Betrayal

 

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Betrayal

The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

47 While Jesus was yet speaking, a crowd came. And he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. 48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

49 When those who were around Him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.

51 But Jesus said, “This is enough!” And He touched his ear and healed him.

52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, and captains of the temple guard, and the elders who had come for Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as against a rebel? 53 Daily, while I was with you in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!”

Luke 22: 55-62

Betrayal. . . . while I don't recall many incidents of being betrayed, that feeling of having betrayed someone has never gone away---the guilt and the knowledge that I had hurt someone.  I don't think I've intentionally betrayed someone. . . .usually it's a betrayal of not acting. . .of staying in the shadows and watching injustice being done to someone undeserving just like some of the disciples at Jesus's arrest.

But sometimes, the betrayal has been more like Judas-- so focused on a goal that I didn't realize the consequences of my actions: that I had trampled on someone to reach my goal.  Those times are the most gut wrenching.  When Jesus said, "Judas, do you betray the son of Man with a kiss."  I can imagine Judas's eyes getting wider, getting focused with what he had done.  Suddenly he was seeing clearly what the priests had intended to do all along once Jesus was identified. He could clearly see that he had sparked the fire which was going to set the world ablaze.

...And, then when he  saw what the outcome could be, panic set in with that punch in the stomach feeling. . . . 

But, is it any more of a betrayal than those who stood by and didn't defend  Jesus?  Those who stood in the shadows, watched and remained silent as Jesus was arrested. Betrayal is betrayal---whether it's from standing by and watching or from identifying Jesus with a kiss.  And, don't we betray Jesus every time we stand by or let our pursuit of our goals hurt another.

Dear God, open our eyes to the many times we have betrayed Jesus and his teachings with our actions and our inactions.   Open our eyes to injustice, suffering, hunger, strife before it's too late.  Open our eyes when we unintentionally hurt someone on our way to fulfilling a dream.  Open our eyes to the consequences of our actions.  Help us to step out of the shadows and into the light on His path:  being faithful to Jesus's teachings and not betraying Him.  

From Maundy Thursday Worship Service 2017 by J. Morgan

Jesus Drives Out Impure Spirit

 

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Jesus Drives Out an Impure Spirit

Luke 4:31-37 New International Version (NIV) 

Jesus Drives Out an Impure Spirit 

31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority. 

33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 34 “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 

35 “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. 

36 All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” 37 And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area. 

My husband has cancer.  To see the PET scan showing the mass in the middle of his chest and the other places it had spread was a frightening experience.  A PET scan looks a little like an X-ray excepting where there is cancer.  If cancer is present, it lights up with an almost blinding light---it’s as if some alien creature has somehow managed to be introduced into his body and is replicating. 

There was never any discussion between us on what needed to be done.  Dave just said, “Get it out of there—start chemo as soon as possible.”  There is comfort in the words, “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.”  

Dave is now half-way through the chemo process.  Chemo is a very mixed blessing.  It is part demon and part miracle.  While it is certainly doing the job of ridding him of cancer, his body is being thrown down in the process.  It remains to be seen if cancer will “come out without injuring him”. 

He has been fortunate that he hasn’t been nauseous yet.  Nor has he had trouble sleeping with night sweats. The hair loss is annoying but tolerable.  Mostly he has been affected by extreme fatigue accompanied by intestinal issues.   

It's Spring now and we are mentally ready to get out to the Botanical Garden, travel to our daughters’ homes, but I’m reminded of Jesus’ words, “’Be quiet,’ Jesus said sternly.” Let the miracles of chemo work---don’t rush it. His body is weak.  Be quiet.   Let the healing happen.

Dear God, We need to remember whatever we are struggling with, we have Jesus by our side to help us. Please give us patience, strength and faith as we fight our battles. When we become impatient with the pace of change, remind us to "Be Quiet" and let God help.  Amen

PET scan images are from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PET-CT

Jaclyn Morgan

Lost or Found

 

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Lost or Found

Luke 15:31-32 New International Version (NIV)

31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

In 1988, Dave and I took our daughters on a trip to Scotland.  While there, we visited St. Giles Cathedral where I bought crosses for my daughters, my mother and me.  I thought it would be very symbolic that the five of us had identical crosses from St. Giles Cathedral because Scotland is our ancestral home.  And St. Giles is like the mother church for Presbyterians.

I treasured that necklace but worried that I might lose it some day, so I took it to a jeweler to have him solder the sliding loop which attached the cross to the chain.  While walking across the parking lot with the necklace in the little brown envelope, the cross slipped out.  I didn't notice it was missing from the envelope for several days.  When I went back to the jeweler and the parking lot, it wasn't there.

I have mourned the loss of that symbolic tie that bound me, my mother and my daughters to our ancestral home until I taught a class last fall on crosses.  We were to bring in a cross that meant a lot to us.  Again I thought back to my missing cross.  In the class, Debbie related a similar story of a cross that had been her mother's that she had lost.  I started thinking about the missing crosses and the hymn Amazing Grace kept going through my head.  "I once was lost but now am found"  The flip side of losing something so precious, is someone else may have found it.  And, it may have come to them at a low point in their lives.  Hopefully the warm feelings and love that were attached to that cross were passed on to them.  Now, I am at peace and don't think of it as being lost, but rather found.

Jaclyn Morgan

Random Acts

 

Friday, March 11, 2016

Random Acts or Just Kindness

I have often been on the receiving end of Random Acts of Kindness.  The first was at a Cracker Barrel in Mississippi.  Two gentlemen paid for our dinner.  It was certainly a warm gesture after being on the road all day.  But, I seem to have a hard time  knowing how "to pay it forward".  Do I do the same thing?  Does it need to be dollar for dollar? Or, does letting someone in front of me at the grocery store count?

I have been ill lately and have again been on the receiving end many times----a neighbor cleared snow off our driveway, another brought over brownies and a rose, many church friends have called or written notes offering to run errands, bring a meal or take me to the doctor.  Now I am so deep in random acts of kindness debt, I may never dig myself out of the hole.

Fortunately I found a web site which has 96 ideas.  But, I think many of these suggestions are just being kind, acting in a Christian way which I strive to do daily. http://www.bradaronson.com/acts-of-kindness/.  Seeing some of the suggestions, I realized that I do some of them on a regular basis like "letting a car merge" or "stopping for a pedestrian in a crosswalk" or "letting someone with one item ahead of me at the grocery store."  That got me thinking, "Which is more important, random acts of kindness or being kind on a regular but small scale basis?"

Recently there has been a back lash to being "politically correct".  Some think being politically correct is a sign of weakness of caving in.  But, isn't it really just being kind and courteous? There seems to be more incivility than usual with this being an election year. But we don't have to agree to be kind, do we? So, I'm suggesting that rather than making plans to carry out random acts of kindness, we live in a Christian, courteous, kind way every minute of every day even with those whose opinions are different from our own.

Luke 6: 35 "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

Jaclyn Morgan

Shepherds and Kings

 

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Shepherds

Shepherds and Kings

"8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." (Luke 2: 8-14)

While pondering the life of a shepherd and remembering a sheep dog trial we once attended in Wales, I realized how much of the birth of Jesus involves the shepherds---not the Three Kings with their treasures, but the shepherds.

The shepherds were minding their flocks when an angel appeared to them (not to the innkeeper, not the kings, not Herod, but shepherds).  Those simple shepherds didn't question what they saw or heard, but immediately headed to Bethlehem. They responded with faith and were the first to see the newborn child.

Those migrant shepherds who moved around the hills with their flocks also began spreading the good news of Jesus's birth: "All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them."  Again, these were not the people in power or the people with wealth, but simple shepherds to whom everyone listened and were amazed.  

As a contrast, no angels appeared to the three kings: they followed a star.  When they reported to Herod, why they were going to Bethlehem, Herod began plotting to kill them and to kill the child.  So while the shepherds announcement brought hope to the people, the kings brought fear and destruction with their announcement.

Although called "King of the Jews", Jesus preferred to be called the shepherd.   The simple, constantly migrating shepherd, not the king, is what he identified him.

John 10:14-16 New International Version (NIV)14 :“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

From the beginning of Christ's story, Christianity was a "grass roots movement" among the poor, the marginalized, the enslaved---even beginning with Jesus's birth.  We are forgetting the "roots" of our religion when we forget about the simple, the poor, the migrant and the value they bring compared to the kings with all of their power and wealth.  The spreading of the Word began with the shepherds. 

All Are Welcome

 

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

All are Welcome

Gospel Reading Luke 8:1-15

1Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 2as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

This Lectionary reading for today is interesting because the women are mentioned, three by name:  Mary (called Magdalene), Joanna, Susanna "and many others."  This is the second time in a month of readings that Luke mentions the women with Jesus.  We also heard about them on Easter morning---many of them were the same women.  Click here for that passage.

At first glance, I wryly thought---"well, things haven't changed much." The women in the Easter passage were taking spices to the tomb to prepare the body of Christ. They were making sure everything was tidy, clean and smelled good to honor Jesus in death.  And, in today's passage they are "providing" --- we assume they are cooking and feeding the disciples---possibly washing and mending. But, wait. . . .

First, I noticed the disciples are "the twelve" and not named in this passage, but several women are.  This indicates the focus in this passage is intended to be on the women who are "providing out of their resources"  We don't know if they are providing the funding for the ministry or the food---perhaps both.  After all, Joanna is the wife of Herod's steward which could be a hint as to the kind of resources they are providing. She would have been a very wealthy woman and perhaps the other women were too.   Is this Luke's way of thanking them or is he acknowledging the importance of their role in the ministry of Christ?

As scholars have mentioned, it would be very unusual for women in this era to be traveling with an itinerant band unless they were wealthy and powerful.  They were certainly not "camp followers"---Jesus has made his position on adultery very clear and they would not have been named.

No, these were women who were respected by Jesus and Luke.  The other interesting part of this passage is they are "women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities."  These were women who had been flawed by mental or physical illness and had found peace and healing in Jesus' presence and teachings.  Regardless of their past, they were welcome.

This speaks volumes on who is welcome to join Jesus on his journey:  everyone is welcome---the flawed, the cured, men, women, the poor and the wealthy---if they are willing to serve. 

Dear God, Open our eyes to the ways we ALL can serve you. We may be flawed, but we are still  welcome within the church if we are willing to serve.  We may have sinned, but we are still welcome within the church if we are willing to serve. Help us to follow the paths that Mary, Joanna, and Susanna have shown us.  

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Jaclyn Morgan