our power.” -Brian McLaren

“Think before consuming. Embrace limits.” -Claudio Oliver

“You don’t have to feel guilty for being privileged; you just have to feel responsible.” -Brian McLaren

“Job said to God, ‘You don’t know what I am feeling as a man.’ The cross was God’s answer.” - Claudio Oliver

“We have the courage to name what is broken because we have hope.” -Lisa Domke

“How capable are we of bringing about authentic change if we don’t have voices from the margins?” -Richard Twiss

“I’ve been asleep, and I need to wake up now” - From the closing song by Jessica Ketola

I recently finished Sara Miles’ excellent new book Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion. Sara chronicles her surprising mid-life transformation from atheist to Christian and her calling to establish a food pantry in one of San Francisco’s most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Passionately committed to the unconditional welcome of Jesus’ Table, Sara and her food pantry volunteers embrace schizophrenics, drug addicts, little children, ex-cons, and sweet old ladies alike. One particular section of the book has really stuck with me:

So I’d sit down next to people and let them talk or cry; I’d listen and put my hands on them; at some point, I’d pray aloud, without really knowing where the words were coming from. It felt homey, not mysterious. But it usually made me cry too…

If my carefully calibrated difference from others wasn’t going to be the vitally important thing about me, then my identity was going to be bound up with all kinds of other people at their most vulnerable and unattractive…

It was my own weakness, my own confusion and hunger; it was everything I couldn’t be sophisticated and together about. Of course I was going to weep, and pray, with her.

I keep going over Sara’s phrase in my mind - “if my carefully calibrated difference wasn’t going to be the vitally important thing about me…” Wow. Is that difference (or illusion of difference) something I’m willing to give up? My job at an elementary school gives me the opportunity to connect with and offer support to struggling families. And I look forward to joining the church-planting team led by my dear friends Josh and Karlene Clark that will focus on developing relationships with people living in poverty.

Of course I believe that God loves all people equally regardless of their choices or circumstances. And I want to encourage and show kindness to people facing serious challenges. I care about people whose lives are messy and dysfunctional and I want to help them. But give up my carefully calibrated difference? Allow my identity to be bound up with theirs?

What I really want is to care and to connect, but to still be different. What I really want is to say “I’m high-functioning and you are low-functioning, but that’s OK, I still love you anyway.” What I really want is to pretend that because I am a middle-class married woman with a respectable family background that my life isn’t messy too. I want to say to the mentally ill and high school drop-outs and the folks living in generational poverty “I value you” but I don’t want to say “we are the same kind of people.”

Jesus, change my heart.

These days I find myself deeply weary of war, both the “war on terror” and the “culture war.” The second stanza of this lovely hymn resonates in my soul.

Lead on, O King eternal,
Till sin’s fierce war shall cease,
And holiness shall whisper
The sweet amen of peace.
For not with swords’ loud clashing,
Nor roll of stirring drums;
With deeds of love and mercy
The heavenly kingdom comes.