Reflexion, A Spiritual Community

These last two Beatitudes on Jesus’ list are not easy to digest Jesus envisions a grim future for us – and if so, - we’re expected not only to survive it, but to rejoice and be glad • John Chapman was the Abbot of a monastery in Britain • he was also a spiritual director to others, especially through letter writing ◦ one man who wrote to him, wanted his insight as to ◦ how he could extricate himse...

The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. They say that God became Man. Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this. C. S. Lewis, ". . . In the Christian story God descends to re-ascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity . . . down to the very roots and sea-bed of the Nature He...

Jesus is sitting on a mountain overlooking Sea of Galilee He is teaching a course on “Christian Spirituality” - we are now five weeks into his introduction: The Beatitudes • prior to teaching this course, Jesus had been announcing, "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" ◦ the course he teaches is meant to prepare us for that kingdom ◦ the Beatitudes reveal characteristics of the abundant lif...

When I began preparing today’s talk, there was a sudden moment when I felt very small The spiritual wisdom of Jesus rivals every other enlightened text - even gurus, like Gandhi, who rejected Christianity have admired the Sermon • reading the words of Jesus, and trying to explain them to you, ◦ leaves me feeling inadequate and foolish ◦ like a four-year old who is told, “Explain quantum physics -...

Welcome back to Jesus’ Sermon On the Mount He begins with the Beatitudes – not to be confused with "benedictions" - they are more like a series of riddles • he describes conditions in which people are already blessed ◦ already acceptable to God and discovering the abundant life ◦ but what he says sounds like the opposite of abundant life • we would never tell a friend who is grieving, “Y...

Recently, I came across an interesting ad: The caption said, “Free AI Sermon Generator” “Free AI sermon outlines help you preach a confident, creative message. AI sermon starter ideas make your sermon fresh and relevant.” - I realized, from now on my life could be easy; for example, • last week I mentioned my frustration with “kingdom” (bringing to mind the idea of a nation with borders)

Last week I gave my introduction to the Sermon On the Mount This week we’re going to look at Matthew’s introduction - but first, I have a question – and it’s for me as much as anyone: Are we ready for this? - the Lord has made many changes in our exterior lives, • but the big challenge of the Sermon is what it does on the interior ◦ we’ve cleaned up our speech; what about our thoughts? ◦ we'v...

A couple weeks ago someone told me, “Your next series of talks should be about The Sermon On the Mount” - that title has a pleasant ring to it, doesn’t it? • isn’t that where Jesus talks about birds and lilies? Love your enemies? Do not judge? • it’s like a friend has invited us on an outing: “Hey, go with us to the park for a picnic. We’re going to sing our favorite worship choruses, then share o...

The prophetic ministry of Elijah provides one of the most entertaining stories in all the Bible. When it comes to phenomenal miracles, Elijah’s only rival would be Moses. His spiritual stature as a man of God is equal to the greatest heroes in scripture, and yet St. James wrote, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours” (Jas. 5:17). Like us, Elijah could be frightened, discouraged, and ready to g...

Psalm 3 is the most loved, most quoted, and best known of all Psalms There are lots of reasons for this. It’s short – just six verses. But though it’s so short it’s incredibly deep. It’s simple – easy to understand.  The Lord, the shepherd is God.  I am the sheep. I get it! And there is something uniquely encouraging, comforting, and empowering about this Psalm. So, this morning, I’d like to give...

 This first sentence of 2 Kings is an odd way to begin a new chapter. The transition from the previous book to this one could have been much smoother. For instance, the last lines of 1 Kings provide all the explanation we need for this new episode: Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria . . . and he reigned for two years. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and wal...

 King Ahab left the battlefield, victorious over the Syrians, but he arrived home moody and sullen . In theory, there’s no reason for kings to be “moody and sullen.” If they are troubled, they have counselors. If they feel sad, they have jesters. If they need comfort, the priest is always on call. Having the luxuries afforded them by wealth and power, one imagines they could avoid ever being moody...

 Today’s episode requires an explanation, because my plan was to skip this chapter. For the past seven weeks we’ve been immersed in the story of Elijah, but for some reason he does not appear here; not even his name is mentioned. But that is one of the curiosities in this episode that interests me. There are still gifted seers through whom God delivers messages to King Ahab, and these three fill t...

 The Elijah with whom we spent time in the previous chapter is hardly recognizable in this episode. He is no longer the prophet who lost heart and had been wallowing in defeat, sulking in a cave. He was transformed. Once again he is on the move, and you would have had to jog to keep pace with his long, rapid strides. Every time his foot hit the ground, it raised a small, meaningful dust cloud. He...

 Elijah was excited–an energetic excited–an excited he had not allowed himself to indulge until now. The tide was turning. The entire crowd witnessed God’s answer from heaven. They had been won over. They had chanted, “Yehovah, he is God! Yehovah, he is God!” The king was there too. He saw it for himself. Now he also knew who was the real God. Running off to Jezreel was a bold move for Elijah. Kin...

 Elijah found King Ahab sitting off by himself still as a statue, staring into nothing, and his face coated in confusion. Ahab wondered, “What just happened? How could it have happened?” His feud with Elijah had ended suddenly in a phenomenon of fire and blood. His army of prophets failed to rouse their Bah-al god, while from the sky Yehovah answered Elijah with a spectacle never before seen. The...

 There must have been court officials who wished they could restrain King Ahab’s poor decisions and thoughtless actions. But those with enough skill in diplomacy to hold a position in the royal court also had enough sense to value their lives. Ahab was too full of himself to take advise from anyone else, let alone, take orders. However, there was that one exception. From the time Elijah first set...

 The village where Elijah had been living was on the Mediterranean coast, so I find it easy to imagine him walking the shoreline, allowing the onshore breeze to be refreshed. He listens to the rhythm of the waves and the squawking seagulls, and opens his heart to receive the moment. Then, hearing something else, he pauses, and shading his eyes from the glare of the sun’s bright reflection glancing...

 Picking up from last week, directed by the word of Yehovah, Elijah came to the home of a widow in Sidon, north of Israel’s border. She had helped Elijah when he was hungry and homeless. She let him stay in her home, in the small room upstairs. She hid him from King Ahab’s spies. And, now, this! Her son was struck down with an illness. Was this the reward for her hospitality and kindness. Who is s...

A crooked king, a wicked queen, and a foreign god. You know this is going to be a great story. That’s because in literature (and storytelling), evil is more entertaining than good. We can predict a good person’s actions–they will be honest, kind, generous, and always choose what is right. The villains, however, are full of surprises. And they typically create the conflict that the heroes must over...

This week a nearby church hosted a Vacation Bible School My fourteen-year-old granddaughter, Adrianna, volunteered to help out - on Friday, a friend sent me a video that she filmed the day before • when I watched it, there was Adrianna on a stage in front of a crowd of kids • she had a Bible in her hand, and from it she read a couple verses from the Psalms ◦ then she gave a brief talk, encouraging...

In this final chapter we come to the end of the vision To me, it feels like waking up from a dream - just before I woke up yesterday morning, I was enjoying a pleasant dream • I heard someone call me, and I was immediately awake ◦ the house was completely silent ◦ I then realized it was my dad’s voice in the dream that called my name • for me, this chapter unfolds in the same sort of fuzzy way - f...

Once again, John begins to describe an event with “I saw” We are reminded that this entire book is a mystical vision and uses the strange language of images and symbols - however, we could be tempted to read last two chapters differently, • as if John were describing events in a literal future • but when, once again, he says “I saw,” we know this is the same as the rest of the book - so we turn ou...