Get Your Eyes Off Others

Isaiah 5:20-23 

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!
22 Woe to men mighty at drinking wine,
Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,
23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away justice from the righteous man!

Isaiah 6:1-5
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”

Dear God,

I acknowledge my harshness toward others. I see their failures and judge them as sinful. All too often, I am unwilling to submit to Your examination and await Your pronouncement of me.

Isaiah pronounced judgments on everyone else. But when he saw You he cried out, "Woe is me." After his encounter with You, Your prophet was forever transformed. 

Change me. Shape me. Remake me in Your image. 

Pronounce whatever "woes" You need to pronounce over me. Just don't leave me in my woeful condition. I want to know You, be like You, and live in relationship with You. I want to hear You send me forth to do Your bidding. "Go!" 

You did it for Isaiah. Do it for me. I get my eyes off others. I look to You.

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Amen.

Saint Valentine Tells His Own Story

“Let me introduce myself.  My name is Valentine.  I lived in Rome during the third century.  That was long, long ago!  At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius.  I didn’t like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn’t the only one!  A lot of people shared my feelings.  

“Claudius wanted to have a big army.  He expected men to volunteer to join.  Many men just did not want to fight in wars.  They did not want to leave their wives and families.  As you might have guessed, not many men signed up.  This made Claudius furious.  So what happened?  He had a crazy idea.  He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army.  So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages.  Young people thought his new law was cruel.  I thought it was preposterous!  I certainly wasn’t going to support that law!

“Did I mention that I was a priest?  One of my favorite activities was to marry couples.  Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies--secretly, of course.  It was really quite exciting.  Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself.  We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

“One night, we did hear footsteps.  It was scary!  Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time.  I was caught.  (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.)  I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.

“I tried to stay cheerful.  And do you know what?  Wonderful things happened.  Many young people came to the jail to visit me.  They threw flowers and notes up to my window.  They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

“One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard.  Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell.  Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours.  She helped me to keep my spirits up.  She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages.  On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty.  I signed it, ‘Love from your Valentine.’

“I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine’s Day.  It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D.  Now, every year on this day, people remember.  But most importantly, they think about love and friendship.  And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh--because they know that love can’t be conquered!"

St. Valentine’s story from http://www. pictureframses.co.uk/pages/saint_valentine.htm       January 13, 2000

A Valentine Veteran

Jimmy and Helen were workers at Mount Carmel High School when I was a boy.  Jimmy was a maintenance man and Helen was a cook.  They were both hardworking, industrious people.  Jimmy was not the brightest man, but he worked hard and he loved Helen.   One day Jimmy noticed the letter “V” marking a holiday on the calendar.  Jimmy thought to himself, “I need to get a Valentine for Helen!”  
So the next time Jimmy was in Jackson shopping, he looked for a Valentine for Helen   To his surprise, he could find none.  Jimmy saw a red cardinal with pretty feathers, so he decided to buy that for Helen   On the special day, Jimmy presented his valentine cardinal to Helen  and said, “Happy Valentines Day.”  Helen was mystified, and thanked Jimmy.  Suddenly she realized what had happened.  “Jimmy, it’s not Valentine’s Day.  It’s November and the V on the calendar is for Veteran’s Day!”