Tag Archives: Division

Moving from Division to Action

Kingdom Building

August 17, 2019

Scripture Reading: Luke 12:49-56

‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:
father against son
   and son against father,
mother against daughter
   and daughter against moth
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
   and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’ –Luke 12:49-52

Sound familiar? Taking sides seems to be the norm in our society today. What is Jesus trying to say here? What is the benefit of such chaos? Jesus grew to manhood during Roman rule where Jews could practice their religion if they did not make waves against the Roman Empire, which showed no mercy to anyone who crossed them. Jesus learned early the need to go along to get along. Much of his ministry was targeted at teaching his fellow Jews that going through the motions of religion was not living up to the covenants God has established with them, covenants regarding how to live and more importantly how to love, which in many ways were diametrically opposed to the ways of the Roman Empire.

I do not know Jesus’ motivation for allowing or encouraging division. I do know that division challenges the ennui* resulting from going along to get along. Perhaps Jesus was stirring up divisiveness to refocus God’s followers to take up their calling to foster God’s rule rather than Rome’s. Perhaps the divisiveness we are experiencing in our world today can be channeled into positive energy to lift us out of the ennui of our lives and help us to take up Jesus’ vision.

‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?
   Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,
   and oppress all your workers.
Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
   and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
   will not make your voice heard on high.
Is not this the fast that I choose:
   to loose the bonds of injustice,
   to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
   and to break every yoke? –Isaiah 58:3-4, 6

Prayer: Lord, let your Spirit flow through us channeling discord into energy for creating a just world. Amen.

*Afeeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Heavy Loads

Advent
December 2, 2018

Scripture Reading: Luke 21:25-36

‘Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’ Luke 21:34-36

I am going to skip drunkenness; it could be an issue all to itself. I do want to deal with being weighed down with dissipation (spread out to the point of destroying an original identity) and the worries of this life. I get a sense that many are struggling with both.

Has Christianity been claimed by so many interpretations and viewpoints that it has lost its original identity? If so, how do we find common ground to reclaim our common identity? There are things being done in the name of Christ today that are foreign to me and I am sure that my practices are just as foreign to others who identify as Christian. How did this happen?

One of evil’s greatest tools is divide and conquer. It is primarily a military strategy that has been adopted by political functionaries and that has seeped into faith organizations. It is not new; it is as old as time itself. We should recognize it immediately, but the process always deals with our dearest beliefs or ideas and we get pulled into its grip. When divisiveness is pulling peoples apart, their best course of action is to identify the things on which they can agree and move forward together with them. He worse result of divide and conquer is probably not the issue at hand but the stalemate that results regarding getting anything done about anything else. We need to consider who benefits from that.

Worry has many different meanings, but I think the one that plagues us most is to subject to persistent or nagging attention or effort. The Greek word translated worry here describes cares of life*. Turning something over and over in our minds burns a whole lot of mental and emotional energy. In many instances, we worry about things over which we have no control but wished we did. I think of Jacob wrestling with God as a good example of this. Giving something over to God is probably the best way to deal with things over which we have no control that is easier said than done and takes a lot of practice on our part and I fear a lot of patience on God’s.

Prayer: Lord, journey with us through our daily struggles as people of faith and individual followers. Grant us your peace. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/3308.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Diversions for Gain

Living in the Spirit
October 2, 2017

Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Then God spoke all these words: 

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. 

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. –Exodus 20:1-4

I would be remiss in writing anything about the Ten Commandments if I did not recognize the importance of Joan Chittister’s book and study The Ten Commandments: Laws of the Heart, which gave me a new appreciation for the Commandments as a way of being rather than rules to follow.

The concept of the Commandments as a way of being has heightened my concern for our ages’ constricting idol worship to pagans happening centuries ago. While we may have outgrown carved objects as gods or not, we have created a multitude of ready replacements. Money and power perhaps top the list.

I have an even greater concern that we are being divided intentionally by principalities and powers who play our interests against each other dividing us to conquer us. Diversions for gain is nothing new it is at least as old as the oldest prophetic book in the Bible, Amos. The similarities between the people of Israel before their fall to Assyria and the United States today are chilling. The Israelites were investing their time and energies in short-term rewards without concern for long-term consequences.

Prayer: Lord, open our minds and hearts to your will for our lives. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Common Ground

noamnesty1-750x400Living in the Spirit
July 16, 2015

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:11-22

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. –Ephesians 2:13-16 

Paul is described in our scripture today as trying to bridge the gap between two very different cultures to make them one in Christ putting to death hostility. The gentiles and the Jews had very different cultures, traditions, and faith systems. Making them one was like mixing oil and water, both very important nutrients needed by all.

Actually bringing two or more vastly different cultures together was not a whole lot more challenging then holding the Israelites together, as we see when we follow their journeys through the Hebrew Bible. The sad thing is we have not learned from either experiences of our ancestors in faith. The words of the prophets spoken to the Israelites 3000 years ago still apply to us today as do the teachings of the apostles. It seems human nature longs for the things that divide us.

I spent an entire career in human services picking up the trash left over from the abortion wars. While we people of faith invest countless hours of time, energy, and money in fighting each other over who was right or who was wrong, there were few who really cared about the collateral damage to the woman and children involved. They could have benefitted from reinvestment of those resources in providing services to prevent unwanted pregnancies, giving hope to young women who had none, and teaching all our children to love and respect one another.  These are tangible services that has been proven to reduce abortion.

We are now doing the same thing in regard to immigration. While there is very little in the Bible regarding abortion or homosexuality, welcoming the stranger appears over and over again from the beginning to the end. Jesus includes it in his laundry list of activities included in judgment. Will we ever learn?

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts and minds to being one within your love. Help us find the common ground to forge a brighter tomorrow for all your children. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Poverty Matters

Jesus Weeps over JerusalemLiving in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
September 11, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Romans 14:1-12

 Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

 Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God. — Romans 14:4-6

The Body of Christ is being rendered week because we fight among ourselves. When I hear about church break ups and the fighting among Christians in our time over the wedge issues that divide us, I often picture Jesus sitting on the hillside weeping over Jerusalem and saying How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! –Matthew 23:37b. I believe he would say the same thing today looking at the USA.

In this scripture Paul is dealing with the even smaller issues that divide. I almost think we preferred to be divided. It is a ploy you know. By keeping us fighting about things that do not matter to the powers that be, we never deal with the things that do matter. Poverty matters.

First we must understand that the so called “poverty level” measure used in our country as an assessment of financial security has been out of date for at least 30 years, has never been static data for every part of the country because of the differences in cost of living, and at best is a measure of the most severe state of our citizens. There have been many attempts to define what a living wage would be. With the ready availability of computers now using a living wage measure makes much more sense. For just one example of how a living wage measure would work see http://livingwage.mit.edu/

Jesus recognized the need to feed the hungry and clothe the naked in Matthew 25. I think he would add house the homeless to a list for us today.

 Oklahoma Fact: in 2014 Oklahoma ranked 30th among the states in Economic Well-Being

Prayer: Gather us together Lord, write on our hearts those things about which we can agree in addressing poverty and instill in us the will to do them. Amen.

 All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.