Healing Rays of Righteousness

During a Chaplains luncheon meeting our leader introduced the devotional time with the reading of “The Crazy Quilt of Life” written by Barbara Battin in Women Psalms.  Yes, I shared this story before, but I share it again with you because it is such a beautiful description of what God intends every community of persons to be in our world, i.e., “a blanket of love.”

“In the pattern of God’s purpose we are stitched together in caring and community:  scraps of the lingering past, fragments broke from future’s dearest hopes; textures of disappointment and dreams, prints of pain and promise:  calico and corduroy, stripes, silks, and satins – all the colors of emotion and experience are sewn into a crazy quilt of life, patched together and transformed into a blanket of love… and our compassion comforts a cold and hurting world.”

Mother Teresa is quoted as saying, “I am a pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.”

Whether we speak of being a love-writing pencil or part of a blanket of love, we are saying that God created us to be his means of loving the world.  And I thank God every day for those persons who do care about others and will go out of their way and take the time to enhance the life of another with love.  There simply is no greater reward of feeling worth and satisfaction than that given to those who care about others, respond with loving words, and works.

And if we do not grow weary in loving, we will be patched together with others who care and love; and together we will be transformed into a blanket of love, bringing comfort to the cold and hurting world.  The payoff is priceless, meaningful, and ever so satisfying.  In fact, such loving behavior has the promise of heavenly reward.

Furthermore, is not loving others to be our life mission?  Or have we closed our ears to God’s two greatest commands,  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it:  “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  (Matthew 11:37-39). 

And in Luke 10, Jesus defines “neighbor” in the most inclusive terms possible, as in the parable of the Good Samaritan, where love crosses ethnic and religious boundaries. 

In fact, Jesus clearly commands and defines our loving others as being equal to the way He loves us.  “A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (Jn. 13:34-35).

While here on this earth, Jesus spoke and acted with genuine love for all people in all situations.  He lived His life as a servant leader who deeply loved others and acted in their behalf.  And the above verses would tell us that He expects and commands His followers to do the same. Jesus’ deepest desire is to live his life and mission in and through us, and so He empowers us to do so by His indwelling and transforming Spirit.   

If we are disciple-followers of Christ, we are called to live in a love that looks and acts like his love.  Jesus told the disciples, “As I have loved you, so you should love one another” (Jn.13:34).  John wrote, “Love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 Jn. 4:7).  And in verse sixteen, “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.”

Christians who are rooted in Anabaptist understandings of Scripture, believe that the New Testament scriptures teach that our Christian faith is to be made visible in Jesus-like acts of compassionate love and material generosity.  We believe Christian faith is more than just worship and verbal commitment to the Lordship of Jesus on a Sunday morning.  It is also the living performance of that worship and commitment in every conversation and activity of life during the entire week.

Myron Augsburger, a prominent Mennonite author and minister, writes, “One of the greater means of fulfilling the mission of Christ is simply to be present in society as people who walk with Jesus.” (The Robe of God, Herald Press, 2004).

Whether we speak of being a “love-writing pencil” or part of a “blanket of love” we are saying that God created us to be his means of loving the world.  Let us be it today, tomorrow and every day after that.  “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.  Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”  (Jason Upton).

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 17, 2021

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Ray M. Geigley

In my Christian faith journey, I was taught from Sunday school thru seminary on how to do things for the Lord, i.e., how to serve God and others, how to minister, how to pastor, and how to be a good chaplain.  But what I needed most was encouragement to eagerly foster a  passionate love relationship with Jesus Christ.

Henry T. Blackaby writes, “God is far more interested in a love relationship with you then He is in what you can do for Him.” (Experiencing God).

One of the hazards of maturing in the Christian faith is that we tend to lose some of the wonder and awe that attracted us to Jesus Christ.  We begin to believe that we have arrived and that we have figured it all out.  The mystery and awesomeness of our redemption gradually slips away and soon the passionate love for Christ is gone. 

Wesley Duewel writes,  “It is not enough to be evangelical in faith and heart;  we must be utterly possessed by Christ, utterly impassioned by his love and grace….” (Ablaze For God).

The story of Mary and Martha, recorded in Luke 10, calls us back to that childlike wonder and passionate love for Jesus Christ as our Savior, Redeemer, and Sovereign Lord.

Shortly after Jesus and his disciples arrived at the home of Martha and Mary, Jesus is engaged in conversation with his disciples.  And as the story unfolds, Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet intently listening, while Martha is distracted by all the food preparation needed to ensure her guests would be comfortable and fed. 

As she is scurrying about to get food on the table, Martha becomes upset that her sister, Mary, is not helping her with the meal preparations.  Being obviously upset, Martha marches into the room where Jesus was and asks, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?  Tell her to help me!”

Many of us can identify with Martha and feel sympathetically toward Martha.  We argue that someone had to prepare the meal.  And so, Martha’s irritation and her spontaneous outburst is understandable to us.  And Martha believed her complaint was entirely in order and she fully expected Jesus to support her.

However, Jesus did not.  On the contrary, he used Martha’s complaint as an opportunity to help her better understand herself.  “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.”   

Paul Tillich states that “…the words Jesus speaks to Martha belong to the most famous of all the words in the Bible.”

Jesus turned the occasion into a teaching opportunity for Martha and for us, how to rightly love and serve God while living in a world of multiple distractions like ours.  In our efforts to serve God rightly, we will get pulled in many different directions by the good distractions within and around us. Martha was distracted in giving priority to the concerns of hospitality rather than relationship.

Martha chose to do things for Jesus. Martha was so busy being gracious and polite and a good host that she had no time to be in a listening relationship with the Lord.    

How often are we guilty of allowing the same misguided priorities cause us to worry and be upset?  Yes, we may say that all our time, life, money is the Lord’s,  but then become distracted by busying ourselves with doing good works.  We too easily forget that God’s first and greater desire is for our full attention toward fostering a love relationship. 

This is the priority Mary chose when she decided to sit at the feet of her Savior, Lord, and beloved Friend and listen to him speak.  Jesus said this was the one thing needed and that Mary had made the better choice and it would not be taken away from her. 

Mary chose devotion over distractions.   She chose intimacy with Jesus over the expectations of her culture and her family.  Mary had a passion for the Lord and that made all the difference in her life.  And it will do the same for you and me even in today’s world.

Pedro Arrupe, SJ, a Spanish Basque Jesuit priest, wrote, “ Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way.  What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.  It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.  Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 10, 2021

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Ray M. Geigley

It seems that respect for others has become a disposable commodity in our present American culture of selfish individualism and gratification.  When it comes to affirming and protecting the dignity of others, it seems our society has lost its heart and soul.  I am appalled that so many of my neighbors, friends, and even family, are finding it easy and acceptable to cruelly “trash-talk” those they do not like or who disagree with them.

The biblical story records a similar social breakdown among God’s people.  They were drawn away from God and into a culture that had lost all reverence for human life, and soon were corrupting themselves with the most flagrant disregard for human dignity. 

It was at such a time and to such a people that God called and sent Jeremiah.  To encourage a reluctant Jeremiah toward being a prophet, God spoke these amazing commissioning words, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”  (Jeremiah 1:5) 

Listen carefully to what God said to Jeremiah. I think I clearly hear God saying to Jeremiah and to all of us, that our conception and birth are not our real beginning of existence.  Before the day and moment of our conception, God knew us.  And God dignified us by calling each of us into existence.  Wow!  What a wondrous thought to ponder.  

It is so awesome to think that before my mother lovingly cradled me in her arms, God wrapped his greater arms around me and held me close, instilling in me a purpose uniquely designed for me.  To ponder this wondrous thought infuses me with glorious love and eternal dignity.

The psalmist, David, knew this to be true and praises God, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:13-14).

Psalm 139 is a prayer in which David expresses joyous amazement that the Lord so thoroughly and intimately knows him.  God’s presence with him in every moment and circumstance gives him a grand sense of self-worth, inner security and comfort.  In this prayer, David declares the following dignity-filled truths about God’s relationship with all of us.

God knows me (v.1-4).  Yes, God is like a doctor giving us a physical exam; a psychiatrist exploring our inner selves; an intimate friend who probes us until we reveal everything.  As a result, God knows us thoroughly and completely, even our deepest and most secret thoughts and desires, both the good and bad.

God surrounds me (v.5-6).  God not only knows our whereabouts and our most personal thoughts; He is also very  present and surrounding us with protection, and providing for our needs.  Like a human father, God goes before us preparing our way and behind us guiding and encouraging us onward in our life journey with fatherly care and concern.

To think that God would know me as He does and that He would be as involved in the specifics of my daily living as He is, overwhelms me and I say with David, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand.” (v.6). 

God created me (v.13-16).  David acknowledges that the God who knows him so intimately is also the God who wonderfully created and fashioned him in his mother’s womb and even now lovingly cares for him.  He knows us the way a painter knows his picture, or a sculptor knows his statue.  He remembers each little detail of his work in shaping us into the special person we are, a unique image of himself. 

God thinks about me (v.17-18).  Not only does God think about us as he is forming us in our mother’s womb, he also is thinking about us as we are being shaped and fashioned beyond the womb. Moment by moment, day after day, we are in his thoughts as he watches over us.  David says that his thoughts of us outnumber the sand itself, impossible to count. 

In her book of meditations on the Psalms, “I’m Lonely, Lord – HOW LONG?” Marva J. Dawn concludes her meditation on this psalm with these words.  “Truly this picture of ourselves, marvelously designed, made with his tender care, should fill us with dignity and self-worth.  We don’t have to win God’s approval; we had it even before we were born.  We don’t have to prove our worth; he wove it together.  We don’t have to impress him with our goodness; he just wants to show us his.”

I agree and give you this question to ponder – What do you think God was thinking on the day you were given life?  What beautiful and attractive things, what grand and perfect things, was God thinking and planning for you while He was putting you together in your mother’s womb.  And, most importantly, what is he thinking about you, even now, as he continues to shape you by the experiences of the past week and year?  It is good to read Psalm 139 often.

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – October 27, 2021

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Ray M. Geigley

The book of Exodus describes an amazing significant event that happened in the life of Moses.  “The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” (33:11). 

Such an encounter with God seems so unreal.  The Lord God, almighty and sovereign creator of all that exists, talking to a human man, face to face, friend to friend.  I wonder how you and I would respond to such an intimate “face-to-face” encounter with our Lord God. 

But Moses was not the first person to experience this kind of relational encounter.  Many years earlier, Abraham had a similar experience.  You can read the story in Genesis 18:1-8.

The Lord had already appeared twice to Abraham.  In Genesis 15, God established the covenant with him concerning Canaan, the land of promise.  In Genesis 17, the Lord appeared to establish the covenant concerning the birth of Isaac.  Now, in Genesis 18, the Lord comes simply to be with Abraham.  Ninety-nine-year-old Abraham had walked with God for too many years not to recognize Him.  He leaped to his feet and ran to Him and bowed in worship.

We can read of God making intimate encounters, coming face to face, with his people throughout the Old Testament stories.  He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden in the cool of the day in Genesis 3.  He wrestled all night with Jacob at the ford of the Jabbok in Genesis 32.

He appeared to Manoah and his wife before the birth of Samson in Judges 13.  He appeared to Joshua before the battle of Jericho as “Commander of the army of the Lord” in Joshua 5.  This story also underlines the fact that Joshua “fell on his face to the earth and worshiped” Him.

Biblical scholars tell us that these physical appearances of God are the preincarnate, physical manifestation of the Lord God of Israel, sometimes referred to as “the Angel of the Lord” whose name is Jesus.

I believe that this same Lord Jesus who visited with Abraham, Moses, and Joshua also wants a personal companionship with you and me?  Could it be that in those moments of emptiness and loneliness in your soul, the living Jesus is seeking to walk and talk with you?  “Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will  come in and eat with him, and he with me.”  (Revelation 3:20).

Yes, I may be taught, cared for, and nourished by the help and counsel of pastors, spiritual leaders, and Christian friends.  But the Lord Himself, who saved me and called me into Kingdom work, also desires for me to welcome His more intimate “face to face” relationship with Himself.  He is the One who knows when I sit and when I rise. 

He is the One who knows the thoughts and intents of my heart, who knows each word before it is spoken from my lips, and who numbers the hairs on my head.  He is the One who desires to be intimately close to us, to disclose Himself, and yes, to speak face-to-face with us.

There is something powerful about the living Lord coming for a “face to face” visit with us, whether it is in your heart, in your home and family, or in an assembly with other believers.  Yes, in one sense He is always with us.  He everywhere present and never absent.  But that was true in Abraham’s day also and yet, this kind of visitation by the Lord holds a superior quality.

Yes, His Holy Spirit indwells us and fills us.  But there are wonderful moments or times in our walk of faith when, for whatever reason, His presence becomes very tangible and very precious.  Suddenly you look up and you know that He is there.  You sense His presence in the room.  What do you do in those moments?  If we are not careful, we could miss them altogether. 

It happened on the day of Jesus’ resurrection, while two of Jesus’ followers were walking on the road to Emmaus, troubled in spirit by all that had taken place.  A third person joined them as they walked.  It was the risen Lord, but they did not recognize Him. 

All along that road they poured out their hearts to Him, telling Him the tragedy of their Lord’s death on the cross and the perplexing news that Jesus might be alive again.  As they approached the village that was their home, we read that “Jesus acted as if he were going farther.  But they urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us.”  (Lk. 24:28-29).

The Lord is always looking for people, like Abraham and these two distraught disciples, who will invite His presence.  He is looking for people who will say, “Lord, don’t walk on by.  Please stay.”

There was a little song we used to sing around a summer campfire.  It most likely originated among Christian believers somewhere in the Caribbean.  “Kum by yah, my Lord, kum by yah.”  It means, “Lord, come by here.”  Is that the cry of your heart? 

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – October 13, 2021

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Ray M. Geigley

The story of Deborah begins with the words, “After Ehud’s death, the Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight.  So, the Lord turned them over to King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite king.  The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-haggoyim.”  (Judges 4:1, NLT).

Soon the situation of the Israelites became desperate.  “Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.  Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help.” (4:3).

Deborah is God’s answer to the desperate repentant cry of the Israelites for deliverance from Jabin’s cruel oppression.  Deborah is God’s appointed woman judge and prophet, a Godly woman of great and effective leadership strength.

She not only delivered justice for the people of God and called them back to God, but also takes leadership responsibility in a time of crisis when no one else is stepping up to the plate of leadership responsibility.  She had to go beyond the cultural roles of women in her day to help the people see who God was and what He had planned for them.

In her story we discover five life directives that energized her exceptionally strong leadership.  These same five directives remain vital as guidance for  anyone, man or woman, who seeks to be an effective Christian leader in today’s arrogant and selfish world of deception and division.  Indeed, everyone of us is given a particular leadership role in our world and so the directives are for all of us. 

1)  Deborah was driven by a genuine desire to please God.  She considered herself a team partner with God.  For Deborah, leadership was not about “being in charge,” but rather about “pleasing God.”  She communed with God often and did not let her busy life disconnect her from her relationship with Him.

This committed desire is certainly counter-cultural in our present “I’ll do it my way” kind of world.  And when this kind of devotion to God’s will is evident in someone’s life, we tend to think of them as a “religious freak.”

2)  Deborah found her life’s place and purpose in God’s space.  The search for meaning and purpose in life is one of our strongest human impulses.  Deborah had no problem with this.  She moved easily among the religious and political leadership.  She was confident that God had placed her in this leadership role and was not afraid of straight talk. 

According to verse five, “She would sit under the Palm of Deborah” where ”the Israelites would go to her for judgment.”  They recognized her as a wise and discerning person who had it together.

3)  Deborah stayed connected with her people and interacted with them on a regular basis.  She considered herself a team partner both with God and with her people.  She did not allow her busy life to disconnect her from relationship with them.  She knew that those connections kept her on track with God’s working in her world. 

In chapter five, verse two, she sings this line from her song of praise, “Israel’s leaders took charge, and the people gladly followed.  Praise the Lord!”   Her song begins with the idea that “we are in this together and I am not the boss, God is.”

It is often easy to place events over people and programs over relationships.  But, when we do this, we disconnect from relationship.  And whenever we disconnect from relationship, for whatever reason, we are walking away from what God desires from us, that is, a full team effort in doing His Kingdom work.

4)  Deborah believed that God is always on patrol, looking for and selecting persons whom He can appoint to responsible leadership position, or a challenging task, or risky assignment.  The Scriptures are filled with the stories of such God-selected, God-appointed persons, both male and female.

Through Deborah’s leadership, God was moving, working, acting and reacting, listening, judging and confirming.  Deborah knew that God was on patrol and in control.  She just needed to show up for work.

5)  Most importantly, Deborah walked her talk.  She acted and lived by what she believed and counseled others to do.  Deborah had total confidence in God.  She considered worry as wasted energy, useless and non-productive.  Whether it was in giving advice, providing support, leading an army, or praising God, worry was not a part of her leadership strategy. 

Deborah trusted God so fully, that she was willing to place her life on the line when needed, without question, doubt, or fear.  The result of her leadership, according to the Scripture in 5:31, is that “Then there was peace in the land for forty years.”

This is Deborah’s treasured legacy to both religious and national leadership persons in all generations since her time.  Furthermore, when we are available to God and others, when we are a doer and not a worrier, when all of this comes together as it did for Deborah, our nation will be a “land” at peace.

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – October 6, 2021

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Ray M. Geigley

The events of the past few years prompt me to encourage the reading of the biblical book, Hosea.  Hear and feel its message regarding our God being heartbroken and lonely because we chose to follow the false gods of selfish consumerism, fearful racism, and divisive politics.

Through the prophet Hosea, we are given a sweeping review of the earlier history of God’s people.  Hosea sees and understands the past, present, and future of Israel as God’s child from the perspective of God being the divine parent who remembers with joy, anguishes with grief, suffers with loneliness, and looks forward with hope.

To read these verses slowly and reflectively is to feel the pulse-beat of God’s lonely, heartbroken love for His people.  Yes, a people who have foolishly rejected and ignored His freely offered relationship of love.  The people who cause Him the deep pain of loneliness.

Chapter 11 opens with God, the parent, saying that, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”  You then immediately feel the pain of a rejected love that this all-knowing parent has for his child, “But the more they were called, the more they went away from me.”  And yet, He lavishly poured out His grace and love upon them. 

And in verse four we hear that God considered Isarel to be family.  He says, “I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love.  To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.” 

God graciously loved His son Israel and helped him leave Egypt.  But Israel soon chose to worship new gods and broke the basic rule of the covenant, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3).  Did they do this deliberately and intentionally?  Probably not.  More likely it was the result of the people becoming careless in nurturing their faith and thus their relationship with God became non-existent. 

Israel’s peace and prosperity were soon disrupted by the Assyrians.  In 721 BC the Assyrians besieged the capital and Israel’s armies were defeated, bringing the Northern Kingdom under Assyrian control.  Hosea saw and understood this event to be God’s judgment upon the faithlessness and immorality of the people. 

But throughout this time of defeat and despair, Hosea continued to affirm the steadfast love of God.  The central theme of Hosea’s prophetic ministry is captured in the Hebrew word “hesed” usually translated “steadfast love.”  “Hesed” is a passionate, emotional, persistent and loyal love, a love that will not ever quit loving.  Although the lover clearly sees the beloved’s unfaithfulness, “hesed” relentlessly works for the restoration of the relationship.

And, according to Hosea, that is the kind of love God has for his people.  God chose these people, claimed them as children, made a covenant to faithfully love them, when he brought them out of bondage in Egypt.

But they prostituted themselves by turning to other gods.  And Hosea heard the Lord say, “They have deserted (me) to give themselves to prostitution” (4:11).  And later the Lord describes their fickle love, “What can I do with you, Ephraim?  What can I do with you, Judah?  Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears.” (6:4).  

And this heartbroken, lonely God asks, “How can I give you up, Ephraim?  How can I hand you over, Israel?  How can I treat you like Admah?  How can I make you like Zeboiim?” (11:8).  God had destroyed these two cities along with Sodom & Gomorrah.

Good news!  The God whose heart is revealed in Hosea 11 is the same God of whom John would describe in his first letter, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!” (3:1).  “This is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” (3:16).   “This is how God showed his love among us:  He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” (4:9).

It is awful to contemplate the thought that Almighty God is heartbroken, lonely, and longing to reconcile our relationship with Himself, to enjoy the intimacy for which we were created.  It is awesome to imagine an empty place in God’s heart which only you and I can fill with our voices of grateful praise. 

My friend, the God who would not abandon the people of Israel has not given up on us.  When we act as if He does not exist, when we sell ourselves to other lovers, when we prostitute ourselves for the sake of the pleasures of the world around us, His steadfast love follows us.

When we suffer the consequences of our own foolish choices, when we experience the results of our own sinful behavior, His steadfast love follows and overshadow us, waiting in grieving loneliness for our return to a restored relationship of total love and trust.

May we soon give attention to Hosea’s appeal and respond with repentant hearts;  “Come, let us return to the Lord.  He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.  … Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him.  As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” (6:1-3).

Then we can fully experience the reality of Zephaniah 3:17;  “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.  He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”  AMEN!

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – September 29, 2021

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Ray M. Geigley

In Viktor E. Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, he tells a story that illustrates how God shows up in the strangest and most unexpected ways. Frankl was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.  He tells of how he and some other prisoners were moved on a work detail from Auschwitz to a Bavarian work camp.

“One evening when we were already resting on the floor of our hut, dead tired, soup bowls in hand, a fellow prisoner rushed in and asked us to run out to the assembly grounds and see the wonderful sunset. Standing outside we saw sinister clouds glowing in the west and the whole sky alive with clouds of ever-changing shapes and colors, from steel blue to blood red. The desolate gray mud huts provided a sharp contrast, while the puddles on the muddy ground reflected the glowing sky. Then, after minutes of moving silence, one prisoner said to another. “How beautiful the world could be!”

Even amid death and dying, through a sunset, God reminded a group of prisoners not to give up hope, for indeed the world could be beautiful.

This is Luke’s message in relating the story of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Mary’s lives were full of trouble, but Mary’s visit is filled with encouragement and joy. Despite their many troubles, their faith allowed them to see that God had not abandoned them but was working in them to bring new life into the world, making the world beautiful.

In first-century Judea, during the December darkness, people were shut up in their darkened houses for fear of Roman soldiers. The streets were deserted and fearfully quiet. There, in the dark silence of fear and hopelessness, a pure, clear, feminine voice cuts through the night, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, …for the Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.”

We usually encounter Mary’s song of praise, called the Magnificat, only during the Christmas season. We joyfully listen to the beautiful music and picture in our minds a simple young peasant girl in blue and white, surrounded by celestial blue light, with her hands clasped under her chin, looking prayerfully up into heaven and singing. We intently listen to the beautiful music, but seldom do we listen to the words.

We need to erase that picture from our imagination, silence the music, and listen to the words. I know that Luke did not pen these words to make beautiful music for our ears, he penned them because he had a message that he wants us to hear. So, I urge you to listen carefully to the strong emotion-filled words and think about God. Mary’s Song declares that God is in the thick of things, that God is bringing about a revolution.

“… He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.’” (Luke 1:46-55).

Mary’s Song is about the inbreaking of God’s Kingdom to which the whole Old Testament had been pointing. At that time, all existing order will be turned upside down. All present standards of success measurements will be reversed. An upside-down Kingdom will break open and over-rule the present worldly kingdom. Therefore we, along with Mary, celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas.

Mary’s Song is about God’s promise of justice for those who are treated unfairly, who are oppressed. But when, is our question. We look at the spreading unrighteousness in the world. We daily read the accounts of injustices, prejudices, racism, hatred, and political and religious divides and we say, “O God, how long?”  We forget that God’s timing is different than ours.

Let us make no mistake about it, God is sovereign. He is on the heavenly throne and rules the universe with love and justice. Nothing escapes his notice. Every evil act of unrighteousness, every devilish act of greed and lying is seen, and every oppressor is judged by the sovereign God of righteous love, mercy, and justice.

God promises it. His created world of all nature and humanity will again be beautiful. The searching question for each of us is whether we are intentionally and actively helping to make it happen or not.

When Mary was invited by God’s angel to participate in his work of making the world beautiful, Mary questioned how, but then said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.”  (Luke 1:38).

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – September 15, 2021

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Another Labor Day.  Another day to gratefully acknowledge all who have and are working for the “common good” of all persons in our nation and world.  Another chance to review and ask ourselves for what and for whom am I working.  Is my working all about me or about God? 

The Labor Day holiday is also a good time to be reminded that God created you and me primarily for fellowship with himself, and secondly, he tasked us to be the loving caregivers of all his created works.  From the beginning of this earth, God intended to sustain and continue his creative working in this world through you and me.  This truth alone should encourage and motivate us to busy ourselves with God’s business.  But what can we correctly say is God’s business? 

In Isaiah 40:3-5 we hear God calling us to invest and engage ourselves in his grand excavation project of lowering mountains, raising valleys, and making rough places level, building a glorious highway toward a new earth and heaven.

Every Sunday for many generations, the Lord’s Prayer has been repeated by millions of Christians around the world.  And in that prayer, we petition God to energize us in making his name holy and in doing his will on earth as it is in heaven.  So, what is his will and how will it be done? 

In Luke 4:16-21, we read that Jesus returned to his hometown, Nazareth, and on the first Sabbath, went to the synagogue where he read Isaiah’s prophetic listing of the Messiah’s work credentials.  “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 

After reading the text, Jesus surprisingly claimed these credentials as his own work (mission) credentials.  And later, he listed these same work credentials to the disciples of John the Baptist when they asked, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Luke 7:18-23). 

It is important to note that these credentials are all about responding to the social needs of others.  The welfare of the weak and powerless, the sick and helpless, the poor and the hungry, the abused and the abuser, the stranger and immigrant, of all races and creeds.  This is God’s transforming, redemptive work in the world.  This has always been God’s business. 

As a Christian, rooted in Anabaptist theology and understanding of Scripture, I believe all of scripture would declare that God’s intention for us disciples of Jesus, is to daily emulate the life and work of Jesus.  I believe that “God is at work” where social concerns and human needs are responded to with authentic Jesus-like acts of compassionate love and practical, material generosity.  This is God’s business.   

I believe “serving others” is what identifies us as disciples of Jesus Christ.  I believe Christian faith is more than worship and verbal commitment to the Lordship of Jesus on a Sunday morning.  It is also the live performanceof that worship and commitment in every conversation and activity of life Monday through Saturday.  It is “walking the talk” of Jesus’ lordship and love in our worship, work and every relational encounter.  Thus, Jesus’ work credentials are intended to be the authentic work credentials for all God’s people living today.

Or, as Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  And in verses 44-45, we hear this “good deeds” also includes our response toward our enemies.  “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”

For this Labor Day week, we do well to review our work priorities and behaviors.  How energetic and vigorous has been my commitment to laboring in God’s business of loving and caring for the world through me?  How sincere have I been in praying “Our Father in heaven, … your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”?  For whom do I labor?  Is my “going to work” all about me or about God.

In doing so, be encouraged by Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”  AMEN!

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – September 8, 2021

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Ray M. Geigley

Today we are living 20 years longer than our forebears did a century ago.  However, many persons have not prepared themselves to fully enjoy life during these years.  Instead, they awake each morning without purpose and with a diminished sense of self-worth.  They meander through their days with no vision, no mission, no dreams, and no enthusiasm for life.  For them life is just one long monotonous “rocking chair” wait for death.  HOW SAD.

We may well ask, why does God allow aging to happen?  What is its purpose?  When did the process of maturing, which we see as being positive, become the thief in the night that we see as aging?  And that question leads to, If God allows aging to happen, it must have a purpose.  So, what is its purpose?

It has been said, “It is not how old you are but how you are old that makes the difference in your enjoyment or despair of life.”  It has also been said, “A beautiful young person is an accident of nature, but a beautiful older person is a work of art.”

Regretfully, in our American culture, attitudes about aging are very negative, resulting in a massive denial of aging.  We joke about growing old and stigmatize those who do.  We call our older adults “elderly” an identification suggesting diminishment and requiring constant care, rather than calling them “elders” which denotes wisdom and respect.

We idolize the young and desperately cling to the carefree, immature lifestyle of youth.  We constantly fight the evidence of aging and deny its reality by spending millions of dollars on cosmetic cover-ups to keep us looking young.  We pluck or dye our gray hairs and pay for surgical face-lifts attempting to cover any evidence of the aging process.  But it is all in vain.

American culture views aging as a succession of losses, a painful descent into nothingness, and a senseless slippage of strength, abilities, and stature in the community.  As evidenced in their attitudes and actions, Americans do not agree with the wisdom of Proverbs 16:31 which says, “Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.”

Even we, who call ourselves Christian, are tempted to become despondent and resentful as we grow older, causing us to age more like sour vinegar than sweet wine.  We need to daily adjust our attitude toward seeing aging from a vantage point dramatically different from that of the non-Christian world.

In appealing for a corrective change in our attitudes, Biblical wisdom states that our latter years are the glory years? “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” (Proverbs 4:18).  

To change our attitude toward viewing our life pilgrimage as a journey into “the full light of day”  is to prepare us to see new visions, hear new sounds, and find new directions for living our latter years in continuing service to God and our fellow human beings .

In their book, Aging, God’s Challenge to Church & Synagogue, Richard Gentzler, Jr. and Donald Clingan state: “Aging can begrowing into the light in such a way that as we age, we see new visions, hear new sounds, and find new directions for living in service to God and to our fellow human beings.  …aging is so filled with promises that it can lead us to discover more and more of life’s treasures.  Aging is not a reason for despair, but a basis of hope; not a slow decaying, but a gradual maturing; not a fate to be undergone, but a change to be embraced.

The psalmist paints a beautiful word picture of the aging person in Psalms 92:12-14.  The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.  They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.”

These verses suggest that our aging has the potential for spiritual development and character refinement far beyond what we could imagine for ourselves.  Our unique, individual, God-given gifts should improve and mature as we grow older.  Our character should become more Christ-like as we grow in a deeply rooted relationship with God.

Katie Funk Wiebe says in her book, Border Crossing, p.201,  “Old age is the proving ground of whatever one has believed, taught, and said.” 

This is to say that all we have been in the earlier years of life now matures and flowers in our older years.  Growing older leads us into new physical, social, and spiritual experiences and challenges, giving  opportunity for the integration of life, accumulated knowledge and discernment to bless our journey. 

I agree with those who say, “Aging is not an enemy to be conquered, but a friend to be cultivated.” 

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – September 1, 2021

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Ray M. Geigley

In the beginning God created TIME.  He then placed things into space and TIME.  Then he created MAN and placed man in TIME as a subject of TIME to live in TIME. 

I say this to impress upon us that God created TIME and gives it to us human beings as a daily gift, moment by moment, heartbeat by heartbeat.  Someday, during one heartbeat moment, the same God who created time and works in time is going to say, “That’s it.  There will be no more time for you.”

What we do with that daily moment by moment gift very directly shapes how we will age physically, socially, and spiritually.   And it will determine what kind of person we will become in our latter years.  Today, not tomorrow, is given us for the one purpose of preparing ourselves for the future.

To properly prepare for the latter part of our life’s journey it is crucial that we begin by accepting the fact that we are going to die.  Yes, each one of us will die.  Life on this earth will come to an end.   Until we break down that wall of denial, we will not be motivated to follow through on any of the other needed preparations.

Whether we choose to believe it or not, our relationship with death and our attitude about our own dying, significantly affects the way we live each day.  I agree with those who say that we cannot truly live until we have accepted the fact that one day we are going to die. 

How will God call time, ending my life on earth?  When will God call time?  Only He knows.  How much time do I have left?  Only God knows.  How do I prepare for that end moment and the latter years of life that precede that moment?  That’s the focus of this presentation and the ones to follow over the next few weeks.

During my 20 years as a chaplain at Menno Haven Retirement Community I often heard a resident comment, “I didn’t expect to live this long” or “I never thought I would get to be this old.”  In those comments I hear the resident’s confession, I wasn’t prepared for this.  Now what should I do?

Preparation for growing old gracefully and gratefully should begin during the younger, more energetic and busy years of life.  Before we enter the latter third of our life’s journey and the retirement years.  This early preparation is important not only for sufficient financial resources, but also for adequate emotional and spiritual resources to carry us through to the end of this life on earth and into eternal life in the heavenlies.  Even so, we are never too old to begin changing our attitudes and behaviors regarding the ending of our life on earth.

Abram Schmitt writes, “I have a haunting notion that too many people live on too shallow a level.  They miss the real joy of living.  There is a depth of meaning to life that eludes them.  If only people would permit themselves to face their limited life span, they would be forced to make the most of every moment.  …There is no escape from death, but in this modern era people do all they can to avoid death, to delay it, and to evade all thoughts and conversations about it.”

The Psalmist prays, “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” (39:4).  And again, in chapter 90, verse 12, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

Joni Eareckson Tada writes, “…of all the things to be counted, this is the hardest – to number our days.  We number everything else so easily.  We know how much money we have in our purse and how many dollars in the bank.  Farmers number their sheep and cattle.  Restaurants number the meals served in a week.  Teachers check off attendance records.  Gardeners can tell you how many tomato plants are in the backyard. 

Yet we find it hard to number something so precious as our days.  Perhaps that’s because we see our days stretching on and on.  They seem infinite and so there is no need, we think, to number them.  Things we fail to account for, we waste.  That’s why it is wise to ask God to teach us to consider each day separate from the next, distinct in its purpose, unique in the way it is to be lived.”  (Diamonds in the Dust, 1993, Sept. 14). 

Contrary to popular thought, we do not live on borrowed time but on entrusted time.  Each day is the gift of time that God has given us.  Today is the day we hold in our hands to manage and use for God’s glory and our neighbor’s good. 

As Bill and Gloria Gaither sing so beautifully – “We have this moment to hold in our hands, and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand.  Yesterday’s gone and tomorrow may never come, but we have this moment today.”

What do you want to accomplish before your time in this world of Time is ended?  How do you want people to remember you?  What are you doing with your fleeting TIME? 

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – August 25, 2021

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley