The Work of God.

Today's Reading: 2 Chronicles 19-21, Psalm 102

What do we mean when we say "God did this" or "God did that?" I think there might be a few differing perspectives when answering that question. Rather than debate about what is wrong or right, I will tell you what I believe.

When I sat down for chaplaincy at Children's Hospital in Columbus, I noticed a book on the Chaplain's Office which had a bunch of 3d images from the Bible (you know the ones where you have to squint your eyes or blur your focus to see the 3d picture). And I was browsing through and smiling when I came to the image of the 10th plague. There was an angel flying over a house with a sword in hand, and a baby in two pieces on the ground (this posted image was probably the closest I could find to recreate the idea). For some people, this is absolute truth and you should have to deal with it. Not for me.

When I say "God did this," I mean it in the cosmic sense of the phrase, that is, when someone is healed by the work of a doctor and I say "God did this" I mean that God crafted and catered the skills and gifts of the people responsible for helping make this doctor become a deliverer of healing for us now. I actually mean more than this, but a blog post is insufficient for starting with "In the beginning." When the author of 2 Chronicles tells us that God sent an ambush, I do not imagine a huge figure with a robe stomping down upon people, I imagine a military crafted with gifts to lift those who were in great danger of being overrun into survival.

Try and place yourself into that loooooooooooooooong story of Jesus and his love today.

Prayer and/or Medicine

Today's Reading: 2 Chronicles 16-18, Psalm 101.

King Asa gets badmouthed here, for even in his disease, he did not seek the Lord but sought physicians (2 Chr 16:12), as if there were only one choice or the other. There have been a number of cases in recent years that ring of that same argument, a family refusing care for their loved one because they believe that through prayer they are able to make any disease disappear. Sometimes this works out well, other times it ends in a preventable tragedy.

It has always been my belief that God has done amazing things through the gifts of those in the medical community. Whenever I gather at a bedside before a surgery I pray for the Spirit to draw out the gifts that are present in the people who will be performing care that day. There is no opposing choice for me; these messengers (angels) are the ones God has sent and has raised up with their gifts to serve the body of Christ in this way.

I offer today the image of the Nehushtan. You say, "The What?" I say, "Yeah." This image probably looks familiar to you at least in some form. It is similar to the emblem on the Blue Shield logo. The story in Numbers goes that the people complained and God sent poisonous serpents to kill them. When the people repented, God had Moses construct a staff with a snake, and people would look at the staff and live. It has become a modern symbol for healing. There is a great interwoven narrative between the work of doctors and our own faith. Rather than divide up the world into secular and religious, I invite you to discover the work of God in the things we don't usually think of as religious. May you have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Fighting

Today's Reading: 2 Chronicles 12-15, Psalm 100.

It seems as though fighting and war are going to be themes this week, as I can't seem to escape them no matter where I turn. I have a sort of e-newspaper delivered to me every day, one part of which includes comics. Yesterday's Calvin & Hobbes comic was:

We all seem to have a bit of fighting built into us, whether it be family feuds or, well, (if you believe it when we call each other sister and brother) bigger family feuds. On Sunday, we discussed during the sermon time about making peace the norm by praying for our enemies; this is with keeping in mind that probably every U.S. American under the age of 16 has never known a country out of war.

In further reflection after Sunday's worship I thought, we have already had one generation that was ultimately defined by war (also the Depression) and we are shaping up for another, as the lingering effects of these wars will no doubt weigh heavily into the future. The healing words of Azariah stand out today, after generations of battle between the people of God. What we have given to us is a peace based on forgiveness both of ourselves and of our neighbors; it is at the heart of our gathering time on Sunday mornings.

Go this day and forgive as you have been forgiven.

The Zoo

Today's Reading: 2 Chronicles 8-11, Psalm 99

In a short list, a number of extravagant gifts are listed: gold, silver, ivory, and then something that caught my attention: apes and peacocks. The first three are obviously still treasures and gifts today, but at least as far as my preferences go, if someone shows up with a peacock I am going to have a few questions; not least of which is why do you just have peacocks around that you can give away?

But just look at the bird, it is majestic, it is a treasure. If I did have one of those strutting around my yard, you better believe it would be the topic of conversation for miles around. But since life is not just about me, lets look at this another way.

There are still those things which we know of as great gifts, and if you aren't sure what those are, flip on a television around any major holiday. Alas gold will tarnish, peacocks will die, and all will fade. Gifts that endure, however, are not usually glamorous but involve the simple act of helping someone in a wheelchair get through the door, or actually meaning it and paying attention when you ask someone if they are feeling ok, or noticing that someone did not act quite like themselves and writing them a quick note. These gifts we do not offer because they make people turn their heads, we offer them because we are the light of the world, it's in our DNA. Today, may you find a way to offer those humble gifts which God gave first to you to those you come in contact with.

War and Peace

Today's Readings: 2 Chronicles 5-7, Psalm 98 .

If you haven't heard my bit about the early Jewish community being "henotheists" and not "monothesists" you really are missing out on an important but snore-inducing segment of biblical interpretation. I offer, in short, that way back when the Israelites believed that there were many gods but that theirs was the most powerful. The way you knew your God was the most powerful was determined many ways, but referenced perhaps most often in scripture by military strength.

Theology obviously has changed a little bit since then, but a remnant of this thought remains. One need only think back a few weeks to the Super Bowl, wherein the victors claim that they would like to thank God for making this happen. Certainly one would not critique thanking God for things, but what do we say about the losers? Was their god not powerful enough?

I should hope we evaluate and give thanks to God differently today. There is no god but God, and rather than give thanks for where God enters and triumphs in war, we give thanks for where God brings about peace. We pray for conflict everywhere to end, whether in ongoing wars that will have impact long into our futures that happen in Iraq and Afghanistan; or whether it be for the rifts that happen within the boundary lines of our own household. May God make us agents of peace this day. Amen.