SHADYSIDE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

You love to turn things around, and yet every time you do, another fabulous insight falls into our laps. It must have been a great moment for you when you created irony. I don’t think about the things I have earned. But I do remember some of the gifts I have received. And I remember vividly the gifts I gave to others. That’s not because I thought it was costly, but because I enjoyed it so much. Why does giving stick around in our hearts so long? …

There are so many words in the course of a day. Some of them are warm and tender, others are harsh or demanding, but most of them are just trying to sell me something. I absorb all of these words without a lot of thought. But at night, when I lie in bed and stare at the ceiling, these words all start to tumble around in my mind – and perhaps some in my soul. …

You are the Lord, which in part means that you are the one who makes the commands. We obey, at our best. And we eventually learn that it is to everyone’s benefit if we do. Your commandments are neither arbitrary nor capricious; they are a means of living right. I always end up in the ditch when I disobey them. …

O God, you once called your prophet to preach to a valley filled with dry bones. And as a result of hearing your word, the bones came back to life. My first inclination is to say that I cannot imagine this scene. I doubt even Hollywood could do it justice. But the more I ponder this text, the clearer it becomes to me. …

When you inspired Peter to write these words, you had to know that this is a pretty tough call for us to fulfill. I would love to say that I want to be holy, but I wonder – is there some besetting sin, some socially appropriate addiction, that I am not about ready to lay down? No, there is not one. There are many. …

When your people were exiled in Babylon, they just wanted to leave and go back home. Even if we have never moved, it doesn’t feel like we ever have all of life in the right place. Relationships, health, work – there is always something that is exiled from where we want it to be. …

Our Savior, I used to think that these verses meant that even when times were hard, somehow you would make sure that everything turned out okay. But as a pastor, I have seen too many life stories that took a bad turn only to get worse. Frankly, I have seen a bit of this in my own life, as well. …

Holy God, this was your opening response after Jeremiah called you out to explain about the lack of justice. Actually, your whole sentence was “If you have raced with the foot-runners and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?” Assuming that I am getting the point, you are telling us that if we get worn out trying to understand each other, we don’t have a chance of understanding you. …

Lord Jesus, in the previous sentence you made it pretty clear that you are the living water. And the next sentence claims that it is the Holy Spirit who makes you flow out of my heart. So that means I’ve got both you and the Spirit at work within my heart. That is a good thing, because my heart can get pretty messed up on its own. …

Gracious Savior, you were always so impressed with John the Baptist. You never had doubts about him, even when he eventually had serious misgivings about you. Perhaps that is because John was never confused about himself. He never thought he was the Messiah. Instead, he called himself the “friend of the bridegroom.” …