Word for Today

From Revelation 22:

"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb  ²through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations."

An ever-bearing fruit tree, on either side of a river, which runs down the middle of a street. How busy! How full of life!

This passage comes at the end of Revelation, which is a confusing, cosmic book of worship and praise. It ends with life bursting forth. If words were fruit or leaves, you wouldn't be able to close your Bible for the thickness of it.

What catches my attention this time are the leaves. Leaves for the "healing of the nations". I have this longing for healing between nations. Maybe you do too. It appears, so does God. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the strength of diversity outpaced the weaknesses revealed in differences? You and I have choices to make with every interaction, every news headline.

In an ever-bearing tree there is an endless supply of healing leaves. I say the healing leaves are just as vital as the twelve kinds of fruit.

Photo from commons.wikimedia.org

Pastor James Aalgaard
St. Paul Lutheran Church

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Word for Today

From John 13

 ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Poker players have their "tells." I just learned that researchers examined poker players in action. The researchers split up into three groups in their observation. The first group watched only the players' faces. The second group watched only the players' arms. The third group watched the players' whole body from the table up.

As it turns out, players are pretty good at using their expressions to hide the quality of their hand. There really is such a thing as a poker face! By only watching a face, they weren't able to predict how good the hand was.

Also, when watching the players' whole body, there tended to be too much information to sort through on the part of the observer.

But when observers zeroed in on the arms, it became fairly obvious the quality of the player's hand. Hands and arms can reveal a lot about the person. Who knew?

I hope that what we do with our hands and arms "tell" of our association with Jesus. I hope they tell we are followers of his. I hope that when Jesus looks around the world, he can point to us, notice that we love one another, and thus call us his disciples.

Photo credit: closertolucy.com

Pastor James Aalgaard
St. Paul Lutheran Church

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Word for Today

Revelation 7:17

for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, 

and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

When I think of the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei), I think of Jack and Alice Roberts (members of our congregation in Ontario). When I think of Jack and Alice, I think of the Moravian Church, where Jack and Alice belonged (along with their family) when they lived in Winston Salem N.C. When I think of all these images together, I recall the slogan that goes with the Moravian's favorite symbol..

Our lamb has conquered, let us follow him. How perfect is that. It brings to mind sacrifice, love, and future-oriented faith. If we follow our lamb into the future, we will be led into a life of ministry that involves risk, joy, fellowship, all stuff that we can call the New Creation. Think of that for a moment, following the Lamb who has conquered into the future! The book of Revelation has the Lamb on the throne. A Lamb who is a shepherd. A lamb who leads. A lamb who cares for us. This is both comforting and empowering!

The Moravian Church has a very helpful motto: "In essentials, Unity; In Nonessentials, Liberty; in ALL Things, Love"

As I write this devotional, we are shocked by explosions in Boston near the finish line. Latest reports are that two have died and one hundred are injured. We who pray are called to pray for God to wipe away every tear. Especially I pray for peace that only the conquering Lamb can give.

Our Lamb Has Conquered. Let Us Follow Him

Pastor James Aalgaard
St. Paul Lutheran Church

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Word for Today

Dear friends,

These are the times (after Easter) when we examine what it means to live a resurrection-life. The resurrection-life is one that has the old shaped into the new, the broken shaped into wholeness. This is the season where Grace has a Place. When Grace has a Place, grace can really get to work bringing about a New Creation.

Here's a little story by Kevin Kling:

  Back in the days when pots and pans could talk, which indeed they still do, there lived a man. And in order to have water, every day he had to walk down the hill and fill two pots and walk them home. 

  One day, it was discovered one of the pots had a crack, and as time went on, the crack widened. 

  Finally, the pot turned to the man and said, "You know, every day you take me to the river, and by the time you get home, half of the water's leaked out. Please replace me with a better pot." And the man said, "You don't understand. As you spill, you water the wild flowers by the side of the path." 

  And sure enough, on the side of the path where the cracked pot was carried, beautiful flowers grew, while the other side was barren. "I think I'll keep you," said the man.

John 21:15 - When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."

Resurrection-life is about letting the abundance of God's love in Christ spill out, and the best water-way is the place in ourselves where we have experienced the deepest wound.

This is a photo by Lisle Boomer

Pastor James Aalgaard
St. Paul Lutheran Church

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Word for Today

"Scrolling Down"

Philippians 2:5–11

(Read responsively today)

⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

⁶who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

  ⁷but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

  ⁸he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death — 

even death on a cross.

  ⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

  ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

 (All) ¹¹and  every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

As we come to the Sunday of Christ's Passion (also called Palm Sunday) we hear longer passages of scripture that require focus and a longer attention span. Attention span is a challenge for us today. So many fantastic distractions.

Even when writing emails, I try to write brief, so the reader doesn't have to be burdened with the need to "scroll down."

Today's passage from Philippians is a wonderful ancient hymn for the easily distracted. It quickly gets to the motive, the commotion, the emotion and the promotion of Christ. I believe we could say that when God highly exalted Jesus, God put the scroll down so we could focus and worship without distraction.

This photo is taken by Bo Løvschall of Denmark. It is of the "Hill of Crosses" in Lithuania

Pastor James Aalgaard
St. Paul Lutheran Church

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Word for Today

From Isaiah 43:

  ¹⁸Do not remember the former things,

or consider the things of old.

  ¹⁹I am about to do a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.

From John 12:

 ³Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 

http://www.bulloughphotography.com/index.php#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=9&p=0&a=0&at=0

I invite you to click on the link above for a few spectacular examples of "rivers in the desert."

Bill Bryson, in the book "A Walk in the Woods" muses about the U.S. Forest Service. For all the good the Forest Service does, they also have a tendency to build a lot of roads. Paraphrasing Bryson, the Forest Service will look at a mountain-scape and say, "wow, that is so beautiful. I bet we can put a road through there."

Is this what the book of Isaiah means with this image? Is God interested in providing water for those who live in the desert, or a highway for those who want to get through the mountains?

I think the metaphor speaks for itself and is even more powerful as such. Through God's own power, God is going to make the impossible possible. God will make safe passage through the wilds of life, and will be satisfaction for the driest of souls.

Think of Mary's gift as a stream in the desert. Her love and devotion to the Lord changed that moment, even the air in the room was different!

May God be for you the way through the wilderness, the river in your desert.

Pastor James Aalgaard
St. Paul Lutheran Church
541.889.9349

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Word for Today

Preemptive Celebration

From Luke 15

²⁴for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.

This Sunday we have the story of the Prodigal Son. It can also be called the story of the Forgiving Father! You can probably reassemble parts of the story from memory..

  Son wants to leave home

  Son claims inheritance

  Son leaves home

  Son blows all his cash

  Son reconsiders his home

  Son plans to work as a servant

  Father welcomes son

  Father throws a party

  Other son feels slighted

I would like to take another step. I find myself wondering what the other members of the household might be thinking. There may be some who don't know exactly what to think about him. There may be some who are as glad as the father to see a family reunited. Some may have thought of him as a dead-beat, a brat who only wanted to live on the edge without a care for those who cared for him most.

Now, back to the forgiving father. What if, along with wanting a celebration for the sheer joy of it, the father wanted to influence the attitudes of all the others in the household? What if the father wanted to direct his people to organize a preemptive celebration? Minimize the awkward moment while people try to figure out how they should think.

Perhaps you know people who throw together preemptive celebrations. You are blessed to know them!

Communities of faith - how about preemptive celebration as a guiding principle?

Pastor James Aalgaard
St. Paul Lutheran Church

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