• About Me
  • Contact
  • What’s in a name?

dreamprayact

~ Reflections of a preacher, poet, and contemplative activist

dreamprayact

Monthly Archives: July 2012

Becoming People after God’s Own Heart

27 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Reflections, Sermon portions

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

Bible, Christ, Christian faith, Epistle to the Ephesians, new humanity, peace, reconciliation, walls of separation, wide mercy

Christians are known as “people of the Book,” people whose lives are shaped by the Word that God communicates to us through Scripture. We look to the Bible to tell not just any story, but OUR story. In the Bible, we connect with people who struggle to be faithful, people who rely as we do upon the mercies of God.

Mortimer Adler has said, “In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.” So the true test of how honestly, faithfully, and seriously you are reading the Bible is how much of it is getting through to you!

Two powerful cultural influences create problems for us as we read and respond to the Bible. One is the myth of productivity, which says we are what we do. The second is the myth of consumption, where our perceived worth is measured by our possessions.

The world will not be changed by how hard we work or how many things we own. Our discipleship will not be more fruitful based on what we produce or consume. Our worth is tied up entirely in what Christ has done for all people – breaking down the dividing walls that separate us from one another, the walls we place between ourselves and God, the walls of greed and pride in our hearts, the walls constructed of hatred, injustice, and fear.

United Methodist Bishop Elaine Stanovsky tells a story about one of her three sons, a freshman in college, who returned to his dorm room one evening to find one of his roommates drinking and despondent. As her son talked to him, he discovered that this roommate was gay, and he was a long way from home. That day he had received word that a good friend from high school had committed suicide. He was closeted and had no support system.

Her son didn’t know what to do, but he turned to his roommate, and he said, “Do you go to church?” And the boy said, “Well, I did, but my pastor at home was pretty condemning, and so I really haven’t gone, and I don’t have a church here.”

Her son said, “I attend Epworth Church, just across campus. It’s a reconciling congregation. You could come.”

What he didn’t say to his despondent roommate that night was, “Homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.”

Then Bishop Stanovsky added, “We are so grateful that our son had a church that he could invite his friend to. I am so glad that he grew up in the wideness of God’s mercy” [Vimeo posted on Facebook, July 20, 2012].

The writer of Ephesians reminds us, “Christ is our peace.” Christ came to reconcile all things, things on earth, and things in heaven, so that God would be all in all. In spite of our inclinations to divide ourselves up along party lines, religious denominations, or economic status, Christ enables us to see one another for the sisters and brothers that we are. In spite of our disagreements and the trouble we have living with difference, Christ challenges us to forgive, to strive for mutual understanding, and to be gracious toward one another.

It is up to us to take care not to build or maintain walls of separation between ourselves and others. It is up to us to examine our hearts to find those invisible but very real barriers that can so easily be erected in our lives. In a world that constantly encourages the “us versus them” mentality, the Christian message is that there is no “them.” There is only “us” – all of us, right here in the same boat, members of the same human family. Christ has created in himself “one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace” (Eph. 2:15b).

Christ does this work of reconciliation for us, among us, and within us. Still, it is up to us to develop within ourselves a spirit of cooperation with the Spirit of Christ. In so doing we are becoming people after God’s own heart.

Give me a pure heart — that I may see Thee,
A humble heart — that I may hear Thee,
A heart of love — that I may serve Thee,
A heart of faith — that I may abide in Thee.
~ Dag Hammarskjold, Markings, 1964

Words (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2012 Dallis Day Richardson

God of Seaside and Mountain

23 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Prayers, Worship Liturgy

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

blessing, comfort, grace, hope, mercy, peace, prayer, spirituality, worship

Here’s a prayer for use in worship this coming Sunday or for your personal use anytime.

Invitation to Prayer

The miracle is that God made us for a divine purpose. We are chosen, blessed, called and equipped to be God’s ambassadors of grace and peace in this world. Such duty requires that we be people of prayer who regularly turn to the One who sustains us. In prayer, we seek God’s will and presence to guide our actions. Let us enter now into a time of prayer.

Prayer for One Voice

God of seaside and mountain,
God of Gentile and Jew,
God of miracle and mundane,
You enter our lives in the most ordinary places.
You meet us in our everyday needs and concerns.
You come to us in our waking and our sleeping.
You feed us in our deepest longings.
You guide us on the paths of righteousness.
You bless us with your steadfast love.
You grace us with your incarnational presence.
For all of these places of meeting, we give thanks.
We pray that you will continue to teach us
what it means to live whole and holy lives.
We pray that you will open our eyes to
the everyday miracles of grace in an ungracious world.
We pray that you will lead us into your peace
so that we become instruments of peace
among our sisters and brothers of all races and nations.
We also pray that in the abundance of your mercy,
you would bring comfort to the grieving this day,
peace of mind to the troubled,
encouragement to the hurting,
wholeness to the sick and dying,
hope to all the world’s people.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Words (c) 2006 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2011 Dallis Day Richardson (Monterey, CA)

Christ Is Firstborn Of Creation

16 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems, Worship Liturgy

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Body of Christ, Christ, Epistle to the Ephesians, hope, Mystery, peace, reconciliation, Revised Common Lectionary

This coming Sunday, to accompany the Revised Common Lectionary epistle reading from Ephesians 2:11-22, I am using a hymn text I wrote six years ago. I’m posting it here early in the week in case any of my colleagues in ministry wish to use it in worship too. It is sung to the tune “BEACH SPRING,” found in The United Methodist Hymnal and other worship songbooks.

Christ is firstborn of creation, image of the God of grace.
In Christ all things are created, and the pain of death erased.
Christ before things seen and unseen; In him God is pleased to dwell.
Christ has first place within everything; In him God does all things well.

Christ across the farthest ocean, and in neighbors near at hand.
Christ upon the highest mountain, and in valleys ‘cross the land.
Neither death nor life can keep us separated from God’s love
that is ours within Christ Jesus, Lamb of God who reigns above.

We the church are called his Body, of which Christ our Lord is head.
We, with hands and feet made holy, feed the poor with Christ’s own bread.
God in Christ is reconciling, making peace upon the cross.
Alleluia! Praise the Mystery! In Christ hope is never lost.

Words: Mark Lloyd Richardson, (c) 2006 (Col. 1:15-20, Romans 8:38-39)
Photo: Dallis Day Richardson (c) 2012 (Redlands University Chapel)
Tune: BEACH SPRING

Made Perfect in Weakness

14 Saturday Jul 2012

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Reflections, Sermon portions

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

2nd Corinthians, Apostle Paul, grace, John Wesley, Methodists, sanctification, spiritual growth, Stephen Hawking, vulnerability, weakness

Photo by Jeremy Keith, Flickr Creative Commons, Feb. 20, 2006

On a mission trip to Mexico, a coworker named Louise was so impressed with my skills on the compound miter saw that she began to tell everyone she thought I was “perfect.” According to her, I made no mistakes. If that were true, I’m not sure why some of the pieces were returned to me to have small portions shaved off … but let’s not go there! In any event, it was a joke among some of the adults on the crew, with Louise commenting on my perfection, me giving mild protest, and then finally asking her if she would please put it in writing. I thought it might come in handy someday.

We, the people called Methodists, embrace the theology of John Wesley, which speaks of the Christian life as a movement of growth in holiness. Wesley said that from the moment of baptism, the Spirit of God works in a person’s life so that they are able to go on to perfection – that is, they are able, by God’s grace, to grow in love and faith all their days.

Perfection is not a destination likely to be reached in this lifetime, but rather a goal toward which to aim in one’s faith. It is the process of sanctification that Wesley believed occurs within all followers of Christ when they practice the means of grace.

In Second Corinthians 12:2-10, the apostle Paul speaks with a touch of irony about weakness, and specifically of an affliction with which he lived, “a thorn in the flesh.” But our weaknesses are not the end of the story. Our vulnerabilities, our suffering, our pain – God can use and transform even these. Indeed, Paul’s thorn in the flesh helped him rely all the more on God’s grace.

Internationally known astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has been confined to a wheelchair for years due to Lou Gehrig’s disease. He once said that before he became ill life seemed “a pointless existence.” He claims to have been happier after he was afflicted than before. “When one’s expectations are reduced to zero,” he said, “one really appreciates everything that one does have.”

There are few certainties in life. We make plans, and inevitably they change. We expect to remain healthy, only to have our bodies betray us. We hope to have good relationships, and then something happens to create separation or alienation.

All we know for sure, as people of faith, is that God’s strength helps us in our weakness. The God whom we know in Jesus Christ is a suffering God, a vulnerable God, a crucified God, and we can be thankful, ultimately a triumphant God.

Not once, but three times, Paul says he appealed to God to remove the “thorn in his flesh,” and it wasn’t removed. Paul, like us, wants more control over his own wellbeing. Paul, like us, wants some sign that God answers prayers. Paul, like us, doesn’t particularly like feeling vulnerable or weak.

During the Civil War, a hastily written prayer was found in the pocket of a fatally wounded soldier. “I received nothing that I asked for,” it read, “but all I had hoped. My prayers were answered.”

Our prayers are answered in God’s own way. The answer Paul received from God is found in these words of assurance: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

It reminds me of something Alice Abrams said: “In life as in dance: Grace glides on blistered feet.”

So you and I needn’t worry about our imperfections. God specializes in making strong the weak. God specializes in making healthy the sick. God specializes in making rich the poor. Not in the ways we might expect, but true all the same.

We worship a God who in Christ embraces the world and becomes vulnerable to suffering and death … a God who invites us to open ourselves to both pain and wonder.

For it is in our vulnerability that we share in the glory of God whose power is made perfect in weakness.

Words (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson

Prayer for an Open Heart

07 Saturday Jul 2012

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Prayers, Worship Liturgy

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

color, creation, grace, light, miracle of life, original blessing, prayer, Religion and Spirituality

Community garden flowers

God,

with each new day you prove your love for creation.

You illustrate your beauty in an array of glorious color.

You establish your intentions in the hearts of your people.

You paint our lives into your masterpiece of original blessing.

Open my heart, I pray, to this enduring miracle of life.

Today let me drink in your restorative light,

let me rise up to the image of God within me,

let me grow unhindered in the immensity of your grace.

Amen.

Words (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2012 Dallis Day Richardson (Bob & Elizabeth Clover’s garden in Los Osos, California)

God is going to get what God wants

02 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Reflections

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Christ, compassion, Dorothy Day, faith, grace, justice, LGBTQ, Methodism, worship

Retiring United Methodist Bishop William H. Willimon recently said, “The best training for being a United Methodist bishop is, fortunately, exactly the work that is done by any faithful Methodist preacher: Tell the truth as God tells it to you; try to miss as many meetings as possible; expect the church to be thoroughly tainted with sin (including your own); try to love Jesus more than the praise of your people, and keep believing that despite all of the church’s setbacks, in the end God is going to get what God wants! Hallelujah!”

Because I try to be a faithful Methodist preacher, and because I’ve always admired Bishop Willimon’s prophetic voice, I share here some words I recently wrote for our church newsletter:

Too often the church that claims to follow the Risen Christ into the world is mostly absent from the real human needs that exist in all communities.

Do you care whether your neighbors experience the presence of God in their lives?

Do you want all people (and I do mean “all”) to feel welcome in Christ’s church?

Do you desire to live more deeply into the heart and mind of God so that your life becomes the reflection of divine grace it is intended to be?

Do you hope to make a difference in the world through an act of daring surrender of your will to the will of your Creator?

Dorothy Day once said, “The greatest challenge of the day is how to bring about a revolution of the heart.” This applies to individuals and to the church as the body of Christ.

There is more of God than you or I can possibly know. We are daily being called into a deeper and fuller humanity in which the lines of race, gender, religion, nationality, class, and sexual orientation are blurred, and we all breathe the same air of divinely offered potentiality as God’s beloved children.

As for me, I am a progressive, evangelical, ecumenical, open and affirming, contemplative, socially active and globally concerned Christian!

I do not believe that faith is primarily a matter of what one believes – I believe faith is mainly about trusting in the God who loves us and calls us to love one another!

I do not believe that worship is either traditional or contemporary – I believe that worship is either relevant to our lives or not!

I do not believe that orthodoxy (“right belief”) is more important than orthopraxy (“right practice”)! Indeed, Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” ~ John 13:35. Servant ministry trumps theology any day!

I do not believe that Christians are the only people whom God loves, or that God cares more about straight people than LGBTQ people. I do not believe that heaven is reserved solely for followers of Christ, but rather that God will bring into God’s Realm whomever God chooses to eternally embrace (and that just might be everyone; we cannot fully know the mind of God)! Indeed, Jesus said, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold” ~ John 10:16.

Perhaps most importantly, I do not believe that church is mainly about having our personal or spiritual needs met; rather God’s message to the church is the invitation to surrender our lives to the Spirit whose grace transforms us and sends us out to be instruments of Christ’s blessing in a hurting world.

Bishop Mary Ann Swenson preached at the California-Pacific Annual Conference this June, saying that “People looked to Jesus, because Jesus looked for what God was looking for—justice, compassion, the kingdom come.” I say Amen to that!

Words (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2012 Dallis Day Richardson (University of Redlands Chapel)

July 2012
S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Jun   Aug »

Recent Posts

  • New Recording 3
  • How Long?
  • Prayer to a Great Blue Heron
  • A Prayer for Our Country
  • Blessing for When You Don’t Know Where to Begin

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 558 other subscribers

Archives

  • August 2022
  • May 2022
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • March 2020
  • December 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • May 2019
  • February 2019
  • October 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • February 2018
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012

Categories

  • Centering Prayer
  • Contemplative Life
  • Dogs
  • grief
  • Guest Blogs
  • Justice
  • LGBTQ
  • pastoral integrity
  • Peace with justice
  • Poems
  • Prayers
  • Reflections
  • Running
  • Sermon portions
  • Uncategorized
  • Worship Liturgy

Blog Stats

  • 49,161 hits

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Sacred Pauses

aprilyamasaki.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • dreamprayact
    • Join 342 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • dreamprayact
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...