Monday June 1, 2020

It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.
Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name;
they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”

Isaiah 55:11-13 (NLT)

Every week in many churches around the world, The Lord’s Prayer is said by Christians of every race, gender, and age. The prayer is structured to acknowledge the sovereignty of God – that God is ruler over all, and it starts with a pleading for the Kingdom of God to come “on earth as it is in heaven”. Then, the prayer includes asking God to provide us with what we may need, to forgive us of our wrongs, as we forgive others of their wrongs, to keep us far from temptation, and to deliver us from evil. Why? Because the Kingdom, the power, and the glory is God’s. Amen.

But the Lord’s prayer is not meant to be simply mere words that we have to say on a Sunday morning, or when we may say these words in our prayers during the week; the Lord’s Prayer is meant to be personally, and culturally, transformative in pointing us toward the truth that God has, does, and can intervene in our world, and that we are meant to be a part of that intervention.

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The passage from Isaiah for today’s devotional speaks to the power of God’s intervention in our world by proclaiming that even the seemingly impossible things can be done by our God. For what mountains sing? What trees clap their hands? What vegetation can grow and thrive amidst thorns and weeds?

God has and will continue to work within our world to restore it, to heal it, and to redeem it – Especially where it seems impossible to do so.

But if we, as God’s followers do nothing for that mission besides saying a prayer and not letting it transform us…we miss the point of the Lord’s Prayer, and we miss the mark on being a “light to the nations” (Isaiah 42:6, Isaiah 49:6).

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On May 25, 2020, an African-American man, George Floyd, was restrained by a white police officer who put his knee and some of his weight on the neck of Floyd for over 8 minutes, which caused Floyd to die at the scene. While Floyd was on the ground struggling to get the words out “I Can’t Breathe!”, the officer kept his knee in place, and the three officers who were with him stood by and did not seek to aid Floyd.

The aftermath of Floyd’s death resulted in protests that called for the officer’s arrest for what is clearly brutality, excessive force, and murder, and justice for the officers who stood by.

Some of these protests have turned into violent riots – including the damage of government and private property and businesses, and violence against police forces, as well as against the protestors.

Riots are, by nature, chaotic, and they are seldom seen as positive by the broader public. But we have to ask, even when we don’t understand – what are the riots in response to?

Our nation has seen many instances of unarmed people of color being beaten or killed by police. Also in May 2020, 25-year old African-American Ahmaud Arbery was out for a jog, and he was killed in cold blood by white civilians in the street.

In the outbreak of Covid-19, Asian-Americans have received racial slurs, looks of fear, and have been genuinely afraid for their lives, simply because of the color of their skin.

Our nation has seen peaceful protests against these kinds of instances, and many have ignored the weight and truth behind the statement of #BlackLivesMatter and replaced it with #AllLivesMatter. All lives do matter, but that is precisely what Black Lives Matter is getting at; some people do not seem to believe that Black Lives Matter.

In 2017, some people from my hometown Alma Mater of Quakertown, called an opposing football team’s cheerleaders racial slurs, told them that black lives don’t matter, and then when the team loaded onto their school buses, some Quakertown students threw rocks at the buses while they continued using racial slurs.

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Racism is still alive and well in 2020 America. Racism is still alive in my hometown. And racism is anti-Christ. There is no way to reconcile praying for God’s Kingdom of hope and peace to come, with people who pray these words continuing to act on, or support, racism.

In addition, I do not think that it is right to say these words in our prayers, and to remain silent on issues of prejudice; to not speak up against it when we know of it.

If we cannot strive against prejudice, we cannot, truly, be a light to ALL nations and ALL people.

If we do not listen to the cries of the oppressed, we ignore the calling of God upon us to work towards bringing the Kingdom of God to earth through our compassion, through our words, and through our actions.

If our faith has as bright of a Hope as we claim, the kind of Hope that believes that God can do the seemingly impossible, then we need to be people who live that Hope by striving against injustice and racism that is a part of our fallen world.

Black Lives Matter to God, and God is continually seeking to aid the oppressed. How can we do our part as followers of God now?

-Jon Bauman

Friday May 29, 2020

10 I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. 11 Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. 14 In any case, it was kind of you to share my distress.

15 You Philippians indeed know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone. 16 For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs more than once. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that accumulates to your account. 18 I have been paid in full and have more than enough; I am fully satisfied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 5:10-19 (NRSV)

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Philippians 4:13 is a bible verse that has been used as motivation for athletes, students, musicians, and many others. It is sometimes written on shoes, cleats, jerseys, banners, and anywhere that can be easily seen.

But the verse is used by Paul here in a deeper way than a lot of people have viewed this verse. Paul was in prison, and he had been sent a financial gift from those who he had ministered to, so that his time in prison wasn’t as bad as it could have been without their help.

He’s not sure whether he would be set free from this prison, or if he would remain in prison until he would be executed.

He’s already processed in chapter 1 that if he were to die, that wouldn’t be the worse thing; in fact, if he would die, he would go to be with our God in paradise. If he lived, and was released, he would be able to continue to minister to others so that they continue to grow in faith.

And so, when Paul writes “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”, he is saying that whether he lives, or dies, whether he is in prison for a day longer, or until his death, that Paul was content with whatever the Lord decided for his life. He was recognizing that no matter what happens, he can get through it through the help and strength of Christ.

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It is hard to get to the point where we are as content as Paul was.

The littlest of things that happen can wreck our day, and cause us to only focus on the negative.

Drastic and real challenges will face us, and we will seldom see any good that could come out of it.

To get to the point where we accept what has happened, and are content with the outcome, usually takes us a long time, and it generally only comes after whatever it was that happened has already sealed our fate.

But Paul was content WITHIN his trial, within prison, and within the uncertainty of whether he would be released or whether he would be executed.

But he was ONLY content because of his faith in Christ, who gives him the strength to keep going, no matter what might happen.

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We can learn from Paul when we face things that cause us stress, fear, and anxiety, when we turn to God in prayer.

We can join Paul’s hope when we realize that Christ understands whatever we may face, and offers us empathy, and the hope of paradise.

We can find comfort in the midst of trials and hardships when we acknowledge that no matter what, we are still a child of God that is cared for and loved.

We can do all things, we can get through anything, through Christ who strengthens us. Amen.

-Jon Bauman

³⁸ Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹ She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; ⁴² there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42 (NRSV)

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One of my favorite and least favorite things is to host a cookout or dinner at my house. I love them because I enjoy spending time with friends or family, and I also enjoy grilling up whatever delicious food we will be enjoying that day.

However, besides the usual tidying up, and grocery shopping that is needed ahead of time, I dislike hosting these events because I am constantly running around the house and to the firepit to make sure everything is cooked at the right time, and to make sure that all of the people there are having a good time.

When I’m running around, I tend to have short conversations with everyone, rather than more significant conversations with a few. The shorter conversations I do to address the needs of the people there, but they come at the expense of me not being able to relax and enjoy my time with those around me.

I found myself being absent-minded in a social gathering that is meant to make all feel satisfied in the present. I reminded myself of the stress that my family members would feel during big family holiday meals as they were preparing the meal and the table, and I had always felt bad for them that they couldn’t relax and enjoy the moment.

Have you ever felt that way?

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Today’s scripture reading has to do with two sisters who welcomed Jesus, and likely some of his followers, into their home.

Martha welcomed Jesus inside and likely washed his feet right away (as was the custom), and then I can picture her making sure he had a clear place to sit, straightening up the room Jesus was in, and then moving on to the start preparing a meal for them all to eat.

Mary, on the other hand, was so excited that Jesus was visiting with them that she didn’t want a moment to pass by. She wasn’t thinking about tidying up the house, she wasn’t thinking of rushing to help Martha prepare a meal, she was only focused on spending time with Jesus and listening to all that He had to say.

Martha grew frustrated at Mary not helping her, and I can picture her trying to get Mary’s attention subtly until finally she bursts out a plea for Jesus to tell her to come help Martha prepare the house and the meal for their guest(s).

Jesus responds by saying something along the lines of, “Martha, you are stressed about all these little things while Mary is paying attention to the main point of me coming here, to spend time with you”.

This reminds me of when a good friend would pull me aside at these gatherings that I would host and say, “hey, calm down and relax – you don’t have to go through all this trouble for me – I’m just glad to be here.”

It’s not that Martha was doing anything wrong – she was trying to be a good host in the way that she knew how. Its just that Mary recognized that spending time with Jesus was more important than trying to tidy the house or prepare a meal.

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Being busy feels good sometimes. It feels productive to have a set schedule, to accomplish tasks that you need to do in an orderly fashion, but as we all know, when we focus on the busy stuff, it never stops.

There’s a song I grew up listening to by Harry Chapin called “Cat’s in the Cradle” about a relationship between a father and son where the Father was too busy to spend time with his son when he was younger, and how the son grew up to be too busy to spend time with his father when they were both adults.

It’s a sad song, but it points to a lesson to be learned: Building important relationships with others is of greater importance than the stress and busy schedules that we make for ourselves.

This way of thinking requires us to place building relationships with our loved ones and our friends within our important schedules, even if it means having people over while there are dishes in the sink, even if it means not checking our email after a certain time of the day, and even if it means saying no to some things so that your relationships with those you care about grow stronger.

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As we have been sheltering-in-place as a society, some people are still working their normal hours, some are working more hours, some are working more at home then they did in the office, and a lot of us have been watching TV so much that we are becoming bored.

Yet even still, the majority of us are spending more time at home than we were before. If you are fortunate to live with other people, whether they are spouses, family members, or roommates, don’t become so caught up in the stress of the every day that you can’t invest in these relationships now.

If you are living alone right now, make time in your day and evenings to reach out to family and friends. A couple weeks ago, three of my friends and I met over zoom to talk about our lives in the ministry (we are all clergy), the books we have been reading, and to catch up on life in general. I was surprised by how much joy meeting with those friends gave me, even though it was not in person.

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And while we are on the topic of building relationships, this is also a time for us to focus on Jesus wanting to meet us where we are.

It doesn’t matter if our lives are messy. It doesn’t matter what dishes we may have in the sink. It doesn’t matter if we haven’t talked with him in a day, a week, or a few years.

What matters is that Jesus wants to meet us where we are at.

He doesn’t want us to be so distracted by our busyness, or our efforts to make ourselves seem more presentable, that we miss the fact that:

Jesus wants to meet us where we are at

Jesus wants to spend time with us

Jesus wants to remind us of His love, the blessings He has given to us, and that He is there in our times when busyness, stress, and worry are consuming our lives.

So in this time, let’s be more like Mary and less like Martha.

Wednesday May 13, 2020

19 And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.
20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. 24 So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 11:19-24 (NRSV)

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Have you ever bitten into an apple and found that it was rotten?

You expect the apple to be delicious, crisp, juicy, and you end up biting into something disgusting, mushy, or dry. You then spit the rotten fruit from your mouth, and throw the apple into the trash.

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One day, Jesus was hungry and walked past a fig tree that did not yet produce fruit, and he cursed it (Mark 11:12-14).

They then entered into Jerusalem, and that is where the author of Mark records Jesus entering the temple, seeing its corruption, and its taking advantage of the poor, and declared that they had turned his Father’s house into a den of robbers.

As they left Jerusalem, Peter saw that the fig tree that Jesus had cursed before has withered; its bark likely looked unhealthy, its leaves were probably blowing away with the wind, and it would certainly not produce fruit again.

Jesus used this opportunity to tell them that just as he had the power to curse that fig tree, that prayer is just as powerful of a force to change the circumstances around them. That they do not have to doubt the ability of God to change the impossible to the possible.

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I think that we can draw two things from Mark 11, in looking at the context of the chapter that precedes the passage for today’s devotional:

ONE: We are meant to bear fruit. Faith is not meant to be all about us, for that can lead to selfishness at the expense of others, like it did in the Temple of Jerusalem that Jesus cleansed. Instead, our faith is meant to grow within us so that we can bless others like a fig tree that bears fruit that gives others nourishment.

TWO: We are to meant to actively pray for our world, and those around us. To bear fruit is to bless those around us with our faith that inspires us to not only share the hope of Jesus to the world, but to also be people who help others through the actions that our faith calls us to take to help others. However, if we seek to bless our world, we are not expected to do so alone; we have direct communication with God through prayer, and God hears the requests and pleads from God’s people. Answer’s to prayer may be a yes, it may be a no, it may be a “not yet”, but we should still earnestly believe that we can pray to our God.

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We are to be people that provide nourishment to our world through being a people that seeks the Lord in prayer.

If we are not voices of faith and hope, and we claim to be, we are like that apple we thought about earlier, or that fig tree that looks promising, but isn’t.

We won’t be perfect at this, but that is why we pray.

Our world needs faith and hope right now; it needs to know that there are still people in our world who care about them, and what they are going through, and it needs to know that there is God who listens to their prayer.

Tuesday May 12, 2020

10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; 12 for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. 13 Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

2 Corinthians 9:10-15 (NRSV)

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On Instagram, a social media service, there is an account called “PreachersNSneakers” that has pictures of the chosen footware and clothing of the nation’s most popular preachers, and pairs those pictures with a screenshot from the a company that sells them for people to see how much these Preachers spend on Sneakers.

It is a really funny page to follow, but its also causes some questions in your mind. Why does a preacher need seemingly regular shoes that cost over $1,000? I’m not saying that a person can’t do what they want with their money, but it’s just an odd thing to consider.

Some of these preachers would say that if you do the Lord’s work, then you will be blessed tremendously, and that these blessings are meant to be so big that they overflow. All you got to do is have a little faith.

But something about that doesn’t line up for me. If all we have to do is follow the Lord and we will be blessed, then doesn’t that imply that anyone who is homeless, in poverty, or even up to middle-class, are people who do not TRULY put their trust in the Lord? And wouldn’t such thinking further promote classism, greed, and the quest for power and control if the rich believe that God is on their side, and not others?

If I am wearing my $60 shoes, am I less of a faithful Christian than the person who is wearing $600 shoes? What about the person who is wearing $10 shoes – do they view me like I view those buying several hundred dollar shoes?

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This is what happens when we compare ourselves with others: we think we are superior to some, lower than others, and there’s judgement all around.

I do not believe that God works in the ways that some would argue; that God would financially bless people in abundance according to their good works on earth.

Jesus was a traveler, and would often sleep in cramped rooms, or outside. His disciples were regular men who would go on to continue this hard life of missionary work, and who would suffer and die because of their faith in Jesus. The Apostle Paul may have supplemented his own ministry by being a tent-maker by trade, and he also suffered and died as a criminal because of his commitment to his faith in Jesus.

And so when the Apostle Paul writes that God will bless those who have given money and resources to him in support of his ministry, I do not think that he means that God would give them riches of material wealth that would “overflow”, but that God would show them the power of their faith, and their hope, through their sacrifice of giving. This supreme gift is not silver or gold, but the Grace of God that surpasses our own understanding, that comforts us when no one else is around, and that teaches us to be content, no matter the circumstance. The God who was the source of hope to Paul in his suffering is the same God who is with us at every moment.

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Right now, we are suffering as a society.

We are afraid of a virus that could affect our health, and we are afraid of economic hardships that could affect our families, and our nation.

There are those of us who know people who have been affected by the virus, and there are those of us who have no direct experience with the virus yet.

There are those of us who continue to have a source for income, and there are those of us who have lost our jobs, or who are forced to work lesser hours.

We will be tempted to compare ourselves with others during this time of societal uncertainty. We will be tempted to ask God why this happened to us, and not to others.

But the passage today reminds us all that we are called to both give of ourselves to support others, financially, or just by making a phone call, AND we are assured that no matter where life may take us, that God is always with us, and that we can rest in knowing that that God’s grace is comforting to all of us – we are ALL blessed.

-Jon Bauman

Monday May 4, 2020

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

Matthew 25:31-40 (NRSV)

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The Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are four separate accounts of the life, teachings, ministry , and truth about our Lord Jesus Christ. Different Christian traditions tend to emphasize different parts of these Gospel writings as more informative of their own faith as far as how they are to live in the present moment.

For some, the dramatic calling of Christ to live a life of peace, forgiveness, and understanding that they see in the Sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7 is how they believe they ought to live.

For others, the calling of Christ on the disciples to go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them from Matthew 28 informs their mission of evangelism.

And for others, the calling of Christ to care for the poor, the widows, the orphans, the foreigner, and the outcasts from this passage from Matthew 25 informs their mission of working towards social justice, as well as their mission to directly help others in the form of soup kitchens.

These three examples of emphasis are all good ways in which Christians are called to live, but if we only emphasize one part of the Gospel’s calling on our lives, at the exclusion of the others, we miss the full picture.

Every person in our churches and in our Christian communities is unique. Some will be those who will remind us to live lives that strive for holiness, some will be those who remind us of the call to share our faith with others verbally and through intentional relationships, and some will be those who remind us of the need to care for those in need. A healthy church has people within it that see the value of all three of these callings and other callings from the Gospels, and it has those in leadership who support those in their church who are passionate about each of these callings, while reminding the congregation that Christians are called to believe in and see the value in all of the callings on the Christian life.

If we live lives that seek right living, but we don’t leave our own circles, we miss out on the mission to evangelize, baptize, and care for the sick, hungry, and oppressed.

If we live lives that are dedicated to evangelism, but we don’t strive for right living, and we ignore the needs of others, we miss out on those missions.

If we live lives that are dedicated to the care of others in need, but don’t strive for right living, or sharing out faith with others, we miss out on those missions.

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Today’s scripture reading reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from a pastor I used to know about the importance of caring for and loving others:

“Nothing in the Bible permits me to be a jerk.”

– Pastor Gary

Jesus’ ministry, message, and the Gospel message of the cross and resurrection itself, all display that the goodness of God should be available to all people, and that all people should live according to the will of God, should share the goodness of God with others through evangelism and through caring for others. Jesus, in Matthew 25, is speaking of addressing religious people in the day of judgement who intentionally ignored the needs of those around them, likely because they saw the people in need as less of a human being. To me, this kind of behavior doesn’t seem to be permitted by Jesus.

Pastor Gary, his wife, and the elders and deacons of his church met with college students weekly to give them a meal, and to talk about our lives, our shared faith, and to encourage us to share our faith with others through the ministry of conversing with and praying for the homeless of Bristol, PA, and through opening their church services to anyone and everyone.

Through challenging times, through hurtful words said, and when ministry got tough, I was reminded of Pastor Gary’s words, that NOTHING permitted him to be unkind to anyone he was speaking with.

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In this time as we are spending more time in our homes than we had before, it is a good time for some self-reflection.

We should ask ourselves what we are doing right now to seek out right living in our personal lives, to ask ourselves what we are doing to share our faith, and what we are doing to help those around us.

Then, we should ask ourselves what we CAN do to improve our Christian living in these and other areas, while committing to being kind and loving to all people that we come across.

Lastly, we should examine ourselves to discover where our natural passions are, and how they could align with the missions of our Church and Christian community, both now, and when we are able to reconvene.

-Jon Bauman

Wednesday April 29, 2020

²⁹ As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. ³⁰ There were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” ³¹ The crowd sternly ordered them to be quiet; but they shouted even more loudly, “Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!” ³² Jesus stood still and called them, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?” ³³ They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” ³⁴ Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they regained their sight and followed him.

Matthew 20:29-34

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Two blind men were sitting together on a road outside of a city, and called out to be healed by a traveling prophet and preacher, who we now know as our Lord, Jesus. The crowds that were with Jesus shouted at the two men to keep quiet – they viewed the men as a nuisance. Why?

• Why were the blind men sitting outside of the city?
• Why were they by themselves without anyone to help them?
• Why were two blind men together at all?
• Why was the response of the crowds to keep them quiet, rather than to listen to them?

The blind men were likely not family members, and yet they became like family to one another because of their shared affliction of being blind. As blind men, they were seen as being punished by God for a sin that they committed, or a sin their parents committed, and as such, they were not seen by the people as men they should help, but men who they should exclude and silence.

And so, these two men stick together because they may have no one else, and then they hear the commotion of a large crowd coming their way, and they heard the name “Jesus” being a person that is being addressed as being present. Remembering others who’ve passed by talking about this Jesus before, they decided to call out to this healer that they heard so much about. For yes, they were seen as cursed by the crowds, but surely Jesus would have mercy on them, and heal them, just as they had heard he healed others.

On that day, these two men who were considered cursed, and they had possibly even considered themselves cursed, but they were then healed by a man who the people believe was sent by God in some way. Their world changed that day in a dramatic way because they not only could see again, but they no longer just had each other – they had a whole other family.

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I love how the Gospels continually point out these moments where Jesus goes against the cultural norms in order to help people in need of saving, hope, healing, acceptance, and love.

I also love that this story points out that people who are afflicted usually help one another.

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In college, I volunteered with a church near the school to go out to a place called “Tent City” in Bristol, PA where a homeless community was formed because they had no where else to go, and they decided that it was good to at least live together. In this camp, there were many men and women, and they were divided into two main sides: one side was younger, and were more okay with drug use, and the other side tended to be older and they were just there to survive and be together without drugs. Nevertheless, though the eaders of these respective sides had disagreements, they still respected each other enough to work together to make sure that everyone had enough supplies.

Our group was not there to provide physical aid, as the community there had many other groups donating to them that they didn’t really have an idea for how we could help them physically. So what we did was go there just to speak with them, laugh with them, tell each other stories, and if they asked for it, we prayed with them and had a bible study. The leaders of the church did much for this community and others through helping them find work, get help, and providing community dinners, but our little group of volunteers were only there to provide them with something that they were missing on a another human level – connection, conversation, and inclusion from those outside of the camp.

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A lot of us are missing connection, conversation, and inclusion from those outside of our homes right now. We find ourselves feeling understood and validated through groups for parents during quarantine, through funny memes/pictures that point out the little frustrations of this time, through shared opinions on how to move forward, and through many other ways.

And all of us are together, sitting on the road of our uncertain present, calling out to God to change the way we experience life, to bring back to us the senses of community, hand shakes, and hugs. To bring to us the reunion of family members that we are currently estranged from. And to bring us into our churches that we are currently not allowed to enter.

But at least in our longing, we are together through out shared prayer.

-Jon Bauman

Thursday April 23, 2020

⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. 

¹³ But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

2 Kings 5:9-14 (NRSV)

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Naaman was considered a great man who was the commander of the King of Aram’s Army [Aram would have been located in modern day Syria] – The Lord even gave the King victory in battle because of Naaman (2 Kings 5:1). But Naaman developed leprosy, which was a physical and cultural death sentence because of its deteriorating effects on the body, and because of its contagion.

Naaman’s wife had a servant from the land of Israel, and the servant told his wife of a prophet in Israel who could heal him. Naaman was desperate to be healed, so he traveled with some of his men to this prophets house.

The text that we read today shows the prophet telling Naaman to do something so seemingly meaningless to address the severity of his disease that he thought it was a joke of some sort; that this prophet was really just a Crazy man.

Naaman’s servants wore him down to just trying it out, and he was healed. The story from 2 Kings 5 ends with Naaman proclaiming that surely there must be no other God than the God of Israel, for he had never experienced his previous gods power in that way.

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The Bible is full of interesting stories such as this one where an outsider to Israel is spoken well of, and even aided by our God. In this instance, 2 Kings communicates that Naaman was helped by the Lord before he even met Elisha through his victory in battles, and then He was healed by a Hebrew prophet, and was then welcomed as a religious convert. Elisha even understood the fears of Naaman of going public about his faith in the God of Israel when he went back to serve his King who worshipped other Gods.

It is a story that speaks to the heart of what our faith was always intended to be – a light to the nations through the God who rescues.

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Right now, the medical experts are telling all of us to stay home, to wear gloves, and to wear face-masks. A lot of us may have felt like Naaman at first – we may have seen these precautionary statements as either an over-simplification of addressing the problem, or perhaps we saw it as ridiculous when compared to the earlier advice we heard of “just wash your hands”.

But eventually, most of us have adopted these precautions either by choice, or because it has now been mandated. More people are taking steps to heal and protect our communities through working together, even if initially, we didn’t understand it.

We can view these masks as symbols of fear, or as symbols of light that speak to our mutual care and concern for one another.

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The Church around the globe has responded to this crisis in many ways. Many Pastors, church staff, and church leadership are putting in more hours than normal, churches are getting more and more familiar with technology and social media outlets, and phone calls and cards are being made. The Global Church is working hard to provide hope to our world.

Individual churches are seeing more engagement with their online services than they had typically seen on a Sunday Morning before all of this happened. Simple videos or posts that are made throughout the week are getting more responses than previously seen as well.

And why? Because the Church is seeking to be a light in the darkness, the church is seeking to bring light, and the church is seeking to bring healing to all people, whether they were members of churches before, or not.

This time, I believe, will show us the value of what Christianity offers our world – a welcome and a hope that extends past those who were already Christians – just like how the Bible extended blessing, hope, and healing to Naaman who worshipped other gods.

The Christian Churches around the globe are highlighting the Gospel right now through their messages that our God understands suffering, through the messages of Hope that we can have amidst calamity, and through the met needs of people who are longing for the kind of hope, community, and meaningful connection that the Christian Church provides.

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I don’t know when churches will begin to meet in their buildings again, but I believe that when we do, we will begin to see new faces as more people are reflecting on their need for healing, and on the call of God to bring light to the world.

Thursday April 16, 2020

²³ And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴ A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” ²⁶ And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. ²⁷ They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

Matthew 8:23-27 (NRSV)

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We have seen the movies and TV Shows about boats being stuck in the middle of the ocean during a storm, and have felt the tension of the scene as the crew attempts to keep the boat above water. But this scene from Matthew 8 is even more tense than those moments.

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Do you remember the story of Jonah when he refused to go where God told him to go, he fell asleep on a boat going somewhere else, and a terrible storm hit? The men on the boat blamed him for the storm because it was a common belief that the gods controlled the seas and the weather, and that Jonah must have upset his God. The only way in which the storm would calm was if Jonah sacrificed himself for the good of the crew by throwing himself overboard. The story doesn’t end there for Jonah either. But the point is that the people saw the rough weather as an indication of the anger of their gods. And the Sea was a scary Abyss that had no bottom.

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In this passage, Jesus is exhausted from all of the ministry that needed to be done on the mainland, and he instructed his disciples to get in a boat and to go to the other side of the sea of Galilee. The “other side” of the sea of Galilee was populated completely by Gentiles, whereas where they came from was primarily occupied by the Hebrew people. Therefore, this “other side” would have been seen as unclean, dangerous, unholy, and even evil.

Can you imagine the disciple’s apprehension before getting on that boat as they wondered why Jesus would take them to the other side? Now imagine their confusion, anger, and fear, as the winds and waves start to get wild, and their leader is asleep at the stern of the boat (as Mark 4 tells us) which gave direction to the boat.

They must have wondered, “are we being punished? Is this not who we thought? Is he not going to help us?”.

Jesus then wakes up, and REBUKES the winds and the sea. That is, he puts the winds and the sea into place by submitting them under his authority, and there was a “dead Calm”. That which was alive and thriving, scary and treacherous, is now dead.

“What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

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In that one act, Jesus proved his authority over the sea, which was seen as a murky abyss, over the weather, which was seen as being controlled by the gods (showing his own divine authority), and over the situation by showing the disciples that they can have peace when they are with Him.

During this time of turmoil, as our world is being tossed in the winds of fear and on the waters of hopelessness, we can either resign ourselves to this fear and to this hopelessness, or we can seek a peace that comes from knowing that God is with us.

We do not know when this will all go away, and when things will begin to feel normal again, but we do know that God is with us when we are afraid, when we cry, and that we can have peace in knowing that.

In trusting in this, we continue to follow Jesus into the unknown, like the disciples followed Jesus onto that boat that was headed to the other side.

Wednesday April 8, 2020

Rescue me from my enemies, Lord;
    I run to you to hide me.
Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God.
May your gracious Spirit lead me forward
    on a firm footing.

Psalm 143:9-10 (NLT)

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Children will often run to trusted adults like parents, grandparents, relatives, or guardians, in their life in times where they are troubled and scared. When they reach the one they trust, they either need to cling to them, or they try to hide behind them. They do this because they are scared or upset, and the adult that they run to is meant to protect them.

As we grow older from childhood to adulthood, there are still times in our lives when we call our parents, or others that we trust, because we just can’t figure out how to handle the situation we are in.

Maybe we need to call them if we are trying to figure out how to fix some leaky pipes, maybe its how to change brakes and rotors, maybe its to ask what a good substitute for eggs would be, and maybe its to ask them what to do when something bad happens, and we feel like a wreck, or we feel scared.

The person on the other end of the line will gladly listen to the questions, and they will attempt to help you as much as they can; for in this moment, they are reminded that they are loved and valued, and that they are needed.

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When we are faced with things that we don’t know how to handle, we need to be reminded that God is always there for us, and is always ready to listen. No matter how old we become, no matter what we have done, or how far we have ran away in the past, God is always waiting to listen to our troubles, and to provide guidance and help.

When we receive comfort from a parental figure, we are reminded of the kind of love that God has for us.

When we are that parental figure, and we are asked advice from those who seek it, we are reminded that we have an opportunity to show God’s love to them.

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Take some time today to thank your family for all that they do for you, and to pray to your heavenly Father to ask Him for his help, protection, and guidance.