"Lint? What's that?"

My first exposure to Lent was at the Naval Academy when my Calculus professor had a black smudge on his forehead...and I had no idea why.  Then there was all the talk of "giving up something" for Lent - sodas, chocolate, potato chips.  Still, no idea why.  And to complicate the issue, my Roman Catholic classmates had restrictions on meat...sometimes.    

I didn't attend Lenten services back then or even many Sunday services, yet I somehow associated this time of year with fasting.  So my personal observance of Lent began at college.

Lent is the church season leading up to Easter, and is a time of reflection, repentance, and prayer, a time to remember our sins and God's grace.  Several years ago, I read this on fasting:

 "...both hunger and thirst make us aware of our mortality.  Guess what?  They are supposed to!  That is their theological meaning.  Hunger and thirst are sacraments of our mortality.  They are the felt reminders of the fact that we do not have life within us."  Pastor Louis A. Smith

We do not have life within ourselves.  We have to take in something to live - we take breathing for granted, but we must breathe to survive.  And we have to eat.  To not eat, to not drink, to not breathe...is death.  

Physical hunger reminds me of my spiritual hunger.  My spiritual life, my salvation does not depend on something from inside me.  It can't.  I can't "will myself" to believe or to feel like a Christian.  God's Word and His sacraments work to give me that faith, and, like food to the body, they sustain that faith and help it grow.  

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven...I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”  John 6:32,35

Thinking of my mortality, thinking of my salvation and my need to be fed...puts a different perspective on fasting; now fasting serves to remind me of my salvation, my dependence on Him.  

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.  Matthew 4:4

Jesus rightly calls Himself the bread of life; He is always feeding, always filling, even when my body hungers.

The Wedding

Years ago, at our church in North Carolina, my husband and I led a small group, and  George and Mickey were part of our group.  We'd known them about a year and a half when we received an invitation to their daughter's wedding.  

At that time, our three sons were ages 12, 9, and 2.  I told Mickey that we really couldn't come. Her response was, "Please come.  Don't worry; bring the kids."  So we did.

After the ceremony, we went to the reception and meal, and the five of us sat way in the back, in that big banquet room.

Eventually, the wedding party arrived up front, and we saw them visiting tables and greeting guests.  George and Mickey looked around a bit, stopped at a couple of tables, and then they started walking...and walking...and walking...and I realized they were heading towards us.  

When they got to our table, Mickey said, "We think of you as family. Come and sit up front."  And Joe and I, with kids in tow, followed the bride's parents past all those other people, up front, to the head tables.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I love remembering this story and not because we were honored; but because Jesus told this parable...and it happened to me!

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.  Luke 14:8-10

This parable is about humility - humbling yourself to the point of not considering yourself at all.  I struggle with that, often feeling as if I don't belong.  Or even feeling proud of how humble I can be.

But it's not about me.  The truth is...Jesus humbled Himself on the cross - the One who matters most, made Himself nothing. 

...who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:6-8

And it doesn't matter where we sit in church on Sunday.  Each week, all of God's people are brought forward...to the head table, The Lord's Table.  We all belong, His guests, His family.

In life, we don't need other people to tell us we're special.  We already are - our worth is in Christ.  And we're free to sit in the back for awhile, forever...be nothing, not noticed...because of Jesus.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1 John 3:1

Never the Same Thing Twice

When I was a Marine officer at Parris Island, South Carolina, every 3 or 4 months, I’d get a new series of about 130 recruits, and, I’d spend the weekend reading their autobiographies.  It was futile - I read the stories, but couldn’t envision any of the recruits - they were too many and too different.

I recently read that God never does the same thing twice in people.  We're all unique.

During the past 4 years, I've spoken to just about every visitor who's attended my church.  So many people walk through our doors with different stories, backgrounds, ways of being.  It's crazy and cool. 

I’ve read books and articles with strategies for welcoming visitors.  And I’ve realized there is no “one size fits all” approach. 

Each individual is unique, but is also made in God’s image, and is someone Jesus died for.  I’ve learned to “go with it” with whatever that person needs.  Most of the time, that approach seems good; sometimes, I worry that I've offended.

Our God is the same with us, only better.  His Word is abundant.  By abundant, I don’t mean many words.  I mean His Word is abundant in substance and depth of meaning - so powerful that it speaks the gospel to each of us, His many and varied people, and it addresses all our myriad layers of struggle, and all the needs of our hearts.  I’ve learned that it’s not me who matters to the visitors...it’s Him, His work, and His Word, His love.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

Even though we’re all different, He is always the same, never changing, always loving and providing, always working in us, always saving, always there.

"What is a god?"

I recently saw the question, "Would you describe what you believe God is?" with this answer from the Westminster Shorter Catechism:

"God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth."

While that's a true statement, the quote reminds me of math - somewhat impersonal and academic.  Immediately, I thought of Luther's Large Catechism:

"What does it mean to have a god? Or, what is God? Answer: A god means that from which we are to expect all good and in which we are to take refuge in all distress.  So, to have a God is nothing other than trusting and believing Him with the heart...Now, I say that whatever you set your heart on and put your trust in is truly your god." 

Note the difference in emphasis - the Westminster Catechism gives a definition of God; Luther's writing answers, "What it means to me? And what He means to me?"  

Our "god" is who or what we look to for help, for all good things, for satisfaction.  Some people put their trust in money; some look to their leaders; and many people look to their own efforts and success as their "god." 

But the Christian goes to the Bible for the answer.  And God's Word bears out that He helps and provides for His people.  The Bible has many, many incidents of people calling out to God, and God saving them. 

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap.  Psalm 113:7

And Jesus was always caring for people and meeting their needs.  At one point, when Jesus was being rejected, Peter said to Him:

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  John 6:68

I was outside praying this morning and it occurred to me - I'm praying to and sharing what's on my heart with a person, not with an idea or definition.  An idea does not comfort; a person does.  Jesus said to pray "Our Father."  He also said, "Believe in Me."

He is my God because I put my trust in Him; I trust that Jesus' death on the cross was for my sins.  And, because of that, I know He forgives me and gives me peace with Him.  He's my God and that means He loves me; He listens to me, answers me, provides for me, and comforts me. 

"...to expect all good...to take refuge in all distress..."

 That's our God.

Staff Sergeant Hernandez - on Being Important

Staff non-commissioned officers were always fun to work with.  Staff Sergeant Hernandez was my Supply Chief while I was the Supply Officer at 1st Medical Battalion.  

One Friday after lunch, he was complaining about a phone call he'd just had from a Navy Chief.  The Chief wanted a couple of tents for that afternoon so his corpsmen could practice putting up and taking down tents.  

Ssgt Hernandez had said "no" and was ranting that the Chief should have sent a written request to S-4, at least so many days ahead of time, and on and on he went.  

I listened, shared his frustration, and we talked a bit.  Then I said, "You know, Ssgt, we're really here to support the companies.  If we can help them out, don't you think we should, even if he didn't make a written request?"

He thought about it for a minute and then said, "You're right Lieutenant."  And he went back to his office and called the Chief.  

"Chief, I just talked to my Lieutenant, and I twisted her arm and convinced her; I'm doing you a big favor and you owe me...you owe me big...you can come and get the tents, but you owe me, don't forget that."  

I just shook my head and laughed at his taking the credit!  He grinned and gave me a big thumbs-up.

You see...Ssgt Hernandez and his peers were always posturing, always wanting to be the most important, to have the most power...to have others look up to them or be in their debt.

It was silly and funny at the time...but recall this:

A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.  Luke 22:24

The men closest to Jesus argued about which disciple was the most important, the greatest.

And it's no different today.  Everyone wants to matter, to be recognized, to be valued, to be important.  

And it's never enough to be important once or twice; striving to matter is a continual, never ending burden.  And, in the end, it's not even satisfying - just exhausting.

Jesus says two things about greatness and mattering. 

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.  Mark 10:43-45

First, Jesus says that greatness comes through service, through selflessness.  And second, He says that we already matter because He, the Son of Man, gave His life for us.

The desire to matter, to be important doesn't just die, but it does have an answer.  And that answer is to look to the One who already died to self; look to Jesus. 

Praying for the President

When I think of Donald Trump, I think of casinos, beauty pageants, and Celebrity Apprentice.  But to see him as Mr. President....I still shake my head and laugh.

To be as successful as he is, he must be smart and hard-working, and he must surround himself with wise and capable people.   

Seems everybody, myself included, has an opinion or observation about President Trump, his work, his leadership style, his language, his family, his clothes...it's all topics for conversation.  

But I ask, "What does God's Word say about government leaders?"

...there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God...for he is God's servant for your good...he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.  Romans 13:1,4

...I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,  for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life... 1 Timothy 2:1-2

Government and kings are God's ideas, instituted so we can live orderly lives.  God puts rulers on the throne, both good and bad rulers.  We are to respect and pray for our leaders.  The presumption is that a peaceful society will also aid the spread of the gospel.  But note - the government is not charged with spreading the gospel - that's the job of the church.

With that in mind, I pray...

Heavenly Father, You provide us with all good things, and You've given us this country, a peaceful country, to live in, to serve in.  Thank-You for our new president - I pray for him to know his own sin and Your forgiveness, to know Your peace.  And I pray the same for his wife, his children, and his former wives.

I thank You that this country is able to make peaceful transactions of power.  I pray for President Trump's presidency - that good will come of it, that people who are suffering, who are lacking in basic needs, that they will be provided for.  I pray that our society will run well...as well as possible, in this broken world we live in...for the furtherance of the gospel.

I pray for President Trump to have a positive impact and influence on other countries, especially for peoples who are hurting, impoverished, struggling just to survive...that our country is seen not only as strong, but as compassionate - again, for the furtherance of the gospel. 

I pray that You give the President strength as a leader and give him a sense of selflessness.  Give him wisdom, encouragement, good counsel; let family life be a blessing to him.  Strengthen him when he becomes discouraged and tired.  I pray for him to look to You for that strength and wisdom, but also for Your forgiveness. 

I pray...for the sake of Jesus, for the sake of Your Kingdom, that You bless his presidency and the United States.

Amen.   

Corporal Alton

All Marine 2nd Lieutenants, a couple of thousand every year, attend a 6-month Officer Basic Course at Quantico, VA.  While waiting for my class to begin, I was assigned temporary duty in the BOQ office at Quantico.

One day, Corporal Alton from Disbursing stopped by; he was selling Tupperware for his wife.   I bought a set of measuring cups and spoons for maybe $10.

A few months later, about a month into my class, some type of pay mistake occurred at Quantico, and it affected a lot of people.  Second Lieutenants, whose pay was affected, were to make an appointment with their platoon commanders, who would then arrange for an appointment with Disbursing.  It was a hassle, especially since so many people were involved.

About this time, I ran into Corporal Alton.  He asked how my class was going, and I said something about the pay issue, wondering what had happened.  He simply said, "Don't worry.  I'll fix your pay, Ma'am."  And he did!  Seemingly magical to everyone else, my pay was fixed.

When I tell this story, people often quote the Bible, saying we'll be rewarded for our good deeds.  But I think something more is going on here.

Buying Tupperware and fixing someone's pay are simple acts of kindness, done one-to-another.  But Corporal Alton didn't just return a kindness - he gave of his time, and he gave me something that I needed and valued.  In that exchange, my heart was enlarged to giving and receiving.  Even today, I am surprised at what he did, and I know what it feels like to be grateful, to have someone "make a difference" in serving me.  

Corporal Alton took care of my need for free, just because we were friends.

The Lord's Prayer of "give us this day our daily bread" is a request to supply all our needs.  And, He does supply all our needs...and He does it through other people.  During a conversation with a friend, I'll often recognize a need, and I'll know how to meet that need.  That's my opportunity to give and to serve. 

In serving others and being served, we move a little closer to understanding the kindness and love of God in not only supplying us with every need, in not only amazing us with kindness, but with giving us a Savior, forgiving our sins, giving us peace with Him, and life. 

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.  Ephesians 4:32