Whom Are You Looking For?

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”  John 20:15 NRSV

Indeed, whom are you looking for? He is there with you, right now. Can you not see him? Then, maybe, it's really not Jesus that you are looking for. Maybe it's someone or something else that you think might satisfy you. Maybe you're looking in all the wrong places. The tomb is empty. Jesus is not among the dead; but, among the living. If you're looking for Jesus, look no further than around you. Jesus is Risen! He lives with you. He is with you now and always.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Lamentations 1 - Much Grief

The temple has been destroyed. The people dispersed. There is much grief, thus the name Lamentations for this book of poetry.

No where in this poem is Babylon or Nebuchadnezzar mentioned by name. God is given credit for the destruction and the exile.

“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
    Look around and see.
Is any suffering like my suffering
    that was inflicted on me,
that the Lord brought on me    in the day of his fierce anger?" (Lam 1:12 NIV)

Is there anything that God does not see? Is there anything that He cannot do? His chosen ones have turned their backs on Him; seeking their own glory rather than His; now weeping for what once was and for what could have been.

May God help us to always seek His face so that we might know peace in His land.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Jeremiah 37 - Light After Darkness

Jeremiah is thrown into prison for preaching the word of God. Of course, he is arrested under the pretext that he is a traitor. He was not.

This seems to be a not so uncommon an occurrence when the truth is told. The enemy will do what it can to make it look like you have done something wrong other than speak the truth. It might be your neighbor or even a family member who will falsely accuse you. It might even be your own government. The fact that you are speaking the truth so that the people might be saved will be overlooked and you may end up being branded a criminal, even a traitor. You may be imprisoned.

But, that is the chance truth-tellers must take in order to help their neighbors; in order to save them. Jeremiah was put into prison for speaking the truth. Jesus was put to death for proclaiming it. Not everyone wants to hear the truth and come out into the light. Not everyone wants to be released from the bondage of darkness. They would prefer to drag the rest of the world into their own dark little world. But, remember this when someone drags you into deep, dark dungeons: "...weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." (Psalm 30:5b NIV). There is light after darkness....

"Light after Darkness," a hymn for this morning written by Frances R. Havergal, in 1879:

Light after darkness, gain after loss,
Strength after weakness, crown after cross;
Sweet after bitter, hope after fears,
Home after wandering, praise after tears.
Sheaves after sowing, sun after rain,
Sight after mystery, peace after pain;
Joy after sorrow, calm after blast,
Rest after weariness, sweet rest at last.
Near after distant, gleam after gloom,
Love after loneliness, life after tomb;
After long agony, rapture of bliss,
Right was the pathway, leading to this.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Jeremiah 9 - What's Justice Got To Do With Sagging Pants?

Through the weeping prophet, Jeremiah, the LORD calls women to weep and wail. The people are a mess! They have turned their backs on God and on one another. They worship the Baals and they lie to one another. Even the land has been made desolate. The judgment to come is well worth weeping and wailing over, even now.

"This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
    or the strong boast of their strength
    or the rich boast of their riches,
but let the one who boasts boast about this:
    that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
    justice and righteousness on earth,
    for in these I delight,”declares the Lord." (Jer 9:23-24 NIV)

It appears humankind has sought after it's own desires, turning their backs on God and all of God's creation. And..... they boast about it. They brag about it without ever recognizing the damage they have done. Everyone is right in their own eyes. But, the LORD says, if you really want to brag about something... brag about me. Tell the world "I am." If there is any wisdom, it is in those who have the understanding to know Me. And... when you know Me; when you understand Me; when you are in a right relationship with Me; you will know that I desire justice and righteousness on earth.

OK... so that's what probably a good majority of us say... that we want justice for all people. Really? Pretty much what I hear on the news is that we want our own brand of justice, what is good for us, and not justice according to God's will. The people clamor for more laws. The politicians are busy creating them. One law on top of another until no one can even understand them all, let alone try to obey them. And... take a good look at those laws. Some of them are pretty discriminatory favoring one group or class of people over another. That, I don't believe is very conducive to justice.

I could not help but laugh as I read a news article about a parish in Louisiana that wants to make it illegal to wear sagging pants (you know wearing your pants so your underwear show). Now, I'm not a big fan of those sagging pants. I usually break into a smile whenever I see them. I once followed a group of teenage boys as they ran up a flight of fire escape stairs, carrying school books in one arm and holding their pants up with the other hand. They were really struggling to get up those stairs. I haven't quite figured out why anyone would want to spend their days holding their pants up with one hand. It seems like it would kind of impede their opportunities to live life. But, on the other hand... Is justice really all about dictating what kind of clothes others are to wear? Don't we have better things to do than make one law upon another law upon another? How can those sagging pants be distracting to others (except to cause us to smile)? All the sagging pants I've seen have had some fully covering boxers underneath and if we're honest we would acknowledge that boxers cover a whole lot more than some of the shorts and shirts we've seen out in public.

We're so busy making new laws to fit our own senses of morality, that we forget to just love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. The lack of love that is evident in this world is enough to make one weep.

Well, I guess those sagging pants did distract me. After all, I did get a little side-tracked here today... But, I am smiling thinking about those sagging pants!

Wisdom is this: having the understanding to know God, that He is the Lord and it is He who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Psalm 137 - Remembering and Weeping

"By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered..."  (Psalm 137:1 NIV) Having a bit of a hard time focusing this morning on Psalm 137 as I am sitting here, remembering and weeping. So I am taking this psalm out of context.... I am stopping at verse one.

Yesterday, a wonderful friend and brother in Christ died. I am so grateful that we were able to spend our vacations these last two summers with D.J. (Everaldo DeJesus) and his wife Mikki (Megdalia). It had been about 20 years since we'd seen them before we got together again. D.J. and my husband served together in the U.S.M.C. at a couple of bases. I remember so many wonderful evenings wandering the streets of Rota.  D.J. and Howard out front. Mikki and I following behind. For those who have never experienced Marine Corps life, you should know that the Marine Corps is a very small branch of the service and those whom you serve with and their families become your family. Separated from your birth family for years, even decades, the Marine Corps family becomes your own.

Howard and I talked often in the following years about going to Puerto Rico to visit, but it never happened. It was D.J. who finally figured out how to get us together for the vacations the last two summers. We will be flying for Puerto Rico later this week. But, D.J. is not there.  And, so I sit here, remembering and weeping. 

If there is any joy today, it is D.J. who knows that joy. I remember the promise that all who believe in Jesus Christ will not perish, but inherit eternal life in the presence of God, in His glorious Kingdom. In that, there is comfort. For the privilege of knowing D.J., I am grateful. Yet, there is still grief. Life here on earth is so short and we waste so much of the time given to us by God.

May God help us all to learn not to just love, but to live that love, to live life experiencing the love of God and the love of the people He gives to share our lives with.

God's Peace - Pr. J.