Tara and I just came back from New York City, where we had the chance to spend time with two other married couples who went to seminary with us.  From 2003-2006, we all lived and studied together in a small town outside of Pittsburgh, PA.  Our lives had been connected over twenty years ago by our faith, our pursuit of a common goal, and our enduring struggles, and we remain connected today.

In our reading from Ecclesiastes, the teacher is traditionally identified as Solomon, but in the book the author is identified only as the “Teacher.”  Ecclesiastes is an unflinching look at the world and gives advice, both practical and spiritual, for how to live.  Our passage is part of a larger section on the importance of friendship.  It identifies for us the significance of having people with you who you love and trust.  This advice is both practical and spiritual.  We need people with us as companions in this journey through life, and we need people to encourage us in our faith.  It is so easy to get lost on this journey or to lose our passion, and good friends can help us to hold fast when times are hard.  It is in particular this last line that speaks to me, “If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.  But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”  Our lives are filled with falls.  When we are knocked down or trip over our own feet, a good friend helps us get up.  This is especially true of our faith.  Jesus is there to lift us when we fall, and our friends are often that living embodiment of the grace of Christ in our lives. 

It was so wonderful to see our friends.  It had been decades since we had all been together at the same time, yet here we were, immediately close and filled with joy.  Seminary had been hard; there were theological disagreements, babies lost in miscarriage, and strained relationships, yet we stuck it out together in prayer and love by the grace of God.  The result of this was a beautiful closeness and love.  That is the hope of the church.  That we will become closer through our faith, through our unified hope and purpose, but also through our laboring through the struggles of life.  I am thankful for these last sixteen years.  For the way that they have caused us to become close and I am filled with confidence and hope as we journey into the future together, that God will continue to unite us as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
​Love Fr. Seth Kellermann

#Ecclesiastes, #FaithJourney, #ChristianReflection, #WalkingInFaith, #BiblicalWisdom                                                                       

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
— Isaiah 1:18

The New Year is upon us. Each new year offers another opportunity to start afresh, and many of us will try to adopt new habits in hopes of influencing positive change in our lives. I love the idea of a fresh start—and apparently, so does God.

The hope of a new beginning is embedded in our faith. We see this clearly in our passage from Isaiah, where God speaks to His people in Judah and Jerusalem. His words are difficult to hear. God calls them to repentance, saying, “Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:16–17).

Israel had become much like the surrounding nations, even incorporating foreign religious practices. Though they continued to fulfill the outward obligations of worship in the Temple, their hearts had grown far from God. As a result, they lost sight of their calling to care for the oppressed, the fatherless, and the widow.

Yet God did not abandon them. Instead, He offered them a chance to start anew: “Come now, let us settle the matter… Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” God promised to cleanse them from the stain of their sin. This cleansing would not come simply from replacing bad behavior with good habits—while change was necessary, it could not make them clean. At best, it would keep them from growing dirtier. What they truly needed was God’s forgiveness and restoration.

Though they did not yet understand it, this impossible task would ultimately be accomplished through Jesus Christ. His sacrifice would wash over them—and over us—making what was stained clean and giving us the fresh start only God can provide.

This January, we, too, are given an opportunity to begin again. As we work on changing habits and routines, let us remember the deeper renewal God offers us. Let us turn to Him, receive His forgiveness, and allow our lives to reflect that grace—especially as we care for the oppressed, the fatherless, and the widow, loving others as God has first loved us.

In Christ,
​Seth

#GodsGrace, #WashedWhiteAsSnow, #ChristianLiving, #ScriptureMeditation, #JusticeAndMercy, #FaithInTheNewYear