Watch your step!

If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes! (Matthew 18:6-7 NRSV)

I've seen many people interpret causing 'these little one' to stumble as putting obstacles in the way of children growing, learning, and succeeding.  But lately I've been wondering if too many times we cause children to stumble by teaching them the wrong things.  Our society teaches 'It's OK if you do bad things to yourself or others as long as you're famous' or children hear from adults they respect 'Those people aren't as good as us because they're [fill in blank here].'  To teach children that they can despise, mistreat and harm others in God's name is to cause them to stumble and fall from grace.  Let's work this week on guiding the steps of all of God's 'little ones', even the adults, so that we can walk together in God's love.

Blessings!
Marilyn

Prayer for children

Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me." (Mark 9:36-37)

Jesus told us to welcome and care for children and to welcome them as if each child were Jesus himself.  All too often we turn that around and put everyone and everything before welcoming children.  Let us welcome children, all the children around us, and help them grow up to see Jesus in everyone, even us.

Chalice will be celebrating Children's Sabbath and the prayer vigil for children this Fall.  Follow along at:  http://lightacandle.blogspot.com/

Blessings!
Marilyn

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. (Isaiah 55:1-5 NRSV)

God's generosity is in sharp contrast to the mean spirited miserliness that has been trying to masquerade as christian lately.  Of course, Isaiah is talking about more than just food here.  He's talking about taking in the good things of the spirit and drinking deeply of the living water we know as the Christ.  But if we as a nation allow children to go to bed hungry because they don't 'deserve' to be fed or because we are punishing their parents, then we have turned our back on a covenant with God.  We are eating the husks of self righteousness and greed and ignoring the good food of God's grace and love.  Let's meet at God's table this Sunday and eat and drink the good food provided.  Let's become ever more the body of Christ and a witness to this nation and the world.

Blessings!
Marilyn

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35, 37-39 NRSV)

We most need these words of Paul when we're hurting.  Paul reminds us that the death of a loved one can separate neither us nor those we love from God.  He reminds us that even when we haven't made the right choices, God still loves us; that when the world is beating us down and we feel worthless, God still loves us; that when we're in pain from injury or disease, God still loves us.  And when we remember the love of God as shown us by Jesus then we can conquer all those things that try to defeat us.  And when we see people we don't think are lovable, or who seem to have been defeated by events in their lives, or are just different from us, we need to remember that God loves them just as much as us and nothing we or they do can change that. And by remembering the love that God has for all of us and living that love we can conquer some of the big problems that we face here in Arizona, in our nation, and around the world.

Blessings!
Marilyn

Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night," even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12 NRSV)


Sometimes we don't want God to be near -- Adam and Eve tried to hide after eating that dratted apple; Jonah tried to run away when God said 'Go to Ninevah."  Sometimes we do want God but we feel like God is nowhere near us and call out like the psalm writer or Job 'where is God?'  At times like that we need the reminder from the Psalmist that we can't get away from God.  When we need God it's nice to know that God is already with us, like the air around us, whether we notice or not.  And when we want to run away or hide what we're doing from God, maybe it's good to be reminded that God is with us then as well. 

Blessings!
Marilyn

"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30, NRSV)

When I was young heard this scripture I thought of a yoke as a decoration.  We would wear a necklace for Jesus and wouldn't have any work to do.  What fun!  I finally got it when I saw a picture of a woman using a yoke to carry buckets of water.  A yoke makes it easier to carry a load by spreading out and balancing the weight or by allowing more than one to share a load or task.  Now I know that Jesus is not offering a life of ease free of all problems.  Better than that, he's offering to teach us how to more easily carry the burdens we have in life and he's willing to share the load.  And I've found that when we're yoked with Jesus, helping someone else carry their load sometimes makes our load seem lighter.

Blessings!
Marilyn

A cup of water

Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.  Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and 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."  (Matthew 10:40-42 NRSV)

The low desert of Arizona is a hot dry place.  With temperatures nearing and exceeding 110F water can be very important.  This year various communities in the area are collecting bottled water to pass out to people with little or no shelter from the heat.  Our church will be participating in the Mesa Hydration campaign.  A bottle of cool water can be liquid salvation to someone who is hot and thirsty and overheated. So this week, buy a case of water.  Take it to church, or a shelter, or a fire station, or a city park.  Before you pass it on say a blessing over it that the water will refresh not only the body but also spirit of those who drink it.  And then say a prayer of thanksgiving that we can be part of God's plan of grace.

Blessings!
Marilyn

Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.  2 Corinthians 13:11 (NRSV)

Paul has been writing to the church at Corinth, not the most peaceful church in the world, and is now ending his letter.  He reminds the Corinthians, and us, that it is hard to see God in the midst of chaos.  When we take some responsibility to put and keep things in order instead of waiting for God or someone else to do it for us, when we are willing to stop trying to always be "the winner and still champion," then we find the God of love and peace is already with us helping us live in peace.


Blessings!
Marilyn

Happy Pentecost!

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit .... (Acts 2:1-4a, NRSV)

This coming Sunday will be Pentecost.  More than just the day the church was "born" Pentecost is the day when God's spirit was poured out on many and changed the world.  Those fearful followers hiding in a locked room became so filled with God's spirit they didn't have room for fear.  They were no longer afraid of ridicule, of soldiers, of poverty, or even death.  In these days when many people 'make wrongful use of the name of Lord' (Exodus 20:7, NRSV) to justify behavior of which God would not approve let us pray that we, and all those who call upon the name of the Lord, will be so filled with God's spirit that there will be no more room for fear, greed, or distrust, and we can truly mean the words we say each Sunday "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth ...."

Blessings!
Marilyn