The Leftovers

The bits let over, what of those? Pieces left strewn around, no longer required. A plethora of scraps, yet Christ leaves none discarded but calls for all to be gathered in, saved and treasured.

Baskets filled with an extravagance, excess cherished. Symbolism that can only be imagined. A hungry crowd, a boy’s packed lunch, a great big picnic. People fed and still enough to go on sharing the blessing, abundance, and grace of God. Spill the Beans, Issue 12

The leftovers, pieces of pieces, what good are they? They’ve been handled by others. Who knows what kind of germs they harbor? Who knows if they washed their hands or not? Who would want the leftovers?

I’ve read this story before. I remember my grandma telling me this story in Sunday school. I remember thinking how could Jesus bless five loaves of bread and two fish, feed the people and still have twelve baskets full of leftovers. Some think that because the boy gave up his lunch to the disciples the others there felt guilty and gave up some of theirs too.

That’s cool, but what about the leftovers they gathered up? What did Jesus expect them to do with the leftovers? Matthew doesn’t tell us that.

If we read ahead the disciples get in a boat and leave Jesus to go away by himself. What did they do with the leftovers?

What do you do with leftovers? Do you keep leftovers? Personally I love leftovers. Some dishes just get better as they age a little while in the refrigerator.

But what did Jesus have the disciples do with the pieces of the pieces? What would you do if you had 12 baskets of leftover fish and bread? You’d have to do something with it because it wouldn’t be long and the fish would begin to smell bad.

Some would focus on the miracle of feeding 5,000 men plus women and children with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. But the lesson could be about what happened after, with the leftovers.

Think about what we do when we have leftover meat from the Antique Walk or leftover dressing or pies from the Supper. We give it away. We share our excess with those who can use it. Well, some of us can use it and some of us just have room in our frig’s for extra food.

Anyway, we share and maybe that’s what Jesus’ disciples did with the leftovers. And maybe that’s the real lesson here for us today, sharing the leftovers.

So, that leads me to this. What do we have leftover that we can share? And who would we share it with?

Today we celebrate and remember the Lord’s Last Supper. Today we break bread that someone brought and is sharing with us and we serve each other the cup and the bread. We share.

We share when we invite friends over for lunch or coffee or conversation. Last week we heard Jesus talk about what the kingdom of heaven was like. Maybe the kingdom of heaven is in these everyday things that we share in community with our neighbors and the strangers who come knocking on our doors. Maybe the kingdom of heaven is discovered and shared in even the tiniest crumb as much as in the whole loaf of bread.

So, maybe, the miracle is in the everyday sharing, the everyday feeding, the everyday conversation.

Maybe the miracle is in the leftovers that we often don’t see much value in. What are you going to do with the leftovers you have?

Thanks be to God for his grace. Amen.

The Kingdom of Heaven Is...

Why did Matthew write this scripture we heard read today and have Jesus tell so many different stories about what the kingdom of heaven is like, like a mustard seed, yeast mixed into 60 pounds of flour by a woman, a buried treasure in a field, a priceless, one-of-a-kind pearl, a fishing net full of everything.

I believe Jesus for sure knew what the kingdom of heaven was like because he’d been there or was there. He did say the kingdom of heaven was near. So why did he use these metaphors to describe the kingdom of heaven?

To begin with a mustard seed is small. It’s easily lost in the soil if you drop it. And that little bit of yeast the woman mixed into 60 pounds of flour can’t be separated from the flour after the woman has kneaded it into the batter. A treasure that’s buried in a field, possibly by someone a long time ago, can’t be seen because it’s buried. Priceless pearls aren’t seen every day. They’re very rare. And a net cast into a lake can’t be seen as it’s dragged through the water.

Similarities between these different examples might be how they accomplish the work they’re intended for without anyone noticing. The seed’s buried in the ground being changed into a plant that will emerge. The yeast is buried in the flour mixture and only after being allowed time to work will it transform the flour mixture into a fluffy loaf of bread. The treasure buried in the field does no one any good until it’s found and dug up. That priceless pearl may be buried in a pile of ordinary, everyday pearls and its value isn’t noticed until it’s brought into the light of day. And that net being dragged through the lake buried by the water is absolutely worthless until it’s trapped all it can hold.

Could it be that the kingdom of heaven is hidden, buried in our souls, in our lives, so well camouflaged we don’t even notice it?

And yet, when we do discover the kingdom of heaven we realize we’ve found a treasure. A treasure of so much value that we willingly give all we have just to have it.

Some folks are out searching for the kingdom of heaven because they know it’s what they desire above anything else in their lives. Again when they find it they willingly give all they have, all they are, to acquire it.

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that God’s love, peace, and grace are for everyone, all people and now we’ve heard how the kingdom of heaven is like a huge net that’s being drug through a lake until it’s overflowing with stuff and then brought in and the stuff of value is separated from the junk. Imagine the kingdom of heaven right here, right now available to everyone and when it’s full God reels it in and sets to work separating the valuable from the trash.

So, what do you think? Have you seen and or experienced the kingdom of heaven? Or has it been so well hidden, you’ve never even noticed it?

Maybe the kingdom of heaven is kind of like the blind men who encountered the elephant and began to each give their own description. Every one of them touched the elephant in a different place and therefore their testimonies weren’t the same. Yet they were all touching the same elephant.

Could it be the kingdom of heaven is different for each of us because we encounter the kingdom in different places, at different times, and, maybe even, in different ways?

That may be the answer to why Jesus used so many different metaphors to describe the kingdom of heaven.

Don’t you wonder if the kingdom of heaven is made of so many layers and dimensions that it would be and is impossible to define? It will probably remain a mystery, a phenomenon, for all of us until the curtain is lifted and Christ comes again in all his glory.

In the meantime maybe we should pay more attention to the things, and people, around us. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll catch a glimpse of this kingdom Jesus described.

Thanks be to God for granting us his grace. Amen.

God Throws His Seeds, His Blessing, His Grace Everywhere

Who here this morning has had a yard so full of weeds that they killed all the weeds and started all over trying to get good grass established? Quite a few I imagine.

So, what was the process like that you used to get your new lawn? Did you try more than one? How long did you work before you were satisfied with the results? Or are you still working on it?

When 'L' and I bought our place the lawn hadn’t been sprayed for weeds for a few years. There were bare patches where nothing grew. Yet, there were places where dandelions and plantain and wild violets…oh, I can’t forget the creeping Charlie. They were all thriving in the environment of our yard.

So, I did what I knew to do, I sprayed and then I sprayed some more and then I sprayed even more. And then we pulled and dug weeds out of the flower beds.

Then I raked and bought bluegrass seed and carrying the bag I’d reach in taking hands full of seed throwing them in a semi-circle as I walked the grid I had laid out in my head. And I waited for rain. The next year I did it again. And the next year I did it again. Finally it began to look like a lawn.

But there was a place where, no matter what I did, no grass seed would or could grow. That was underneath the purple maple tree.

Eventually I gave up trying to grow grass there and planted hosta and bleeding hearts and lilies and such.

You would think that the job would be done at some point but it seems like there’s always a dandelion or violet or creeping Charlie that sneaks in and so I spray.

And every so often I get my bag of seed, I’ve learned that I need grass that grows best in shade, and I throw hands full of seed on the thin places. And some gets in the flower beds where it grows very well. I only wish it would do that in the thin places.

So, today’s gospel lesson has Jesus telling the folks gathered on the beach a story about a farmer going out to sow seed in his field.

Even though Jesus is talking about a farmer sowing seed the people understood that he was really talking about something else.

Let me pause here and ask you why Jesus came to Israel and to whom did he come to preach and teach? He came to save God’s chosen ones, the people of Israel.

So, those listening to him teach, the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Levites caught on right away that he was talking about God’s Word, God’s Love, God’s Grace being offered to everyone. Jesus was saying that God wasn’t being exclusive, he was spreading his kingdom, his good news everywhere so everyone had a chance to receive his love.

That didn’t sit well with the religious folks of Jesus’ day. They couldn’t believe that God was offering his grace to the Gentiles, the foreigners and aliens of the land.

So, was this a new tenet Jesus was preaching or not? I don’t think so. Many times in the Old Testament we find God’s grace falling on those who weren’t God’s chosen ones. In Isaiah 55 beginning with verse 10 we find this,…“¹⁰ As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, ¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Go clear back to Genesis and read about God creating this universe, this world and everything that we can see and everything we can’t see. How did it come to be? God spoke and his voice boomed throughout the universe and it just was.

God is generous, and extravagant. Think about this for a minute. All the people in the world, what do you believe they were created for and where did they come from…all the people? If we believe that God created everything and everyone then doesn’t it make sense that in God’s kingdom all will be invited?

So, God’s grace, God’s Word, God’s Love is sown everywhere giving everyone a chance to receive it all. God doesn’t care where it lands. Just like the farmer throwing the seeds scattering them on rocks, on poor soil, in the weed patch, and on the good soil so God scatters his grace.

Now, what do you think our friend Paul had to say about this? Go to his second letter to the Corinthians chapter 9 beginning with verse 6. He says, “⁶ Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ⁹ As it is written:

“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
    their righteousness endures forever.”

¹⁰ Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹ You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

¹² This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. ¹³ Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. ¹⁴ And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. ¹⁵ Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

There’s that word ‘generosity’ again. And Paul adds the word abundantly. God blesses us with abundance so we can be generous in return scattering our blessings wherever, to whomever God puts out there for you and me to encounter.

So, my good friends, God in his mercy has blessed us with his abundance and his grace. What do you think he’d have us do with it after hearing these scriptures today? Bury it in the ground? I don’t think so. Let those who have ears to hear, listen.

Thanks be to God for his grace. Amen.           

Square Pegs and Round Holes

Jesus and John the Baptist were two very different people. Those who knew both of them couldn’t believe they were cousins. They were almost exact opposites. One lived a very simple, almost austere, life and the other enjoyed being with folks at parties and interacting with people eating and drinking rich food. Jesus seemed to always be with people who weren’t very likely to associate with those Jews who followed the Law to the letter.

     Even though they were so different, even though they both preached about repentance, people had trouble understanding they were both preaching about God’s kingdom. One was the ‘messenger’ and the other the Messiah. One was a square peg and the other was the round hole. Folks couldn’t see how they could get the two together. So, they had questions. They just didn’t get it.

     Both John and Jesus had a message from God for the people. Some got it and quite a few didn’t. They were so used to listening to the leaders of the Temple about keeping the Law down to the last little letter that they couldn’t believe that Jesus’ “yoke” could be any easier.

     If it was easier it couldn’t possibly be right. It has to be hard to a Jew, to be perfect, to be holy. Some folks believe the same thing about being a follower of Jesus. It has to be hard to follow Jesus. It has to be painful to be perfect. We have to jump through a lot of hoops to be holy. It can’t be fun to be a follower of the Way. Not everybody can do it.

     Go back to the beginning of the gospel lesson you heard today. Jesus is talking about children playing their games in the street. They played their songs but some children didn’t come out to dance. They sang funeral songs but no one came to mourn.

     I could say something similar. I preached a message of repentance but no one repented. I preached a message of loving neighbors and still there are neighbors who aren’t loved. I preached a message about peace and yet there’s war, between countries, between neighbors, between brothers and sisters.

     Jesus prayed to the Father and gave him praise because he was glad that the smart, powerful people didn’t get his message but the common, little people did.

     Who gets the message from God today? Is it the wise and learned or is it those we don’t pay attention to as we go about living our lives?  Are we trying to follow all the commandments in the Old Testament, doing it the hard way? Are we asking those others to do it our way or do we trust God to show us the way? Are we expecting everyone to be like us? Are we trying to get square pegs to fit into round holes?

     Is there only one way to know and follow and do God’s work? Maybe we’re the ones who aren’t getting it. Maybe we’re the ones who are wrong. Maybe there’s another way or maybe there’s more than one way to be a true follower of Jesus. Maybe our yoke is heavier than it should be.

     So, what are we going to do? What are you going to do? Are you going to keep trying to get every one to conform to your way of thinking? Are you expecting everyone who comes through these doors to be just like you or me? Are you still teaching the same way you did 25 years ago and expecting those listening today to get it? Are you playing the same song and complaining because no one’s dancing to your music?

     Friends, it’s time to open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts to God’s Message of repentance and love. It’s time to admit to ourselves and others that we don’t have all the answers, that maybe we’ve been wrong. It’s time to stop talking and listen to ‘others’ concerns and questions.

     If we’re the square pegs and we encounter some round holes it’s about time that we sit down and listen to each other and see how it’s possible to coexist. Maybe it’s time to put some radii on our perfect 90 degree corners.

     Friends, it’s time to take off the old yoke that has become so burdensome, that has been chafing our shoulders and put on this ‘yoke’ Jesus is talking about. It’s time to trust God and let God show us the way.

     It’s time to simplify our lives. It’s time to listen to the others. It’s time to help and love the others, even if we don’t understand their lifestyle. It’s time to quit trying to make them life us.

     In life just like in our world there are many different kinds of people and personalities and shapes. There are some who are triangles. Some who are squares and some who are circles. And then there are those who are really different, they’re trapezoids and ellipses. Where’d they come from?

     All of us have been given gifts from God. This I believe. All of us, I believe, are expected to use our gifts to the benefit of those who live around us.

     So, as I mentioned at the beginning of worship this morning, take some time to pray and listen for God’s prompting this week. Pay attention to how God is working all around you. And at the end of your day reflect on you noticed God helping you with this holy work you’ve been called to.

          My friends, Jesus’ yoke is light and easy, try it on and give God your thanks and praise for the grace he shows you every day. Amen.

Welcome! Come, All You Who Thirst!

Who would ever think that a cool, refreshing bottle of water would be just the thing to offer someone in welcome? This bottle is nothing special. It’s just a thin plastic bottle filled with clean, filtered water. And yet there are times I would gladly have paid money for one cool bottle of water.

On the farm, in the days before nitrogen fertilizers and herbicides and insecticides, I would get off the tractor and drink straight from the end of the tile line. The water was so cold and so good and so refreshing. It was way better than the water in my thermos jug sitting beside my feet on the tractor.

Living here in Iowa we always have a well of water to draw from. We don’t worry about the wells running dry very often. Our well on the farm never was in danger of running out of water, even on the driest, hottest summer day.

Yet, I’ve read that only 1 in 6 people can count on having water so readily available to them. Over 80 per cent of the people in the world would give anything to have just a little of the water we have available at our fingertips.

One small glass of water seems so insignificant and yet it can mean so much to someone somewhere else in the world.

So, when Jesus says, “…if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward,” you can begin to understand what it means to offer hospitality to these little ones he’s talking about. 

Jesus is saying that, to him and to God, it’s important that we help those who’re without resources, even if it’s just a bottle of water.  But, I think, there’s more to it.

I think he’s telling us how extremely important it is to be hospitable. By helping someone, you and I may very well be welcoming angels into our midst. But we don’t do it just to have angels be our guests, we do it because we care and we can’t bear to see someone die of thirst. It doesn’t seem like much but to the one whose tongue is parched it’s a lifesaver.

So, let’s take this one step further. What do we do for the person who’s thirsting for righteousness? How do we quench that thirst? It’s probably going to take more than a cup of water.

For example, what about the person who’s the next thing to being homeless who’s being taken advantage of because they suffer from some form of mental illness? Think how important one small act of kindness is to them. Maybe 5 minutes of our time to listen to their woes. Maybe just a kind word or a hug or cup of coffee is all they need to lift their spirits. And they may just give you an opportunity to tell them about Jesus and God’s love.

Think about what it does for you when someone pops over with a fresh, homemade strawberry pie with whipped cream on top. You may have been having the worst day but the sight of that person and that pie made you forget about, at least for a while, all that had gone wrong with your day.

What’s it feel like when someone comes over and puts an arm around your shoulder and tells you how much they love you? That’s what a cup of cool water is like for that one who’s dying of thirst. That’s what it feels like to someone whose days hold no joy when someone tells them they love them and couldn’t imagine life without them. That’s what it feels like when they learn that God loves them that much too!

Maybe they’ve never had anyone tell them that, ever! Can you imagine never being told you are worth something? Then to have someone quench your thirst for love with the story of God’s love for the world through Jesus Christ. Imagine what that must be like.

My friends, we’re blessed and our God begs us to share what we have with those who have nothing. As far out as this might seem to you imagine yourself in their spot. Imagine what it would feel like to you to have someone share a little of what they have with you when you have nothing.

It’s kind of like having someone reach out their hand to save you when you’re drowning and you just know there’s no way you can save yourself. Just one act of kindness and hospitality can do that same thing.

Thanks be to God for reaching out to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Messages From Creation...From God

The story from Genesis is one of many stories about the beginning of this world we live in…and on. Every culture has a similar story that explains how everything we can see came into being.

These verses from Genesis are the words our ancestors used to make some sense of where they were, how they got there, and what creation was telling them. Yes, they received messages from God’s creation and the Genesis story helped them make sense of all that creation was speaking to them.

In the creation story we discover that God didn’t, and still doesn’t, work alone. Since last Sunday was Trinity Sunday it’s good for us to remember that God was helped by the Holy Spirit who was brooding over the watery abyss like a mother hen. We don’t read about the second member of the Trinity until John wrote his gospel and said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

In the 26^th verse we hear God say, “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and yes the Earth itself…(Genesis 1:26..The Message)” I don’t understand how God does it all but this verse lets me know that God is not just one-dimensional but multi-layered, multi-dimensional, with the ability to design, create, and care for all this.

Throughout the story of creation we see how important relationships are. God had a relationship with all that he was creating. It was God’s baby. That explains the brooding mother hen. Everything God made had a reason for being, fruits, vegetables, trees, cows, sheep, birds, fish, and human beings. The care and nurture for the earth and everything on it was given to the human race. The story is the first example of human beings being co-workers with the Creator.

Creation, earth, plants, animals, birds, fish, humans all living together, intertwined, linked together, caring for and supporting the other. When one suffers all sense that things aren’t as they should be.

This world, our world, and our governments are trying to make sense of the changes in the extremes of weather, storms, heat, cold, drought, ice caps melting, global warming, the deterioration of the ozone layer, etc.

In the last few years it’s been noticed that honey bees are dying. This worries folks because without bees many of our plants cannot be pollinated. The earth, creation needs bees. Without their work creation is out of balance.

God created this world, the universe, the things we can see and the things we can’t. Everything was created to be in harmony, to be in balance. Things today are getting out of sync and scientists are trying to explain to us what’s going on, how and why did it happen, and is there anything we can do about it.

Creation is speaking to us and, I wonder, is anyone listening? It was easier for me to hear when I lived on the farm. It was easy to listen when my ear was leaning into a cow’s flank getting the milk that nourished my family. I could hear creation speak to me as I rode the tractor cultivating corn and beans, mowing and raking and baling the alfalfa. I heard creation speak in the wind blowing through the branches of the Chinese elm trees in the windbreak.

But now I’m living in a small town and it’s more difficult to hear today. That may be why Linda and I have our vegetable and flower gardens. So we can say in touch with creation. That may be why I ride my bicycle in the country, riding in the wind and the sun and listening for creation’s voice.

How is creation speaking to you? How is God speaking to you? As I write I’m beginning to understand that in order to hear, to listen, we must make a conscious effort. If we’re having trouble catching all the words then we need to turn down the volume of the world and get some place where we can listen and hear and think. It has to be important for us to hear the words creation, and God, is speaking to us.

So, why is this important to you and me and what should we be doing? I believe the answers are in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and Jesus’ Great Commission to the disciples.

Paul’s words were to examine, to test, “…Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace.” Jesus said he had the authority to commission the disciples to go into the world, to all nations, make disciples, and baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They were to teach them everything he commanded and that was to love God and love their neighbors. And they would find that the world would hate them for doing these things.

Thanks be to God they listened to the Son and the Spirit otherwise we wouldn’t be hearing the lessons and stories today.

So, my friends, God is not only speaking to us in the Word from the Bible but also through his creation. My prayer, my hope, is that you will take time daily to listen to what God is speaking to you and me through his creation.

Thanks be to God for his grace. Amen.  

You Have Value

One quick question before I begin talking about today’s scripture, how many of you heard creation speak to you this last week? The Old Testament lesson from last Sunday was Genesis 1 about the beginning of this world that we take so much for granted.

I believe that God speaks to us in his creation. Think about how you encounter creation every day. Have you ever thought that only God could have made something as intricate and fragile as a butterfly wing? Have you ever just sat outside and listened to the birds singing in the morning or the wind blowing through the trees in the evening? Have you ever talked with God then and had his answer come to you in a leave or a stick or an ant or a garter snake?

Sometimes we’re too busy to realize or understand how we’re connected to this world that surrounds us, the birds, the corn fields, the bees, dogs, our vegetable and flower gardens, and that they’re all speaking to us.

Today’s lesson from the gospel of Matthew reminds us that God is speaking to us, telling us the message we’re to share with everyone we meet. Maybe we’re deaf to creation’s voice but God is still speaking to us. He may talk to us in our work; he may whisper to us in our sleep; he may have a message for us as we enjoy our leisure time.

However God communicates with us the message is the same as it was for the disciples, “Don’t be afraid.” You are my child and I’ll protect you.

That I get. The part that used to trouble me the most was the last part of the lesson for today. Jesus said, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— ³⁶     a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’”

That just doesn’t sound like the Jesus who told us that God is love and told us to love our neighbors. That just doesn’t sound right.

My friends, what I believe Jesus is saying is we must be willing to put him over and above everything, even our families.

This may very well be the hardest thing Jesus asks his disciples to do. Love him more than our spouses, more than our children, more than our grandchildren, more than our retirement savings, more than anything. Jesus comes first.

“Don’t be afraid,” Jesus says. When he says he’s come to turn us against our parents, our spouses, even our children that scares us. It makes us uncomfortable. It makes us squirm and wiggle in our pews.

Jesus wants us to lose our lives. That’s hard. In the Message it puts Jesus’ words this way, “If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.”

That’s hard. Kind of like getting married. Letting go of your wants and focusing on your spouse’s wants. Jesus is telling us he comes before anyone or anything else just as our spouses…and our families…come before our wants and needs.

Jesus is our Lord. He deserves our utmost attention. This is nothing new. God told the Israelites he was a jealous God. He told them to not worship anything else. He commanded them to give him their all, all their love, all their attention, and in return he would take care of them forever.

God reinforced that when he sent his Son, Jesus to teach us, to suffer and die for us, to defeat death for us. God’s love is eternal and all he ask is that we give him first place in our lives.

It’s hard and I fail every day. Every day I start all over by thanking God for giving me another day to try and get it right. And then I pray that in his mercy he will forgive me. And then I move on doing what I hear God telling me to do. And sometimes I don’t hear. Sometimes I don’t listen.

So, what do we do? We keep trying. We keep reading the Word. We keep praying. We open our ears so we can hear God speak. Sometimes our ears are our eyes. Sometimes God speaks to us in all our senses, touch, smell, taste. Friends, we never quit trying to get it right. We never quit asking God for forgiveness, for strength, for courage. We never give up on God because he will never give up on us.

At least that’s where I place my hope and trust. Thanks be to God. Amen.