Reflection for Wednesday, April 1 from Pastor Brad

Several years ago, Carondelet UCC received a financial gift from an unexpected source. The gift was sizeable; that mattered and it still does insofar as it goes for making that gift stand out in my mind. But the most amazing thing about that gift was the place from where it came. Upon her death, the giver shared some of her financial resources with the church and other community and educational service providers. She, as far as I can tell, had no real connection to Carondelet UCC herself in the span of her life, but the church had made such a difference in her father’s life when he was growing up and that she wished to support its ministry with her gift.

That gift gave me a whole new wrinkle in how I would think and talk about signs of grace. Out of nowhere, this gracious gift came. It was received as a blessing, which it was -- it made the elevator in the building possible. But it was more than that; it was an invitation to respond and to imagine how we might live graciously and creatively and with love after receiving such a loving gift.

That’s one example. But you know, those grace notes from the resources we are led to share are played all the time - every service where folks give faithfully to sustain ministry in our congregations and the community it builds; every time folks contribute to those who help neighbors make the ends meet or who are bending our society to be more just; every time we share from our resources to build up goodness in the world.

We never quite know the ripple effects of generosity and how the Spirit may use it for good, but may we simply trust that the Holy One will do “more than we can ask for or imagine.” (Ephesians 3:20)

Reflection for Tuesday, March 31 from Pastor Brad

“And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying…”

-Luke 12:29

“Don’t worry?!” Much of the economy is grinding to a halt, the stock market has gone down, our own financial futures might seem at least a little more uncertain and even more, the economic conditions have slammed even further many of our neighbors who are wondering where the next source of material livelihood might be coming from. And Jesus says…..“Don’t worry??”

In this moment when folks like you and me might be carrying around a bit of the weight of worry, this extended teaching of Jesus in Luke’s 12th chapter about not worrying is a bit puzzling on its face. After all, as those of us who might do some worrying know, it’s not simply a matter of “snapping out of it” or “bucking up” or “looking on the brighter side” that absolves worry within our hearts or in the heart of our communities.

Jesus doesn’t think it’s just a matter of these things, either. As much as it may be anything else, Jesus’ counsel not to worry is an invitation to us to remember the ultimate things: We belong to God and are gifted by God. We are all loved more than we can ever imagine. That love binds us together in the human family, and those bonds find their strength in how we respond generously to it and to one one another. When we remember these ultimate things and when we practice living generously in love toward one another, Jesus might be telling us that the worry takes care of itself because we know we are in God together and we can lift each other up, too.

In what can be a worrisome time, I know God is at work; bringing up lights of generous living in each of our hearts and the hearts of our communities and neighborhoods -- local and global. As you find those lights, may they be beacons for your journey through these days.

Reflection for Monday, March 30 from Pastor Brad

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”

-Luke 12:34 (NRSV)

The above is a simple observation that Jesus makes in the Gospel according to Luke, and it’s one that I had never given much mind. Then, several years back, the United Church of Christ used this passage as an anchor for the annual stewardship packet it offered to local congregations. I remember that one of the reflections in the packet flipped this sentence of scripture; instead of “where your treasure is, there your heart will be,” the reflection invited readers to think of the sentence this way: “where your heart is, there your treasure will be.”

That flip clicked something for me; the passage found its way into me like it hadn’t before. For what, frankly, ended up being all too short a time, that little inversion led to me ask with some intention about where the things of my heart were directed. Where am I committing my heart’s energies? What really matters and gives my life a sense of purpose and direction to things beyond only myself? Do my heart’s commitments align with the way in which I use my material or financial resources? These weren’t anxious or worrisome questions; they didn’t seem to come up for me with implied judgment. They were simply the Spirit’s invitation to observe and take a bit of inventory about where I was in living a directed life.

As we share our Deeper Lent journey through Spiritual Practice, we’ll reflect a bit together this week about stewardship, and perhaps especially stewarding our financial and material resources. Many of us are spending more time in our living spaces in these extraordinary days and perhaps taking some of that time to do some inventory -- what do we have? How does what we have serve our space? What value do our things have for us?

If those sorts of inventories are happening at your house these days, I hope they are fruitful :-). I hope, too, the ongoing, daily inventories of the heart to which God invites us are full of grace for you as you discern the good things God is doing and will do for the common good through the synergies of our hearts’ purpose and the resources of the treasures that we steward for a time.

Reflection for Friday, March 13 from Pastor Brad

These last couple of days have been wonky and even disconcerting. In view of the unsettledness around us (perhaps even within us), we wake to this morning as people of hope. We believe love is moving even when the fixtures of the world are less fixed than we thought. God’s love is so deep and so broad that it is at work now in ways that are beyond what we can even see or ask for or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

So, we take hope and heart, and as we together come to the table of God’s grace on this day, we pray: for the fullness of life in all Creation; for the sick and for those among us who are most physically and economically vulnerable; for caretakers, who provide relief and healing. We let our own vulnerable lives fall into the gracious love in which God always and everywhere holds us and we remember together that “Our help comes from God, who made heaven and earth…..God will keep us. God will keep our life. God will keep our going out and our coming in from this time on and forevermore.” (Psalm 121)

Reflection for Thursday, March 12 from Pastor Brad

I’m not an especially adventurous cook. I sometimes wish that I were more so; that I could combine ingredients that seem (to me at least) a little exotic or unfamiliar to make a sumptuous dish that really expands my taste buds and leaves me with a new way my appetite is filled. I know that it takes practice to become a good cook and that as one grows in confidence, one feels more and more confident in trying new ways of cooking and experimenting with wider combinations of ingredients.

What goes into a good meal for you? I don’t just the mean the ingredients of the food dishes that are on the table, but the other, indispensable parts of a meal that really bring it to life; that can make any table a holy table -- a table that seems set apart from the ordinary; a table that seems sacred and whole. Perhaps those ingredients include great food to be sure but good company - new company, even, when you eat with folks that you haven’t eaten with before. Maybe those ingredients include, too, thanksgiving for what is before you or spiritual space to accommodate everything that might come up at the table -- laughter and joy and perhaps even tears and care for sorrow at the table. There are so many ingredients that could make a meal a holy meal. What might they be for you? Have your meals this week included perhaps even a few of the things that might be on your list? What might you add to your ingredients’ list to try on in coming days of your table sharing?

In our class video this week, we saw an image of some of the many different foods that were part of table fellowship scenes from scripture. Time after time, table sharing in scripture -- and the foods themselves that were shared -- become signs for us of the way that God uses tables to break through the bounds of what our tastes already know and grow the palates of our compassion, gracefulness and humanity in this life.

Thanks be to God for the way your table sharing expands that palate of life before you, and for all of the wonderful tastes of this life that God will reveal through the days ahead.

Reflection for Wednesday, March 11 from Pastor Brad

“Eat with me, Uncle Brad!”

I am wandering in the middle of the open kitchen at my brother’s home. I grab another slice of pizza from the counter and pace -- rather aimlessly -- back and forth across the kitchen. I look toward the living room and pay only a moment’s attention to whatever was on the TV, and these words from my niece beckon me almost as though they were a call from heaven. “Eat with me, Uncle Brad!” They are so full of energy and hope; full of desire and yearning! She saved a place for me right next to her, and her desire in that moment was that I would take that place and be with her in the simple delights of putting pizza in our mouths and laughing at silly things. When I take her invitation, my mind seems to settle and become less distracted and my spirit feels like it stretches out to hold the beauty and grace of just being with another beautiful person. (I hope I tell my niece how much her simple invitations to share table fellowship with her mean to me! :-) )

I think Jesus was an “Eat with me, friends!” kind of person. Jesus said things kind of like: “Let’s keep this good party at Cana going a little longer!” or “Hey Zaccheus, I’m coming over to your house today!” or “Of course, there’s enough bread and fish for all of us!” Jesus was eager to share good table fellowship where everyone had a place and everyone shared in the goodness of God that was revealed at table. Jesus lived an invitational life and invites our lives to do the same in how and with whom we practice table sharing.

As I’m reflecting a bit about table sharing in the love of Christ this week, I pray that my life might lean a little more toward that unabashed, invitational graciousness of Christ’s table sharing with others; especially others that I may not yet know so well.. I think my niece is helping to show me the way. For you, this Lent -- perhaps this week -- may there be moments when the energy of your life speaks those welcoming words, “Hey, eat with me!”

Reflection for Wednesday, March 11 from Pastor Brad

“Eat with me, Uncle Brad!”

I am wandering in the middle of the open kitchen at my brother’s home. I grab another slice of pizza from the counter and pace -- rather aimlessly -- back and forth across the kitchen. I look toward the living room and pay only a moment’s attention to whatever was on the TV, and these words from my niece beckon me almost as though they were a call from heaven. “Eat with me, Uncle Brad!” They are so full of energy and hope; full of desire and yearning! She saved a place for me right next to her, and her desire in that moment was that I would take that place and be with her in the simple delights of putting pizza in our mouths and laughing at silly things. When I take her invitation, my mind seems to settle and become less distracted and my spirit feels like it stretches out to hold the beauty and grace of just being with another beautiful person. (I hope I tell my niece how much her simple invitations to share table fellowship with her mean to me! :-) )

I think Jesus was an “Eat with me, friends!” kind of person. Jesus said things kind of like: “Let’s keep this good party at Cana going a little longer!” or “Hey Zaccheus, I’m coming over to your house today!” or “Of course, there’s enough bread and fish for all of us!” Jesus was eager to share good table fellowship where everyone had a place and everyone shared in the goodness of God that was revealed at table. Jesus lived an invitational life and invites our lives to do the same in how and with whom we practice table sharing.

As I’m reflecting a bit about table sharing in the love of Christ this week, I pray that my life might lean a little more toward that unabashed, invitational graciousness of Christ’s table sharing with others; especially others that I may not yet know so well.. I think my niece is helping to show me the way. For you, this Lent -- perhaps this week -- may there be moments when the energy of your life speaks those welcoming words, “Hey, eat with me!”