Monday Matters (September 30, 2024)

3-1

Psalm 103

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy Name.

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.

3 He forgives all your sins
and heals all your infirmities;

4 He redeems your life from the grave
and crowns you with mercy and loving-kindness;

5 He satisfies you with good things,
and your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.

6 The Lord executes righteousness
and judgment for all who are oppressed.

7 He made his ways known to Moses
and his works to the children of Israel.

8 The Lord is full of compassion and mercy,
slow to anger and of great kindness.

9 He will not always accuse us,
nor will he keep his anger for ever.

10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.

11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so is his mercy great upon those who fear him.

12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our sins from us.

13 As a father cares for his children,
so does the Lord care for those who fear him.

14 For he himself knows whereof we are made;
he remembers that we are but dust.

15 Our days are like the grass;
we flourish like a flower of the field;

16 When the wind goes over it, it is gone,
and its place shall know it no more.

17 But the merciful goodness of the Lord
endures for ever on those who fear him,
and his righteousness on children’s children;

18 On those who keep his covenant
and remember his commandments and do them.

19 The Lord has set his throne in heaven,
and his kingship has dominion over all.

20 Bless the Lord, you angels of his,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
and hearken to the voice of his word.

21 Bless the Lord, all you his hosts,
you ministers of his who do his will.

22 Bless the Lord, all you works of his,
in all places of his dominion;
bless the Lord, O my soul.

Angels, aware and unaware

Today we observe the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, usually observed on September 29, which this year fell on a superseding Sunday. So the feast got bumped. Regardless, the feast gives us occasion to think about angels. The psalm appointed for this celebration (see above) mentions angels as just one of the ways that the Lord is blessed. According to the psalmist, they do the Lord’s bidding.

Angels show up all over the Bible. Early in the Book of Genesis, an angel guards the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve get the boot. Fast forward to the Book of Revelation and St. Michael, the archangel, engages in a fierce battle. There was war in heaven. In between, angels show up at critical moments: An angel endows Balaam’s ass with verbal skills. An angel meets depressed and self-pitying Elijah and tells him to have a snack and take a nap. (Good advice for any who are down in the dumps.) Angels announce the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus. A sky full of angels told shepherds to head to Bethlehem. Note: King James tells us the shepherds were sore afraid. Angels announce resurrection on Easter morning, again triggering fear.

We see that quite often the opening words from angels: Fear not. What do you think is scary about that kind of encounter? Sure there’s an element of surprise. But the appearance of an angel also suggests that things are about to change. No more same old same old. Transformation is possible. Something new is emerging.

The word angel means messenger. Understood as such, there are angels all around us, spiritual forces doing God’s bidding, bringing us holy messages. Where have you run across an angel?

I do think that I’ve seen angels. Once when I was in college, I was standing alone facing a difficult moment, about to have a meeting to try to resolve a complicated relationship, praying about that, prayer as a kind of last resort. As I was waiting, a disheveled young man in dirty clothes approached. We exchanged pleasantries. Then he asked if he could pray for me. He put his hand on my forehead. I still remember the force of his hand. He prayed out loud for me. And then he left. Never saw him again. It was not the kind of encounter depicted by Fra Angelico at the annunciation (I wish). It was no vision of winged creature, radiant and sparkly. But I’ve always thought this guy might have been an angel. Have you ever had a similar kind of experience?

In the liturgy of Holy Eucharist, one of the most striking, even transcendent phrases suggests that we pray with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. We’re part of that heavenly chorus. (Who knew? Who me?) We’re in this together. We’re not alone. Together in this great chorus, we are invited to do God’s bidding.

This week, keep your eyes open for angels, remembering that in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 13.2), we are presented with the possibility that when we welcome strangers, we may be entertaining angels unaware. And if you catch a glimmer of angel’s wings, consider the ways that you might join them this week in doing God’s bidding.

Jay Sidebotham


Interested in RenewalWorks for your parish? Learn more about how RenewalWorks works!

RenewalWorks: Helping churches focus on spiritual growth

RenewalWorks is about re-orienting your parish around spiritual growth. And by spiritual growth – we mean growing in love of God and neighbor.
Churches can launch as part of a fall or spring cohort or go on their own schedule. (Now accepting signups for the January 2025 cohort)  Sign up now!

Monday Matters (September 23, 2024)

3-1

Psalm 1

1 Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked,
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!

2 Their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and they meditate on his law day and night.

3 They are like trees planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither;
everything they do shall prosper.

4 It is not so with the wicked;
they are like chaff which the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes,
nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.

6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked is doomed.

Like trees planted by streams of water

One of the questions I like to explore with parishioners: Where are you being nourished? A variation: What are the things that feed you, specifically, what are the things that feed your spirit?

Sometimes people have a ready answer, expressing gratitude for sources of life that they have tapped into. Many recognize that such nourishment is a gift. There are those who confess that they are not being fed at all, and they are feeling depleted. They will sometimes confess that they have looked to the church for spiritual nourishment and they’re not finding it. I hear people speak about busy schedules that have taken control of their lives and block streams of life. I’m wondering as you read this on this Monday morning where you are being fed, where you find sources of life.

Psalm 1, the first in the psalter, printed above and heard in churches yesterday, serves as a kind of overture to the rest of the psalms. There are 150 of them. They cover the range of spiritual experience. That full range may be captured in this first psalm which talks about two ways of being. The psalm suggests a choice between being like a tree planted by a stream or being like chaff that the wind blows away. On the one hand, an experience of vitality and growth. On the other, lifelessness and inertia resulting in a failure to tap into the source of life. Which way of being reflects the way you’re feeling this Monday morning?

The psalm prompts us to think about where we look for nourishment, for the source of life. On the one hand, it is a grace, a gift to tap into sources of life. A tree does not necessarily have much say about where it has set down roots. If in the course of our spiritual journey, we have found any sustaining sources of life, we are simply called to say thanks and not try to take credit for any growth and vitality.

At the same time, the psalm seems to suggest that we have agency as far as where we draw source of life. I was reading on Saturday the story of St. Paul visiting Athens (Acts 17), talking to people who had not yet been introduced to the Christian faith. Paul begins by simply listening to what was going on in that city, religiously speaking. In the words of one of my teachers, Dwight Zscheile, Paul was seeing what God was up to in the neighborhood.

As he speaks to the Athenians, he notes that though the gospel was news to them, they already had a sense of God’s presence. He quotes their own poets saying that God is the one in which they live and move and have their being. He says that God is not far from any of them. That suggests to me that the source of life is always available. The question then becomes: Are we paying attention to it? Or are we looking for life in all the wrong places?

I realize that in my writing and preaching, I really only have a few ideas. I hope I don’t repeat excessively. One that is most important (and bears repeating) is the wisdom from desert father Abba Poemem. He said: Do not give you heart to that which does not satisfy your heart.

This Monday morning, give your heart to that stream of living water that provides nourishment. If you’re not sure how to go about that, tap into these words from the Gospel of John: On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ (John 7:37-38)

Jay Sidebotham


Interested in RenewalWorks for your parish? Learn more about how RenewalWorks works!

RenewalWorks: Helping churches focus on spiritual growth

RenewalWorks is about re-orienting your parish around spiritual growth. And by spiritual growth – we mean growing in love of God and neighbor.
Churches can launch as part of a fall or spring cohort or go on their own schedule. (Now accepting signups for the January 2025 cohort)  Sign up now!

Monday Matters (September 16, 2024)

3-1

Psalm 19

1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament shows his handiwork.

2 One day tells its tale to another,
and one night imparts knowledge to another.

3 Although they have no words or language,
and their voices are not heard,

4 Their sound has gone out into all lands,
and their message to the ends of the world.

5 In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun;
it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;
it rejoices like a champion to run its course.

6 It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens
and runs about to the end of it again;
nothing is hidden from its burning heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.

8 The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever;
the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold,
sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.

11 By them also is your servant enlightened,
and in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can tell how often he offends?
cleanse me from my secret faults.

13 Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins;
let them not get dominion over me; then shall I be whole and sound,
and innocent of a great offense.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

Presumptuous sins

As I read this familiar psalm again this week (see above), I got stuck on what the psalmist meant by presumptuous sins. As I started thinking about it, the following questions occurred to me:

By presumptuous sins, does the psalmist mean presuming that God owes me something, that the blessings of life are anything but gift? Is it about presuming that I know better than God how to run the universe? Presuming that I am in a position to judge somebody else? Presuming that other people exist for my convenience? Presuming that I have any clue what is going to happen in days ahead, maybe even in the next fifteen minutes? Presuming that my value is tied to my financial assets, my resume, my social connections? Presuming that the ways I have hurt other people or let them down are not really that big a deal? Presuming that the ways others have hurt me are too grand to merit forgiveness? The list goes on. Presumptuous sins: It’s actually a pretty broad description of ways we go off the rails.

How are we to be preserved from presumptuous sins? It is interesting to me that this confessional portion of the psalm follows two sections with distinct themes. On first reading, they may seem disconnected, as if there are three different psalms smashed together. But I think there’s a thread.

First, in verses 1-6, the psalmist notes that all of creation witnesses to God’s transcendence, the heavens declaring the glory of God, with a message that goes out to all the lands. Consideration of that witness, a glimmer of the majesty of the Holy One, singing “How Great Thou Art”, may well lay the foundation for deliverance from presumptuous sins. Maybe presumptuous sins are countered in God’s question to Job near the end of the book, a passage offered in the daily lectionary last Saturday. God asks Job: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth.”

Second, moving to another theme in verses 7-11, the psalmist notes that the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. Those laws are to be valued, more desired than gold, sweeter than honey, bringing enlightenment. I believe those laws may be best described not as God telling us: Do this or else. Rather we look to Jesus who in the tradition of the Hebrew Scriptures says that the law is summed up in love, love of God, love of neighbor, love of self. Divine teaching, God’s law, the commandments, God’s statutes are there to keep us on track. It strikes me that they bear the possibility of warding off presumptuous sins.

All of which is to say that we do so with God’s help. That’s why this verse with reference to presumptuous sins is followed by the prayer that concludes the psalm: Let words of mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. It’s a prayer often offered by preachers before they hold forth in the pulpit. And since we’re all preachers (we are all called in baptism to proclaim good news), it’s a good prayer to start each day, to see our words and our thoughts unfolding in the presence of the Holy One whose glory is declared in the heavens and whose law if the way of love.

This psalm invites inventory this Monday morning: what variety of presumptuous sins have a hold on us? And how can we find release from their power over us? We can start by looking up to the heavens which declare the glory of God.

Jay Sidebotham


Interested in RenewalWorks for your parish? Learn more about how RenewalWorks works!

RenewalWorks: Helping churches focus on spiritual growth

RenewalWorks is about re-orienting your parish around spiritual growth. And by spiritual growth – we mean growing in love of God and neighbor.
Churches can launch as part of a fall or spring cohort or go on their own schedule. (Now accepting signups for the January 2025 cohort)  Sign up now!

Monday Matters (September 9, 2024)

3-1

Psalm 146

1 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

2 Put not your trust in rulers,
nor in any child of earth, for there is no help in them.

3 When they breathe their last, they return to earth,
and in that day their thoughts perish.

4 Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!
whose hope is in the Lord their God;

5 Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them;
who keeps his promise for ever;

6 Who gives justice to those who are oppressed,
and food to those who hunger.

7 The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

8 The Lord loves the righteous;
the Lord cares for the stranger;
he sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.

9 The Lord shall reign for ever, your God, O Zion,
throughout all generations.

Hallelujah!

Knowing God

The longer I’m on this spiritual journey, the more I marvel at the mystery of what it means to know God. People talk about it a lot in the Bible and in religious circles. I feel like I’ve run across people who make me think: “That person knows God.” But for me, the mystery deepens with every passing day as I’m increasingly aware of the limits of my ability to comprehend what it means to know God.

I’m thinking about all this in response to the psalm printed above, a psalm you may have heard in church yesterday. It comes near the end of the Book of Psalms, when the tone shifts to a focus on praise. We’ve heard all kinds of voices in the psalter: lament, fear, vengeance, regret, forsakenness, even some whining. And as the collection of 150 psalms winds up, again and again the theme is praise, which is really about celebrating the character of God. For those of us who sense audacity in the claim to know God, psalms like this one give us insight into the character of the Holy One. Of all the things that the psalmist could say, these are the kinds of things that merit our praise.

God is the one who brings justice to people who are oppressed, food to the hungry. God sets prisoners free, opens the eyes of the blind. God lifts up those who are bowed down. God cares for the stranger, and sustains the orphan and widow.

That picture of God is reflected in the inaugural sermon Jesus gave in his hometown synagogue (to mixed reviews). As recorded in Luke 4, Jesus stood before the congregation and read from the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

In a bold affirmation of the incarnation (another fathomless mystery), Jesus seems to claim that he is one with the God revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures. They share the same character, the same heart. Jesus thereby gives us a window on that divine character. Again, it’s an audacious thing for Jesus to infer. So much so that the congregation tried to throw Jesus over a cliff. I’ve had negative reactions to sermons, but this is a whole other level.

There is, of course a sense in which we understand this divine ministry as symbolic. All of us have hunger, hunger for meaning or relationship. All of us can cite oppression from the judgement of the world. All of us are blind in some way, failing to see what is right before us, failing to see Christ in all persons, for instance. All of us are prisoners of some sort, captive to addiction or resentment. Our faith tells us that Jesus can reach each one of us in those places with liberating, life-giving, loving presence.

But we should be careful not to over spiritualize this. The church over the centuries, on good days, has recognized that a big part of its ministry is taking this vision quite literally: offering food to those who are hungry, worshipping God by going to the kitchen. The church has recognized its call to healing ministry, offering welcome to the stranger. There are ways great and small we can do that. We can do that in our common life with the ways we vote and the ways we advocate for justice. We do that when we fulfill the baptismal promises to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to love neighbor as self, to strive for justice and peace, to respect the dignity of every human being.

The psalmist makes the following connection for us: We do all those things because that is what the God we worship does. We do all those things because that is what Jesus came to do. We do all those things because we are now Christ’s hands and feet in the world. And here’s another mystery. As we serve in this way, we not only get to know more about God’s character. We come to know God, to enter into deeper relationship with the Holy One.

As St. Paul said, we now see through a glass darkly. May we have eyes to see the needs around us and to reflect God’s character this week. There’s probably a specific way you can do that. I bet your church can help make that possible. Give it a try and see if in any way it gives a glimmer of the character of the God we worship, the God who came to us in the form of a servant.

Jay Sidebotham


Interested in RenewalWorks for your parish? Learn more about how RenewalWorks works!

RenewalWorks: Helping churches focus on spiritual growth

RenewalWorks is about re-orienting your parish around spiritual growth. And by spiritual growth – we mean growing in love of God and neighbor.
Churches can launch as part of a fall or spring cohort or go on their own schedule. (Now accepting signups for the January 2025 cohort)  Sign up now!

Monday Matters (September 2, 2024)

3-1

Psalm 15

1 Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle?
who may abide upon your holy hill?

2 Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right,
who speaks the truth from his heart.

3 There is no guile upon his tongue;
he does no evil to his friend;
he does not heap contempt upon his neighbor.

4 In his sight the wicked is rejected,
but he honors those who fear the Lord.

5 He has sworn to do no wrong
and does not take back his word.

6 He does not give his money in hope of gain,
nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

7 Whoever does these things shall never be overthrown.

This year, Monday Matters will focus on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We’ll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen.

Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle?

Excellent question.

The psalms are full of those kinds of questions, questions that reach across the centuries to challenge us on this Monday morning to think about our own spiritual journey. According to the psalm (printed above and included in the lectionary heard yesterday in church), it seems to be a pretty high bar for who may dwell in the Lord’s tabernacle.

Check out what it takes to obtain admission: Someone who leads a blameless life, does what is right (presumably all of the time), speaks truth with no guile, does no evil, bears no contempt, The list goes on, but I didn’t make it past the first hurdle.

In discussion with a friend who is a rabbi, he shared his understanding of sin. He cited archery as a metaphor, saying that sin is a matter of missing the mark. As St. Paul put it in his letter to the Roman church, sin is a matter of falling short of the glory of God. St. Paul also says that all have sinned. We echo that in the liturgy of our church when we include confession. So perhaps the answer to the psalmist’s good question is that none of us, left to our own devices, can come into that kind of close relationship with the Holy One. There’s just too much going on in our lives, too much going on in our hearts that draws us from the love of God.

So does this mean that the Lord is all alone in that tabernacle? Does anyone make the cut?

That’s where grace comes in. And I’m wondering where you have experienced grace. Maybe you’ve wronged someone and they’ve forgiven you. Maybe you’ve come to some sense that God extended forgiveness to you. Maybe you can hear Jesus’ words from the cross spoken directly to you: Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing. Maybe you see yourself in Jesus’ story about the prodigal son, a boy who got off track but was welcomed back by his father without condition.

So who can dwell in the holy tabernacle? On the one hand, the answer is no one. On the other hand, the answer is anyone. Taking a broad view of all of scripture, maybe it’s someone who has figured out how to embrace grace, someone who begins to build a life based on that good news, someone who trusts that such good news is true.

The good news of amazing grace doesn’t invalidate the challenge of this psalm. The psalm provides a road map for how we are called to live, taking steps each day to lead a more blameless life, working on increasing truthfulness in our speech, taking a look at where we participate in evil, or where we harbor contempt for others (maybe especially in an election season marked by division in our nation). And doing it all not to earn admission to the tabernacle, but simply as an expression of gratitude for grace that has been shown. A feature of this grace is that when the standard seems too high and our efforts fall short, we are reminded that we are not left alone in the process. We are blessed with a higher power.

This week, reflect on how grace has come into your life. What was that experience like? Maybe journal about it. Maybe tell someone else about (not a particularly Episcopal thing to do.) And then consider the ways in which your life can be a grateful reflection of the gifts that have come your way, showing grace because you have come to know grace.

Jay Sidebotham


Interested in RenewalWorks for your parish? Learn more about how RenewalWorks works!

RenewalWorks: Helping churches focus on spiritual growth

RenewalWorks is about re-orienting your parish around spiritual growth. And by spiritual growth – we mean growing in love of God and neighbor.
Churches can launch as part of a fall or spring cohort or go on their own schedule. (Now accepting signups for Fall 2024 cohort)  Sign up now!

Monday Matters (August 26, 2024)

3-1

Psalm 84

1 How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts!
My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

2 The sparrow has found her a house and
the swallow a nest where she may lay her young;
by the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

3 Happy are they who dwell in your house!
They will always be praising you.

4 Happy are the people whose strength is in you!
whose hearts are set on the pilgrims’ way.

5 Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs,
for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.

6 They will climb from height to height,
and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.

7 Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
hearken, O God of Jacob.

8 Behold our defender, O God;
and look upon the face of your Anointed.

9 For one day in your courts is better than a thousand in my own room,
and to stand at the threshold of the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

10 For the Lord God is both sun and shield; he will give grace and glory;

11 No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who walk with integrity.

12 O Lord of hosts, happy are they who put their trust in you!

This year, Monday Matters will focus on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We’ll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen.

Calling all pilgrims

I couldn’t find any other place in scripture where the word “pilgrim” appears. It only seems to show up in the psalm printed above, a psalm you might have heard in church yesterday. The term is probably most readily associated in our culture with the first Thanksgiving in New England, which may or may not help us recognize the deep meaning of the word.

As distinct from a tourist, a pilgrim is someone who travels with a distinct purpose. Here’s how one travel site described the difference: Tourists are seeking relaxation, entertainment, and a break from everyday lives. Pilgrims, on the other hand, are seeking a deeper connection with their faith or with the universe. They are often on a quest for self-discovery and personal growth.

In other words, pilgrims are looking for something and they don’t find it by staying put. That restless quest is very much at the heart of our Christian faith. Jesus told the first disciples: Follow me. He set them on a journey. When they asked where they were headed, he simply said: Come and see. First Christians were not called Christians. They were called people of the way. On many days, I wish we’d kept that name. The term Christian suggests arrival, maybe even institution. There’s little of that when we speak of people on the way.

An insight from pastor and smart guy Brian McLaren has guided me in my ministry. He highlighted this question for our churches and denominations: Are we a club for the spiritually elite who pretend to have arrived or a school for disciples who are on the way? Asked another way: are we on a pilgrimage?

I’ve made a few pilgrimages over the course of my life, some international, some not. Friends have made powerful, transformative pilgrimages to the camino in Spain, to holy rivers in India, to sacred sites in Jerusalem, to remote islands like Iona. All thin places where discovery can happen as the distance between heaven and earth diminishes. A.k.a., thin places. Those journeys have resulted in spiritual growth, transformed lives.

But it seems to me that you don’t need to contend with air travel in order to experience this kind of discovery, for which I say, “Thanks be to God.” What seems critical is the pilgrim’s mindset. It is as the psalmist says a matter of having our heart set on the pilgrims’ way. We can do that anywhere.

I’ve discovered in my work with Renewalworks that perhaps a quarter of the congregations I’ve worked with demonstrate a spirit of complacency, a spirit that says, “We’re fine where we are, thank you very much.” There’s little interest in pilgrimage. As I reported this particular profile to one congregation, the pastor called me in response. He thanked me for the insight and tongue-in-cheek said that the church had changed its tagline in response. The new tagline for the church? “We’re spiritually shallow and fine with that.” I doubt that ever appeared on their masthead, but it says something true about our congregations. It may say something true about where each of our hearts are set.

So what would it mean to set our hearts on the pilgrims’ way? It means that there is a place to which we are called that may be different from where we are right now. It means that we are open to God’s gracious and surprising activity in our lives. A best practice principle for congregations is to get people moving, to help them see that there is more, that God has more in store for them. How might you get moving this week, my pilgrim friends?

As you ponder that, a reminder that God is with us in the journey, that the journey is in and of itself a gift, a grace. So I close with wisdom from Anne Lamott: I do not understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.

Jay Sidebotham


Interested in RenewalWorks for your parish? Learn more about how RenewalWorks works!

RenewalWorks: Helping churches focus on spiritual growth

RenewalWorks is about re-orienting your parish around spiritual growth. And by spiritual growth – we mean growing in love of God and neighbor.
Churches can launch as part of a fall or spring cohort or go on their own schedule. (Now accepting signups for Fall 2024 cohort)  Sign up now!

Monday Matters (August 19, 2024)

3-1

Psalm 111

1 Hallelujah! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.

2 Great are the deeds of the Lord!
they are studied by all who delight in them.

3 His work is full of majesty and splendor,
and his righteousness endures for ever.

4 He makes his marvelous works to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.

5 He gives food to those who fear him;
he is ever mindful of his covenant.

6 He has shown his people the power of his works
in giving them the lands of the nations.

7 The works of his hands are faithfulness and justice;
all his commandments are sure.

8 They stand fast for ever and ever,
because they are done in truth and equity.

9 He sent redemption to his people;
he commanded his covenant for ever;
holy and awesome is his Name.

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
those who act accordingly have a good understanding;
his praise endures for ever.

This year, Monday Matters will focus on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We’ll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen.

Fear and Love

When I worked in the creative department of an ad agency, one of the principals of the agency instructed us that there were only two motivators in advertising: love or fear. From a secular setting came a message with theological implications.

Fast forward to a few years later when I was leading a bible study, prattling on about love and its opposite hate. One member of our group interrupted. No, actually offered a course correction. She said: “You know, Jay, the opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is fear.” I’ve thought about that insight often, recognizing that in the history of religion, fear has been a great motivator. It’s not just true in religion. Our politics in this election year are driven in many ways by fear.

I’m told that in scripture, the phrase “fear not” appears 365 times. So what does it mean when we read in yesterday’s psalm (see above) that the fear of the Lord is a good thing, the beginning of wisdom. A mentor once told me that in the journey of faith, we have to decide what we believe and what we refuse to believe. I’ll refuse to believe that this psalm which references the fear of the Lord indicates a God who delights in our punishment. Do what God says, or else.

Given that, what might the fear of the Lord mean? I suspect in this context it has to do with the recognition that our lives unfold in the presence of a power greater than ourselves, leading us to reclaim the true sense of the word “awesome.” I forget that insight often. We forget that insight at our spiritual peril. We face the temptation to imagine we are the star of the story, with the implication that God is lucky to have us on the team. We too readily give into the temptation to worship things not worthy of our devotion, giving our hearts to that which will not satisfy our hearts. It’s a story as old as the Bible and as contemporary as our current political scene.

It’s why worship is such an important element of our faith journey, as we gather to praise God from whom all blessings flow, to be reminded that God is the creator, the source of light and life. And our worship is not only what we do on Sunday morning. As the Prayer Book notes, we worship not only with our lips but with our lives. As we commit to a life of service, we do so in response to God’s goodness, a sacrifice of thanksgiving. We do so in the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

This interpretation of the fear of the Lord means that love need not be the opposite of fear. In fact, the fear of the Lord understood in the true meaning of awesome reminds us of this important truth: Nothing can separate us from the love of God. That kind of amazing grace can be awe-inspiring, leading us to respond with love of God and love of neighbor.

The psalm tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It’s the starting point. Wisdom is more than simply knowledge. Knowledge you can get from Google. We are set on a journey marked by wisdom. What can we do this week to take steps in that wisdom journey? Where do we begin? It begins with spending time thinking about the fear of the Lord, recognizing that it has everything to do with love.

Jay Sidebotham


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RenewalWorks: Helping churches focus on spiritual growth

RenewalWorks is about re-orienting your parish around spiritual growth. And by spiritual growth – we mean growing in love of God and neighbor.
Churches can launch as part of a fall or spring cohort or go on their own schedule. (Now accepting signups for Fall 2024 cohort)  Sign up now!

Monday Matters (August 12, 2024)

3-1

Psalm 34:1-8

1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall ever be in my mouth.

2 I will glory in the Lord;
let the humble hear and rejoice.

3 Proclaim with me the greatness of the Lord;
let us exalt his Name together.

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me out of all my terror.

5 Look upon him and be radiant,
and let not your faces be ashamed.

6 I called in my affliction and the Lord heard me
and saved me from all my troubles.

7 The angel of the Lord encompasses those who fear him,
and he will deliver them.

8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
happy are they who trust in him!


This year, Monday Matters will focus on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We’ll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen.

Taste and see/Come and see

This past week, guided by the daily lectionary of the Episcopal Church, I’ve started reading the Gospel of John. In the first chapter, we read John’s version of the calling of disciples. We meet John the Baptist, who apparently has his own disciples. Jesus shows up, and John the Baptist directs his own disciples to Jesus. That was John the Baptist’s way. He pointed to Jesus. Two of John’s disciples begin to follow Jesus. Jesus notices they are following. They get into a conversation. They ask where Jesus is staying. Jesus says: “Come and see.”

Soon after that, another disciple (Philip) was telling his friends about Jesus. They wonder if Jesus could be the real deal. Friends were skeptical. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, they ask. Rather than make an argument about why Jesus might be the Messiah, Philip simply says to them: “Come and see.”

The psalm you may have heard yesterday in church (printed above) invites readers to taste and see that the Lord is good. That’s an earlier version of what John’s gospel repeats: “Come and see.” That simple invitation has a lot to teach us.

God, in Christ, says to each one of us: “Come and see.” It’s an invitation to be in relationship with the Holy One. It’s not just about knowing about God. It’s about knowing God. A friend, a priest sees an analogy to cooking, of all places. She says you can read a recipe. You can have an opinion about ingredients. You can imagine what cooking techniques you would use, or what the dish might taste like. In other words, you can know about the meal. But none of that is the same as eating the meal.

Knowing about God may include biblical familiarity, theological study, liturgical correctness, ethical exercises, regular church attendance. But that’s not the same as knowing God. Often religious people focus on knowing about God because knowing God can be risky and mysterious. And here’s the scary part: It can call for change. I wonder if those disciples who followed Jesus later on wondered if life wouldn’t have been a lot easier if they hadn’t asked their question.

The invitation to come and see is not only extended to us by God. It is an invitation we’re meant to extend to others, as Philip did early on in John’s gospel. There’s freedom in that. We don’t need to argue about religion or theology. We don’t need to convince someone else that we’re right (and they’re wrong). God knows we don’t need to dispel skepticism and compel other people to believe as we do. That’s generally not all that productive. We simply have to encourage others to try out the life of faith. “Come and see.”

So how do we hear Jesus say to us “Come and see?” How are you hearing that voice this Monday morning? What does it take to respond? There’s risk involved, maybe like Peter stepping out of the boat to walk on water to meet Jesus. It may call for courage. It’s about being open to a new thing God may want to do in our lives. It’s about being all in.

And how might we invite someone else to “come and see.” I know there is reticence about sharing spiritual experience, especially among Episcopalians. These days, it seems we’re surrounded by people who do it in an annoying, intrusive way. Dave Barry put it this way: Why is it that people who want to share their faith with you never want to hear about yours?

But if we have answered the invitation that came to us, if we have responded to God’s invitation, if we have had what our youth group called a God-sighting, if we have found God’s invitation to be good news in our lives, no one can argue that away. It is a kindness to want other folks to have that holy experience. It is a kindness to share that experience with others.

What does the invitation to come and see, to taste and see sound like to you this morning? How will you RSVP?

Jay Sidebotham


Interested in RenewalWorks for your parish? Learn more about how RenewalWorks works!

RenewalWorks: Helping churches focus on spiritual growth

RenewalWorks is about re-orienting your parish around spiritual growth. And by spiritual growth – we mean growing in love of God and neighbor.
Churches can launch as part of a fall or spring cohort or go on their own schedule. (Now accepting signups for Fall 2024 cohort)  Sign up now!

Monday Matters (August 5, 2024)

3-1

1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
All are corrupt and commit abominable acts;
there is none who does any good.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven upon us all,
to see if there is any who is wise,
if there is one who seeks after God.

3 Every one has proved faithless;
all alike have turned bad;
there is none who does good; no, not one.

4 Have they no knowledge,
all those evildoers who eat up my people like bread
and do not call upon the Lord?

5 See how they tremble with fear,
because God is in the company of the righteous.

6 Their aim is to confound the plans of the afflicted,
but the Lord is their refuge.

7 Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.


This year, Monday Matters will focus on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We’ll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen.

A clean heart

Here’s a piece of wisdom passed on from a predecessor, Alan Gates, now bishop of Massachusetts. He said: I’ve never met a motive that wasn’t mixed. His wit offers wisdom about the human condition, truth as old as the Bible.

It’s truth reflected in Psalm 51, which you may have heard yesterday in church (see above). Attributed to David, the psalmist reveals his own mixed motives, the forces pulling him in different directions. The psalmist is aware of unsavory parts of his interior life, aware of dastardly things he has done. At the same time, there is a desire to be changed.

Centuries later, St. Paul wrote a letter to the church in Rome and described his own inner struggles. Get a load of what he says in the 7th chapter (verse 15-21): I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me… For the desire to do the good lies close at hand, but not the ability. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that, when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand.

Ever felt like that?

Soren Kierkegaard said that purity of heart is to will one thing. Sounds good, Soren, but how do we get there? Maybe there’s a key in one of the verses from Psalm 51. The author prays that God will create in him a clean heart and renew a right spirit within him. That kind of purity of heart, a clean heart, is something God creates. While I feel powerless over resentments and judgments that take up residence in my soul, the good news is that God can make things new. The good news is that such renewal is not all up to me.

We may think of God the creator as one whose work is finished, God setting things in motion like a clock maker, then moving on to other endeavors. The prayer of Psalm 51 affirms that the creative work of God is ongoing, as in the bumper sticker: PBPGINFWMY (Please be patient. God is not finished with me yet.) The persistent biblical image of God as potter and human beings as clay gets at this image of ongoing creative work.

The potter metaphor can be helpful, but having said that, I feel a need to point out that we are more than lumps of clay. As God’s beloved children, as bearers of the divine image, we have a part to play in this new creation. It has to do with being open to God’s creative work.

That probably begins with a recognition, a confession that we need a clean heart, that we are pulled in many directions. It begins with asking for help. Truth be told, we all have numerous vocations: parents, children, siblings, workers, bosses, employees, citizens, artists, athletes. Those various vocations tugging at us in ways that can create inner conflict. In that inner landscape, many of the meditations of our heart are far from acceptable in the eyes of the Holy One. Like St. Paul, I suspect we all contend with that kind of conflict.

Then moving beyond confession, we can open ourselves to God’s creative power. Last week, in reading meditations by Howard Thurman, I came across his vision for a way to have a new heart. He said we are to seek each day, and several times a day, a lull in the rhythm of daily doing. He added: At first the quiet times may be quite barren…one needs to get used to the stillness. This time may be used for taking stock, for examining one’s life direction, one’s plans, one’s relations. It is like cleaning out the closets or the desk drawers and getting things in order. When the awareness of God comes in – how he entered, one does not know, one is certain that He had been there all the time. Thurman concludes this meditation by saying: Suppose you begin now, this day with the use of the quiet time in some fashion as suggested.

Not bad advice for a Monday morning with a focus on a new heart. Thank you, Howard Thurman, for helping us begin.

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! II Corinthians 5.17

Jay Sidebotham


Interested in RenewalWorks for your parish? Learn more about how RenewalWorks works!

RenewalWorks: Helping churches focus on spiritual growth

RenewalWorks is about re-orienting your parish around spiritual growth. And by spiritual growth – we mean growing in love of God and neighbor.
Churches can launch as part of a fall or spring cohort or go on their own schedule. (Now accepting signups for Fall 2024 cohort)  Sign up now!

What kind of fool am I?

3-1

1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
All are corrupt and commit abominable acts;
there is none who does any good.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven upon us all,
to see if there is any who is wise,
if there is one who seeks after God.

3 Every one has proved faithless;
all alike have turned bad;
there is none who does good; no, not one.

4 Have they no knowledge,
all those evildoers who eat up my people like bread
and do not call upon the Lord?

5 See how they tremble with fear,
because God is in the company of the righteous.

6 Their aim is to confound the plans of the afflicted,
but the Lord is their refuge.

7 Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.


This year, Monday Matters will focus on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We’ll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen.

What kind of fool am I?

Time to talk about foolishness, prompted by the first verse of the psalm heard in church yesterday (See above).

Centuries before Jesus showed up on the scene, the psalmist noted the foolishness of saying there is no God. We may think that atheism is some modern invention, the contribution of Nietszche or more recently Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris or Christopher Hitchens. But a long time ago, the psalmist noted people who saw a world devoid of divine engagement. According to the psalmist, that’s a kind of foolishness.

It’s a point of view that intelligent people have taken, a point of view reasonably prompted by the cruelty we see around us. As a specific way to look at the world, it is a choice each one of us can make. Theists might say God has given us that as free will. As Einstein (no fool he) said: You can look at the world as if nothing is miracle or as if everything is miracle.

Lest I wax all judgmental about atheists, I confess that while I swim in the stream of believers, committed to a life of faith, I am often a functional atheist. I often run my life as if God does not exist, as if God is not engaged in my life, as if I’m not accountable to God, as if my life does not unfold in the presence of the Holy One. A friend gave me a postcard which says: “Hey God, let me pencil you in on Sunday morning,” as if to say that the rest of the week is my own. Mindful of the psalmist, we might say that is a foolish way to live.

There’s another side to biblical foolishness. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul gets into an interesting discussion about the foolishness of God. He writes: “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of the proclamation, to save those who believe.” (I Corinthians 1:18-21) Paul goes on to say that God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. (1:25)

Elsewhere in this letter to the rambunctious Corinthian church, Paul talks about being a fool for Christ. (I Corinthians 4:10) Let’s be clear: St. Paul often seems fairly impressed with his own intellectual gifts. No shortage of ego strength with this apostle. But he notes repeatedly that he gives that all up to fulfill his call. I suspect people around him (professors, clergy colleagues, family, his therapist) thought he’d gone off the deep end. In many ways, the path Paul chose (or perhaps was chosen for him by grace) made little sense.

Jesus’ relatives thought the same kind of thing about Jesus.

Maybe in your own life, your decision to follow a life of faith may seem foolish. A friend who decided to go to seminary had dinner with rich relatives who tried to talk him out of it. The uncle, a successful businessman, began his pitch by saying: “Seminary? There’s no money in that.” It was clear he thought that such a career path was foolish. I grew up hearing about an evangelical missionary named Jim Elliott who lost his life taking the gospel to remote parts of South America. His wife wrote a book about him. The book included this prescient quote from her husband: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Maybe you have days when you think pursuing a life of faith makes no sense. Maybe you feel that way this morning. Mark Twain said that faith is believing in what everyone knows is not so. But depending on what kind of fool you choose to be this week, perhaps you can join St. Paul in affirming that while the message of the cross may seem foolish to some, for us it represents “the power of God.” It represents the love of God. Maybe in the end we’re just fools for love.

Jay Sidebotham


Interested in RenewalWorks for your parish? Learn more about how RenewalWorks works!

RenewalWorks: Helping churches focus on spiritual growth

RenewalWorks is about re-orienting your parish around spiritual growth. And by spiritual growth – we mean growing in love of God and neighbor.
Churches can launch as part of a fall or spring cohort or go on their own schedule. (Now accepting signups for Fall 2024 cohort)  Sign up now!