March 31-I Peter has a nice phrase, "confidence in God." I wonder how confidence in God affects confidence in oneself. How does it affect confidence in others? Would it make us more trusting? We may have confidence in the security of heaven, but some of that confidence may fade in the face of more mundane needs here on earth. On the other hand, confidence in God could lead us to a blurring of confidence in God turning into personal hubris, as if God's will and our desires are the same. All of us harbor an image of God. Confidence in God lends confidence to God's benevolent disposition toward us all.

March 30- I could not face another "doubting Thomas" sermon this year. Anyway, the word is closer to disbelieving. I go with Tillich's position that one wrestles with doubt as much as one wrestles with faith. He doesn't go through on his need to touch. Seeing and hearing is enough for him, as it was all the disciples. A faith without questions is a fragile thing. Where do you have issues with church teachings? How do you deal with them?

March 29- I planted beets this morning, with some ice still in the soil. I like these hardy early plants that can withstand the frosts of April. What spiritual insight can i draw from beets? No, I'm not going to talk about their blood-red color. I want to emphasize their resistance to the frost. Robert Frost famously spoke of the world world ending in fire or ice. Cold hearts threaten us all. Cold hearts grow numb to suffering. Cold hearts shrivel. Cold hearts become strangers to love. Yet, the heart of human beings can resist the cold and move to the warmth of love to blossom and flourish, even in the cold.

Notes I Peter 1:17-23 and Acts 2:36-41

First, some more work from the last passage and upcoming ones. In v. 6 trials/testing/temptation is peirasmos, but in v. 7 testing is dokimion, with a sense of testing a gold coin by biting it, so one could, with some justification, speak fo 2 types of testing

v. 17 God Judges impartially, so we conduct ourselves with fear or reverence or reverent fear. This goes beyond our usual, God looks past the outside for the heart. This is oriented to deeds, and God does not look at the type of person who does them.

Exile- again, this has a sense of being on the move, in a wilderness perhaps, of not being at home-ransomed from futile ways- this emphasis on inherited futility could go a lot of ways in sermons, especially funny ones, about the useless, foolish, things we do out of habit. Back to the imperishable pt. Lamb, back to start see Lev. 22:21.

v.20 For your sake-notice the beneficent view here, not for the plan’s sake, but for your sake, those who hear this letter, or read it - destined before all but lately revealed-this allows folks of certain interests to wonder about pre-existence of Christ, but also if God foresaw the Fall from Eden. Notice that this letter assumes end times are present in Christ

All groups have concern for boundaries and cohering. Look at the desire for this group’s life.v.21-confidence in God- consider this wonderful phrase-how do we demonstrate confidence in god? V.2- purified souls/life could be a good place for a sermon on “clean living” or an attack on all that attacks purity in culture, but be careful not to make it purely a predictable sense of impurity as being sexual issues. Notice how this purification leads to life in the church

v.22 love of the brethren is Philadelphia

love one another deeply/constantly from the heart-how can this be an imperative? How do we love from the heart, when we don’t recognize the feeling? Is it created by a gift from God or deeds of love? The notion of sincere/genuine love could be referring back to testing of character, as one tests for pure gold. Sincerity=not hypocritical/feigned

v.23 seed/ spore-spora. I picture a dandelion gone to seed here

Is God’s word the soil for the seed, the life force of the seed?

Acts 2:36-41

Repent and be baptized-we often say repent has a change of heart, but the word is more a change in mind, of mind set, of perspective

Forgiven=aphesis=release of debts, a la Lord’s Prayer in Matthew or of prisoners-the basic sense if release, of letting go. The gift of the Holy Spirit would be a good place to discuss the Spirit in our life alone, and in the church. What is it?

v. 39’s beauty is noteworthy link to Joel 2:32, a key passage in Peter’s sermon. This would be a great link to a sermon on being inclusive or diversity as a gift

v. 42 basic liturgy- this would be a good place to start a series on liturgy and the Lord’s Day of resurrection

March 28- Lectionary churches are looking at Peter's sermon in Acts 2 for sunday. I was struck by his designation of Jesus as a man from Nazareth. It's a similar identifier, but a potent one. Too often, we raise Jesus so high that we lose sight of the humanity of the man from Nazareth. The Patrisitc era spoke of "what has not been assumed would not be saved." That would apply to our facing death as well. That ultimate boundary was faced by Jesus. Even that ultimate boundary has been saved.

Sermon on I Peter 1:1-9

I usually have a bit of a let down after Christmas, but I don’t have nearly the same reaction to the end of Easter. It’s hard to grasp its promise of new life when living this one. We are in the same position as those who first heard Peter’s letter or sermon, we don’t see the risen Christ either, but still we seek to be faithful Christians. It speaks to us as people who are not quite at home in this world or in the world to come. We are exiles of a sort, searching for the soul’s true home, all of us on a journey to a distant shore.

How is it possible to rejoice, to jump for joy in the midst of trials and testings? How do we find living hope, new life in the midst of struggle? Here, we encounter trial as a difficult activity to master. It is a good example of life as refining. I cannot tell if here struggle is the result of being Christian or if struggle is a tool for us to become better Christians. I am profoundly distrustful of anyone who tells us that suffering is good for us. Suffering can and does destroy. So, let’s keep at testing as a difficult task, or polishing, or distilling for those who have roots in Kentucky. I’m recalling how hard and frustrating it is to learn how to tie shoes, ride a bike, or learn musical notation. Learning to walk and talk takes so much work, so much practice.

Both passages bring up the issue of God’s plan. Is it a script or more of a storyboard? How individualized and locked in is this plan? Is it more a general strategy, and the tactics shift with events? I have a hard time with seeing a God who made free people then treat them as mere objects, pawns in a chess match. I do love the idea that God’s plan is one of salvation, of planning a way to help us out of the swamp of trouble life can become. My sense is that it is intended to be a comfort, or better a confident assurance, that God looks through the mists of the future and chooses to seek us out, in order to save us. Joel is pivotal here. How does post Easter change the reading from its Pentecost position? Especially note Easter dreams and visions for all

Obviously, we hope that so many struggles will end. We hope that some good comes out of it. How does it become living hope? The polishing that the struggles of life can bring lets the light of Christ, of Easter life and light, shine through more brightly. Over time, the rough edges get worn down. Learning a difficult task teaches us that we have patience and endurance, already. It reminds me that the characters in the Wizard of Oz already had the virtues they sought; they only need them to be recognized, so that they could recognize them. I think of a woodworker trying to bring out the grain and shine of the wood.

Carrie Newcomer, the Indiana singer, has a new album out. In it she sings, perhaps in the first song ever, about geodes. We could just look past by their unremarkable exteriors, but inside are the jewel-like quartz crystals. She sings about how miracles are hidden away in the seemingly commonplace, like the ordinary rock that covers the geode. I Peter speaks of God keeping for us treasure in heaven for safe-keeping, but I think it could be read as a reservation kept secure for us, and we will be the treasured in heritance. In other words, God sees our lives as so precious that they must be held like keepsakes in heaven. Still, it also speaks of a salvation that we are receiving, right now. Life works on us day after day and reveals God-given marvels. Is living hope one that lives or is it hope that gives life? Both, and God provides that hope in a better future, better days to come.

March 27- We had an exchange student from Malaysia visit our men's group yesterday to tell us of her country. It was a collision between image and reality. We saw pictures of its soaring skyscraper in its capital. She was shocked to see so much poverty on the road to a vacation with her host family. So it is with the faith. We have a picture in our heads, and reality crashes in on the ideal. Where do you want to see the religious ideal realized? When does it hurt you to see it falter?