Susie Grade

All of creation has fallen from the state of Shalom that God originally intended. God is on a mission of restoration of peace, and we are invited to participate.

The topic of peace is a central area of concern for everyone, whether or not we would articulate it that way. Whether it be in the arena of interpersonal relationships, in our neighborhoods and communities, or simply as citizens of this world, we are all in need of peace and a restoration of Shalom.

Many people may cynically think of peace as an unattainable goal; something that sounds nice but isn’t realistic. Or perhaps some may think that peace is achieved through force; that whoever has the most strength wins. Some Christians may think of peacemaking as something that “we” as Christians bring to “them” as non-Christians.

The truth is that we are all in need of ongoing restoration and peace, and the Good News is that we are all recipients of the grace necessary to enact peace. We can all partner and participate in the restoration of Shalom that God is working throughout all of Creation.

The pursuit of Wisdom seems to be an obsession for our culture today.

You can see this in the sheer number of podcasts, video tutorials on youtube, TED talks, and self-help books. There is a massive amount of searching for wisdom going on all around us.

But so much (if not most) of this searching is based on the assumption that wisdom can be found in a product that can be packaged and delivered to whoever wants it. Wisdom is found in the prize. In the thing. In the podcast, video, or seminar. We say to ourselves, “If I just make time and money to book that mindfulness yoga retreat in Costa Rica, then I will have the wisdom I need.” Or, “If I just hire that life coach, then I will gain the wisdom I’m seeking.” Or, maybe, “If I just listen to the right sermon, all my problems will be resolved.”

But in all this searching for wisdom, are we really finding it?

Wisdom is not found in the object (the spouse, or the podcast, or the next best thing) nor is it found through the behavior (the virtue, or living perfectly). Wisdom is found through the desire to find Wisdom. Wisdom is a person, and when you seek her with all your heart, you will find her.

 Out in the open Wisdom calls aloud,
    she raises her voice in the public square;
on top of the wall she cries out,
    at the city gate she makes her speech:

“How long will you who are simple

    love your simple ways?
  How long will mockers delight in mockery
    and fools hate knowledge?
Repent at my rebuke!
    Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
   I will make known to you my teachings.”

Proverbs 1:20-23, NIV

We just got back from northern Wisconsin, the land of cheese and lakes. I always know I’m back in WI when we stop at a gas station to fill up and the cheese department inside the gas station is bigger than the cheese department at Whole Foods. I think that is what Jesus meant when He said, “On earth, as it is in heaven.

Our week “UpNorth” on the lake is a strong, enduring Grade family tradition. Tim’s been going UpNorth his entire life and I’ve been joining his family every summer since we’ve been married. And being UpNorth gives us a daily opportunity to teach our kids about campfires. It’s interesting to me that it is always Russell and Lyla’s tendency to stack the logs in tight, to pile them on thick, and to keep adding and adding and adding more logs on the fire. But all that does is smother out the flame. As important as the logs are, equally important is the space between the logs. The same is true in life — and the same is true with our words.

It reminds me of this poem by Judy Brown, simply called “Fire.”

What makes a fire burn

is space between the logs,

a breathing space.

Too much of a good thing,

too many logs

packed in too tight

can douse the flames

almost as surely

as a pail of water would.

So building fires

requires attention

to the spaces in between,

as much as to the wood.

When we are able to build

open spaces

in the same way

we have learned

to pile on the logs,

then we can come to see how

it is fuel, and absence of the fuel

together, that make fire possible.

We only need to lay a log

lightly from time to time.

A fire

grows

simply because the space is there,

with openings

in which the flame

that knows just how it wants to burn

can find its way.

God’s Holy Spirit is the fire that knows just how it wants to burn. I pray that this Holy Fire might burn bright inside of us today.

https://wordsfortheyear.com/2018/06/02/fire-by-judy-brown/

During the month of June, we are looking at the book of Ruth in the Bible. The story of Ruth in the ancient scriptures is incredibly relevant for us today. When Boaz, the faithful pillar of society, is confronted with the outside foreigner Ruth, he responds in a kind and pious way. He does not chase her away from his field, yet he doesn’t offer her anything except a blessing of hopeful provision from God.

It is the outsider Ruth who challenges Boaz to be more tangibly helpful to a person in her situation. She doesn’t just need a blessing, she needs food and protection. And while Boaz hadn’t kicked her out of the field, he also hadn’t guaranteed that she would be successful in her gleaning efforts.

Ruth subtly and slyly points this out to him, “I do not have the standing of one of your servant girls” (Ruth 2:13) with the result that he catches on and makes sure she receives what she needs.

So Boaz, the good and faithful Israelite, actually needs the voice of the pagan outsider to teach him how to be faithful to the God of whom he invokes blessings. Boaz may have known how to pray for God to do good to the stranger, but it took the stranger to teach Boaz how to make those prayers become actualized.

You can hear very clear echoes of this story in the New Testament book of James, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” -James 2:14

Praying for someone in need is one thing, especially someone like Ruth, the outsider. But what if our faith calls us to more than just wishing people well, and hoping for the best for them? How is an invisible God made visible in the world? It is by the hands and the hearts of those who follow that God.

St. John Chrysostom said “Do you think that the man-loving God has given you much so that you could use it only for your own benefit? No, but so that your abundance might supply the lack of others.”

What is interesting in this story (and perhaps most jarring) is that it takes Ruth (the pagan foreigner) to teach Boaz (the faithful pillar of society) what it means to care for those in need.

The book of Ruth raises all sorts of questions for us.

• Who are the outsiders that I encounter daily?
• What is my relationship to them?
• How am I interacting with them?
• What do they have to teach me?
• Am I willing to listen?

There are 2 kinds of knowledge. One kind informs and the other kind transforms. These are different ways of knowing.

1 Cor. 8 says, “We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves God is known by God.”

Knowledge that transforms is always personal, not just objective, it is always relational. It is not just knowing some facts in my head, it is rather allowing the truth to reach my heart, my hands, my life.

When Peter first met Jesus, Peter’s identity was as a fisherman, maybe a little bit of a hot-head, a kind of ‘ready-fire-aim’ type of guy. Jesus looks at Peter and says, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”

I can just imagine Peter’s friends thinking, “really Jesus, a rock? This guy is kind of crumbly!” Then as you walk through the life of Peter following Jesus, you see a guy who transforms. Jesus saw Peter’s true identity, he spoke to it, he called it forth, and through the process of following Jesus Peter became the rock that Jesus knew he was. 

May you have the kind of knowing that transforms you into your true self in Christ today.

“Truly transformational knowledge is always person, never merely objective. It involves knowing of, not merely knowing about. And it is always relational. It grows out of a relationship to the object that is known – whether this is God or one’s self.”

“There is only one problem on which all my existence, my peace, and my happiness depend: to discover myself in discovering God. If I find Him I will find myself and if I find my true self I will find Him.” -Thomas Merton

Is there any person or group of people that you need to forgive?

Here are some questions to help you find out:

Is there anyone whom you hate?
Is there anyone whom you would like to see punished for something past or present?
Is there anyone whom you are (or have been) occasionally or consistently frustrated or annoyed with?
Is there anyone whom you feel smugly superior to?
Is there anyone whom you would like them to change their behavior (past or present)?

If you were able to identify a person or persons for any one of these questions, you probably have someone you need to forgive. Also remember, answering ‘myself’ to any of the above questions is a legitimate answer, and suggests that self-forgiveness is in order.

Our brokenness keeps us on the vicious cycle of sin and destruction, continuously being hurt and in turn hurting others. In Christ Jesus, we have been forgiven of all our sin and destruction, and so we are now free to forgive ourselves and others.

The concept of forgiveness is one of the most important things we can talk about in church. It is so core to the Good News of Christ, and yet also runs so counter to the current culture.

What Forgiveness Isn’t…

Some folks may view forgiving someone who has done harm as losing, or as letting the other win. Forgiveness may be seen as ignoring the reality of the situation, as in “forgive and forget.” This implies that to forgive someone is to pretend that there was no harm done. So, forgiveness is either seen as turning a blind eye to the actual harm done or acquiescing to the perpetrator of that harm. That is not forgiveness. Granting forgiveness is also not the same as earning trust, or seeking justice.

For others, forgiveness is understood as something I receive more than something I offer. Jesus is the one who forgives sins, not me. Also, some people understand forgiveness as a mutual transaction. One person confesses and asks for forgiveness, the other person gives forgiveness. It is a quid pro quo arrangement. This is not real forgiveness.

What Forgiveness Is…

The Gospel reminds us that while we were still sinners Christ died for us, offering forgiveness. Forgiveness is a one-way street of unconditional, unearned grace. Forgiveness is not an escape from the reality of sin and violence. It is a brutally honest acknowledgment of what has happened and then a compassionate gift of invitation to move beyond the pain.

For further reading:

Volf, M. 1996. Exclusion and Embrace: A theological exploration of identity, otherness and reconciliation. Abingdon Press.

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”(Jn. 10:10) Yet all too often, as followers of Jesus it seems we have lost something while on the long journey toward heaven. We have lost abundant life. We have lost our souls. We need to recover our lives and our souls.

The Story of God: Part One

The story of God is the story of reality. It is the story of a God who exists in community–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–in a Triune dance of perfect love. One day God decided to create a world to share his love with. So he created people in goodness and in love. He created people in his image, and he gave these people free will, because there cannot be true love apart from choice.

Over time these people chose to leave that place of dependence on God because they were tempted by an evil enemy who promised them that they could be “like God.” So the people left this life of perfect peace, joy and love in pursuit of a life where they could be in control. In this way, the garden of Eden became a wild jungle.

God’s love led him to devise a plan to rescue these people he created and loves. In the fullness of time, he came to earth himself and entered that wild jungle. He took upon himself all the evil, wrong doing and shame. He sacrificed himself to make a way for people to be brought back into the dance of love.

After he died, some women went to the tomb on Easter morning, and the stone was rolled away. An angel told them, “He is not here He is risen!” They were afraid, but full of joy. In rising from the grave, the power of evil and death was broken! The possibility of living in freedom, peace and joy returned once again to the people God created and loves. This is the story of Easter.