He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.
2 Corinthians 12:9
… but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
Hebrews 5:7
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
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When we pray to God we want results.
Usually we know what kind of results.
Jesus prays to God from the cross. God hears him. Jesus still dies.
What kind of answer is that?
It’s the kind that saves us all
from all evil
even our darkest sins!
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That’s the kind of answer God gives to all our prayers,
which means our wanted results rarely are God’s way for us to move forward
into life abundant,
and blessed.
It’s a tough slog, but blessed every step,
as God walks with us, through all that may come our way.
He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.
John 19:5
So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’
For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, ‘Peace, peace’, when there is no peace.
Romans 12:9
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;
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We’ve all heard again that famous, or infamous, Rant, I am Canadian. With quiet music building to swells of patriotic music Joe states his case:
Hey, I’m not a lumberjack or a fur trader
I don’t live in an igloo or eat blubber or own a dogsled.
and I don’t know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada, although I’m certain that their really, really nice.
Uh
I have a prime minister, not a president.
I speak English and French not American
and I pronounce it about, not aboot.
I can proudly sew my country’s flag on my backpack.
I believe in peacekeeping not in policing.
I believe in diversity, not assimilation.
And I believe the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal.
A toque is a hat.
And a chesterfield is a couch.
And it’s pronounced Zed, not Zee, Zed.
Canada is the second largest landmass
The first nation of hockey
and the best part of North America.
My name is Joe
and I am Canadian.
Reality
Given Trump and his threats and actual tariffs that will do great damage to our economy, one can understand the call to be patriotic.
At the core of our problems, though, we do not find economics or politics, but good old fashion love, faith, and hope, expressed as empathy and care for all people, especially the poor.
So ours is not a rant but a chant backed by any number of great pieces of music, for example “Canticle of the Turning” (ELW 723) by Rory Cooney, to the lively Irish folk tune used as a rugby match song:
Hey, I am not a crusading knight, nor a desert ascetic.
I don’t hold exorcisms, live in Corinth or Bethlehem or Nazareth.
I have a pastor and a bishop, not a coach or a guru.
I speak many native languages, but not Latin or Sanskritic.
I proudly were a cross on a fine chain around my neck.
I believe in peace not in war or violence.
I believe in respecting and welcoming diversity, not excluding strangers or foreigners.
I believe the fish is a wonderful symbol of faith, as is the boat.
I’m not concerned with how people pronounce words, but that we share the radical Word of God.
God’s favour is not won by what we do or say or believe, but is God’s free gift given to us.
We can refuse it and we do, sinners that we are. But God keeps saving us over and over again, making us saints able to do miraculous things for others, especially the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the outcasts, refugees, strangers, and especially children.
Christianity may be worldwide and messed up in many places, sometimes even here at home, but it is the gift of life,
the gift of life abundant for all people.
We may be getting fewer in number, but being a follower of Jesus is the best part of life.
My name is not important because God knows it and everything about me and still loves me. I’m not ashamed of my name, yet it’s not what I’m proud of.
I’m proud that I bear Jesus’ cross and Jesus’ name,
You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbour.
James 2:1
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favouritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?
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God calls us to make and support just judgments, not partial to the poor nor deferring to the great (the rich, who are not all that great most of the time), but with clear justice for all.
Not that it is easy.
Sometimes the truth does seem to win:
A man walks on a park path.
A dog walks behind him.
A policeman approaches him and speaks to him. The man and the dog stop and listen to him.
He says the man must put a leash on his dog.
Without a word, the man walks on with the dog behind him.
The policeman follows the two, and stops them again.
The man and the dog look at the policeman as he warns the man again to put a leash on his dog.
Without a word, the man walks on again. The dog follows behind him.
The policeman follows behind them and tells them to stop, waving a ticket in the man’s face telling him to pay the fine.
The man protests asking why he should pay the fine?
That dog is not his.
But the policeman points out the dog walks behind him on the path.
The man answer, ‘Well, so do you. Must I put a leash on you, too?’
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So we pray, may we not behave like lying dogs towards our neighbours, keeping the leashes where they belong, and letting our neighbours be free.
He said to me: Mortal, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart and hear with your ears.
Matthew 13:23
But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
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Receive and hear …
Oh, if it were just so simple for us to choose to be good soil for the Word of God …
Though too often, we choose so simply and thoroughly to turn our ears and hearts from God’s Word, to live out our lives as if other words could give us the goodness of life.
God gives us ears that hear, and hearts that receive God’s Word. We cannot choose to have these ears and hearts. Nor can we choose to take to heart what we hear and be those who live out God’s Word for others, so that they see God’s Word alive in our words and actions, hearing God’s Word with open ears and hearts.
We can, as we too often do, turn from being what God created us to be. We can choose to be deaf, blind, and dumb, really stupid, about what life is, and what is good in life.
For there is nothing more blessed than to be the ones who plant seeds of grace, love, and hope in the world for others to encounter.
So we pray, may we be your ears, hearts, and hands in this troubled world. Forgive us when we turn away. Forgive us for our frequent stupidity. Forgive us our hard hearts, deaf ears, and dumb tongues. Save us. Renew our hearts, ears, and tongues, that we can find joy in this life amidst all the challenges that come at us, day after day.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
Revelation 22:17
The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.
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In today’s world everything has a cost, everyone can be bought, time is money, money speaks … and on it goes… supposedly!
But in God’s world everything has a cost, except, for what is most precious, the cost is covered
by the Creator, All-powerful, All-knowing, Present-in-all-time, righteous Judge, who loves us so much
that Jesus gave his life that we might receive the most precious of all: Life ( our lives with all the details known, good and bad, past, present, future … all our sins forgiven … life restored to us filled with perseverance, empathy, love, joy, hope, and the purpose that makes life so good: to share all that with others.)
Let the barkers cry all they want for us to buy, buy, buy,
The Glaciers, and a lot else, are disappearing from the face of the earth.
Genesis 8:21
And when the Lord smelt the pleasing odour, the Lord said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.
John 3:17
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
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Noah offers sacrifice to God, and God turns, finds the sacrifice pleasing, and promises never again to curse the ground because of humankind, though the inclination of every heart is evil from our youth.
Not cursed, but it’s clear, we really don’t know how to give God God’s due.
Always grabbing for more, at others’ expense, and at our expense, and at the earth’s expense.
Trade war is only the latest in our own backyard.
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But Jesus did not come into the world to condemn it or us.
I like to take John 3:16 and place it after John 13:17. It helps counter the so familiar v16 being so out of context.
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Lots more context is really needed. There is no way we can all line up to believe, doing the right thing, making it right for ourselves with God.
Believing in Jesus is only possible if the Holy Spirit makes it so in us. We of course can refuse, back out, turn our back on it all. But no one can choose to turn to God. That’s all gift, given to us over, and over, and over again, by a God who loves us so.
Then we can, of course, choose to stop condemning others and the earth. That is what God wishes from us: a choice to love – as God loves – all creation.
I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.
John 15:13
No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
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Jesus puts his life on the line. Puts it all in play.
Not just for his friends,
but for everyone, past, present, future.
Thank God,
or we’d be looking for a way, and impossible way, to get in God’s good graces.
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It’s no fun having insults and abuse tossed at one, physical abuse – hitting- and psychological abuse – lies, manipulations, gaslighting, and more lies – tossed at oneself and around the community, destroying one’s reputation…
except
God’s Truth will out.
God’s Truth will out.
The abusers will be outed, and our salvation will be made clear to all, and all that we have laid down to protect others will be recognized, will save others, will be known to be good.
This is love in action for others, for the children, for the lost, outcast, despised, abused.
An Oil Lease, Cut Through the Woods, Reclaimed, Growing Free Again.
Like Us.
Jeremiah 23:29
Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?
Hebrews 4:12
Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
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Cut to the quick of life, by God’s truth.
Unable to hide in half-truths or full out lies.
Exposed for what we are by what we think and secretly dream of.
The chaff of uselessness burned away quicker than a fleeting thought.
Judged.
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What else can we expect from God’s Word?
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Until the story of Jesus living, loving, dying, rising, forgiving us, renewing us … and walking with us through every day … holds our hopes up to the Light,
