March 11, 2022 – “Pull Yourselves up by your Bootstraps”

“Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.” Luke 13:10-17

As I have said in my previous devotions, the phrase “Boomer” has become a catchall phrase for someone who was not necessarily born into the “baby boomer” generation – they just have to be seen as representing the characteristics of someone born to that generation. And recently the phrase “OK Boomer” has become a repudiation of all people who are older, who believe they are the most informed, while the new generation feels as if boomers are out of touch and condescending. For example, boomers often say “…in my day, we put in our time and so you young people need to pull yourselves up by your bootstraps and get on with life.”

To pull yourself up by your bootstraps is physically impossible. In fact, the original meaning of the phrase was more along the lines of “to try to do something completely absurd.” Etymologist Barry Popik and a linguist have cited an American newspaper snippet from Sept. 30, 1834, as the earliest publishing of the phrase to lift oneself up by one’s bootstraps. A month earlier, a man named Nimrod Murphree announced in the Nashville Banner that he had “discovered perpetual motion.” The Mobile Advertiser picked up this tidbit and published it with a farcical response: “Probably Mr. Murphree has succeeded in handing himself over the Cumberland river, or a barn yard fence, by the straps of his boots.” Bootstraps were a typical feature of boots that you could pull on in the act of putting your boots on. But no one could actually pull themselves over anything – it would be physically impossible.

If we continue to tell future generations to “pull themselves up by the bootstraps”, we are presenting them an impossible task. No past generation was able to make it without the help of the previous – at least since the Great Depression. Each presenting generation had the hope and the expectation that things would be better than the previous. It appears that this is no longer the case. Generations “Z”, “I” and “Millennial” are simply seeking a relationship with us boomers – they are not seeking to remove us from the equation. Unless we are willing to work together, not only will they be people without faith, they may also continue to be people without hope.

Jesus not only frees us from our sins, but Jesus can also help free us from our ways of thinking and behaving – so we can work together to make this world a better place for all.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, we cannot pull ourselves up by our bootstraps if we have no boots. In other words, what we have today would not be possible without the work of those who came before us. Help us work together now so we can provide for the generations to come. Amen.

Pastor Dave

March 12, 2022 – “Know Your Place”

“Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.”  Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.” Mark 3:1-6

As I have said in my previous devotions, the phrase “Boomer” has become a catchall phrase for someone who was not necessarily born into the “baby boomer” generation – they just have to be seen as representing the characteristics of someone born to that generation. And recently the phrase “OK Boomer” has become a repudiation of all people who are older, who believe they are the most informed, while the new generation feels as if boomers are out of touch and condescending. For example, boomers often say “let these young people earn their way, besides, they should know their place.”

I find it interesting that the Pharisees are waiting in the synagogue to “see” if Jesus “Knew His Place” – if he would heal the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath. It is amazing to me that the “people of the law” were so mired in it, that when the miraculous occurs, when a physical healing such as this, something that you and I would never expect to see — let alone someone living in the first century — when this wonderful event occurs in their presence, all they can do is worry about whether this healing breaks the commandment of honoring the Sabbath.  Personally, if I watched a faith healer restore a withered hand, I would be completely astounded, and amazed, and would give glory to G-d.  When the miraculous happens right in front of our eyes, do we let the details of our daily lives keep us from seeing how great this G-d of ours really is? Or do we sit back and give praise to G-d.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, your miraculous acts should not scare us – they should offer opportunities to offer prayer, praise and thanksgiving to you. Amen.

Pastor Dave

March 10, 2022 – “Stuck In Our Ways”

 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel! ²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean. ²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. ²⁸ So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. ²⁹ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous…” Matthew 23:23-29

In my efforts to try to come up with topics for devotions that not only are interesting to read, but might challenge us in our daily conversations, I am going to take the month of December to focus on this phrase “OK, BOOMER”, and perhaps find some talking points that might make us all stop and pause – before shouting back “You Millennials, get off my lawn.”

As I said in a previous devotion, the phrase “Boomer” has become a catchall phrase for someone who was not necessarily born into the “baby boomer” generation – they just have to be seen as representing the characteristics of someone born to that generation – like they are generally “out of touch”. In the 50’s and 60’s, many college students and teenagers believed their parents were “square” – were too “old fashioned” – too “stuck in their ways.” Timothy Leary famously told the children of that age never to trust anyone over the age of 30. In the 1990s and 2000s, those same people, the boomers we are talking about, were taking a lot of flights, driving a lot of miles, and looking at progress as the end all to many of their activities. What the current generation sees as the result of these activities is the decline of the health of the planet — climate change warnings that they believe are being denied by the members of the boomer-era. What the current generation wants boomers to hear the most is they believe the leaders of today need both the courage to change yet the informed judgment to pick up on warning signs that change is necessary. To ensure we don’t remain “out of touch”, we need to continue to look toward caring for our resources, and a clear plan that takes into consideration the effects of our actions. In other words, we all are evolving, and so should our attitudes and concerns.  

This was the warning Jesus had for the Pharisees and the Scribes. He called them “hypocrites” – people who said one thing but did the opposite. He believed they were people who cared more about how they looked then whether their actions honored their reputations. In other words, the Pharisees and the Scribes were out of touch with a true faith – their actions betrayed their words. As each new generation is born, the previous one needs to try to see the world through their eyes. The more we keep our “resistant to change perspectacles” on, the greater the chasm will be with the generations to come.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, it is so easy to get stuck – stuck in our faith, in our actions, in our decisions. Help us to stay open to your love, your teachings, and to see how both can lead us into the new every day. Amen.

Pastor Dave