Devotional 3-11-13

Joshua 5:9-12
The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day. While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

“Taste the Manna”

I imagine Joshua, in his old age, with his grandson on his lap, telling the old stories. “Grandpa, tell me about manna again.” Joshua looks down at his young grandson and says, “Moses let God’s people out of Egypt and through the Red Sea and to freedom. But freedom came with a price. We were in the wilderness and wilderness is desert. It was hot and you can’t grow crops there and animals don’t live there. Some of the people got mad at their decision to leave Egypt. Some blamed Moses for leading them out. Others blamed God. It came down to the fact that we were all hungry and thirsty and tired. So as we stood there shaking our fist at God, God did not focus on our anger, but instead, God focused on our pain. God did not abandon us. God provided for us. We drank water from a rock. We ate quail. But it was the manna that I miss the most. You see, every morning, when we rose from our beds, there was manna on the ground. I’m not sure what it was exactly, some type of edible flakes. We would gather it in the morning, but we only gathered enough. Oh, there were some who tried to gather it in bunches to horde in case there was none for the next day, but it went bad. Manna couldn’t be kept for long. And what we didn’t gather, did not last either.”

“Did it fill you up, Grandpa?” Joshua smiled and told him, “No, I don’t think of it like being full. It was more about stopping our hunger than filling our bellies. But the day came when the manna stopped.”

“Why, Grandpa? Why isn’t there manna anymore?” Joshua rubbed his chin and said, “When we got to the Promised Land, we could farm and raise livestock. There was food there. We didn’t need the manna the way we needed it in the desert. And so it stopped. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I was never happier than the day we reached the Promised Land. No more desert, no more wandering, and no more uncertainty about where our next meal would come from. But in a way, I think we were better off in the wilderness. When we were wandering in the wilderness, we HAD to depend on God to lead us and to feed us. Nowadays, we depend entirely too much on ourselves. It seems like we were closer to God when life was harder. I don’t know why that is really, but I guess it is easier to feel God’s presence in times of trouble. Maybe it is because God draws nearer to us. But I think it is because we are more open to God in those moments.”

“Does that mean that we are more closed to God in good times, Grandpa?” Joshua frowned and said, “You sure are full of questions. But then again, knowing how to ask the right questions is better than feeling like we have all the answers. I guess the answer to your question is that it depends. We don’t have to be closed to God just because we are in good times. It just seems like more people are. We just get so busy living our lives that we get out of touch with the divine. It is like the way we get when people are out of our lives for a time. We don’t forget about them, but we don’t necessarily think about them either. I bet if we stopped and took time to look around and to listen for God, we just might find that the manna never truly stopped.”

“What do you mean, Grandpa?” Grinning, Joshua said, “I mean, God still is at work in our lives trying to lead us and feed us, we just don’t always see it or we convince ourselves that it is our own doing. As long as people exist, God will find ways to meet their needs. Manna is all around us, if only we would open our hearts to see it.”

Prayer

God of Abraham and Sarah,
     God of Moses and Joshua,
           God of Esther and Ruth:
When your people were in the desert and were hungry,
      you sent manna.
But there came a day when the manna stopped,
      when your people were able to eat of the fruit of the land.
And so we stopped looking for you to provide,
      and we worked hard to make our own way,
           and we have food on our table.
But God, we are still hungry.
      We fill ourselves with empty calories.
           We eat more than we should.
All the while, there are people in want of their daily bread,
      hungry people, yearning for a meal.
Give us eyes to see you,
      ears to hear you,
           hearts to feel you.
Allow us to see the manna that you provide for us daily:
      in the faces of children,
           in the reconciliation of feuds,
                in the clasped hand of the dying.
And help us to be the manna:
      offering food to growling bellies,
           offering forgiveness to hurting souls,
                offering love to the unloved.
In the name of one who came to be manna for us,
      like bread broken,
           like yeast, rising . . .
In the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.


Rev. David A. Stackpole, Esq

Devotional 2-27-12

Scripture: Mark 9:2-9
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

The Mirror
Once upon a time, there was a young man named Nate who didn’t quite fit in. As a child in school, he tried hard to make friends, but the other kids picked on him and teased him. In his youth, he wanted to date, but every girl he asked out, turned him down. He knew that his parents loved him and no matter how much praise they gave him, he felt like a disappointment. His favorite song was Billy Joel’s Piano Man, which included the line: “Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call loneliness But it’s better than drinking alone.”

One day, while he was sitting in church, partially listening to the minister’s sermon, Nate felt God’s presence. The preacher had just said, “God love and accepts you just as you are!” “Is that really true?” he thought to himself. “Is it possible that I fit in with God?” he whispered to himself. And somewhere, deep inside of himself, he knew the answer was “yes.”

Immediately after church, Nate went home and looked in the mirror. Not only did he feel different, he even looked different. Instead of appearing distressed and depressed he actually looked joyful. It was the best day of his life. He opened his journal and wrote: “I am loved by God” and underlined it twice.

That week, Nate went out of his way to make friends. He tried talking to seven different people. Out of the seven: two walked away, one said something too mean to repeat, and four told him to “get lost.” He also decided to ask another girl out. He timed it perfectly, so that they would be alone for a moment. He looked her in the eye and said, “would you like to go to dinner with me some night, my treat?” She looked him up and down, smiled, and said, “not if you were the last guy on earth!”

By the end of the week, Nate was struggling to feel loved again. A person can only take so many rejections. He looked in the mirror, expecting to feel the way he did the previous Sunday. Instead of joyful, he saw distressed and depressed. “I am a reject,” he said.

That Sunday, before church, he went to the pastor and told her the whole story. She placed a hand on his shoulder and told him that, “God does love you. People can be harsh and mean at times, but God is not like people. God loves you unconditionally.” He looked at her and said, “but I thought that if God loved me, then God would make things easier for me.”

The scripture begins with the phrase, “six days later.” It should make us want to know just what happened six days earlier. Six days earlier, Jesus had been teaching the disciples that he had to suffer and die, but Peter did not like that one bit (the scripture in Mark 8:31-33 says that Peter began to rebuke Jesus).

Six days later, Peter is on the top of the mountain with Jesus. It isn’t just a good day, it is a great day! Jesus is transfigured and Moses and Elijah appear. So Peter makes Jesus an offer. He wants to build houses so that they can all stay on the mountain and live there. He doesn’t want the fun to end. He knows that the moment they go back down into the valley, things will get difficult again (sure enough the disciples are arguing about a sick child) and that Jesus may start speaking about death again (and that is exactly what Jesus does). Peter wants to stay on the mountain where everything is hunky-dory, but Jesus leads him back down into the valley.

“Nate, God doesn’t promise to make life easy,” the pastor told him. “But God promises to go with us into the valleys of life.” Then she invited him to come the next Sunday in time for Sunday School, saying, “Sunday School is a great place to make friends and learn about the love of God.”

Nate went to worship. Then he went home to look in the mirror. A smile crossed his face as he said to himself, “it’s not easy, but God is with me and God loves and accepts me.”

Prayer
Loving God,
When you created human beings, you created us for relationship…
for relationship with you
and for relationship with each other.
Yet we still get lonely…
sometimes, even when we are with others.
Help us to know that you are there for us,
that you love us,
that you accept us as we are,
and that you forgive us for our misdeeds and for our inaction.
Put people in our lives to remind us that we are loved.
Help us to be there for others who need to be loved and accepted.
We thank you for our pastors,
for our church family,
for the inspiration of worship,
and for a safe place to learn that we call Sunday School.
We pray in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Submitted by: David A. Stackpole, M.Div., J.D.

Devotional 4-17-11

Scripture: Luke 15:17-24

But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

Part II: The Solution

. . . CONTINUED FROM MARCH 24, 2011

Once upon a time there was a man who had come to realize that he had spent his life trying to avoid sin by doing the right thing (actions) and in doing so, had fallen victim to Sin (estrangement from God). He wanted so bad to fix it, but he did not know how. So he decided to pray. First, he sat in his recliner and laid back and looked up at the ceiling (as if to look toward heaven). He prayed for three whole MINUTES and his prayer focused on how much he loved God. He decided that this prayer was too soft (like his recliner, his prayer was easy and comfortable). He knew that he had not fixed his relationship with God. Second, he climbed to the top of a nearby mountain and kneeled on the hard rock and closed his eyes and bowed his head. He prayed for three HOURS and his prayer focused on all the things that he had done wrong in his life. He decided that this prayer was too hard (the confession hurt as much as his knees did). He knew that he had not fixed his relationship with God. Third, he sat in his car and said “I don’t know what to do. God help me. I just don’t know what to do.” This prayer was (as in all Goldilocks type stories) just right.

Somewhere in the silence following his words, he realized that God loved him despite all his actions (bad or good). He had been loved by God the whole time! It wasn’t up to him to get everything right. The answer to Sin was not some three step prayer or five pronged approach or even some ten step sermon (which tends to be more like my grass in the summer – too long!). The answer to Sin is Grace! And Grace does not depend upon our actions, because Grace is God’s action!

The prodigal had his approach laid out. He would go to his father and say that he had sinned and was not worthy to be the son and surely he would be given a job as a hired hand. But the father didn’t get that memo. The father never stopped loving him as a son. A robe, a ring, sandals, and a fatted calf party were symbols of the even more powerful gift: LOVE!

The man realized that it didn’t matter where he prayed or how he prayed (kneeling or sitting or standing, eyes open or shut, head bowed or not). What mattered is that he shared his life with God (he pictured walking in the door from work and hearing God say to him, “how was your day?”); what mattered is that he his attempts to do what is right were a response to God’s love rather than an attempt to earn it.

. . . TO BE CONCLUDED, through the living of our lives!

Prayer

Gracious God,
you love us, yet while we are still sinners;
you don’t make us earn your love,
because real love can’t be earned!
So we thank you,
and we respond to your love with our love for you
and we ask that you surround us with your love,
so that we will be empowered to love others, the way you love us:
UNCONDITIONALLY!
In the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.

David A. Stackpole, M.Div., J.D.

Devotional 3-24-11

Scripture: Luke 15:11-16

Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.

Part I: The Problem

Once upon a time there was a man who was wrestling with very deep issues in his life. He decided that he needed to go to church. The first church he went to was too hot (as in fire and brimstone, not temperature). The pastor’s sermon was about sin and focused on drinking, smoking, and taking drugs. The man was very thankful, because he did not do any of the three. Nonetheless, he was still wrestling with very deep issues. The second church he went to was too cold (as in unfriendly, not temperature). The pastor’s sermon was about sin and focused on anger, jealousy, and greed. Once again the man was very thankful, because he was slow to anger and was always content with what he had. Nonetheless, he was still wrestling with very deep issues. The third church he went to was (as in all Goldilocks type stories) just right. The pastor’s sermon was about Sin and focused on separation/estrangement from God.

The man soon realized that all of his life he had thought that sin was the bad things that he did (such as the laundry list that the first two pastors preached about: drinking, smoking, taking drugs, anger, jealousy, greed, etc.). Now he had come to believe that Sin is more about our disconnectedness from God and that the bad things we do are merely a result of our disconnectedness. All this time, he had been focused on the symptoms and not the problem!

He had been working on his actions, trying to do the right thing (and such effort is never a bad thing); however, he had not been working on his relationship with God. In fact, the harder he tried to do the right thing, the more he depended upon himself. The more he depended upon himself, the less he needed God. Now he knew that his problem was not so much sin (bad actions) as it was Sin (estrangement from God).

The prodigal’s problem was not that he did bad things (such as squandering the property in “dissolute living”). The prodigal’s real problem was that he was out of relationship with his father (good relationships do not begin with . . . “I know you are not dead yet, but can I get my inheritance anyway”).

The man realized that his relationship with God needed work (as all good relationships do). Now he knew what the problem was. So he asked himself, how do I make the relationship better? Immediately he realized that he had a real problem, because he was once again focused on HIS own ACTIONS (the very thing he had been working on to begin with and which created the problem). How could he treat the problem and not the symptoms?

. . . TO BE CONTINUED ON APRIL 17, 2011 (Remember that patience is a virtue).

Prayer

Almighty God,

We try really hard to be good,
sometimes we even succeed;
and yet we know that our effort is not enough.
Help us, we pray:
to conquer Sin (our estrangement)
and not just sin (our actions).
Help us to love:
you,
our families,
our children,
our neighbors,
strangers,
and even our enemies;
until we are all defined by your love!
In the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.

David A. Stackpole, M.Div., J.D.



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Devotional 3-7-10

Luke 13:6-9
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

Devotion
Fred Craddock tells a story about a man who decided to open a grocery store. He was worried that it might not succeed and he would be out a lot of money.

First, he had to choose where to locate. He could lease a building in the main part of town, but it would be expensive. Worried he might lose a lot of money if the store went under, he leased a building in a back alley of a rundown part of town.

Next, he had to hire employees. He could hire some people from the area to ensure that he would have enough help to keep the store open from morning until night, but it would be expensive. Worried he might lose a lot of money if the store went under, he decided to run the store himself, closing the store at 5:00 p.m. so that he could be home in time for dinner.

Then, he had to decide where to get the groceries to put in the store. He could order from the wholesalers who had fast shipping to ensure the best produce, but it would be expensive. Worried he might lose a lot of money if the store went under, he ordered from a place that had slow shipping so that the produce was past its prime when it arrived.

Finally, he had to decide how to advertise. He could buy advertising on the local television station, but it would be expensive. Worried he might lose a lot of money if the store went under, he put up a couple of posters on some telephone poles instead.

The day of the grand opening arrived. Only a few people wondered in. He made a few sales, but many people left after seeing the quality of the food. One person tried to come at 5:00 p.m., but had to leave because it was closing time. Eventually, no one came at all.

After a few days, the owner of the store gathered his family around him and said to them, “I am a very smart man. I have to close the store. If I had paid for a lease in the main part of town, if I had hired employees, if I had ordered produce from the fast shippers, and if I had paid for ads on t.v., then I would be out a lot of money right now. Instead, I invested little and so I am out very little.”

Luke tells the story about a man who planted a fig tree and within three years had given up on it. All he did was plant a tree, but he expected a large fig harvest. The gardener did not just convince the man to give it another year. He offered to care for it. The gardener knew that you only get out of something what you are willing to invest in it. If you invest little, you will reap little.

Lent is a time for self-reflection; a time to look at ourselves and see what we are invested in. Have we really invested ourselves into our families, into caring for our neighbors, into helping the poor, into welcoming the stranger, into caring for the children and the youth and the infirmed in our community, and have we really invested ourselves into our church. Maybe we have planted the seed and that is a good thing, but have we REALLY invested ourselves? I know I haven’t always invested myself. Too often I have invested little because I was afraid of failure. Too often I have expected a harvest, without any effort.

Prayer
Loving God, you are the one who created us and you care for us daily. We don’t always bear good fruit, but you do not abandon us. Instead you care for us all the more. You are invested in us. Help us to invest ourselves in you and into the care of your creation. Help us to act, not for reward, but because it is what is right. Help us to be courageous in the face of the fear of failure, knowing that we only really fail when we refuse to try. Most of all, marinate us with your love in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.

David Stackpole