Denver Community Church

December 9, 2012: The Past Informs the Present – Michael Hidalgo

When we think about little baby Jesus there is a temptation to think of a cute little baby, and sing about him in a way that is about all the cuddly, swaddling clothes he was wrapped in. This is reflected in nearly all Christmas hymns. They are sentimental and vanilla enough to evoke the spirit of Christmas – but not the underpinnings of Advent. 

Advent is a time of longing, hope and desperation. This is why Advent hymns reflect on the prophets and the story of Israel. They reflect a deep thirst to see God’s justice and rule and reign be a present reality in our world today. Unless we look back from the manger we will never see what Christmas meant on that day Jesus was born. Too often we are caught standing in our world and looking back at the manger. 

December 2, 2012: The Rhythm of the Season – Michael Hidalgo

When the people of Israel were learning to live as free men and women. God told them to set aside times for festivals. Why? Because if we just go about our days – day after day after day after day – and our weeks – week after week after week – and our years – you get it. But what happens when there are times that cause us to stop. Times that break up the constant flow of time and give us rhythm. 

The answer? Those times remind us that we are human. Woven into the very fabric of our biological existence is a rhythm. A heartbeat. A breath. It’s there. This is why we connect to rhythm naturally. Rhythm is human. Advent reminds us of the time when God became human. He came and made our rhythm make sense.

November 25, 2012: The Power of Powerlessness – Jon Gettings

November 18, 2012: The Eternity of Time and Seasons – Michael Hidalgo

Everything has a time and place. Then why is it that we cannot predict the time or the place? Why is it that we cannot figure out when things happen or why? We understand there is a past and a future – but we cannot fathom all that God is doing in the past or the future. All of this raises the question. Who really knows?

The answer is: God. God knows and he appoints things to happen and does them at just the right time. And is that what we really want to know? Do we need to know when things happen? Can we live in this time, this moment, here and now being fully present and trust God with both the past and the future?

November 11, 2012: The Myth of a Good Day's Work – Michael Hidalgo

Even the sound of the world toil is exhausting. The word that speaks of the toil the Teacher undertakes speaks of strain, toil, agonizing labor – overdoing instead of just doing. Sometimes the word means misery, not just toil. This is why Joseph thanks God for making him forget his misery (Gen 41.51) and why Job considers his life as misery (Job 3.10, 5.7a).

When we hear the words of the Teacher he is saying, in the most basic sense, “Life sucks then you die.” This is the burdensome labor, toil, misery of mankind. Why? Because no matter how hard one works – it will still go on to someone else someday.

There is a temptation to resolve all of this. We want to believe that what we do matters. We want to know that our work in this world somehow makes a difference and changes things. However, there is a sense in which it may also be good to let the pointlessness of toil sink in. What can this say to workaholics and those who seek find life in their work rather than put life into their work?

November 4, 2012: The Material World – Michael Hidalgo

When God created the world, he called it good. He then placed humans into it to work it, to care for it and to enjoy it. So exactly why is it so wrong to enjoy material things? And if nothing is wrong with it then how much is too much?

Perhaps we can gain clarity from recognizing the central issue the Teacher is wrestling with. That is, “What can give meaning to my life?” This is exactly where the confusion will lie. If we are created to work, care for and enjoy creation – then why can we not find meaning and fulfillment in it?

October 28, 2012: How Is Your Life Oriented? – Jon Gettings

October 21, 2012: What So Wise About Foolishness? – Michael Hidalgo

Ecclesiastes is the kind of wisdom that happens after wisdom. It is the voice of one who has “been there, done that.” This is what can come from life. I say “can” come from life because it is not always what happens. Sometimes folly comes. The trick is whether or not we are willing to learn from what life has handed us, or will we practice folly – living aloof.

October 14, 2012: Below the Raging Ball of Fire – Michael Hidalgo

A phrase that is used throughout the book is, “under the sun.” It refers to everything that is not in God’s domain. It is a poetic way of saying “here on this dirt clod we call earth.” This is the place and space that the Teacher explores, tests and examines closely. We learn throughout the book what he finds, which leads us to the question, “What do we find?”

October 7, 2012: The Meaninglessness of Breath and Vapor – Michael Hidalgo

In the first two verses of Ecclesiastes we encounter one word five times. Meaningless. It literally means breath or vapor. The only thing that life shows us is that it is a vapor. This can bring us to the point of depression or to a place where we tell lies to cover up the truth. Asking questions like, “Is this it?”

 

Perhaps this is our greatest fear in the world today. What if at the end of all of this nothing that I have said or done matters at all? Is this the great ruse of religion? Perhaps. But this raises an interesting question. Who defines meaning?

 

If the writer is able to say that something is meaningless, then he must understand meaning. Which raises another question, what gives meaning its … meaning? These questions must be wrestled with so they can serve as a framework for how we organize and live our lives everyday. It can inform who we are and exactly what we are called to do and be in our world.