Thursday Meditation - Here I Am

Here I Am

Genesis 22:1-14

In the society we live in today, when we are called by our name that expresses some type of strong feeling our response may be, “yea, what, huh, yep or yes ma’am/sir”.  Here in this Genesis text we see a consistency in Abraham’s discussion with God, his son and the Angel of the Lord.  We notice when Abraham was called by all three his response was always the same, “Here I Am”.

When we are called we usually do not respond immediately even if we are sitting or standing feet from each other.  In our mind we are trying to decide and figure out the vocal expression of the call.  Just like when our parents called us as children and teens we knew what to expect. When we were called by our full name including our middle name, we were either in trouble or there was something important our parents wanted us to do. Each of us has this similar story and it was the same with Abraham.

As we know Abraham spent time in God’s presence and commune with God so much that when God called his name he knew it was something God wanted him to do.  This expression is found 30 times in the Bible including the Apocrypha.  In this chapter it is said three times compared to the five times Samuel answered when he thought the Priest Eli called him 1 Samuel 3:4-16.  When God called Abraham he was not like Adam trying to hide, he just responded, Here I Am.

The second call was from his son Isaac who may have had a puzzling, perplex, inquisitive and questioning reason to call him, but Abraham’s response was still, “Here I Am”.  Isaac questioning was more to do with the sacrifice and worship without having a burnt offering with them.

The third call was from the Angel of the Lord who called him with great urgency.  The angel called him by his name twice to denote how urgent it was to get his attention.  This will be the same call a parent will do when a child may be in danger and need their attention immediately.

No matter how Abraham was called his response was still the same, “Here I Am”.  Too often we allow our reaction to the tone of voice to dictate how we will respond to someone calling our name.  So let us control our actions and use an expression that was just as consistent as Abraham.  So instead of using the typical language of the day, try responding in a respectful way and see how many people will catch on and do the same.

Prayer:  God help us to be consistent in our response when we are called by you, family, friends or an angel. Let the words be respectful and not just another slang of the day. Amen.

Thursday Meditation - Uncertain Future

Uncertain Future

1 Samuel 22:1-5

 When we are away from our familiar sights and routine, we would isolate ourselves from others.  We may go to school or work, but once we get home we don’t leave again.  Our actions say we want to be alone and don’t bother me, but deep inside we hope that someone would come to our rescue.  Instead of reaching out we retreat to our shell.  Just like a turtle when danger appears, it hides itself in its shell.  When we retreat we try to go back to familiar things of life.  We go back to the old ways of doing things.  We want to go back to the old neighborhood, the old church, the old school and to the old friends.  Sometimes strange things happen when we retreat.  People treat us differently.  Some of the old things we long for cause us to stumble and fall.  Instead of moving forward we peddle backwards and stunt our growth. 

When we stunt our growth we give power to the negative side of life.  We find a place of refuge that is dark and away from life.  A place where no one could hear from us but a place only others who are uncertain about the future would be found.  This is the place we find David, the future King of Israel.  David has been on the run from Saul from place to place.  David is the youngest son of Jesse from the tribe of Judah.  David killed Goliath, he was the one they sung a song about him killing ten thousand while Saul killed his thousand.  He was the harp player for Saul when an evil spirit came upon Saul.  He was put over the army by Saul.  He married Saul’s daughter Michal and was his son Jonathan best friend (like brothers).  Even with all this David was found in a dark cave, running from Saul’s persecution.  He was disconnected and isolated from the familiar places of life. 

David was uncertain about his future because he knew what Samuel told him but he may have been in deep doubt cause of the persecution inflicted by Saul.  Many times we find ourselves in David’s shoes being obedient to God’s will and still uncertain about the future.  As believers in Jesus Christ we pray and hope for revelation about our future.  We may get a glimpse of it and then every situation we encountered we hope this was that future we’ve seen.  The key to our future is learning how to transform and learn from our past so our present will be a better foundation for our future.

Prayer: God of our future we know you know the plans for our lives.  We ask for your discipline as we prepare to walk into our future you have revealed to us.  Amen.

Thursday Meditation - Welcome into this Place

Welcome into this Place

Luke 2:22-40

There is a song in the African American Heritage Hymnal titled “Welcome into this Place”.   The song is a reflection of our brokenness and our desire to welcome the God into our lives.  As we read Luke 2:22-40 we notice how Anna and Simeon welcome the savior of the world into a broken world with their praises.  The spirit of Anna and Simeon are the welcoming spirit for the parents of Jesus.  They were just ordinary people who came to the temple to present their son to God.  There was no great crowd of people following them and welcoming the Savior of the world.  They went to the temple to do what was customary in the Jewish religion after the birth of a child.  Mary observed the days of purification for the birth of a male child, seven days unclean and then 33 days of purification.  Mary and Joseph may have been disconnected from the community until this point, but they brought their offering of two turtledoves or two young pigeons as a sin and a burnt offering to God according to their customary practice.

When I think about the song mentioned above it brought me to this text to see how the Holy Spirit sends out the devoted greeters to welcome our Lord and Savior.  It is the responsibility of the greeters to welcome people in the place of God.  Mary and Joseph did not know what to anticipate as they journeyed to Jerusalem, I believe they did not expect to be received with open arms, delight and joy because they were just ordinary people.  When the Holy Spirit sends out the welcoming party or the greeters for ordinary people, the greeters are not able to contain their joy.  Those being greeted are more relaxed because someone has taken the time to say “Welcome into this Place”.  Just because we are broken in spirit don’t disconnect from the body of Christ we may not know who will enter our life, but let us be like Simeon and Anna and devote ourselves to God so we can be used by God to welcome others like us.

Prayer:  God thank you for abiding in us. We are wounded and broken vessels but you have use for us and we thank you for not giving up on us. Amen.

Thursday Meditation - Experiencing God

Experiencing God

Luke 24:13-35

Several years ago, Lifeway bookstore carried a book called Experiencing God.  The intent of the book was to help those who have been exposed to God to experience the wonders of God through daily reading and writing.  For many the book was an exposure to God rather than an experience of God.  Yes, there is a difference between being exposed to God and the experience of God.  In the course of our lifetime, many of us have been or will be exposed to more things than we experience.  For instance, on TV we are exposed to violent crimes, sexually explicit videos, degrading of women and exploitation of people private lives.  We have been exposed to more negative images than positive.  Everywhere we turn we are exposed to death, selfishness, hatred, abuse, illness, wickedness, greed and deceit.  Not all exposure is negative but they overshadow the positive. 

The positive exposure in life composes of love, unity, self respect and obedience.  It is the positive exposure many of us want to gain our experience in life.  These exposures help shape and define who we are today.  When we encounter people who have been exposed to negative ways of thinking and it’s always about self, they often harbor bitterness and resentment towards those who are positive.  This reminds me of a sermon I heard Dean Kinney my systematic theology professor say.  He said that a strong person encourages and a weak person controls.  When we move beyond exposure to God to experience God we learn we are not the center of all things.  We come to the reality of God’s presence in our lives because of our faith in God.  Yes, there are many who doubt God exist but when we experience a walk with God in the valley of life we experience and witness God’s true love.  God’s true love can be received if we are willing to open our hearts, becoming humble and trusting in God fully.  It is our experience of God that provides a witness of God’s love to a world who only has an exposure to God. 

Prayer: God we ask you to move us from exposure of you to experiencing you.  We want our life to be a living witness as one who experiences a deep relationship with you. Amen.