Welcome to Pastor Jack Buckley's weekly blog and podcast.
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Monday, August 27, 2007
Self-Control: In Step With the Spirit
Genesis 39:1-9; 2 Peter 1:1-8
St. Paul surprises us -- or at least me -- when he names self-control as the final piece of his metaphorical "Fruit of the Spirit." (Galatians 5:22-23)
It seems contradictory at first glance. Wouldn't you think anything about the self would fit better in his dirty-laundry list of "works of the flesh"? (Galatians 5:19-21)
But he's not talking here about some kind of self-help spirituality. As in, "Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps." That would be like planting your feet firmly in mid-air, which sooner than later will land you right where Wile E. Coyote always ends up -- or down! [We pause here for you to visualize him running in place 3 feet beyond the edge of a cliff, etc. Now, where were we?]
In fact, self-control shows up several places in the New Testament as one sure way to know that God is working faithfully in your life of faith.
In the Old Testament, I think of Joseph's example in Genesis 39. It's a story that could easily win an Emmy for best soap opera episode of the year. And it's the turning point in my message this time.
Listen to the GODcast!
posted by Jack Buckley at
11:13 AM
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
This Vale of Tears
Last Wednesday I sent the following letter to our church family. It was perhaps the saddest message I have ever had to write. It announces our daughter Sharon's loss of her unborn baby boy in the midst of a medical emergency. She and her husband Victor are strong in faith and love, for each other and for God, and they are struggling through each day with amazing grace. Our families will appreciate your good thoughts, prayers, and understanding as we travel through the valley of death's dark shadow.
Dear church family,
As you know, our daughter Sharon has been pregnant and looking forward with her husband Victor to the birth of a baby boy in December. I write to you now with the tragic news that yesterday morning (Tuesday 8/14) she lost that baby in an emergency situation at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland.
The Buckley and Hernandez families deeply appreciate the medical staff's compassionate and proficient care for Sharon from the moment she entered the hospital. They did everything they possibly could for both Sharon and little Jonathan, and words cannot express our gratitude for their diligence in protecting Sharon's health and safety.
We hope that Sharon will be allowed to go home today or tomorrow. She faces several weeks of recovery and physical healing. Please be praying for her and for Victor in this time of their terrible loss. I know they will appreciate your notes of encouragement and support.
Victor's parents, Vic and Linda, and all the Buckleys need your prayers and love as well. And say a special thank you to God for the incredible help Sharon received from her friends Heather and Shelley around the clock in the labor room. They are Solid Gold Saints!
We grieve, but not as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). We take heart from God's promise that even the deepest waters and the hottest flames have no power to separate us from God's undying love and God's powerful presence (Isaiah 43:2).
Pastor Jack Buckley
Sharon has written a tender tribute to the baby and his special place in her and Victor's lives. It's posted on the web site of CaringBridge, a wonderful non-profit support agency for people in crisis. I believe her story will warm your heart with God's own grace and peace.
posted by Jack Buckley at
3:40 PM
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Gentleness: Surprising Strength
Numbers 12:3, Deuteronomy 34:9-12; Ephesians 4:1-7
When I read St. Paul's inclusion of "gentleness" in his list of the "Fruit of the Spirit," I cringed. (See Galatians 5:22-23. And the King James Bible calls it "meekness.")
Oh boy, I thought, here we go again!
Whatever the word meant in 1st Century Greek, it's just plain soft and soapy to our American ears. Be a Christian, become a wimp? For God's sake, that can't be right!
So, what's a preacher to do?
What I did was turn to Moses as a case study. After all, Numbers 12:3 says he outscored all the Israelites when it came to meekness. Surely they jest!
I mean, just flash back to all the times you've seen Cecil B. DeMille's "Ten Commandments" movie on Easter-time TV... Or read the story for yourself in the Book of Exodus...
Smack-down face-offs with Pharaoh... 10 terrible plagues... 10 holy commandments... A whole lot of fire and brimstone....
What in the world is up with this "meek and gentle" stuff?!
Listen to the GODcast!
posted by Jack Buckley at
2:14 PM
Monday, August 13, 2007
Faithfulness: Truth You Can Touch
Genesis 15:1-6; Galatians 3:1-9
In every wedding I perform, the bride and groom give each other a ring and say, "This ring I give you in token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love." Sometimes, while we're planning the wedding details, they'll ask me about the "faith" part. I assure them it doesn't mean some doctrine or other, or even belief in God. What's at stake is faithfulness to your partner through thick and thin, come hell or high water. In short, and for the long haul, they're saying, "You can count on me!"
This week's message mines the fact that one Greek word gets accurately translated both as "faith" and "faithfulness." So, might all those controversies over faith vs. works just be making mountains out of molehills?
Listen to the GODcast!
_______________
My patron saint Frederick Buechner tells a story on himself, how he once misread a "word from the Lord" only to find out later that he'd got it absolutely right after all.
I remember sitting parked by the roadside once, terribly depressed and afraid about my daughter's illness and what was going on in our family, when out of nowhere a car came along down the highway with a license plate that bore on it the one word out of all the words in the dictionary that I needed most to see exactly then. The word was TRUST. What do you call a moment like that? Something to laugh off as the kind of joke life plays on us every once in a while? The word of God? I am willing to believe that maybe it was something of both, but for me it was an epiphany. The owner of the car turned out to be, as I'd suspected, a trust officer in a bank, and not long ago, having read an account I wrote of the incident somewhere, he found out where I lived and one afternoon brought me the license plate itself, which sits propped up on a bookshelf in my house to this day. It is rusty around the edges and a little battered, and it is also as holy a relic as I have ever seen. * An old Portuguese proverb says, "God writes straight with crooked lines." It's really faith that ever finds those lines in the first place, and faithfulness that traces them for others to find in the midst of what we like to call real life.
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* Telling Secrets (HarperSanFrancisco, 1991, pp. 49-50)posted by Jack Buckley at
3:55 PM
Monday, August 06, 2007
Generosity: Genuine Goodness
1 Chronicles 29:10-14; James 1:9-16
The last Sunday before my vacation began was a family worship meeting, a celebration of the previous week's Vacation Bible School whose theme was "The Great Bible Reef." The kids sang some peppy VBS songs just before the sermon time. So my podcast includes some introductory remarks about, among other things, the theological meaning of "woo hoo." Bear with me there for about 1 1/2 minutes, then join me in probing around in Paul's 6th "Fruit of the Spirit" -- Generosity! I think you'll like what we find. I know you'll be blessed if you open your heart wide to the Spirit of God.
Listen to the GODcast!
posted by Jack Buckley at
10:33 AM
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Let Us Pray
Our congregation shares a grand historic building and campus with the Alameda Korean Presbyterian Church. This morning, thanks to Pastor Myong Bae Choi, every church in our San Francisco Presbytery received an urgent call for prayers from the Presbyterian church in South Korea, asking us to join them in asking God to protect and set free 21 Korean hostages who've been held since last week by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
I urge you to read the letter below, and add your own prayers to theirs and to ours.
URGENT PRAYER APPEAL TO ECUMENICAL COMMUNITY
July 31, 2007
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK) has consistently prayed for "peace and life" in the global village.
We, together with the whole Korean people, are in deep sorrow and pain after we heard today the shocking news that the Taliban have killed a second Korean hostage, Mr. Shim Sung-Min, early this morning. This terrible news came to us only a few days after Rev. Bae Hyung-Kyu was killed by the Taliban last Wednesday. Moreover, the threat of further executions of the hostages is driving not only the affected families but the whole Korean society into the most painful situation.
Therefore, we urgently call on the entire ecumenical community around the world to pray to God that the killings of innocent people may stop and that these hostages may safely return to their families. We deeply appreciate the earlier expression of prayer sent from the World Council of Churches to the National Council of Churches in Korea.
We urge the global community to work for true peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. Particularly, we sincerely request the governments of Afghanistan and the US to lead the negotiations with the Taliban for the sake of the safe return of the hostages.
We express our deep condolences to the families of Rev. Bae Hyung-Kyu and Mr. Shim Sung-Min and stand in firm solidarity with all the affected families.
Let us all continue to pray for all people whose lives are threatened by conflict situations and to make our utmost effort to work for abundant life for all people.
Sincerely,
Rev. Yoon Kil Soo
General Secretary
The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK)
posted by Jack Buckley at
4:01 PM
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