Blessings and Curses and God - June 12

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 56, 57, [58]; PM Psalm 64, 65; Deut. 30:1-10; 2 Cor. 10:1-18; Luke 18:31-43

When all these things have happened to you, the blessings and the curses that I have set before you… then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, gathering you again from all the peoples among whom the Lord your God has scattered you.

What a message for the beginning of this week, this week that marks the one-year anniversary of a nightmare that unfolded on the campus of Saint Stephen’s one year ago this Friday. As I prepare for the service this Friday, workers are moving to punch lists to finish the Memorial Garden and our Memorial Labyrinth project, we have ordered 150 copies of A Light Shines in the Darkness: Choosing Hope after a Mass Shooting for Friday’s event, the beautiful Altar front and stoles woven together from the prayers of our community has been delivered to the church, and we still miss our friends and others lives have added stress and pain due to the events of one year ago. 

There is not a doubt in my mind that the Holy Spirit has been comforting, lifting up, and doing a new thing at Saint Stephen’s. Last Sunday felt like Easter (we did combine the two larger services for the summer), and I don’t think I am alone that there is an excitement every single week that is palpable, new ideas and people creatively living into their call to follow Jesus. I give thanks for this past year and the faithfulness of our community. 

Today’s lesson from Deuteronomy is a reminder that God is a part of it all, the blessings and the curses that are unavoidable… and that the Lord will restore our fortunes and have compassion on us. We see it when we gather together to be the body of Christ and respond to God’s love. May we have the wisdom to not be lost in despair from the curses and hold onto the promise of God's hope or restoration and resurrection. And may we give thanks for each other’s role in helping us to do just that this past year.  

Faithfully,

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection:  What blessings are connected to curses for you? 

Daily Challenge:  Thing of something that has gone wrong this week.  Ask yourself what you can learn, do, or change that will be a sign of hope from this wrong.