Maybe It Is Rocket Science (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

That rocket engine was loud!

 

I clearly remember the first time I heard—and vibrated to—a SpaceX rocket engine test. Those rocket engine tests are fairly common for those of us living near the small central Texas town of McGregor. SpaceX has a very active operation there. The deep-throated roar of those engines has been known to shake pictures off walls, objects off shelves, and nappers off couches. 

 

The first time it happened, there was one question on the mind of every person: What is happening?! After it kept happening, though, our adrenaline levels eventually stopped being "Emergency!" Soon, we downgraded our reaction to "Oh, that again." It was still loud, and it still shook houses. But nothing bad followed all that noise; nothing momentous occurred. 

 

The excitement had waned. 

 

We settled down.  

 

We got used to it.

 

That's the situation confronted by the prophet Isaiah in this week's scriptures. God had been active in the lives of the Jewish people for centuries. God had previously presented as a giant pillar of fire or a great whirlwind (think: tornado or hurricane). Sometimes God appeared with such a roar that ordinary people were afraid to approach. 

 

God could be blindingly bright, thunderously loud. 

 

Eventually, though, people came to take God for granted. Oh, they still did the religious things. They fasted, made sacrifices, participated in worship. And, in their minds, that was enough. 

 

In truth, they had moved past the excitement of following God's commandments for living. They quarreled and fought with each other. They let the hungry go hungry. They denied justice to those who were falsely imprisoned. They were supposed to bring the homeless into their own homes, to free the oppressed, and to be caring for their relatives—but, no. 

 

No time for any of that stuff; too busy being busy. 

 

And all the time they were wondering where God had gotten to. Because they no longer did as God asked, God told Isaiah to "Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion." Apparently, nothing else was going to get their attention. They could no longer hear the roar, no longer see the light.

 

What about us? Are we deaf to that roar, blind to that light?

 

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PHOTO (SpaceX rocket engine testing in McGregor, TX):

https://parabolicarc.com/2016/05/11/mcgregor-spacex-rocket-testing-rules/

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As we continue to move through the Epiphany season, I hope you can join us Friday morning at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. Fat Tuesday will be upon us before you know it, and then Ash Wednesday and Lent. Next thing you know, we'll be celebrating Easter. 

 

Take some time to fellowship with us at Our Breakfast Place and on Zoom.** We start at 8:00 and mosey along around 9:00. We eat, we laugh, we pray, and we spend some quality time in God's word.

 

Hearing the roar. Seeing the light. 

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

**Contact me for the Zoom link

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=17

 

 Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Ax_FifthSundayafterEpiphany.pdf

 

Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12)

Psalm 112:1-9 (10)

1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)

Matthew 5:13-20

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (February 5, 2023)

Juggling Balls That Don’t Bounce (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

The first thing I was told when learning to juggle: Be sure to start with balls that don’t bounce.

 

Apparently, that's how real jugglers start out. Long before they juggle complicated things like pins or chainsaws, they must first learn the craft. They start small, with two or three balls. And, preferably, those “balls” are actually small stuffed bags that don't bounce away when they—inevitably—fall to the ground. 

 

Most people can learn to juggle three small, same-sized objects. Of course, success is not automatic—it takes practice. 

 

But it's not complicated.

 

The complicated stuff comes later—much later. Jugglers must first become really good at getting those three relatively small things to do as they should. In short: Don't have too many balls in the air. The more complicated routines must wait until after mastering the beginner level.

In a way, this week's selection from the prophet Micah is also about juggling. He asks the reader to consider how someone shows proper respect to God. Are special, and increasingly difficult, sacrifices required to impress God? What kind of sacrifice would be big enough, dangerous enough, meaningful enough to cancel out a person's sin?

Micah already knows and quickly reveals the answer. It is surprisingly simple: Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

See? Not complicated.

Sure, there are people—a few—who are called to do more complicated things in life. But that's not most of us. The challenge before most of us God-followers is this: to begin with a few, relatively simple actions, and to not skip the beginner level.

 

Do you have too many balls in the air?

 

For most of us, God is only asking this: Keep just those three balls circling. That is, to consistently act justly, be merciful, and walk humbly in God's presence, all at the same time. 

You may find, as have I, that there's plenty of challenge in that.

 

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PHOTO: 

https://www.amazon.com/ArtCreativity-Juggling-Beginners-Durable-Multi-Colored/dp/B07CRS18CY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=24TZZYG4SU56B&keywords=art+creativity+juggling+balls&qid=1674591769&s=books&sprefix=Art+creativity+juggling+balls%2Cstripbooks%2C167&sr=1-1-catcorr

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I hope you can join us Friday morning at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We're still at Our Breakfast Place (and on Zoom**) reading scripture, praying, eating, and laughing from 8:00 to 9:00. Usually we're in a room at the back of the building. If you're not sure, ask.

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

**Contact me for the Zoom link

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=16

 

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Ax_FourthSundayafterEpiphany.pdf

 

Micah 6:1-8

Psalm 15

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Matthew 5:1-12

Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany (January 29, 2023)

Lost in the Darkness (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

"The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted."

—The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

That quote is from one of my favorite novels. I highly recommend it to anyone who has children, or who loves baseball, or who loves Stand By Me or Shawshank Redemption (all by the same author), or who loves an excellently written suspense tale.

 

Or who loves God.

Early in the novel, nine-year-old Trisha becomes lost. A wrong turn takes her into the wilderness surrounding the Appalachian Trail where it crosses the Maine-New Hampshire border. Disoriented, she wanders farther and farther away from civilization—and into danger. Despite her best efforts, she is just not capable of making it on her own.

 

And that's where Tom Gordon comes into the story. A “closer” for the Boston Red Sox, Gordon was often brought to the pitcher’s mound near the end of a tight ballgame to ensure victory. Trisha loves Tom Gordon and the Red Sox.

 

Faced with mosquitos, loneliness, wasps, hunger, fear, illness, hallucinations—and even grizzlier threats—Trisha depends on her love of Gordon to lift her spirits. Imagining what he would do is all that keeps her going.

 

Trisha is lost. But even though there seems no possibility of rescue, she is not abandoned. Someone is looking for her. Similarly, the people in this week's Isaiah and Matthew selections live in deepening darkness, the very shadow of death. Everything is bad. There seems no possibility of rescue. 

 

But then, they see a great light.  

 

Sometimes, we get lost. We find ourselves in deep darkness. It could be darkness from the culture that surrounds us, or it could be a darkness we carry with us. But we don’t have to stay lost in the darkness. Instead, like the people in this week’s scriptures, we need to be looking for a light to lead us. We are not abandoned. 

 

We can rise from our deep darkness. We just need to follow that dawning light, the DaySpring—Jesus.

 

 

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PHOTO (Appalachian Trail Conservancy): 

https://appalachiantrail.org/trailway-news/

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Will you be in Waco Friday morning? DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast group meets at 8:00 at Our Breakfast Place and on Zoom.** We would love for you to join us for some illumination as we enjoy great food, scriptures, and each other. 

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

**Contact me for the Zoom link

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=15

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Ax_ThirdSundayafterEpiphany.pdf

 

Isaiah 9:1-4

Psalm 27:1, 4-9

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Matthew 4:12-23

Third Sunday after the Epiphany (January 22, 2023)

Gifts for the Magi (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

In Italy, Santa Claus is not a part of their Christmas celebrations. 

 

The children look forward, instead, to the visitation of the three kings. These are the same folk we call the Magi or the Three Wise Men. The children try to keep awake at night to catch a glimpse of the Three Royal Visitors. They listen for the cadence of their song in the distance, the sound of the camels’ hooves crushing the frozen snow, and the tinkling of their silver bridles. That's right: not reindeer, camels. Italy's children send their toy requests to the three kings. Anticipating their arrival, they leave water and snacks for them and their camels to help sustain them on their long journey.

 

Does a lot of this sound familiar to you?

 

Apparently, there is a certain universality to what happens in the Christmas season, regardless of where you live. Even if there is no Santa there. And that is our connection to this week's scriptures. They reference the universality of the Gospel: Jesus came for us all. This is so clear in the selection from John where, upon seeing Jesus again, John declares to his own disciples "Behold the lamb of God" who was, even as John spoke, "taking away the sin of the world."

 

Did you see that? The sin of the world, not just of the Jews. Many of God’s people couldn't quite wrap their heads around it—that their Messiah would somehow belong to non-Jews, as well. I suspect their thinking may have been a bit Israel-centric, much like ours is in our own countries. Well, that was never the way God saw it. God always pictured an entire world rejoined in harmony, a people who chose God just as God had chosen them.

 

This week's Isaiah passage tells of how the restoration of Israel to God is, by itself, too easy a thing for the Savior. He would also be a light to the nations so salvation would reach to the very ends of the earth. It's there in this week's Psalm where the Psalmist declares he has proclaimed God's faithfulness and salvation to the “great congregation.” We see it in 1 Corinthians where Paul greets them “along with everyone else, in every place” who claims the name of Jesus. 

 

Jesus comes not just to one town, but to every village, town, city, and metropolis. Jesus comes to every farm, every vessel on the waters, every mountaintop, every valley, and every crevice. Jesus comes not just to our country, but to every country, to every person in China, in Europe, in Russia, in Australia, even to each of the very few people residing in the Antarctic. Jesus is universal. He comes not just to one person, but to all persons. 

 

Every one in every place. 

 

 

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PHOTO: 

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/885/earth-from-space

Epiphany continues. We'll be in this season until Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday falls on February 21st, this year). Join us Friday morning at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast as we continue to marvel at how God planned for our salvation. Find us at Our Breakfast Place and on Zoom.** Gather with us at 8:00 to peruse the menu, eat, pray, read the Bible, and kick around what we discover there. Find us in the back function room.

 

Blessings,

Steve 

 

**Contact me for the Zoom link

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=14

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Ax_SecondSundayafterEpiphany.pdf

 

Isaiah 49:1-7

Psalm 40:1-11

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

John 1:29-42

Second Sunday After the Epiphany (January 15, 2023)

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It’s Not About You…Or Is It? (an Epiphany reflection)

Mrs. Maguire’s algebra class wasn’t cool. It was downright cold! She could not abide attention-drift from any student. To ensure we paid attention, she opened the windows—in the dead of winter.

 

What saved us were the radiators. 

 

Lined up just below the windows was a row of steam-filled radiators blasting heat into the room. You could still feel the cold air slicing in, but the radiators kept radiating enough heat to offset the worst of it.

 

Radiators—or “radiants”—draw heat from a central source. Without the right energy coursing through them, they could not radiate the heat needed to offset the cold. If not connected to that central source, those radiators would be just so much cold metal. And absolutely no use whatsoever in mitigating the chill. Those radiants kept us warm that winter in Mrs. Maguire's classroom, but only because they were connected to the source, the generator of all that steam heat.

 

But radiants give off more than heat.

This week’s scripture from Isaiah 60 is a prophecy of the coming of Jesus, and about kings from the east who will bring him gifts of gold and frankincense. Also, that when He comes His people will be covered and infused with the light of His glory. They will become radiants, and all people will be drawn to that light. 

What about us? Are we radiants? Isaiah, says we are to “Arise, shine, for your light has come.” We are to share that light, to radiate that spiritual energy. How does that work? First, like the Magi, those wise kings from the east, we are to come and worship Jesus. Next, we spend time in the presence of God, connecting to the source of true energy. That’s when others will experience God's warmth and glow through us.

That’s when we become radiants. 

 

 

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PHOTO: Steve Orr

 

Join DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast group Friday morning at 8:00 at Our Breakfast Place and on Zoom.** An hour of Bible, discussion, laughter, prayer, and food is a great way to start the year!

 

Blessings,

Steve 

 

**CONTACT ME FOR THE ZOOM LINK

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.

 

READINGS FOR EPIPHANY AND THE COMING WEEKS

Epiphany (January 6, 2023)

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=12

Isaiah 60:1-6

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14

Ephesians 3:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

Baptism of the Lord (January 8, 2023)

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=13

Isaiah 42:1-9

Psalm 29

Acts 10:34-43

Matthew 3:13-17

Chart of readings for Epiphany through Transfiguration Sunday (1/6 through 02/19/2023):

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/lections.php?year=A&season=Epiphany

 

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