Pastor Steve Richards

But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” (Nehemiah 6:9)

Nehemiah had mastered the practice of Stop, Drop and Pray. From the very beginning, we read how as a cupbearer to the king he hears a report about how poorly things are going in Jerusalem. What does he do? Stop, drop and pray. It is not his responsibility to do something. He is just the cupbearer. What can he do to fix the problems hundreds of miles away? What he can do is Stop, Drop and Pray.

It is a practice that he continues when faced with significant challenges. His enemies threaten, and once again in 6:9 he turns to prayer. In prayer, he receives the strength, the direction and the perseverance to keep going.

Here’s what Frederick Buechner writes in his book, Wishful Thinking:

Believe Somebody is listening. Believe in miracles. That’s what Jesus told the father who asked him to heal his epileptic son. Jesus said, “All things are possible to him who believes.” And the father spoke for all of us when he answered, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:14-29)

What about when the boy is not healed? When, listened to or not listened to, the prayer goes unaswered? Who knows? Just keep praying, Jesus says. …Even if the boy dies, keep on beating the path to God’s door, because the one thing you can be sure of is that down the path you beat with even your most half-cocked and halting prayer the God you call upon will finally come, and even if he does not bring you the answer you want, he will bring you himself. And maybe at the secret heart of all our prayers that is what we are really praying for. (p.71)

Stop, Drop and Pray. “Blessed are those…whose hope is in the Lord their God.” (Psalm 146:5)

Today’s readings: Nehemiah 5-6; Psalm 146; Luke 24

Betrayal. It is always personal. Whenever I think I am more important than you. What makes me shudder is just how personal betrayal can be. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Jesus was Jewish enemy number one. The guards did not need Judas to identify Jesus. And certainly a kiss was not necessary. The kiss was an indication of just how personal betrayal can be.

When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, Sanballat and Tobiah were ready to defeat his efforts to rebuild the city. They shared the same faith. They all shared the same goal, but Sanballat and Tobiah were there first, ready to betray Nehemiah. Same faith, same goals – but suddenly it was all about who would win.

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)

God has a design called unity – you and me. The human condition is me, not you. I need a Savior – One who can bridge me and you. Letting Christ live in me, I becomes we. How good and pleasant it is!

Today’s reading: Nehemiah 1-2; Psalm 133-134; Luke 22

We have a daughter who is afraid of the water. When she was a child, she unknowingly stepped into the deep end of a swimming pool and began to drown. This was a hotel pool without a lifeguard, and if I had not been nearby to rescue her, she would have drowned. She has never forgotten the experience and repeated efforts with a swimming teacher have not yet helped her to overcome her fear of drowning. I have never had her experience, but I have been pushed under the water by another person. To be under water and out of control: the fear of drowning is real.

In Ezra 9:6, I hear these words: “our sins are higher than our heads”. On our own, we are drowning. But, “in spite of this there is still hope”. (Ezra 10:2) Then from Psalm 131: “My heart is not proud, LORD… put your hope in the LORD.” And from Luke 21:34 – “be careful or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life.”

I’m hearing a theme this morning. I’m listening, LORD! Don’t go into the water without a lifeguard, because I am not immune and I am not impervious to the hazzards. Sin is real. Thank God that God has offered a lifeguard – Jesus Christ, in whom I place my trust.

Today’s readings: Ezra 9-10; Psalm 131; Luke 21

I cannot say the word hallelujah without doing what the word means. The last three letters of the word form the first three letters of the Hebrew name for God. Hallelujah means praise the Lord, and just by saying the word that’s what I do.

This morning, I began with the words of Psalm 150. It is the great hallelujah. We are reminded where to hallelujah, why hallelujah, how to hallelujah, and who hallelujahs. That final phrase: “let everthing that has breath” hallelujah. Yesterday, walking to the car there was a bird singing what sounded like a very cheerful song from the top of a light pole. I suppose other birds immediately understood the significance of that song. As I read Psalm 150, so do I – “sing hallelujah, Steve”.

Others have taught me the importance of beginning my day, grateful for life and giving thanks. Even the least significant detail of life can give cause to sing praise. Why even a bird on a light pole could be the reason. And if you can’t sing, I am reminded of the words of a school girl from my visit to Kenya last winter. She said, “If you can’t sing, then dance.”

Today is the day! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. And if you can’t sing, then dance!

Today’s readings: Esther 1-2; Psalm 150; Luke 17

“Be on guard against the yeast…” Luke 12:1

I usually think of yeast as a good thing. After all, it is an essential ingredient to one of my favorite foods. Yeast has great power. We have a jar of yeast in our refrigerator and it does not look like much at all. But remove the yeast from a cool, dry place and put it in an environment that is warm and moist and yeast suddenly has great power.

There are tiny things in our lives that have the potential to bring about great change. Get a small pebble in your shoe and how long does it take until you stop to remove it? Be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees. Look at the Pharisees and you were meant to see persons who devoted their lives to understanding and living a righteous life according to scripture. But even the Pharisees did not notice the yeast. Something evil had found the right environment and was growing. Yeast needs a certain environment to grow – a receptive host. That’s all that evil needs. It may look benign like the jar of yeast we keep in our refrigerator, until we become the host.

The problem is not really the yeast. It is the host. Evil has no power until it finds the kind of host where it can grow and flourish. And Jesus’ warning points toward Pharisees – the people supposedly the least likely to be an environment where evil could grow. “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed.” It is only a matter of time and the proper conditions and even the best of us could end up becoming the worst among us.

Be on your guard against the yeast…  Pay attention to the kind of host you are – the kind of environment, the kind of character, the nature of your heart. Of all the people, no one would have imagined the Pharisees, the least likely, would be the ones to host the yeast.

Let me conclude with a point of hope. Zechariah 4:6 – “Not by might nor by power buy by my Spirit.” Once again, I begin my day by opening my life to God’s Spirit. Come and dwell in me.

Today’s readings: Zechariah 4-6; Luke 12

To be honest, I was up early this morning and had a hard time focusing on what I was reading. Parts of today’s readings, I had to read more than twice – not because they were difficult to understand. I just could not seem to focus.

Then I came to Luke 11:41. “But now as for what is inside you – be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.” Jesus was speaking to a Pharisee who noticed that Jesus had not washed his hands before eating. This was not a concern for proper hygiene but for proper religious practice. The washing would make Jesus spiritually clean before touching the food. All of us probably get certain practices ingrained in us. There is a way you do things in your home and a way we do things in our home. Practices matter – until Jesus shows up.

Jesus made this stark statement in verse 41 that got my attention and made me fully awake. “Be generous to the poor and everything will be clean for you.” To be generous to the poor requires releasing what I’ve been holding for me – releasing what I think I need for me – not being focused so much on me. Hmm…

Could my efforts at reading and reflecting on scripture ever become an outward practice that I am doing to be “clean”? Could my focus on certain practices keep me from or even give me an excuse for not doing the greater need inside of me? Be generous to the poor. Could that be the gateway to a clean heart?

Verse 45: One of the experts in the law answered Jesus, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.” Now that’s a loaded statement! What a way of avoiding the hard work of change that Jesus was expecting. Maybe that’s why I was having a hard time focusing on today’s scripture. There is still work to be done and change to be accomplished deep within me.

Today’s readings: Zechariah 1-3; Luke 11; and Day 20 in the Gospel of John

Today, we transition from summer to fall. I can refuse to wear a jacket and deny that it is truly fall, but that doesn’t make it summer. I get no say in the change of seasons. I am powerless, but there is one thing I can do – surrender and live according to the future reality. (The morning weather forecast even hinted at a few snow flakes overnight.)

For months, we have been reading from the Bible about a period of history in which Israel was experiencing tremendous change. There were opportunities along the way to behave differently which could have altered what happened and certainly would have altered how they got through what happened. Then there came a point when Jerusalem was destroyed and the people were forced into exile. We’ve been reading the book of Daniel. The first half of the book contains amazing stories of faithfulness and God’s power to intervene on behalf of the faithful. The second half of the book contains dreams with images that are confusing to us but likely familiar to the second century B.C. faithful (which is when the book was written). As I read the book of Daniel, I have been listening for the message that I need for my life. In the midst of change (and a change of season is the very least challenging change I face), there is hope for those who will keep the main thing the main thing. God never changes. God is constant. God wants a relationship with me even when my life and the world around me is spinning out of control.

Psalm 137 may be the most honest passage in the Bible. I understand the grief, hurt and anger expressed in this psalm. And yet, the message of scripture did not end here – nor does it end within the emotions that I find amid a changing world.

So when I read the final verse in Luke 4, I hear a message of hope. “And Jesus kept on preaching…” He kept on. And he still does.

Today’s readings: Daniel 7-8; Psalm 137; Luke 4; (Day 13 in the 21-day challenge: John 13)

Entitlement. The word does not appear in today’s readings, but it was the first word that came to mind as I was reading from Ezekiel. Entitlement does not have a positive connotation to me. It means privilege, ownership, guaranteed access. Ezekiel speaks about a people who felt that way about God. God was their God. They were the chosen people. God gave them the land of Israel through the promise and covenant made to Abraham. God would act on their behalf. They were entitled. It no longer mattered whether they were faithful, because they were entitled. It was a horrible place to be, because they were the last to recognize what they had become.

“You are my sheep… and I am your God.” Ezekiel 34:31. I wonder how often I/we get that turned around. You are my God… and you God must act accordingly. I’ve never said that in so many words and neither did the sixth century BC people cast into exile. But we have acted that way.

When I read Revelation 18, the parallels with Ezekiel become obvious. Never had a people had so much only to fall so far. That’s what happened to Babylon and what happened to Rome. If only faithfulness to God had been at the center of life in the 6th Century BC and the 1st Century AD. Once again, I hear the call from scripture to be sure the main thing in my life is the main thing. “You are my sheep… and I am your God.” And today, I renew my focus.

Today’s readings: Ezekiel 33-35; Revelation 18; (and Day #5 in the 21 Day Challenge to read the Gospel of John)

There is a huge difference between listening and reacting. I can find far more examples in this world of people reacting and me reacting than I can of listening. The verse that came to me loud and clear today is from Psalm 81:13. “If my people would only listen to me…” I’ve said that! If people would only listen to me! And that’s a problem isn’t it? That’s me reacting and not listening.

Nine months into this daily Bible reading program, if I’ve learned anything from scripture it is that the people didn’t listen. Taking time to listen has hazzards. In the reading from Daniel, King Nebuchaddezar heard something he didn’t want to hear. In the reading from Revelation, the people heard what they hoped to hear but not how they hoped it would happen. If I react, I don’t have to listen and don’t have to face hearing what I don’t want to hear.

So let me finish the sentence from Psalm 81 (see how hard it is for me to listen to scripture before reacting to only part of the message): “If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways, how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!” God wants to work in my life. God wants to work for what’s best for me. The question for me is whether I will wait and listen long enough to allow God to do just that.

Today’s readings: Daniel 3-4; Psalm 81; Revelation 17

Some days as I leave the house, I can hear our dog howling. We always put her in a kennel when leave the house and usually she is content to be there. But not always. Yesterday was one of those days. As I walked out the door, I could hear howling. It is a pathetic, mournful sound. There are times when I feel like howling but I don’t even have the energy to do that.

Haven’t we all had times when we are weary and worn out and feeling all alone with the challenges that surround us? How can this be? God, where are you?

The book of Lamentations is compelling if only because it feels so familiar. The writer was giving voice to a very discouraging time in the history of Israel. Destruction and death all around. The people who mourned were left with an uncertain future and no direction and no indication that tomorrow would be any better than today. And yet, in the middle of chapter three, a message of hope: “Yet I will call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

I woke up this morning. I was given a new day. The sun still shines. God is. And when I am feeling sorry for myself, I lean on the words of Lamentations 3:24. “I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.'” In other words: God is good all of the time; all of the time God is good.

Today’s readings: Lamentations 3-5; Revelation 15