Category: Prayers

The light of the sun touches all of the Earth’s surface at some point. At the North and South Poles it may be only for a short time, but the sun gets there. Psalm 19 celebrates the all encompassing exposure of the light:

[The sun] rises at one end of the sky and travels to the other end, and nothing escapes its warmth.

[v.6 The Inclusive Language Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation]

Just as all of the Earth is touched by the sun’s light, so the domain of God is all-encompassing. There is no place that is not part of God’s dominion, God’s realm, God’s influence and purview. There is nothing that can be outside of God or beyond God.

This concept of the all-pervasive presence of God applies not just to the external world, but also to our individual lives and our life together as a community and a society. God is part of all of it. Present in everything. When we celebrate the guidance of God for our lives, that means all of our lives, not just certain parts. Living by the values of compassion, care of others, care for the earth, respect for life, justice, fairness, generosity, these things apply in every aspect of our lives, not just some areas of our lives. The values and ethics that we learn from our faith apply for us in the workplace, in school, and in our community involvement. They apply to our friendships, family relationships, and our sexual behavior. They apply to how we raise our children. They apply to our play, our reading, and our entertainment choices. They apply to our church involvement, our citizenship commitments, and our politics. They apply to how we use our time and energy, and to what we eat and drink. They apply to how we treat our bodies and our healthcare decisions. And, yes, you knew it was coming, they apply to how we spend our money and allocate our finances. Divine decrees as we learn of them through Jesus apply to every aspect of our lives, individually and as social creatures.

As the sun bathes all of the earth in light, so God’s commandments encompass all aspects of our lives. The more we give over to God, the more we let God have dominion over our entire lives, the more free we are. Take some time to think about your life in all its dimensions. Look for where you see consistency with the will and way of God. Are there areas that you still need to turn over to God?

Prayer
Divine love permeates all of creation. The entire universe is testimony to the all-encompassing care and creativity of God. There is nowhere that God is not present. We give thanks that God seeks to be part of all aspects of our lives. May we partner with God in all that we do thus finding joy and delight for ourselves while blessing the Earth with love. Amen.

Yesterday we spoke of the power, impact, and importance of words. This week we begin reflections on Psalm 19, and again there is reference to words, communication and speech. The psalm begins, “The heavens are telling the glory of God.” There are other speech related references:

the firmament proclaims
day to day pours forth speech
night to night declares knowledge

The words “speech”, “voice”, “words”, and “whispering” are used in the Psalm. Creation speaks of God by fulfilling its intended purpose. The processes of nature declare God. Just by being, the natural world makes its testimony.

Here we want to note that in the Gospel of John, Jesus is referred to as the word of God. Jesus is God’s declaration, God’s proclamation, God’s communication. Jesus, by being, by being himself, conveys God. All that Jesus is and does declares God.

As part of creation and the human family, we, too, are God’s words. Each one of us as a person, is a word of God. We have the capacity to declare, to proclaim, to voice, to whisper God. In who we are, by being, in what we do, in our actual words, we speak God when we live love: Love for ourselves, love for others, love for the unlovely, love for creation. When we live love, we speak God. We communicate God to one another. Everything said and done in love is God speaking.

In the United Church of Christ, we have adopted the motto, “Never place a period where God has placed a comma – God is still speaking.” Yes, God is still speaking. And we are the words.

Prayer
Nature speaks of beauty, order, complexity, diversity, and interdependence. We know that our world also needs to hear compassion, mercy, peace, justice, and love. That message needs to be spoken by the human species. May God’s word be spoken in the world not only through the nature, but also through us. Amen.

It has been said that Christians should preach the gospel and use words if they have to. It’s another way of saying actions speak louder than words. But we are in a society that uses lots of words. Words in newspapers, books, articles, advertisements, tv shows, movies, videos, music, debates, laws, conversations, contracts, courts, legislatures, on the radio, in direct mail, and on and on. We are part of a culture of words and communication – via talking, texting, and typing. All these words are shaping our thoughts, our values, and our experience of ourselves and the wider world.

In Psalm 22, the writer declares of God:

I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.
From you comes my praise in the great congregation
. . . future generations will be told about God.

We hear the writer make a commitment to talking about God, to telling others about God, to speaking about God. The writer is committing to spreading the word about God’s faithfulness, love and goodness.

In today’s context, we celebrate God in church. We talk, sing, and pray in ways that affirm the love and goodness and faithfulness of God. And it is good that we do. That is what church is about. But I am wondering how much talking we do about God outside of church? For one thing, to talk about God freely in non-church contexts can feel uncomfortable because we may be concerned about alienating or offending others, especially those of other religions. Also, we may feel that to speak freely of God and faith may make us appear to be, well, superstitious, or even worse, extremists who want to impose their religion on others. Where might we get these associations? So much in the media about Christianity and faith represents a small segment of the spectrum of Christian beliefs and practice, yet it has taken over as the default definition of Christianity. Christianity is not primarily about prayer in schools, or abortion, or birth control. If we look at what Jesus has to say, Christianity is about a God of unconditional love, economic justice, acceptance of the nobodies in society, and food and healthcare for all. Christianity is also about anti violence. Think of some of the basics: feeding the poor, helping the homeless, assisting those in prison, loving the enemy, and giving everyone access to power. But people will never see this side of Christianity unless more people start to make their voices heard. And here we are back to Psalm 22. For people to see other facets of faith, of Christianity, of God, we have to tell. We have to open our mouths. We have to use words. Deeds are well and good, but words are needed also. Think about how you can start spreading the love of God using words, too.

Prayer
We are grateful for our faith that teaches us to trust in the power of divine love. We are grateful for those who have taught us about the way of Jesus and how to find life in service to others. May we not be afraid to use words to share our faith so that all people may know of the love and compassion of God. Amen.

They say that a lot more gets done if you don’t care who gets the credit. In the New Testament we are told to give without expecting anything in return. That means not even expecting to be thanked. I don’t think that idea goes over very well. Many organizations, including the church, spend a lot of effort recognizing and thanking workers and volunteers. There are gifts and notes and plaques and lunches and parties and all kinds of ways that people are thanked for their efforts especially if they are volunteers. Then there are the big thank you’s like naming a building after a big donor and things like that. The fact is that most people expect to be recognized for their contributions and want to be thanked.

In Psalm 22 the writer tells of extolling God to the dead, to posterity, to future generations, to the those yet unborn, to all the families and nations of the earth. The people have been delivered, kept safe, been accompanied through affliction, and the poor have been fed. How has this happened? Who is responsible? The writer celebrates that, “God has done it.” God has done all these things and more. The writer takes no credit for anything. The writer gives no credit to any other source. Everything good and needed is attributed to God. God is the source. God sustains life. God makes it possible to live each day. God gets people through difficulties and problems. God. So the Psalm celebrates, “God has done it.”

I am wondering how things would be different if we took that attitude: If we focused on giving credit to God? What would it be like if we were continually thanking God? What if we were celebrating that each day is a gift from God? What if we praised God for everything that gets accomplished? After all, God is the source. What if we put the focus on God? The sub text here is: What if we put the focus, the gratitude, the appreciation, and the recognition on God and not on us, not on others, not on this one or that one or this organization or that committee, but on God? I think this would eliminate a lot of selfishness and self centeredness. I think it would free us from our insatiable egos that want to be fed acknowledgment and gratitude and recognition and praise. I think it would contribute to our life as other-centered servants and relieve us of all kinds of petty hurt and strife and disappointment. “God has done it.” Try having that for a motto, an affirmation, a response, especially when you are thanked for something. “God has done it.” By taking this approach, I think a lot more would get done and the world would be better for it.

Prayer
We work and strive and exert ourselves and sometimes forget that everything we do is because of what we have been given. We have been given life, and love, and opportunity, and resources. We are only able to live our days because of what has been and is being done for us. May we always remember, “God has done it!” Not only will this bring us greater joy, but it will make the world a better place for everyone. Amen.

Note: Speaking of “God has done it,” Mary Stokes of our congregation celebrates three years of being cancer-free today. Thank God!

Archbishop Oscar Romero served in El Salvador. He spoke out against injustice, poverty, assassinations, and torture. Ironically, this led to his assassination. He was shot on March 24, 1980 while celebrating mass at a small chapel in a hospital. Romero and many in the church in El Salvador suffered for their solidarity with the poor. They spoke out against economic injustice and violent repression.

One way that Romero expressed his commitment to the poor was by the way he spoke of those who were poor. The typical word used is los pobres, “the poor.” Instead of this term, Romero spoke of the poor using the reference los empobrecidos, “those made poor.” He felt that those who lived with almost nothing did so because they had no opportunity under the system of government and under the economic system to be anything but poor. So they were victims of outside systems over which they had no influence or control. They were not poor because they were lazy and unwilling to work. They were made poor; they did not choose to be poor. They were part of a society that designated their place and gave them no option. These are the very people, those made poor, that Jesus stood in solidarity with in his day. And he was killed for it, too.

Romero and Jesus were both fulfilling the commitment of God that is announced in Psalm 22: “The poor shall eat and be satisfied.” Throughout the Bible, we are shown God’s commitment to those who are made poor. We see God’s solidarity with those who are on the bottom of the pile, those without. Jesus and Romero were committed to living out of God’s intentions for those who are made poor. It is hard to imagine that something so seemingly charitable could lead to death. But to confront poverty honestly is to confront political systems, economic systems, power systems, and greed as well as to challenge racism, classism, sexism, and ageism to start. Poverty exists because some at the top of the economic ladder benefit from it. If there was no economic advantage to keeping people poor, there would be no poverty. But we must remember, there is a cost and not just to those who are made poor. There is a cost to society at large, to safety, and to our moral integrity. Really, there is a cost to the lives of all people. May God’s vision of food for the poor inspire us to stop making people poor.

Prayer
We know that life can be difficult and that many people in this country and in this world are made poor. We do not want to be part of the systems that create poverty. We do not want to be made poor. Help us to have the creativity and courage to confront this affront to the Divine intention for the human family. Help us to celebrate Earth’s abundance and to eliminate poverty from the face of this beautiful globe. Amen.