Author Archives: John Keller

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About John Keller

I am a retired Lutheran pastor whose intention is to consent to God's gracious presence and actions within.

Words of Death and Life

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The Old Testament prophets were poets and strong words were their tools. The prophet Hosea used offensive language to stir up the people and to call them back to God. The graphic words were to be a shock to the community in hope that they would repent.

Hosea and Gomer by Artist Cody F. Miller

In the first chapter, Hosea was directed by God to marry an unconventional wife.

The Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” (Hosea 1:2)

His chosen wife, Gomer, may have been a temple prostitute from one of the fertility cults or a simple street prostitute of the city. She bore children to Hosea to whom Hosea gave symbolic names, No-Pity and Not-My-Children, demonstrating God’s strong disfavor with the fickle people of Israel. Afterwards Hosea spoke an extremely harsh word to the people.

Plead with your mother, plead— for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband— that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts, or I will strip her naked and expose her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and turn her into a parched land, and kill her with thirst. Upon her children also I will have no pity, because they are children of whoredom.

God was angry with Israel’s infatuation with other religions. Instead of being a shining beacon of the Lord God for other nations, they had embraced the gods of other nations, forsaking their unique covenant with God. They had become like a spouse caught in adultery.

The harsh violent language of Hosea can be a shock to our spiritual sensibilities. How can God speak in such cruel severe words?

Perhaps the words are so harsh, because the people’s hearts were so hard. Or perhaps they are so cruel because our hearts are so hard. The words of the prophet “killed” the people (including us the reader), so that God can create a new heart, a new life: a kind of resurrection.

Therefore I will now allure her and speak tenderly to her, . . . I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. (Hosea 2:14,19)

Finally the Lord declared, “I will have pity on No-Pity, and I will say to Not-My-Children, ‘You are my people’” (Hosea 2:23). I cling to these words of hope and restoration.

Lord Jesus, the Word of God, you absorbed our sin in your death on the cross. Speak to us again the Word of Life.

The Prophet’s Profit

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The prophetic books have always been a challenge to me as a preacher and pastor. I prefer to work with narrative portions of the Bible: stories that make a point about God and humanity. The Biblical prophets rarely tell stories (the prophet Jesus being the exception). Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Micah and others tend to use poetic language of metaphor and direct speech. The language is often harsh and demanding. Law seems to prevail over gospel; God’s judgment over God’s mercy.

Do not rejoice, O Israel! Do not exult as other nations do; for you have played the whore, departing from your God. You have loved a prostitute’s pay on all threshing floors. Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail them. They shall not remain in the land of the Lord; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and in Assyria they shall eat unclean food. (Hosea 9:1-3)

Yet this is God’s Word and needs our faithful attention. Like a good doctor, the prophet gives a proper diagnoses of our spiritual condition. The prophet does not sugar-coat the news, but rather forcefully calls for the repentance of God’s people. The prophet shows us our sinful arrogance and calls us back to God’s ways. It is our disloyalty to God and God’s ways that causes the judgment. It is our mistreatment of our neighbor that causes God’s to be angry.

 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.  Take words with you and return to the Lord; say to him, “Take away all guilt; accept that which is good, and we will offer the fruit of our lips.   (Hosea 14:1-2)

The prophets announce God’s mercy and tenderness. God’s love permeates even the judgment.  The prophet Hosea proclaims God’s grace towards us in a poem that reminds of the paradise garden of Eden in Genesis 2.

I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.  I will be like the dew to Israel. . .   They shall again live beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom like the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

The prophets can still speak God’s Word of life for us. Are we willing to listen?

Lord Jesus, you have the words of eternal life. Open our hearts to hear them.

86 and Laughing

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My blog was interrupted by life. Last Saturday, my 85-year-old mother fell in her apartment and fractured her hip. Since she suffers from dementia I had to make several medical decisions with her, the primary one being whether to have surgery to repair the fracture. Since it was the week-end I could not reach her gerontologist until Monday and then we played phone tag until Tuesday. I wanted her input since she knew both my mother’s dementia and her physical capabilities. After conversation with doctors, family, and friends the decision was made for surgery.

I also prayed a lot during this time, asking God to provide wisdom and guidance. I asked others to pray as well. I don’t see prayer as a magic formula but I trust that God weaves his will into the thoughts and decisions we make. I am thankful for all the prayers that came from family and friends, especially Resurrection Lutheran Church.

Mom with her children at grandson's wedding.

My mother’s surgery went well at Woodwind’s Hospital and within twenty-four hours she was taking her first steps. Wednesday afternoon she and I watched an old Cosby TV show and we laughed together at his antics. It was her 86th birthday and she had her old smile back, the one she flashed at my son’s wedding a month ago.   Thanks be to God.

The joy of the Lord is our strength. Nehemiah 8:10.

Lord Jesus, we walk by faith and not by sight. Help us to trust you in all things. Amen.

Mountain Voices

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Elijah, in a spiritual funk, ran away from Queen Jezebel to the mountain of God. Called Horeb by the northern tribes of Israel, it is the same mountain where Moses received the 10 commandments and saw the back side of God (Exodus 33). Moses had hid in a cleft in the rock when God passed by and scholars think it was this cleft or cave to which Elijah ran.  In this high place God was sure to meet him (I Kings 19).

Israel is a hilly country, with deep valley and high craggy peaks. The high places were often used for worship, whether for idols or for the Lord. Solomon’s Temple was built on Mt. Zion. Elijah confronted the priest of Baal on Mt. Carmel. Jesus preached his sermon on the mount (Matthew 5).  The most significant high place was a hill outside Jerusalem when Jesus was crucified.

Atop Hallett Peak in RMNP

Mountains have always been associated with holiness and transcendence. They reach towards the heavens and can give a person a unique perspective on the world. I have been drawn to mountain peaks since boyhood, looking up at either Mt. Angeles or Mt. Rainier. Last summer I climbed Hallett Peak in Colorado as a kind of spiritual exercise in prayer.

But as Elijah discovered, God is not restricted to mountain peaks. Though Elijah experienced a dramatic sequence of wind, earthquake and fire, God was not in the dramatic. It was in the sheer silence that followed where Elijah heard God speak. This silence can be found anywhere, in the deepest valley as well as the loftiest peak. We seek a holy space where the ears of our souls yearn for simple assuring voice of God. And “voice” may not be the right word, more like presence, peace, hope, like a mother’s calm shush that ease’s a baby cries. As a child of God, I still yearn for that quiet, assuring voice of God’s grace.

God’s “voice” gives us the assurance to carry on the journey. Elijah did not stay on the mountain, but turned around and went back to face Queen Jezebel. More on that tomorrow.

Lord Jesus, quiet my noisy life that I may hear your loving voice.

Heavenly Reststop

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On Sunday Resurrection Lutheran will engage the story of Elijah the prophet. Elijah lived about seventy-five years after the death of King Solomon or about 850 BC. He spoke against King Ahab and Queen Jezebel and their re-introduction of Baal worship and human sacrifice (I Kings 16:34). Elijah’s story is a roller coaster of spiritual and emotional energy.  I Kings 18 contains the story of Elijah’s victory over the Baal priests, calling down the fire of God on his sacrifice. I posted on it last June after re-telling the story at Vacation Bible Adventure.

Elijah in the Desert by Michael D. O'Brien

After securing this victory, one would think Elijah would be filled with supreme confidence. Instead he sank into depression when he learned that Queen Jezebel wanted him dead. He could face the 450 prophets of Baal, but not an angry queen. The instinct to escape took hold, and he ran away to the edge of the map and beyond. Beersheba is the southern edge of civilization and Elijah pushed beyond it into the wilderness. There he collapsed under a broom tree and prayed for death. Like the prophet Jonah after Nineveh’s repentance, Elijah asked the Lord to take his life. He had hit bottom, emotionally and spiritually. Exhausted he fell asleep.

At this low point, God intervened.

Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. (I Kings 19:5-8)

What a comforting moment, with  the angel’s touch, the warm cakes, and the jar of water. And then the cycle is repeated: rest, touch, cakes, water. It was if Elijah needed to slow down, to stop and rest.

Perhaps that is the intent for us as the reader. To stop and rest in this story for a moment. Are you able at this moment to simply rest in God’s grace and love?

You have made us for yourself, oh Lord, and our hearts are restless until we rest in you. Augustine.

Lord Jesus, teach me to rest in you.

Playing during Worship

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Yesterday during worship, I pitched my small backpacking tent as part of the children’s sermon. I wanted to communicate the ancient Israelite experience of the tabernacle or tent of meeting as being portable. I had practiced setting it up prior to the message and thought I had it ready to go. But my practice session was outside with plenty of space. Inside on Sunday, it was a different story.

The poles are very long, even for a small tent. I was concerned that none of the children be struck by the poles, but I forgot to warn our musicians. As I whipped one pole around to insert into the tent sleeve, I nearly blinded the pianist. Fortunately she has quick hands and avoided any serious damage. I was sweating bullets until the tent finally popped up. After the tent was up I placed our altar Bible in the tent as a reminder of the ark of the covenant which rested inside Israel’s tabernacle.

Of course I wonder if the children made the connection between the Biblical story and our brief experience with a small backpacking tent. Hard to judge. Yet for a moment I saw in their faces a moment of astonishment or surprise when the tent “popped” up. I remember creating tents as a child out of blankets, chairs and small tables. It was a form of play that I enjoyed. I wonder if we had a brief moment of “play” in worship yesterday as the tent sprang up and later as the children walked through it.

In seminary, I remember reading an essay regarding worship, work and play. The article suggested that we sometime confuse the three: we tend to worship work, to work at play, and to play at worship. People often overstress their careers, become too competitive at their leisure activities, and behave lackadaisical at worship. We forget that worship is entering the holy presence of Almighty God.

Still the “play” moment in worship yesterday had a bit of awe and wonder within it. And I trust that God delighted in the children’s joy. I sure did.

How do you sort out work, play and worship?

Lord Jesus, let me find my purpose, my joy, my life in you.

Sanctuary Light

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On Sunday, our Biblical focus will be King Solomon’s building and dedicating the temple in Jerusalem. His father, King David, had wanted to build a temple, but through the prophet Nathan, God instructed him to wait.

Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?  I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle.  Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word  saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” (2 Samuel 7:5-7)

The temple was a mixed blessing to Israel. Like many beautiful cathedrals it provided a place for the worship of God to flourish. Awe and wonder could be expressed in multiple ways within its walls. The book of Psalms captures some of the beauty of that magnificent structure.

One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. Psalm 27:4

But as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the danger of a fixed structure is that we compartmentalize God’s activity and restrict God’s presence to the “box on the hill.” A temple, church or cathedral should draw us into the wondrous presence of God yet also send us out renewed and refreshed to be God’s people in the world. The light of Christ is to shine both inside and outside the sanctuary.

I have been rereading Thomas Kelly’s A Testament of Devotion.  A Quaker, Kelly testifies to how the light of prayer is to be transformative wherever we are:

A practicing Christian must above all be one who practices the perpetual return of the soul into it inner sanctuary, who brings the world into its Light and rejudges it, who brings the Light into the world with all its turmoil and it fitfulness and recreates it (p. 35).

Having worshipped in a simple Friend’s Meeting House, I know that it was not the magnificent space that inspired Kelly’s deep conviction, but rather the Light in the people who gathered to listen and be in the Light. The Light calls us together where we amplify its wavelength in community but then the Light directs us back into the world. Our meeting places are to be launch pads.

Lord Jesus, let your light shine in me.

Port-a-Temple

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Thirty years ago, I completed an internship at Gustavus Adolphus College. Though my office was in a neighboring building, I walked by or through Christ’s Chapel several time a day. The chapel’s simple, yet provocative architecture often stimulated spiritual reflection.

For example, the chapel is situated in the center of the campus where its high steeple bears witness to God’s central place in the mission of the college. It has clear windows on all four sides, so that worshippers can visually interact with the other college functions. You could see the science center, the library, or the dining hall from your pew. Some saw this as a distraction but also it reminded me that God does not cut me off from the world, but rather prepares me to re-enter it as God’s servant.

Christ’s Chapel also had a unique outer “shell” or wall. The wall panels are long triangular pieces with stain glass separating each panel. The “wavy walls” shimmered in the sunlight. One day after worship Professor Robert Esbjornson explained that the shimmering walls served as a representation of the ancient Israelites’ tabernacle or tent of meeting. When the Israelites left Egypt, they needed a symbolic reminder of God’s presence in their midst. So they were instructed to build a fabric tent of meeting. God said to Moses, “And have them make me a sanctuary so that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). Christ Chapel was a re-imagined tabernacle in a contemporary setting, .

The tabernacle became  a visual reminder of God’s presence and power in Israel’s midst. “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34).  In the time of King Solomon the portable tabernacle was replaced with a permanent stone temple.

The portability of the tabernacle continues to challenge me. Too often we want to restrict God to church building or temples. We compartmentalize our space and time. Perhaps we need tabernacles today that can be placed on Wall Street or in front of the Capital, in our homes and our workplaces, to remind us that God travels with us. Of course, at Pentecost God’s Spirit filled the people of God creating a portable sanctuary in each of us. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (I Corinthian 3:16).  How are you carrying God?

Lord Jesus, make me mindful of your presence in my life.

The Riddle of King David

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King David’s life is a complex riddle that defies easy classification. He was the greatest king of Israel, yet he and his family abused their royal authority. He was a friend of God yet capable of great sin.  In the book of II Samuel (during David’s reign as king) there are seven murders, ten executions, twelve rapes, and a suicide. Yet in spite of this personal violence, God’s presence and power permeates the book.

A clear example is after King David has raped Bathsheba and killed her husband, the warrior Uriah (II Samuel 11). At first, David seemed able to cover up his crimes and to carry on business as usual. Then in II Samuel 12:1-2

But the thing David had done displeased the Lord, and the Lord sent Nathan to David.

Nathan was the court prophet, one who spoke for God.  Nathan told David a parable in which a rich man with many sheep steals the only ewe lamb of a poor neighbor so that the rich man can prepare a meal for a guest. Hearing the story, David became angry against the rich man and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die!”

Nathan said to David, “You are the man!”

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife. (II Samuel 12:7-9)

David’s only response was simple and direct: “I have sinned against the Lord.” No excuses. David had abused his power.

David deserved death, yet God was merciful with him. We may not be as blatant in our abuse of power or authority, yet each of us has sinned against the Lord. We have not loved the Lord God with all our heart, mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. Do we recognize our need for God’s mercy and forgiveness?  Are we not a riddle in our own behavior?

Lord Jesus, have mercy on me.

David Danced

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With the current remake of the movie Footloose, I am reminded of Kevin Bacon’s speech in the original movie.  He comes before the city council to argue for the abolition of law that prohibited dancing in the town.  He  pulls out a Bible and reads from 2 Samuel 6:14 and 16, “David dancing and leaping before the Lord.”

With our current cultures focus on dance and movement, from Zumba fitness classes to “Dancing with the Stars,”  I wonder if dance will have a revival in worship?  I know that in certain Pentecostal or Charismatic churches, “dancing before the Lord” is not unheard of.  I just wonder if Lutherans, the frozen chosen, would ever thaw enough to tap their toes or to sing their praise with dance.  Can one keep the Joy of the Lord bottled up forever?

Lord Jesus, you are the Lord of the Dance.  May I follow your lead.