When I got started with blogging I didn’t fully understand how WordPress worked. As a result, I simply made my first blog revtdg.wordpress.com and I called it The Pastor’s Ponderings. I have decided that it would be better to have a blog with a more descriptive address. Therefore, I have exported this blog and all its contents to another WordPress address. I wll no longer update The Pastor’s Ponderings found at this address.

To continue reading The Pastor’s Ponderings, please do so at http://pastorsponderings.wordpress.com

  Thanks for switching to the new address.

This past Monday night I was watching one of my favorite shows, Heroes. During one of the commercial breaks, a commercial comes on that has a young man in his 20’s simply standing and looking at a magazine. After a few seconds it becomes clear that it was a Penthouse or Playboy or some similar type of magazine. After about 15 seconds of him looking at the magazine and the centerfold from all angles, he looks at the camera and says, “No. It didn’t work. I’m still gay.” At that point I was so taken off guard that I did not hear the rest of the commercial. My wife told me that it was an advertisement for a gay dating site similar to the E-harmony site for heterosexual couples. I’m still thinking about this commercial and wondering at its placement and whether it will be the first of many along similar lines that we will be seeing in the future.

Did anyone else see this commercial? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

John 14: 1-3

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.

It has been arough time for me since Easter. I have been sick for quite a few days and my energy level just hasn’t kept up with the number of things that I need to get done. One thing, I want to get back up to speed on is this blog. I went to Sacred Space and found this was the passage for today. Let me share a few thoughts on what it says to me. By the way if you have never been to Sacred Space, then I strongly encourage you to give it a visit. I think you’ll be glad that you did.

The words, “Do not let your hearts be troubled…” seem to be the ones that jump out at me this morning. In the back of my mind the events of April 16, 2007 at Virginia Tech still seem to be floating around. At the town candlelight service I took lots of pictures. I’ll be sharing some of them with this posting, if I can get them to upload. Between 300-400 gathered to remember the 32 that were killed. Just last night our town gathered for the National Day of Prayer service at the town hall. Prior to the service a slide show that I created from the photos I took was shown. I can’t help be feel the sadness at the lives that were cut short in this senseless tragedy. My mind is troubled. When, things like this happen, all of our minds can’t help but be troubled. I ask for your continued prayers for the people of Virginia Tech and the surrounding areas. There lives have been forever changed and we must not forget their loss.

Daily Lectionary Readings:
Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16
Job 14:1-14
1 Peter 4:1-8
Matthew 27:57-66

 Matthew 27:57-66 

New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

 The Burial of Jesus
 57As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb
 62The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63″Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”  65″Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

===============================  

We switch from John to Matthews Gospel for our reading today.  This Saturday between Good Friday and Easter is a somber day. Christians worship on this day in a rather reflective manner.  Good Friday is behind us, but Easter is not yet here. So we wait. We ponder. We wonder at the marvelous plan of God sending his Son to the Savior of the world.

   Today’s text is the account of Joseph of Arimathea asking Pilate for Jesus body. Joseph, a follower, wanted the body to receive a proper burial. The Chief Priests and the Pharisees, though, wanted to make sure there were no under handed shenanigans going on. So they asked that Pilate put a guard on the tomb. They quoted Jesus saying, “After three days I will rise again.” Pilate consents to their request and a Roman guard put a seal upon the tomb and then took up positions around it.

   I wonder what the guards thought of their assignment. I am sure they were all aware of the happenings of the previous couple of days. They may even have been the ones that helped to scourge him. They might have been the same detail that nailed him to the cross. Perhaps, the one that put the spear into Jesus side was now standing there with the same spear in his side. Perhaps he was wondering, “Why am I guarding a dead man?” Indeed, perhaps they all wondered what was going on that made this man, even in his death, so important as to require a contingent of Roman soldiers to guard his tomb.

   With the tomb sealed, and the guard in place. The Jewish leaders could be sure that Jesus would stay dead. There would be no missing corpse that would miraculously be said to have come back to life. There would be no Lazarus again walking in their midst. The job was done. The task was completed. The Jewish Carpenter was no longer going to stir things up with the Romans and there would be peace and security once again in the land.

============================= 

  Prayer: Lord, help me as I wait with anticipation for what I know is coming tomorrow.

Daily Lectionary Readings:
Psalm 36:5-11
Isaiah 42:1-9
Hebrews 9:11-15
John 12:1-11

John 12:1-11 

 New International Version
(NIV)Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Jesus Anointed at Bethany 

1Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3Then Mary took about a pint[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 

4But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5″Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.[b]” 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 

7″Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. ” It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” 

9Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

================================ 

   I have already commented upon this scripture as the text for the Fifth Sunday during Lent. Let me offer some other insights on this passage.

   One part of the passage not included in the other reading are the final verses. It seems as if the commotion that Jesus was stirring up in Bethany was attracting a lot of attention. Remember, he had raised Lazarus from the dead. That got their tongues a wagging. Now he was back in town and he was having dinner at Lazarus’ house. I sort of imagine that the scene would be similar to a modern day celebrity surrounded by a crowd of paparazzi all trying to get the best angle on what was happening.

From the text, I get the impression that the crowd was big enough to catch the attention of the Jewish leaders.   The leaders realized that they now had a double dilemma on their hands. Not only were the crowds eager to see Jesus the Miracle Worker, they also were now eager to see his latest miracle—the risen Lazarus! Thus, the plans were laid to kill not only Jesus, but his friend Lazarus. The reason—”…on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.”  

   This last phrase is one that I would like on my tombstone, “On account of Terry, many became followers of Christ.” I don’t say this in a bragging way, I say it to remind me that as a Christian that is my role in life. I am to emulate Christ. I am to be one of his miracles and when people see me, they will see Jesus and the things that he has taught and said and done. As a result, they will put their trust and faith in Him.   

   I hope no one ever seeks to put his or her trust in me for eternal salvation. I will surely let them down. However, if they can see Jesus through me, then I will be blessed beyond my wildest measure. 

===================================

Prayer: Lord, let me be so like Christ, that when people see me—they really see him—and put their trust and faith in him. 

Daily Lectionary Readings:
Psalm 22
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-13
Romans 11:13-24
John 11:28-44

John 11:28-44 
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
  28And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. 

 32When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

  33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34″Where have you laid him?” he asked.

      ”Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

  35Jesus wept.

  36Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

  37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

 Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

  38Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39″Take away the stone,” he said.

       ”But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

  40Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

  41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

  43When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

       Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

=========================

     As a pastor, I am often confronted with families that have just lost a loved one. In our culture, we don’t have the professional mourners and the weeping and wailing that would have surrounded the death of a Jewish person. We do, however have grief. There are tears that are shed. There are questions that are asked: “Could we have gone to another doctor?” “We should have stopped him from going on the trip?” “Could we have found the cancer sooner?” All these and many more questions and emotions come to the forefront in a family when death occurs.

   One of the things that I like about this passage is the emotion found within it. Not just from the mourners and the family, but also from Jesus. As anyone that has done Bible drills knows, the shortest verse in the Bible is found in this passage. It simply says, “Jesus wept.” These two little words convey large amount of information about Jesus. 

   We often talk about how well God knows us. God knew us as we were knit together in our mother’s womb. God knows the number of the hairs found on our head. From these passages I get the impression that God is not out there somewhere and not concerned about what happens to us, but rather God is with us now in a very loving and caring way.

   Lazarus, Martha, and Mary were Jesus’ friends he seemed to frequently be in their home. When Lazarus died, Jesus didn’t simply say. “Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.” or “You win some and you lose some.” Instead, the Scriptures tell us that “Jesus wept.” There was some connection between him and these friends of his. When one of them died, he felt the pain.

   I think God is that way as well. He sent his Son into the world to die for our sin. In the movie The Passion I think the best scene is the tear that falls from heaven as Jesus dies on the cross on Good Friday. God wept at the loss of his Son. I believe that God still weeps at the loss of one of his sons or daughters that refuse to accept what he has done for them through Jesus’ sacrificial death.

===============================

Prayer: Lord, don’t make me cause you to weep by rejecting what Jesus has done for me. Let me accept him as my Lord and Savior. 

Daily Lectionary Readings

Psalm 72

Jeremiah 3:6-18

Romans 1:28-2:11

John 5:1-18

John 5:1-18 New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

John 5

The Healing at the Pool

 1Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.[b] 5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

 7″Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

 8Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

      The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

 11But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ “

 12So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

 13The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

 14Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Life Through the Son

 16So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” 18For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

==========

    Here we encounter a man that has faith. For 38 years he has lain next to the pool. He was waiting for the waters to stir. He knew that when they did stir all he had to do was to be the first one into the pool. This was a man of faith. He was sure that if he could get there he would be cured. Else, why would he have lain there for all those years. One day and unnamed man comes to him and asks simply, “Do you want to be made well?” I suppose the man could have been flippant and said, “Why else do you think I’m hanging around this pool!” But, instead he said “Sir, I have no one to help me when the water is stirred.” I suppose in his heart of hearts, this man thought that Jesus might volunteer to stay around and help him the next time the water was stirred. Jesus, however, had other plans, “Pick up your mat and walk.” The man picked up his mat and walked.  Jesus slipped back into the anonymity of the crowd.

    I suppose that what this passage says most to me is the role that faith plays in our lives. It is important to have faith. It is important to believe that God is able to use us and to reach out to us. I think it shows something even more important than faith–a friend in the faith that will come along side you and help you when things are down. The man at the pool had faith. What he didn’t have was a friend in faith that would be there when he needed help putting his faith into action and getting into the water.

==========

PRAYER– Lord, help me to have faith but more importantly, help me to become and friend in faith to someone today.

Daily Lectionary Readings
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91:1-2,9-16
Romans 10:8-31
Luke 4:1-13

Luke 4:1-13 New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Luke 4
The Temptation of Jesus
1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’[a]“
5The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’[b]“
9The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10For it is written:
” ‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
11they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]“
12Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]“
13When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

———-

Luke’s Gospel has Jesus going through a period of trial and temptation immediately after his baptism in the Jordan. He is taken away into the wilderness for 40 days (40 days of Lent). During that time he was tempted. I don’t know about you, but I think temptation is difficult to resist at times. During his temptation, the devil attacked him on three specific points.

First of all, the devil offers him food–sustenance. I guess the devil forgot that in the Old Testament, God provided food for his people as they wandered in the desert. Manna was available for them in the morning to satisfy their needs for the day. Jesus didn’t need food at this point. God was nurturing him as he prepared himself for what was yet to come.

Secondly, the devil seeks to divert Jesus’ attention from who he was supposed to be worshipping. Again, this brings to mind the Old Testament. As Moses was on the mountain getting the Ten Commandments from God, the people were down below forgetting whose they were. Instead of worshipping God, they created their own idol out of gold. Looks, like Satan was trying to get Jesus to fall for the same trap the Israelites had already fallen for once before. This time, however, Jesus resisted and insisted on worshipping only God.

Finally, Satan tries to get Jesus to test God. Seems this trick didn’t work either.

His ministry was off to a good start and Satan then left him for a more opportune time.

I sometimes wonder what the opportune time is that makes most of us give in to temptation. I came across an acronym called HALT to help battle temptation.

H- Hunger
A – Anger
L – Loneliness
T – Tired

If any one or more than one of these elements is present in your life at a given time, then you are more open to temptation. Think about your own life. The next time you feel tempted, see if the HALT acronym is true at that moment of your temptation. If it is, then do something to relieve your hunger, anger, loneliness, or tiredness.

———-

PRAYER: Lord, as temptation comes our way, please give us the power to resist.

John 15, 9-17

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

Pasted from http://www.sacredspace.ie/dailyprayer.jsp?lang=en&date=24&month=1&year=2007&version=full>

Somehow or another it just doesn’t seem right to talk about commandments and love in the same sentence. We’ve all heard the expression, “If you love something set it free and if it truly loves you it will come back to you.” This passage seems to be counterintuitive to that kind of love. Let’s look more closely at the connections between love and commandments found in the passage.

Father has loved me (Jesus)
I (Jesus) have loved you
Abide in my love…(How do we abide?)
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love
Just as I (Jesus) have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

What does abide mean?

Definition of abide (verb)
forms: abided; abided; abiding
to comply; to obey; to submit; to conform; to stay; to live; to tolerate; to continue; to tolerate; to wait

Pasted from http://www.english-test.net/toeic/vocabulary/words/209/toeic-definitions.php>

It seems to suggest that abiding is an active thing to do–it’s not a complacent thing. It involves obedience, submission, conformity. It involves remaining and continuing to experience the thing in which we abide.

I am beginning to think that there is a much stronger connection between love and commandments. To abide in the love of God implies a giving up of self and a turning towards God’s will for our lives. When this happens, then God’s love will be with us and we will be in God’s love. At least that’s what it seems to be saying to me. What do you think about the passage and its meaning for your life?

If you have been to the church in the morning hours recently, then there is the chance that you may have heard some strange sounds coming from my office. I have been using the book The Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle as my devotional book. Ms. Tickle is the religious editor for Publishers Weekly. She has created a trilogy of books that cover the entire year. Each book contains three daily prayer offices for use by the church. The material is based mainly on The Book of Common Prayer and it attempts to integrate the monastic prayer offices into a daily format that can be used by laity and clergy.

The readings from the Psalms are pointed for chanting. So, I have been chanting the offices. Currently, I am only using the morning office, but hope to include the midday and evening office into my prayer/devotional life as the year progresses. If there is anyone that is interested in learning more about the prayer offices or about chanting the Psalms, I would be more than glad to talk with them about it.