Lent 2017 - The Messiah

Today is a turning point in Mark’s gospel, when Jesus begins to speak openly about the trajectory his ministry his taking—toward suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection. Throughout this week, in between other stories, Jesus will repeatedly try to get it into the disciples’ heads who is truly is and what is going to happen. In doing so, he turns upside-down our usual way of thinking about power, greatness, and success. Today, he confirms Peter’s claim that he is the Messiah, but immediately turns around to confront Peter about what he thinks that even means. For Peter, the Messiah suffering and dying makes no sense. For Jesus, it is exactly God’s way of doing things. Jesus beckons the whole crowd and throws down the gauntlet: “Following me means marching into your execution. You must die every day. You can’t run from suffering or seek to save yourselves."

Ignatius is relentless in his focus on Jesus’ way of suffering and self-sacrifice. In pursuit of becoming more like Jesus, he identifies three kinds of humility, respectively characterized by obedience, spiritual freedom, and actual preference for poverty and rejection in the world. We will reflect on these three stages this week as we listen to Christ’s call to follow him into suffering and death.

  1. Read Mark 8:27–9:1.
  2. Ask God for the humility and obedience to lose yourself.
  3. Hear the boldness of Peter’s confession: “You are the Messiah.” Then, as Jesus tells them he is going to suffer and die and Peter protests, hear the tone of Jesus’ rebuke: “You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” As Jesus addresses the whole crowd, what is the vibe? Is there enthusiasm, confusion, outrage, or uneasiness?
  4. Reflect on Ignatius’ first kind of humility—to be so obedient that you would not violate God's word and will for anything, even to save your own life. How do you see Christ living this humility? How can it become real in your life?
  5. Listen to Jesus speaking to you: “If you want to become my follower, take up your cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” Respond with your genuine questions and concerns. Don’t hold back. Tell him he’s a ridiculous masochist. Tell him you’re scared. Give him your whole and honest impression of his way of doing things.
     

Sunday Worship (Mark 14:32-42)

This week we'll be exploring Mark 14:32-42.  

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

Each Sunday you can find the live stream here or watch the archive here. 

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: 'Teach Us to Pray' through Mark 14:32-42. 

A Light to My Path (Mark 14:32-42)

Mark 14:32-42

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

Questions for Reflection:

  • Have you ever felt alone during a time of deep distress or trouble?
  • Have you ever unintentionally left someone alone during their moment of deep distress or trouble?

Lent 2017 - More Bread and “Water”

Today may feel like deja vu. Jesus again multiples bread to feed thousands. He again uses his own saliva to heal. The repetitiveness is not without purpose. In between, we see the disciples continuing to misinterpret Jesus. He warns them about the subtle influence of Herod and the Pharisees; they miss the metaphor and think he is scolding them for forgetting bread (right after he just miraculously produced a feast of thousands no less). The disciples’ slow journey toward understanding is reflected in the healing that immediately follows. At first, the man starts to see “people, but they look like trees walking.” He gets a glimpse, but things are still blurry and obscure. His healing is gradual; it doesn’t sink in all at once. Progress in knowing, loving, and following God takes time and repetition. Usually, we are more like the Pharisees, demanding clear and certain proofs. Our inclination to revert to easy ways, simple truths, and comfortable life is much stronger than our drive to seek the Way, Truth, and Life.

  1. Read Mark 8:1–26.
  2. Ask God for eyes to see, as well as patience and protection from forgetfulness.
  3. Once again watch the bread multiply and the crowds feast. Once again feel Jesus’ saliva on your face. Revisit these kids of miracles in your imagination, letting them inform and transform your understanding of who Jesus is.
  4. Reflect on the way Jesus leads his followers—step by step, patiently, and sometimes being somewhat secretive. There is almost always ambiguity. How do you experience his guiding and teaching in your life?
  5. Talk with Jesus as if you are the blind man halfway to sight. (This is where we all are anyway, perceiving things “through a glass, darkly.”) Don’t ask for signs and certainties like the Pharisees do. Instead, ask him to help you to see exactly as much as you need to see and understand exactly what you need to know.

 

About the Author
Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC

Who Is My Neighbor? (Easter Smiles)

If I were to ask a random group of people what population their hearts broke for the most, the most common answer would be ‘children.’  Children are so vulnerable and are at the mercy of those caring for them.  Therefore, when we see opportunities to bring joy to a child in need, we respond with generosity and enthusiasm.

A small group that came together when Calvary did a study on ‘The 40 Days of Community’ several years ago selected a community project which would impact children at the most important season of the Christian life:  Easter.  ‘Easter Smiles’ was the brainstorm of Dee Frautschi and Al Bedell, Cathy and Dennis Wentworth, Jane and Eldon Haab, Betty and Paul Duzan, and Bev and Jim Hornickel.  When these people ended up together in a group studying what it meant to be in community, what emerged is a ministry that has been putting together Easter baskets for children for 12 years!

The people in this group recognized that at Thanksgiving and Christmas, the needs of children and their families who are struggling financially are addressed in many ways.  However, what happens the rest of the year?  When other children are talking about Easter baskets at school, are there some who are feeling left out?  

While obviously not equating the celebration of the resurrection with baskets of goodies, our response to the good news of Jesus Christ needs to be to reach out to those who are the most vulnerable.  When this group delivers beautifully wrapped Easter baskets to Neville House, the Baby Fold, Home Sweet Home Ministries, and the Crisis Nursery, the love of Jesus is shared in a way that children can understand and appreciate.  

This group also serves meals regularly at Safe Harbor, a homeless shelter run by the Salvation Army.  One year, upon seeing Easter baskets that the group brought for children, a man came up asked if he could have a basket to take to his little girl.  Absolutely!  Helping a father bring a smile to his daughter’s face is one of the reasons this ministry exists.

A bonus to this ministry is the joy it gives those who donate the baskets.  “I used to do baskets for my children and now they’re all gone.  I miss that.”  There are children at Calvary who enjoy putting together baskets for other children.  What a great way to learn what it means to be a disciple!  Families enjoy coming together to decide what they’ll put in the baskets, shop for the items, and then wrap them all up.  Anytime a family gets together to do something for others, everyone wins and I believe it puts a smile on the face of our God.

Last year, Calvary made up around 100 Easter Baskets.  This year’s goal is 120 baskets.  How does this work?  There is a tree at the first Atrium Kiosk decorated with plastic eggs.  Inside those eggs are instructions on what to put in the basket.  Having teachers in this group of organizers brought an awareness that by this time in the year, children’s school supplies are running out, so that is always on the list.

Jesus lives!  Let’s find ways to share that joy with others.

Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: A Light to My Path

About the Author
Debbie Reese is the Co-Directing Pastor of Calvary UMC

Lent 2017 - Table Scraps and Saliva

Jesus uses and blesses the ordinary elements of our world—even things we consider disgusting and undesirable. God does not just unite himself with the nice, clean, admirable parts of humanity; he takes it all—the dirt and the darkness. In a word, the Incarnation is vulgar. The grace of God himself is active in spit. Jesus showed yesterday that he isn’t above “bathroom talk.” In John’s gospel, he actually heals a blind man by making a miraculous mud pie with saliva and dirt. Nothing is too low. Nothing is excluded. There is no room for elitism in the gospel of Jesus. Remember this when reading the first part of today’s story.

  1. Read Mark 7:24–37.
  2. Ask God for his humble and generous heart that embraces all things.
  3. Sit at the table as the woman approaches. See her modest appearance and meek voice. And yet she is also bold. What is the tone of their conversation? Why does Jesus say something that seems so insensitive and even racist? Imagine the disciples' reactions. Then move on to observe this private healing. Feel Jesus fingers in your ears and (gross as it may seem) his spit on your tongue.
  4. What do these stories show you about Jesus and thew ay God works?
  5. Give Jesus thanks for his saving help. Ask him how to tell the story of his deliverance without restraint. Pray this portion of Psalm 40:9–10, singing along with the man who can now speak:

    “I have told the glad news of deliverance
    in the great congregation;
    see, I have not restrained my lips,
    as you know, O Lord.
    I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,
    I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
    I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    from the great congregation” (Psalm 40:9–10).

    Repeat this shorter verse throughout your day: “Lord, open my lips; and my mouth will declare your praise” (Psalm 51:15).

About the Author
Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC

Love Your Neighbor (Mark 14:3-9)

Thursday.png

Read Mark 14:3-9:

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

In this week’s text, Jesus says “the poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.” This verse is sometimes misused to position worship (the anointing of Jesus in this story) over and above serving the poor; or it’s sometimes used to demonstrate the futility of trying to eradicate poverty. Both of these approaches miss the heart of this story. 

First, when Jesus invokes the phrase “the poor you will always have with you,” he’s most likely referring to Deuteronomy  15:11:

“There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.”

This hardly evokes a sense of futility toward poverty – quite the opposite. God calls us to be openhanded toward our neighbor who is in need.

Second, Jesus didn’t bring the poor into the conversation, “those present,” (the people who did not care for this unnamed woman’s act of worship) brought them into the conversation – but only for the sake of shaming the unnamed woman and calling into question her act of worship. They’re using service to the poor for their own questionable purposes.

Jesus affirms the serving of the poor by invoking Deuteronomy, but he also validates the unnamed woman’s worship because she has the eyes to see and recognize Jesus in the present moment. Worship and service to the poor are not in opposition. One doesn’t have to lose for the other to win. Worship and service to the poor form a virtuous circle  – a circle that continually cycles back and forth from one side to the other until we can’t tell where worship ends and service to the poor begins. Ultimately, we learn to anoint Jesus in the poor we serve while simultaneously serving and affirming those who worship differently from us.

Questions for Reflection:

  • In what ways do I miss opportunities to serve the poor because the problem seems “too big”?
  • In what ways do I criticize the worship practices of others when I don’t understand or agree with them (“why this waste of perfume”)?
  • How am I working toward the fusion of worship and service to the poor?

Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: Who Is My Neighbor?

About the Author
Isaac Gaff is the Managing Director of Worship and Creative Arts at Calvary UMC

Lent 2017 - Eating and Washing

The human heart is like a river. It has both its source and its end in God, the Alpha and Omega. He is our Creator and the true fulfillment of all we seek and desire. Our heart is never still; it is always living and loving toward something. When we desire other things, more immediate or petty things, the currents of our heart spill over its banks toward some other destination. As streams split off and splinter the river, its flow is slowed and the water becomes stagnant and polluted. We must build up the banks of our heart and re-direct the flow of our desires back toward their toward goal: "Keep your heart with all vigilance; for form it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).  It is much easier to assign “unrighteousness” to some specific tangible thing than it is to discover the unrighteousness in the ambiguous depths and currents of one’s own soul. It is much easier to measure and control outer behaviors than to do the patient and painful work of purifying our the inner motives. Religious practices are only worthwhile insofar as they seek this goal. If they actually serve to obscure and neglect the heart, they do the double damage of deceiving us into thinking we are righteous when we are not (or vice versa).

  1. Read Mark 7:1–23.
  2. Ask God for the purity of heart to will and want only him.
  3. See the outraged Pharisees confront Jesus and his followers, then watch them react to Jesus' scathing response. Then observe Jesus' patience with the disciples’ confusion.
  4. Reflect on Jesus' single-minded devotion to the word and way of God. How does he distinguish between “God’s commandments” and “human traditions?”
  5. Practice the Examen today, using the guide from March 7. On step three, pay special attention to the things that stirred your emotions, desires, and gut-level reactions. Do you notice any of the things Jesus says come from the human heart (greed, lust, jealousy, deception, pride, or anger)? How do these things splinter and scatter your heart?

About the Author
Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC

Lent 2017 - Water

Water is a powerful and rich symbol in Scripture. It is both life and death—fear and faithfulness. In the beginning of creation, the Spirit broods over the waters. God sends a flood to wipe out and remake the earth. God delivers Israel from Egypt through the sea and swallows up their enemies behind them. Baptism symbolizes and summarizes all of these stories, as well as the ultimate story of Jesus' death and resurrection.

The sea can also symbolize for us the life of God himself. It is what it is—an unfathomable paradox of both stillness and activity, surface and depth. We can hardly harness it, let alone master it. Likewise, eternity is completely beyond our comprehension and control, and yet it is exactly the mystery into which we are welcomed. We are called not to "take control of our life" but to surrender and live beyond control. We die to ourselves and are reborn with the life of Christ.

  1. Read Mark 6:45–56.
  2. Ask God for trust that he is always who he says he is.
  3. Put yourself again in the disciples’ boat. The weather is picking up. Feel your muscles burn as you strain the oars against the wind. See the obscure figure approach on the water, and hear him call out, “Don’t be afraid. It is I.” Follow the disciples through their experience of terror, confusion, and astonishment.
  4. Imagine gazing out into a vast sea. Soak in its magnitude, its depth. Dwell in your inability to change, control, or even comprehend it. What feelings does this stir in you (fear, wonder, peace, captivation, etc.)? How do these feelings relate to the way you see God?
  5. Jesus walks on the water after withdrawing into solitude to pray. Go up on the mountain with him. Ask for greater faith and freedom from fear as he calls you deeper into the mystery of who God is.

About the Author
Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC

Deeper Dive Podcast (Mark 14:1-11)

Randy and Debbie respond to Ruth's question about faith and sovereignty as well as explore implications of Judas' part in the Holy Week story.

Listen in your device's podcast app – Apple version here and Android version here or use the desktop-only player below.

Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: God Stories

About the Authors

Randy and Debbie Reese are Co-Directing Pastors at Calvary UMC

Lent 2017 - Bread

What was supposed to be a quiet retreat is swarmed by thousands of people. When the disciples urge Jesus to send the crowds away to find food, he insists that the they feed them—when they themselves have just returned from journeying with no money or food. What hey find isn’t hopeful: a child’s lunch. Nevertheless, the meal is multiplied by gratitude. Jesus gives thanks, breaks and distributes the bread—a sort of rehearsal of the meal he will share with his disciples before his death. Just as a feast for the multitudes is yielded from the breaking of few humble loaves, so also abundant life with God is yielded from the breaking of the body of Christ. We are all invited to receive this bread thankfully and by doing so receive eternal life. Christ multiplies his life in us so that we are never wanting. We have everything we need and more in him, the Bread of Life.

  1. Read Mark 6:30–44.
  2. Ask God for his provision and for a heart of gratitude.
  3. See the eager and helpless multitude—“sheep without a shepherd.” See the disciples growing tired and antsy. Watch Jesus give thanks for small portion, break the bread, and begin to distribute it. Take and taste the bread and fish. Watch the disciples pass out the food, while it mysteriously multiplies and never runs out. Look over all the leftovers that no one can even finish.
  4. Reflect on the helplessness of the crowd. What are they looking for? Notice how Jesus’ compassion overwhelms his desire for privacy and rest. Get into the disciples’ side of the story—what are they feeling, thinking, doing?
  5. Talk with Jesus as he breaks and distributes the bread. What in your life never seems like it is enough (time, money, energy)? Give thanks for exactly that thing, seeing it as a gift. Ask God that however much he has given you would be more than enough. Then let that thing go, and spend time focusing not on what you lack, but on all that God has given in his Son.

About the Author
Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC

Teach Us to Pray (Mark 14:1-11)

Mark 14:3-9:

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Prayer is sometimes seen as a luxury – something that people who have disposable time and attention undertake because they can afford to. Likewise, prayer is sometimes seen as a means to an end – something that people do to speed up a process like healing, spiritual growth, wisdom, etc. When we view prayer as simply a nice add-on (luxury) or as a catalyst for (most likely our own) agendas (necessity), we miss what Mark shows us in this story of the woman anointing Jesus with expensive perfume. Prayer doesn't sit on the spectrum between necessity and luxury. Prayer invites us to see what’s in front of us; not in terms of necessity and luxury, but in terms of seeing the present moment for the fullness and richness that is already there in that moment. This unnamed woman in Mark saw something in Jesus that no one else in the room could see (his impending death) and acted accordingly. Prayer helps us notice these divine moments that are often right in front of us, and then helps us look around and look ahead to act accordingly. 

As you pray today:
1)  Look around and be aware of the divine moments happening all around you – they are neither luxury or necessity, they are gifts that only need unwrapped with our awareness.
2)  Look ahead to how your participation in these moments (the things right in front of you today) dovetail with the larger story of God (either in terms of death/resurrection, creation/incarnation/recreation, creation/fall/redemption, etc.).

Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: Deeper Dive Podcast (Mark 14:1-11)

About the Author
Isaac Gaff is the Managing Director of Worship and Creative Arts at Calvary UMC

Lent 2017 - On a Platter

While the apostles travel through the villages, Mark takes a detour in his gospel to talk about the fate of John the Baptist. Just like most prophets throughout Israel’s history, he had some critical things to say about the king, Herod. So through the plots and pressures of Herod’s wife, the king has John beheaded. Soon the rumblings of a Messiah at the edges of the world begin to make their way to the ears of the powerful. In the paranoia that can only come from power and guilt, Herod fears that Jesus is actually John, back form the dead. 

  1. Read Mark 6:14–29.
  2. Ask God’s peace to finally overcome all worldly power and persecution.
  3. Imagine the confrontation between wilderness-man John and King Herod. Maybe you wince at John’s boldness. It seems excessive. Why does John call him out? Now get into Herod’s head—from his hesitation and hand-wringing, through the social and political pressure, to his concession to simply have John killed. What feelings, fears, and priorities could possibly lead him to this point? 
  4. Read and reflect on the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3–12. What are the “real-world” consequences you see for being poor, grieving, restless of justice, merciful, meek, pure, peaceful, and persecuted? What actually happens to people who are like this? On the other hand, what does God promise for these people? How do you reconcile and make sense of this?
  5. Talk with God about the relationship between God’s people and today’s “powers-that-be.” Ask about the ways in which we are supposed live against the grain. Pray through each of the beatitudes, and pray that they more and more characterize your life and community.
     

About the Author
Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC

Sunday Worship (Mark 14:1-11)

This week we'll be exploring Mark 14:1-11.  

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”
While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Each Sunday you can find the live stream here or watch the archive here. 

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: 'Teach Us to Pray' through Mark 14:1-11. 

A Light to My Path (Mark 14:1-11)

Mark 14:1-11:

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”
While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Question for Reflection

  • An argument begins to take shape among those present at this scene about whether or not this extravagant anointing was the best use a precious resource (the perfume). They all thought they were right in their own way. In what ways do you miss the "beautiful things" happening right in front of you, even when you're convinced you're right?

Who Is My Neighbor? (Midwest Food Bank)

We often reach out to neighbors we’ll never meet….which is another wonderful result of living out the Christian faith.

Calvary’s Junior and Senior High Youth recently met at Midwest Food Bank (MFB) in Bloomington to package cereal…about 1200 pounds of cereal! The product is donated to Midwest Food Bank in bulk but has to be broken down into smaller packages for distribution. This organization that serves so many explains:  “As a faith based organization it is the mission of Midwest Food Bank to alleviate hunger and poverty by gathering and distributing food donations to not-for-profits and disaster sites without cost to the recipients.” Calvary knows first hand how important this work is because we receive cases and cases of food each month from MFB to use in our Backpack Ministry with Parkside Elementary School.

Here are some quotes from those who participated in the recent food packaging ministry.

Michael Pitzer: It was great to have the youth and parents work together as well as junior and senior high students working together. Everyone involved not only shared a time of working side by side, but also learned about what Midwest Food Bank is doing.  

Julia Rolley: I think that it was a good experience through seeing how much help and how much food goes to those in need and how helping made me feel I was doing my part to help others not as fortunate as I am.

Jonathan Smith: Well I’ve done it multiple times with church and scouts and I always like going to see how much people still care for other people by seeing how much food and supplies that they have at their facility. I feel like it was a good experience because we were able to indirectly help people. Doing it that way reflects Jesus’ teaching to pray in private rather than boasting out on the street corner. The people who will receive that food won’t know that we did it and I would imagine that they will be very thankful. It was also a chance for us to have fellowship with one another while we were working there. Finally, it makes me feel good because I was able to help people who might be in need.

Sarah Hopt: It felt great knowing that I was helping others and that what I did was going to benefit families in need. After I was done helping out it felt very fulfilling, because I had not only served others but I had made God happy, too.

Elena Rolley: I think that the experience was good for me because I was using my free time to hel work toward helping others.  It made me feel great, and I had a fun time doing it.  And like my parents said, it looks good on a college application!  Haha!

Nick Rolley: I was very surprised by how much the Midwest Food Bank does for our community and how far reaching it is. I also had a lot of fun just doing the work and getting to spend time doing the work of God with some of the church family.

Tasha Schuckman: I volunteered at the Midwest Food Bank because they have a great organization going there that they have built up very well. They distribute food to many people who are in the state of Illinois as well as beyond it. Also, the experience of preparing a meal that you know will impact the world is incredible, and that is why I love volunteering there.

Annika Luthe: It was a fun experience and it was cool to help people out.

There you have it!  Calvary Student Ministries brings families together in service….thank you, CSM!

Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: A Light to My Path

About the Author
Debbie Reese is the Co-Directing Pastor of Calvary UMC

Lent 2017 - The Sick

Mark intentionally weaves these two stories together. Jesus is approached by two people in need of his healing power. One is a figure of status and stature in the community. The other is not even give a name. One is leader in the synagogue, the center of Jewish society. The other, according to Jewish custom, is excluded from society because of her sickness. One summons Jesus to his home. The other must creep near him in secret. One is likely financially secure. The other is destitute from spending everything on medical bills.

But regardless of everything else, both are shaken to their foundations by need. We remember the haunting and humbling truth of Ash Wednesday: “you are dust, and to dust you will return.” Sickness and death find us all, regardless of wealth, wisdom, privilege, security, health, and freedom. As the psalmist puts it, “Mortals cannot abide in their pomp; they are like the animals that perish.” (Psalm 49:13). But this story reminds us that Jesus’ power, mercy, and grace have also no boundaries. He indiscriminately bestows life on all. Even death, the great boundary that we all share, is undone by his resurrection. When we pray for healing, we know that whatever happens, resurrection is our ultimate hope.

  1. Read Mark 5:21–43.
  2. Ask God for insight into the things that unite all of humankind.
  3. Look into the face of Jairus. Feel the despair of a parent whose child is dying. Look into the face of the woman. Feel the desperation of someone who has been sick without answers for twelve years.
  4. Dwell on the contrast between Jairus and the bleeding woman. Now dwell on their likeness in two things: sickness and grace. Neither can escape the effects of sin and death. Both are made whole by Jesus. Meditate on the boundless vastness of Christ’s grace. Imagine specific places and people it can reach.
  5. Imagine yourself bowing before Christ—even physically get on your knees—just as both Jairus and the woman did. Realize your own need for grace, and ask for whatever healing you need. Hear him respond to you, “Do not fear; only believe."
     

About the Author
Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC

Love Your Neighbor (Mark 12:28-34)

In this week's reading from Mark, Jesus tells us that one of the most important things in the Kingdom of God is to "love your neighbor as yourself." He's drawing on a passage in the book of Leviticus – a book which is often seen as a loose collection of "dos and don'ts" in the Old Testament. In the middle of this seemingly tedious rule book sits (what Jesus identifies as) the heart of God's design for us. Leviticus 19:5-8 starts with instructions on how to share a fellowship/peace offering (loving God) and then moves to how we love each other:

Leviticus 9-18 (The Message)
9–10  “When you harvest your land, don’t harvest right up to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings from the harvest. Don’t strip your vineyard bare or go back and pick up the fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am God, your God.
11  “Don’t steal.
 “Don’t lie.
 “Don’t deceive anyone.
12  “Don’t swear falsely using my name, violating the name of your God. I am God.
13  “Don’t exploit your friend or rob him.
 “Don’t hold back the wages of a hired hand overnight.
14  “Don’t curse the deaf; don’t put a stumbling block in front of the blind; fear your God. I am God.
15  “Don’t pervert justice. Don’t show favoritism to either the poor or the great. Judge on the basis of what is right.
16  “Don’t spread gossip and rumors.
 “Don’t just stand by when your neighbor’s life is in danger. I am God.
17  “Don’t secretly hate your neighbor. If you have something against him, get it out into the open; otherwise you are an accomplice in his guilt.
18  “Don’t seek revenge or carry a grudge against any of your people.
 “Love your neighbor as yourself. I am God.

Loving our neighbor does not end (or even begin) with simply a feeling of affection, affinity, or affirmation (even though there's nothing wrong with those things) – this Kingdom-of-God kind of love gets its hands dirty with issues of ethics, care, justice, speech, and interior renovation. Reread the above section from Leviticus again and notice how many different verbs are used that are finally summed up in the verb “love.” 

The apostle Paul also has a famous section on love-in-action (1 Corinthians 13). As you read his words, try to synthesize both Leviticus and Paul, and then live both of these "love passages" toward your neighbor next door, across town, and across the world.

1 Corinthians 13 (The Message)
1  If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
2  If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
3–7  If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
 Love never gives up.
 Love cares more for others than for self.
 Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
 Love doesn’t strut,
 Doesn’t have a swelled head,
 Doesn’t force itself on others,
 Isn’t always “me first,”
 Doesn’t fly off the handle,
 Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
 Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
 Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
 Puts up with anything,
 Trusts God always,
 Always looks for the best,
 Never looks back,
 But keeps going to the end.
8–10  Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
11  When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
12  We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13  But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love

Questions or discussion? Click here to comment.

Tomorrow on the Daily Connection: Who Is My Neighbor?

About the Author
Isaac Gaff is the Managing Director of Worship and Creative Arts at Calvary UMC

Lent 2017 - The Legion

Here is a man living among the dead, trapped in a cycle of self-destruction. He is a burden to his community, who have tried everything to keep him from hurting himself and others. This is a poignant portrait of spiritual desolation—“darkness of the soul, turmoil of spirit, inclination to  what is low and earthly, restlessness arising from many disturbances and temptations which lead to want of faith, hope, and love.” This man seems utterly abandoned to desolation, but he is not without hope. Ignatius says that one of the reasons God allows desolation is "to give us a true knowledge and understanding of ourselves,” specifically to know—not just in our head but in our hearts—that we are completely incapable of attaining peace, joy, and love by ourselves. All of this is a gift of God’s grace. In the cave of desolation, we learn to turn the darkest parts and patterns in our soul over to the healing of grace.

  1. Read Mark 5:1–20.
  2. Ask God to restore the lost and hurting (including yourself) to "the land of the living” (Psalm 116:9).
  3. Walk into the shadows and stale air of the demoniac’s cave. See the scars all over his skeletal frame. Feel the weight of his shackles and chains. Hear his haunting howls echo through the cavernous tombs. Do you see yourself reflected in him any way?
  4. Imagine speaking with the man after he is set to rights. What does he understand about who Jesus is and what he has done for him?
  5. Talk with Jesus by the boat as he begins to leave as if you are the person who has just been given freedom and consolation. Even as you cling to him, what does he tell you to go and do?
     

About the Author
Nick Chambers is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Calvary UMC