As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!

On this Ash Wednesday I thought I would reflect on part of one of the texts assigned for the day, but one that is not always the focus for Ash Wednesday worship services.  Paul is writing to the Corinthians, and he is telling them that “now is the day of salvation.”

Sometimes we think of salvation as our rescue from death through resurrection and eternal life.  Sometimes we think of it as our rescue from our own sinfulness through the forgiveness of our sins.  I think of our salvation as beginning at that point when we take our faith seriously, acknowledging that we are a child of God and loved by God.

Salvation is also living the life we are called to live, a life of loving and caring and forgiving.  Sure, we fall away from that ideal, and maybe in that we have accepted God’s grace in vain.  God’s salvation is always there, ready for us to return to it.  We can re-focus on what is truly important in life, rather than on what is superficial.  Then, our live will not be lived in vain.

Here is an example.  I already have my vacations planned for 2012.  I know when I will be away and where I will go.  The vacations will include golf and some sightseeing.  There will be good food to eat.  There is a niece’s wedding that I will attend.  I will get to relax.  These are vacations in which I will be with family and loved ones.  Even the vacations I will take without my wife are not spent alone.  I will be with family.  I just cannot imagine a vacation that I take all on my own just playing golf with strangers or seeing some natural wonder or visiting a new city.  As I think back to the vacations I have taken in my life, the most treasured memories are the ones that involve my family.  I like to relax and have fun, but I especially like to share such good times with friends, family, and loved ones.

You will probably have your own examples, and I don’t want to suggest that I have all of this figured out.  But, we go from day to day and week to week in routines of busyness.  We need to step back from that.  We need to look at what is truly important in our lives, and make that the focus of our time and money and affection.  When we do that, we will be living the life that God intends, a “saved” life.  Lent is a great time to re-examine our priorities and make plans to live them out.

PRAYER     Dear Lord Jesus, help us all to live the lives that you have intended for us.  Help us today to begin to make the changes that are helpful.  In your name we pray, Amen.

There will be no classes, choir or supper.

The Imposition of Ashes The seasons of the church year reflect differing thoughts and moods, as does life itself:  jubilant triumph, deep sorrow, quiet joy, eager expectation, and even normal, ordinary life and growth.  Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the season of Lent:  a time of contemplation—not morbid contemplation, but rather contemplation that prepares us better to anticipate the joy of Easter.  Ashes have long been a sign of sorrow for millennia, and there are numerous biblical examples of people covering themselves with ashes.  Abraham in prayer said to God, “I am nothing but dust and ashes” (Genesis 18:27), and God declared, “dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19).

The Trondhjem Women meet tonight at 7:00 p.m. for a devotion, tasty treats and discussion. If you’re looking for a fun, supportive group… this is it!
Feel free to bring your stitching too!

14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Today is Mardi Gras, “Fat Tuesday,” the day before Lent begins with its Ash Wednesday seriousness.  I picked this scripture reading for today because I noticed that my thoughts had turned quite serious lately, even before Lent had begun.  Even Jesus understands that there are times to celebrate and to have fun.  He uses the image of a wedding to make his point.

If we were in New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro, or even in Mobile, Alabama, we would be celebrating today.  Each of those communities celebrates Mardi Gras, or Carnival, as they call it in Rio.  We would celebrate and have fun if we allowed ourselves to get into the planned festivities of the day.  Then, on the next day, Ash Wednesday, things would become more serious.

We need to have balance in our lives.  We need to celebrate and have fun.  I am not suggesting that we do unhealthy or dangerous things, and I am sure there will be some dangerous behaviors in New Orleans today.  We can have fun in our lives, safe fun, and not feel guilty about it.  We don’t have to be “fasting” all the time.  We can enjoy those activities that put a genuine smile on our faces, and we can share in those activities with others.

Lent is several weeks long.  The long-standing traditions of Lent even have a Sunday that is designated as a joyful Sunday, a Sunday for rejoicing.  It is the fourth Sunday of Lent, which will be March 18 this year.  Even the ancient church leaders understood that we can’t be serious all the time.  I am not suggesting that we wait until then to experience joy in the midst of Lent.  We need to have balance in our lives each week and each day.

Today, and every day, is a day to look for and experience something joyful.  It may be a very small thing, even just a favorite food.  It may be the anticipation of a summer vacation, or a spring vacation.  It may be writing a letter to a loved one, or receiving one.  Each of us can find the joy that life brings, and we can give thanks for it.

PRAYER     Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for the reminder.  May I look for the joy in life today.  May I bring joy to others.  In your name I pray, Amen.

7 So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 The people all answered as one: “Everything that the LORD has spoken we will do.” Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD. 9 Then the LORD said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after.”

A question came up in a recent Bible study, “How do you know if it is God who is really speaking to you?”  We usually hear God’s voice internally in our mind.  We don’t hear God speaking as directly as when someone’s speech can be measured in decibels.  I suggested to the questioner that we need to ask if what we think we are hearing from God fits with what we know about God.  Is there consistency between what God is saying to us now and what God has been saying all along?

The Jonestown massacre is still etched in my memory.  It occurred in 1978.  A cult leader by the name of Jim Jones led a group from northern California, and they all moved to Guyana in South America.  Then, as US authorities were closing in on them, they all “drank the Kool-Aid,” which was a drink of poison.  913 people died, including Jim Jones and many, many children.  He guided them to do something awful.  They all needed to ask, “When has God ever encouraged such a mass suicide?  When has God encouraged such martyrdom?”  Jonestown was a horrible event, and it needs to be remembered.

Even in the smaller, daily messages from God, we need to ask if it is God talking to us, or us talking to ourselves, or the devil and the forces of evil speaking with us.  God calls upon us to do loving things and caring things.  God calls upon us to value the lives of all, and move beyond our self-centeredness.

In this passage from Exodus, God wanted the people to hear even when God was speaking to Moses.  God wanted the people to trust Moses.  It is hard for us to know when God has truly spoken to someone else, be that person a religious leader or a political leader.  We need to examine the message.  Just because someone says they are bringing a message for God does not mean that they are.  We need to decide if the message sounds godly or if it seems to be the person’s own ideas.

PRAYER     Dear Lord God, help each of us to listen for your voice today.  May we be guided by you in all that we say and do.  In your name we pray, Amen.

But why wait until Tuesday…

We will be having Shrove Tuesday Pancake Breakfast this Sunday, February 19th!

Join us between services (9am – 10) for a helping of pancakes, eggs and fruit.

Then, on Wednesday, February 22^nd join us at 7:00 p.m. for our Ash Wednesday Service.

Beginning March 1^st, we will gather for Lenten Worship on Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m.

12 I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

The author uses the word “ignorant” in this passage, and that made me think of the difference between stupidity and ignorance.  A long time ago someone taught me the difference.  Ignorance is not knowing, while stupidity is a lack of intelligence.  There are many ignorant people, but not many stupid people.  All of us are ignorant about some things, and a person who lacks normal intelligence is to be loved and not ridiculed.

It is always good to try to accept the fact that we are ignorant in some areas.  We lack experience, and we lack knowledge.  There is always something new to learn.  We can learn from another person’s experience, and even from a person who is more experienced, but less intelligent than ourselves.

This distinction between ignorance and stupidity helps, I think, to link people and connect people.  It cuts away at the idea that one person is better than another.  St. Paul suggests that he received mercy because he acted out of his ignorance.  We also need to be merciful to others who make mistakes, and even the mistakes that impact us.  They may be acting ignorantly.

Or, they may just be having a bad day.  Or, circumstances are beyond their control.  The server at the restaurant on Valentine’s Day apologized at least three times for the delays in our being seated and being served.  I wish I had said directly to her the quote that is on my office bulletin board.  It says, “Life is hard enough without our being hard on each other.”  Maybe that would have given her some good feelings as she served other people who were bent on complaining about everything that night.

“Life is hard enough without our being hard on each other.”  Let’s take that good idea (and I don’t know where I got it) into the rest of today and the weekend.  Let us be kind when we encounter ignorance in other people.  Maybe they are open to new learning.  And, let us be loving when we encounter true stupidity.

PRAYER     Dear Lord Jesus, help me to be kind even in stressful situations.  May I see everyone I meet as your beloved child.  In your name I pray, Amen.

14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence.

I guessed I would know this passage of scripture, even before I turned to it in my Bible, but I was wrong.  I am quite familiar with 1 Corinthians, but not so much with 2 Corinthians.  I was struck by Paul’s use of the image of aroma or fragrance.  It came as a surprise to me this morning.

It made me think of the number of times I will be unsure if a plant is artificial or real.  I am not sure, so I put my nose near the plant’s flowers and smell.  This could have happened just last Tuesday when my wife and I were out for dinner at a restaurant on Valentine’s Day.  There were three bud roses in a small vase on each of the tables.  I was tempted to spell them, but I didn’t after a person at the table next to us did that very thing.

Artificial flowers can be pretty, but natural, fresh flowers are better.  The same is true with us in our Christian faith.  We should not be artificial either, but be sincere in how we live out our faith.  People should know us to be Christians by what they observe in us and how they experience us.  As one person recently expressed in video on YouTube, “being a Christian is more than a Facebook status.”

Everyone might describe in their own way what it means to them to live out their Christian faith.  For me, it goes something like this:  I thank God for my life and all that I have.  I try to make decisions in my life based on the question, “What would Jesus do?”  I pray from my heart more than from my mind.  The Bible, and its many passages, is the most important guide as I understand life and live out my life. I try to love other people, and that includes forgiving them.  I don’t worry about eternity, because God has that covered.  I focus on life in the here and now.

Think of how you live out your Christian faith in your life.  Is there a positive aroma?  I hope so.  I know that I am blessed to be surrounded by many, many people who exude a sweet smelling fragrance of Christian love.

PRAYER     Dear Lord Jesus, help each of us to live out our faith in a way that draws people to the sweet fragrance of your love.  In your name we pray, Amen.

46 Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. 51 As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.” 53 The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household. 54 Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.

I like this text for a few different reasons.  Most importantly, the royal official trusted in Jesus’ power.  He was a royal official, and Jesus could still be considered just a carpenter’s son.  Cana is the home area for Jesus, since Cana is near to Nazareth, Jesus’ home town.  The royal official might have tried to use his authority and power to get Jesus to travel the 25 miles from Cana to Capernaum.  He might have even threatened Jesus.  He did not.  He trusted Jesus and Jesus’ words to him.

The royal official also loved his son.  He did not want his son to die.  He was probably desperate.  As a royal official he probably had the financial resources and the connections to get for his son the best health care that was available at the time.  It says in the text that this was only the second sign that Jesus did, the first being the water into wine miracle.  Somehow, the royal official had heard that Jesus was special, a miracle worker.  The royal official was willing to try almost anything for his son.

Finally, it says that the royal official came to believe, “along with his whole household.”  That was the purpose of the miracles.  They were to show the power that Jesus had and to enable people to believe in him.

There is just some basic advice for living that I take from this episode in Jesus’ ministry.  Firstly, if any of us has some authority or power in this world, let us use it carefully and sparingly and not for our own benefit.  The royal official’s focus was on his son.  Secondly, we all can get desperate at some point in time, especially for the sake of those we love.  When we are in that position, let us ask for help from the people we can trust, even as Jesus could be trusted by the royal official.  Thirdly, let us believe and trust in the one who gave us life and will give us a new life after our deaths.

PRAYER     Dear Lord Jesus, we need miracles in our world today.  Help us to do what we can to provide a better world for our loved ones and for all.  Be present in the most difficult of situations and give people hope for the future in this life and in the next.  In your name we pray, Amen.

23 All things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other.

This text is part of a section in which St. Paul is emphasizing the importance of the group, and that we are part of the body of Christ.  Specifically, he is talking about whether a Christian could eat food that had been offered at pagan idol worship, and then sold in the marketplace.  That specific example does not apply to us, thankfully.  His main point certainly does.

We live in a culture that emphasizes the rights of the individual.  St. Paul understands that idea, but he continues to try to make the point that the group is more important than any one individual.  Almost no one lives completely on their own.  Such a person would be living a solitary life out in the wilderness, living off the land.  Almost all of the rest of us depend on others for our food or our clothing or the gasoline we put in our cars.

Here is an example from the dinner table.  When we were raising our children, we tried to provide food that was healthy, but also food that they would like.  We were trying to balance between offering new foods and offering the foods they would like.  Our child, who seemed only to like French fries as a child, now eats almost anything.  Another child, who is now an incredibly great cook, used to pick at the food that was served, and then after dinner, find her own food in the kitchen.  As parents, we sought to provide an atmosphere of togetherness, but the busyness of individual schedules often got in the way.  I think it is even harder now for families raising their children today.

We did not recreate the oppressively strict atmosphere of my childhood in which I was required to eat some of everything that was served, even if it took me two hours sitting at the table.  That experience did not cause me to like eating squash.  It did not cause me to feel good about my parents or my family.  Therefore, when we were raising our own children, we wanted them to experience a home in which their choices were honored.  We wanted them to feel that they belonged to each other and to us.  Without stifling individuality, we were trying to emphasize the importance of the “group.”

These verses finish with St. Paul writing, “Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other.”  That may not be the case in the workplace.  That may not even be advisable in some workplaces.  But in the home, or in the Christian community, that should be our style of living.

PRAYER     Lord Jesus Christ, bind us together in love.  Keep us connected to each other.  May we seek to live in community, and may we welcome others into that community.  In your name we pray, Amen.