An Elder Pilgrim's Reflections

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. (from Rev. 1:4-8 ) About 17 years ago I wrote a letter to the people in the United Church of Underhill. The purpose of the letter was to explain I was retiring at the end of the Conference Year. I felt the time had come for me personally to move on and for the church to grow with a new pastor. I secured a moving company while the church formed a search committee as we both prepared for the inevitable. This is the nature of the book of Revelation, as recorded in 1:4: “John, to the seven churches in the province of Asia.” This is Revelation’s context: it was written for the benefit of particular people at a particular time for their particular situation. John’s letter narrates a drama about God’s imminent invasion of the “kingdom of this world” ...

“When you hear of wars and rumored wars,  keep your head and don’t panic.  This is routine history, and no sign of the end.” (From Mark 13:1-8 ) For five years I worked at a boy’s summer camp as an assistant riding instructor. I had a great deal of respect for him because he not only taught me about riding and teaching but also drew me into a greater maturity. I loved him for his teaching and mentoring at a significant time in my life. In the Spring I learned he would not be returning to camp and there would be a new instructor. That was a Summer of adjustment and grief. Two summers later I was asked to be the camp riding instructor. I knew that would be a great responsibility and wanted to do my best as his protégé. Without him there, it wasn't easy to recall and practice his teaching. I would imagine the disciples experienced similar feelings and questions. Without Jesus there physically with them, what did it mean to follow him? What, if anything, changed in being a discipl...

"She did as Elijah had told her. So there was food daily for Elijah the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah."  (from 1 Kings 17:15-16 ) Elijah is on a mission to announcing to everyone a coming drought unless God provides rain. Elijah’s miracle lunch break begins when the Lord tells him to go camp at the Cherith canyon, where the ravens feed him twice daily. Eventually the canyon's waters evaporate producing a drought. Go to Zarephath, the Lord tells Elijah, where a woman will feed you. He goes, meets a woman gathering sticks, and asks her for a bite to eat and a drink of water. She reacts sarcastically saying, “I have a handful of flour and a little oil; you found me scratching together enough firewood for a last meal for my son and me!” Elijah answers, “Don’t worry about it. First make me a small biscuit and bring it back. Then make a meal from ...

 When the widow put her two in the offering plate, Jesus said: “Truly this poor widow put more in the treasury.  All of them have contributed out of their abundance,  but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had,  all she had to live on.” Adapted from Mark 12:38-44 Come Stewardship Sunday, one of the most common texts you will hear is Mark 12:41-44 focusing on the widow as a model of sacrificial giving. It’s one I used often for the same reason; make a sacrificial offering for the ministries of the church. Another way I used the text was to highlight the difference between God’s ways and our ways. The scribes paraded around the marketplace in their robes while they “devour widow’s houses” while this poverty-stricken widow gives her last two coins to the temple. The widow, therefore, is a model disciple because she gave all she had. There’s a problem here; it doesn’t seem like Jesus to ask a destitute woman to give all she had to God. Jesus, ...

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Ps.118:24 The beauty of the day is not that it is new, but that we are being made new. The glory of the day is not that it marks a change, but that we are being changed. The blessing of the day is not that it is a day off, but that it is the Lord’s Day. R.C. Sproul Jr. The day began with my first-ever distressing case of acid reflux. A call to The Dr. resulted in a prescription for omeprazole (Prilosec) which the pharmacist dispensed along with 2 pages of “instructions, warnings, and in some cases” comments. Returning home I immediately took a pill, without reading directions, and my body began a disagreeable adjustment to the medication. A portion of the adjustment was not being able to write last Monday’s “Reflections”, which I enjoy. It’s Friday, and the Structured Me said it’s time to reflect on the Day the Lord gave. I have reason to rejoice because in reflecting on the unexpected I came ...