spiritual disciplines

And They Know His Voice (Sermon May 11, 2014)

Scripture: John 10:1-10

Today we honor and celebrate the women in our lives that have greatly impacted us. We call this day in America, Mother’s Day, but that term although is very important does not always cover all the women in our lives. There are some whose mothers have not been their greatest influence and instead were influenced by their grandmother or aunt. And some have not bore children but have been very influential in the lives of many young ones in their communities. Women are very important to the development of both boys and girls. They teach differently than men, they play differently than males; women have a different perspective that is vital to the development of a child. I say this in a holistic sense, not just the physical development, but also the emotional, and spiritual development of every individual. That is why we honor women. That is why in the Friends church we have always counted women as equal in all areas of life. I would have to say the people I have learned the most from in key areas of my development have been women. Edith Williams was my pastor when I fell in love with the Friends Church; she is the one that taught me the history and basic beliefs of Friend when I was just beginning to understand what it meant to be a follower and Friend of Jesus. Lois Smock was my Sunday School teach when I was in college, I was her only student and we spent hours in study of scripture and she helped me through the roughest time spiritually that I had faced, and also helped me find clearness when I first felt the urges to ministry. I remember one Sunday Lois told me that she really felt I was going to enter into the ministry and possibly be a missionary. I had not laughed harder than I did that day and I think she had a very good laugh as well, but a few months later I was sitting in an airport waiting to board a plane heading across the ocean to Ukraine.

Now those women were not my mothers, my mother has always been encouraging in ways that are difficult to put into words. My mom would teach us but always seemed to allow us to make the decisions on our own, and then let us face the consequences of those decisions what ever they may have been. She would always encourage me to try harder, work harder, never to settle for something second rate, but in the same process she taught me to be responsible. My mom, and my grandmother are some of the funniest people I know, many of the most memorable teachings that they have given were their responses to poor decisions I have made. Some might not find the words spoken as encouraging but those that would judge do not know my mom or grandma, because our family has always had a very dry sense of humor and the most profound thing both my mother and grandmother have said was, “Well that was pretty stupid wasn’t it.” And then they would enter into assisting me in figuring out how to redeem the situation.

Although we honor mothers this day, today is more than that; it is the day to celebrate the women who have helped shape us into who we are. Those people became closest to us know how to talk to us in ways that will reach right into the very depths of our hearts and then pull out the greatest good. They have the ability to look past the quirks and see the spark that brings us to life. These people are the ones that we look up to, they are the ones we wish to please, the ones we honor and seek to make proud. Yes often it is our mothers, but there are others.

I want us to consider the way your mother spoke to you. If your relationship with your mother was not the greatest I want you to consider another very influential woman in you life that helped you become the man or woman you are today. I want you to consider what words they would us to direct and encourage you down the path that has brought you here today. Consider the ways they spoke, reacted, and taught you. You can still hear their voice clearly while you think back. Those influential people are the ones that Jesus often uses to teach us profound things about the nature of God.

When Jesus spoke of God, He often used relational terminology, saying things like Father to direct our attention to the intimacy and honor in the family structure. In the culture of that day the father was the most important figure in the family, it was the father that provided for the family, the father was often the teacher, as well as the spiritual leader of the family, and the father would provide encouragement to the children through personal blessings. In the rare case of a divorce in ancient times, the children did not go with the mother but they stayed with the father. To be without a father was the greatest sign of poverty and were the ones that the religious were often called to support. But cultures have changed as time has progressed, as the culture has moved away from an agrarian society and become more urban in setting the father has spent less time at home so the importance of the mother has risen greatly in the lives of children, especially that of boys. This cultural shift can limit our understanding of what Jesus says when he makes use of the term Father in scripture. In today’s culture it may be more accurate to the spirit of the words of scripture to replace that term with mother, because they are often the most influential and relational figure in a child’s life.

Jesus would also use agricultural references to illustrate the relational aspect of God. When he looked and lamented over Jerusalem He said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” (Matthew 23:37 NIV) These illustrations in that time and place carried greater weight than they do today because as we have moved away from the agricultural culture into an urban culture we do not quite understand the relational aspect of animals, and how they respond to their surroundings. Some today, if they were honest, would not know what Jesus was talking about without doing some research, because they have not had the privilege to observe chickens and chicks interact.

Probably the most memorable agricultural illustration Jesus used was that of the relationship of sheep to the shepherd, which we read about today. This is a very important illustration because like Father, a sheep without a shepherd is a sheep that will not survive. Sheep were one of the first domesticated animals in human history, they have spent so much time under the constant care of humans that there is very little survival instinct left in them. Sheep need a shepherd like an infant need’s its mother. It is the shepherd that leads the sheep to the feeding grounds, it is the shepherd that leads the sheep to the source of water, the shepherd is the one that calls a sheep away from danger and protects them from the threats of the predator. Sheep do very little on their own, in fact a sheep will put its head down, begin eating, and will follow their mouth from one blade of grass to the next until it is totally lost. It is the lost sheep that is then stolen, or devoured.

Jesus uses this illustration because humans like sheep need the social network of others around us. We need the voices calling us and directing us as we walk through life. But again we do not always understand what Jesus is saying because He is speaking in terms of a culture that we do not live. Even the contemporary sheepherders of today do not raise sheep in the same way as they did in the first century. Today we employ the use of fences and dogs, in the first century they did not have the technology to produce various types of wire, so the sheep needed constant supervision. At night they shepherds would gather the sheep together into holding pens, which were usually roofless enclosures that would have a narrow opening and walls all around. The shepherd would lead the sheep into the pen or fold, and would use his rod and staff to inspect the fleece and skin for potential problems, as the sheep would walk by. When they were all safely in the fold, the shepherd would tend to the various injuries and when the sun went down he would sleep in the opening keeping the sheep in and potential threats out. During certain times of the year the shepherds would lead the sheep to more rigorous folds, that had higher walls and more security because as the fleeces became fuller, the threat of thieves trying to obtain the wool while the shepherd slept increased. The sheep were so accustomed to this routine of entering the fold every night and exiting every morning, they would often not move until the shepherd called for them. Since sheep would not move to follow a stranger’s voice and since the shepherd was in the gate, the only way to steal a sheep was to hop over the wall and then lift the sheep out.

Day in and day out for centuries shepherds have done this same thing. Year after year the sheep follow the voice of the one that leads them. When they hear a voice they do not know they run away, but the voice of the shepherd calmed them. The people understood the idea and concept of the shepherd in the first century, this is nothing new to scripture because David often would refer to God as his shepherd. What they did not understand was the context that Jesus was speaking in. Jesus was saying these things to the religious leaders of his day. He spoke these words after he gave sight to a man who was born blind. And when the leaders began investigating how this thing happened, it became clear that Jesus was attracting more of a following than the most prominent religious leaders of the day. Because of this the man that Jesus healed was driven out of the synagogue out of the community and Jesus then told them that they where the ones blind. So he uses this illustration saying that these leaders and teacher were not shepherds but thieves. They were not looking after the sheep but taking them away from the fold of God.

This is pretty steep and serious charge. Through their teachings if a person did not follow them exactly they could be totally removed from the community. In that culture to be removed from the community was to be removed from God totally, there were not other options, if you were not part of the synagogue you were equal to a gentile, and not welcome in the temple. If you were not welcome in the temple you then could not be forgiven of your sins and were damned to Hell. That is what the blind man was facing when he chose to follow Jesus. But Jesus turned their teachings around on them and said no you are the ones that are the thieves you are the ones that are keeping the sheep out of the fold of God. “I am the Gate,” Jesus says. Jesus is the one that stands guard, watches over, protects, and nurtures the sheep. Not the leaders, not the teachers, and not the priests. Jesus goes on to say, “Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

This brings us to some very touchy situations. The religious leaders Jesus is speaking to were the ones that were keeping the faith pure. They were the righteous ones. They were the ones that had all the answers and held the keys to interpreting the laws. Yet Jesus accepted the one that they rejected. Jesus says whoever enters by me will be saved. They put conditions on acceptance into the community yet Jesus opens the gate and calls out to the sheep.

I want us to again reflect on those women in our lives that have help shape us. I mentioned that they would often reach deep into our hearts and pull out what is good, that they would look beyond our quirkiness and see the spark within that could be fed until we become fully alive. They, like Jesus, look at us in love. They may not like what we do but they continue to provide encouragement every step we take. Often our mothers are like our shepherd, they lead and guide us for a while but eventually they release us, and we must listen for the voice of God on our own. But what voices are we listening too?

We sitting here today easily become like the religious leaders that Jesus called sheep thieves. We are the keepers of the faith, but are we listening to the voice of the Shepherd or are we letting other voices enter in. I spoke of two women that were very important to my own faith; they each were active ministers during two fundamental periods of my life. One taught me about Friends, and she spoke about how Friends would seek and listen for the voice of God to direct them to speak and act in their lives. That act of listening for the voice of God is at the very heart of our faith. But how do we do this? How do we remove the distractions from all around us and just listen to the direct guidance of our shepherd. We enter into the rhythm of life that Jesus taught a life of worship, prayer, and service. But some times we cannot remove all the distractions and at times we may feel confused and that is where we need the encouragement of friends to help us find clearness. Gently listening and urging us, encouraging and questioning us until we feel we have the answer from God.

There is another lesson to learn from the shepherd. When I was working on the farm we raised livestock but cattle are not the same as sheep. Cattle are driven where sheep are lead. Cattle are pushed and prodded along, and sheep are called. There is a difference; one is forced the other is encouraged, one is controlled the other is guided. Parents, and others that mean the most to us guide us and encourage us to become complete. Jesus does not force us to become His followers, he does not demand us to adhere to rules but he calls us to a life of completion.

As we enter into this time of open worship and communion as Friends. I encourage each of us to remember our mothers. Remember how they encouraged us and guided us. If there is pain, ask the Spirit to help you forgive and to see them through His eyes. I also encourage us to consider the Shepherd. Are we listening to His voice or are we listening to the voices of our culture? Are we hearing his calls or are we like the Pharisees trying to control our own lives and the lives of those around us? Let us also consider how we can become a people loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit, living the love of Christ with others.

Hope Through the Trials (Sermon March 9, 2014)

Scripture: Matthew 4:1-11

There are some days where there it seems as if the sun is moving in fast forward. You know those days, the ones where you have a doctor appointment, an interview, a paper to write along with a book to read, and about when you think you have gotten caught up you have three reports to run and five last minute clients that need your attention immediately. Then after work just when you might think you could catch a break you have supper to cook, laundry to wash, and a toilet to fix at home. So I just explained your typical Tuesday, I won’t mention the typical Monday because that would be too traumatic for us. The point is we are busy. From the fifth time we hit the snooze button until we finally get to bed around midnight we are running. Busy is the term most of us would use to describe the way we feel any given day. Even those of us that are retired seem to be busy.

We are stretched as a culture, stretched between our jobs and family, stretched between school activities and community events, and stretched between various tasks at home. We feel stretched thin, nearly to our breaking points, and then just one more thing happens and we snap. We yell at a child when all they wanted was a cup of water, we refuse service to a client and let them know what we really think, and our spouses see the side of our personality that we try so hard to keep hidden. Usually the breaking point is able to be mended, but there are times when real damage is done, words are said that cannot be taken back, and sometimes someone ends up with a frozen steak resting against an eye.

These days where we are stretched to the breaking point and beyond are the days where our disciplines kick in and our true character is shown to those around us. How we respond during the trials of our lives are the things people remember the most. That is why today’s passage is so encouraging. Jesus was tested, He was tempted just like we are, and He had to face trials as we do every single day of our lives. I find that little bit of information quite refreshing, knowing that God understands what a bad day feels like and there is a way to move forward. Scripture even says in Hebrews 4:15. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested a we are, yet without sin.” Jesus understands that we have bad days; He understands being stretched, and being brought to a point where we just want to scream. He was tested or tempted in every respect as we are.

After John baptized Jesus, Jesus was lead by the Spirit to the desert, where he fasted for forty days and nights. While out in that deserted placed the tempter came to test Jesus, after forty days it says that Jesus was famished. Jesus has a real need, he has not eaten for an extended amount of time and there are rocks just sitting there. They are shaped in such a way that they look like loaves of bread and the very thought makes one’s mouth water and stomach to growl. “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Just think about that for a while. This temptation is one that we are faced with all the time. It is the temptation to satisfy our needs quickly. It is only bread you might say. It is not a big deal, but the tempter is encouraging Jesus to use a means to gaining what he wants and needs illegitimately.

This temptation is the most common temptation. There is a hierarchy of needs as humans. Food, water, shelter, and others some are greater needs some are lesser but if one is missing we tend to do whatever we can to obtain it. Now most of us could not turn the stones into bread, but we do have other means. We have little cards in our wallets that can magically give us whatever we want. With just a swipe we can have a steak, or new shoes. The temptation of using credit to obtain what we need could lead into a temptation for us to use it to gain what we want, illegitimately. Eventually the bill will come and we will be faced with reality. You are hungry and you don’t have cash, just swipe the card and you will have what you need.

So many people in our community have become victims to this vicious cycle, I know it all to well myself. What we once thought of as a safety net has become a snare that keeps us from really being free. You might say that Jesus using his divine power and you using a credit card are not the same thing but they are similar. With every action there is a reaction, this applies not only in physics but also in relationships and life. If we try to get what we need through illegitimate means, there are consequences.

“Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down…’” This second temptation we may have a hard time relating to, because not too often do we find ourselves standing on a pinnacle contemplating a jump. Many of us have gotten involved in risky behaviors though. How many times have we woken up late and sped to work praying earnestly, “Please don’t let there be a cop.” Or have you ever written a check and hoping that you had just enough time to make a deposit before the check cleared? We tend to proceed with actions expecting God to bless us, when maybe true obedience was something else. “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” We have each tried to reason with God, “If you do this then I will do that.” This is a temptation that we easily fall into and often it is the very thing that causes us to lose faith in God. We pray for something and it doesn’t work out the way we hoped, so we assume God either doesn’t care or that he doesn’t exist. But in reality when we enter into those types of activities we are not trusting God, but instead we are jumping off a building expecting nothing bad to happen.

Jesus is then taken to a high mountain and shown all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. The devil says to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” This temptation is one that we so often face especially in the corporate world. Power and wealth are very attractive. If only I were to do this I could move up a step. If only I turn a blind eye to this action, I could gain more money. If only I vote this way I could have it all. Power and wealth have tempted us all at some point. We may not have been tempted to the same degree we may not even know that we have been tempted. We may think this is only a problem for politicians or company executives but it can happen to us all.  When I worked in the lawn care business we had to meet certain production goals to have the weekend off. The temptation was to cut corners to get more lawns done in less time, many would just spread fertilizer on the lawns and neglect to go back over the lawn to spray the weeds, but the customer paid for both. This is similar to the first temptation but instead of our needs it focuses on our desires.

Jesus was tempted by needs, desires, and our methods. He needed food and all he had to do was say a word and the stones would turn to bread. He had the power to fulfill his need but to do so would be an illegitimate use of the power. He was tempted to force his acceptance as messiah by jumping from the roof of the temple testing that God would protect him and the people would be amazed, but to do so would be unethical and an illegitimate use of his power. He was tempted to gain become the King of Kings and Lord of Lords at that very moment if only he would bow a knee, but to do so would not truly satisfy the mission set before him. Every day we are stretched thin and are tempted in these very same ways. Each is focused on our own selfish needs and desires at the expense of someone or something else. If we were to succumb to the temptations there would be a consequence to the actions, consequences that we did not intend but they happen just the same. But when we are stretched thin we are not always thinking clearly and that is when unlike Jesus we miss the mark and sin.

This passage reassures us that God understands our condition but it also tells us how to combat the temptation and train our bodies and spirits to face the various trials of life. We now need to hit the rewind button and go back to the beginning of today’s passage. What was Jesus doing in the desert? He was fasting. A fast is something that many people do not understand. In simple terms it is abstaining from something for a time, to focus on something else. Many see a fast a way to convince God to do their wills, but that is putting God to the test. I want us to look at it in a different way.

Let us remember back to the days when we were first developing our relationship with our spouse, I apologize for those that are not married but I hope you can follow along. Remember the activities you would do together? The time spent with each other? You would sacrifice an evening out with your friends at the drop of a hat, just to spend time with the one you hoped to marry. You would spend your last dollar to give them a gift that would express your devotion to them. You may skip a meal so that you could get off work earlier so you could spend more time with the one you love. You would stop doing some activities so that you could afford to invest in them. You sacrificed something and invested that into a relationship. We sacrifice without any question, because they are more important.

That is a fast; it is sacrificing something to build the relationship. It is giving up a meal so we can spend that time nourishing our relationship with God. It is giving up something that brings us pleasure for the moment so that we can instead gain that pleasure from God. Is it difficult yes, but it is worth it. The sacrifice does not force God into doing something, but it instead opens our spirits to hear from Him in a deeper way.

Now let us look again at the passage. Jesus went out into the desert and fasted for forty days and nights. Many will say that there is special power in this number, citing that Moses was on the mountain with God forty days while he received the law from God. Or that Elijah spent forty days in the cave, or that it rained for forty days on Noah and his family in the ark. I will not dispute or confirm the special-ness of the number forty. That it occurs so often in scripture is important enough, but what is forty days? It is over a month. It is a significant amount of time. Time is the key word. In our culture where time is in short supply this is significant. Waiting and listening, conversing with God and listening for the inner voice to speak is a discipline that we so often neglect. This unhurried ability to wait is what causes us so often to fall into the snares of the temptations around us. We feel there are pressing matters and we must act now! But what if we were to just wait, listen and seek for the right timing. Many very bad decisions could have been avoided if only we would have waited. Wait. For many of us in our busy culture wait is one of those four letter words that we do not use. We are a people of action, and to wait is just not in our make up. But Jesus spent forty days waiting, fasting, and praying. In the waiting he was tested; obtain your needs, your desires, and take matters into your own hands. Through the waiting Jesus was able to confront those tests with wisdom and integrity. “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God… Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test… Worship the Lord you God, and serve only Him.”

For many followers of Jesus, we no longer understand what it means to fast. For many of us we do not know how to wait. For many of us we pervert the fast into methods of control and means of power. But a fast is to wait, to sacrifice, and to give oneself for the benefit of others. It is disciplining ourselves so that when the trials come we can face them without sin, not because we are that good, but because we love God and know that he loves us. It is in this waiting, meditation, contemplation, fasting, and listen that we find the answers we seek the wisdom and light springing from the very spirit of God.  It is in that place we can find acceptance of the situations around us, and the strength to face the challenges that threaten to break our stretched lives apart. Jesus knows the trials we face because He has faced them. He knows the pains we feel because He too has felt them. He knows and is the way through and forward. Let us now wait with Him as he waits with us during His own fast. Let us draw on His strength as he faces his trials and as we face our own. And let us know that God does know us, He knows our pain and our weaknesses, He knows our desires and our needs, and He loves us. Let us rest in His love and accept that through our relationship with Him we will find all that we truly need.

Illumination on the Dark Path (Sermon March 2, 2014)

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:16-21

Today more than any other our faith is challenged. It is challenged in the realms of science, as things once believed as being miracles are understood as basic medicines. If you read through history what was once known as Jesuit Powder, was thought to be magic due to its ability to relieve the fevers of the plague. This magical powder was expensive and hard to find in the dark days of historical Europe, but today it is not nearly as magical or miraculous when some of us take it daily for small aches and pains or our low dose aspirin to prevent a potential stroke. Our faith is challenged and it is thought to be some sort of fairy tale told to children to get them to behave. It seem as if our current era of history is faced with the most unique challenges because those before have never had to fight a foe so cunning as the contemporary man.

History would prove us wrong if we were to really look into it. Sure the advancing technology of today provides greater access to knowledge that was once only available to those able to afford higher learning, but in every era of history in every culture the gospel met there have been those that possessed higher learning. The Magi of ancient Persia were not merely stage magicians but were the most educated people of their day, with knowledge of herbal remedies, the movement of the stars, and mathematics. The same could be said of the Gaelic Druids, or the Greek philosophers each group offering a different challenge to those that went to the ends of the earth to present the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

Peter faced these wise men of the world when he went out on his missionary journeys; journeys that tradition says took him to the very streets of Rome where he was crucified upside down for the sake of the Gospel. “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ…” When we hear the word myth our minds wonder to the realms of Hercules or the great, lost city of Atlantis, we see them as elaborate and fictitious stories craftily spoken in the epic presentations of Homer. A myth is a story or legend that portrays a lesson or a commonly held belief, by definition the scripture we hold very dear in our faith is mythology. Now relax the muscles of your backs because I know you all just tensed up thinking that I just said that scripture is fiction, but that is not at all what I said. A myth is a story that portrays a lesson or belief. Peter is saying that we did not follow cleverly devised myths; in saying this he is saying that he is telling a story to portray a lesson, but that the story of Jesus is different than other myths.

To those he was speaking to the accounts presented to them by this man seemed just as far fetched as the travels of Achilles, Ajax, and Odysseus, the difference was that Peter saw these things with his own eyes, a feat that Homer could never claim since he was blind. “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made know to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” At best the stories relayed to us by Homer are questionable because he did not see the things of which he wrote about. Although archeologists have been able to locate the city of Troy using his writings the descriptions given of the characters were exaggerated by the imagination of a man that was using words to express images he could not see to people with full sensory capacity. Peter could see though, and that is why he says we did not follow cleverly devised myths, but were eyewitnesses.

Peter saw something that changed him, he saw something that caused him to leave the comfort of his home to give an account of this to people he did not know. What did he see that caused such a radical shift in the life of a simple fisherman? He saw the embodiment of all knowledge shining before him.

Peter wrote this letter to followers of Jesus throughout the known world. We do not know if these believers were Jewish or Gentiles, but we can gather that these believers have an understanding of both cultures. These believes know of the mythology of the Hellenistic world as well as the history of the Hebrew people. He is also speaking to people that have already heard him give an account of the life of Jesus. The event that Peter speaks about today is the day Jesus took him, James, and John up on a mountain to pray. While they were on that holy mountain they saw Jesus standing talking to Moses and Elijah while Jesus was illuminated as if he were the sun.

This one event caused Peter to look at the world from a different perspective. Moses in the Hebrew culture is the lawgiver; Wisdom came to mankind from God through Moses. It is said that when Moses was with God his face shone, and as time passed it would become dimmer. This dimming light caused Moses to wear a veil over his face because it was a distraction to those around him. Because of this account light became a symbol to represent knowledge and wisdom from God. Throughout all of Jewish history even to this very day the first five books of the bible are considered the most important because the very person that spoke to God, whose face the light of God enlightened, wrote these books.

Elijah is also a very important figure in the Hebrew culture. Elijah is considered the greatest Prophet of God, because he was a man that did not taste the sting of death but was carried away in a chariot of fire, or light. According to tradition Elijah will return just prior to the coming of the Messiah or the Christ, bringing with him the new age. The books of the prophets are considered the second most important section of the Hebrew scriptures, because they were written by men who were directed by the Spirit of God to highlight areas of the Law mankind allowed to become dim.

These two figures represent the totality of Jewish wisdom, the Law and the Prophets. On top of that Holy Mountain Peter saw the representatives of the totality of his faith conversing with Jesus. The lawgiver whose face would shine and the prophet who was carried away in a chariot of light were standing before him, speaking to Jesus who was the one filled with light. Before his very eyes he was seeing all wisdom and knowledge being encapsulated into the man Jesus. To him this very event was telling him that the light that shone in the face of Moses the lawgiver was the light of Jesus, and the chariot that carried away the great prophet was Jesus. Jesus is the embodiment of all knowledge and wisdom of God, making the teaching of Jesus greater than and fulfilling the teaching of all that was before.

This is powerful. All the laws point to Jesus, all the oracles of the prophets’ point to Jesus, every myth, story, and person in his history pointed to Jesus. Jesus the man he saw perform miraculous signs, the one that healed his own mother-in-law who was laying on her death bed, could do these things because Jesus is the very essences of God, the light in the darkness. Peter is telling those who will listen that all knowledge and power come not from clever stories devised by man, but from Jesus.

This leads into the second portion of today’s scripture. “So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as a lamp shining in a dark place…” Prophetic messages, like myth, hold an often-misunderstood meaning in our minds. When one thinks of prophetic utterances we immediately think of people who can speak to us about the future, or a holy fortuneteller. This, of course, is part of the office of a prophet, but is not the totality of what they do. A prophet is a speaker of truth, a light bearer to those that would prefer to live in the shadows of a lie. Remember that Peter was saying that Jesus is the source of all knowledge and wisdom of God, that Jesus is the very Word of which all the writings of the Law and Prophets speak. So let us then look deeper at the prophetic message that is more fully confirmed.

The phrase “lamp shining,” is to cause things to become visible, made known, appear, appear to be, and shine. The “dark place” is a place, passage, task, position, possibility, or people without light, gloomy and miserable. So this prophetic message could say, “You will do well to be alert for a passage to become visible through the gloomy, unknown, and miserable situations.” I do not know about you but that to me says that life sucks and Jesus can help us through it. That if we diligently seek Jesus that He will allow the wisdom to shine through and give us a direction to walk.

Peter ends this section by saying that prophecy does not come by our own will but comes by men and women being moved by the Holy Spirit. How then does this light dawn in our lives? In many ways Peter is telling the believers that we must follow Jesus, to take on His lifestyle of worship, prayer, and service. Because it is in prayer and worship that we will begin to see hope through the misery to begin our service.

The spiritual practices of Friends, the meetings for clearness and the times of holy expectancy point to this, the waiting on the Lord in our meetings for business are times where we wait together for the Spirit of God to shine through a situation so that we can move forward through the passageway that was once filled with the gloomy darkness of uncertainty. The problem is that often we do not want to wait; often we feel we have waited too long already and decide by taking the path that seems right in our own minds. Often we assume we already have the knowledge. By doing this we run the risk of following the cleverly devised myths of man. The question also is raised how do we know when the way forward is from God? That comes the study. Through study we gain the knowledge of both man and God, and we discern through scripture and especially through the teachings of Jesus who is the Word of God

This lifestyle is not easy, in fact is one of the most difficult aspects of life. There are challenges all around us that distract us from this way of truth. Just this week as I attempted to center and prepare for worship, my mind dwelled on the conflicts in Ukraine. My heart cries for these people because I lived among them for a short time. Part of me wants our government to do something, to go defend the people, and part of me wants us to stand back and instead promote peace in other ways. This has become challenge to my faith, and a distraction on the pathway God has been leading me down. But in this miserable gloominess God has been teaching me and shining His light through the darkness. I have become more aware of the injustices that I myself have perpetuated, and have been lead to confession and repentance. Just as Peter was an eyewitness to the majesty of Christ, I have been an eyewitness to the hope that God can shine into the darkness. I can bear witness in my own life and in the experiences of the meetings I have participated in that God will provide the way forward if will allow Him to work through us. Though the future may seem grim, though it may seem as if there is no reason to carry on I stand before you saying that we have never had a greater opportunity than we have today to be bearers of truth and light in our world today. The dawn is coming and the bright morning star is rising in our hearts, so let us be ever more diligent to become a people loving God in worship, embracing the Holy Spirit in Prayer, and being obedient to our callings as we live the love of Christ with others.