Living in the Spirit

October 28, 2023

Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:34-46

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ –Matthew 22:34-40

Truly loving God must be a choice. There is no way to force or command anyone to love Thus, I strongly support the part of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States that Congress makes no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise. Choosing to love the Lord leads us to initiate the Kingdom of God, the Beloved Community for which God longs. In Matthew 25, Jesus laid out the factors by which he judges the nations.  I thought we might need to review those requirements as we make changes in our government. Jesus indicated when we practice these services, we are following his desire for us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves:

1.           Feed the hungry
2.           Provide clean, safe water for the thirsty
3.           Welcome the stranger
4.           Clothe the naked 
5.           Care for the sick
6.           Visit those in prison to restore them 

These basic needs could be met first by assuring that workers are paid a living wage with appropriate benefits indexed to the cost of living. Beyond that, services must be available to assure that persons with disabilities and the aged have the resources to live meaningful lives, prisoners can be restored to wholeness, and strangers can become strangers no more.  These requirements are some of the very services targeted on Congress’s cutting block: food stamps, Social Security, Medicare, and immigration resettlement. The creation story teaches us that all humans were made in the image of God and are good, capable of loving and being loved. There are no borders in the Kingdom of God. Perfecting our welcoming the stranger prepares us for living in a loving, borderless world.

Prayer: Commune with us, O, Lord, so that we are in sync with you as we strive to build the Beloved Community. 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.

Living in the Spirit

October 26, 2023

Scripture Reading: Psalm 1
Happy are those
   who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
   or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
   planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
   and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

The wicked are not so,
   but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
   nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked will perish.

How do we identify righteous advice that is just and true in our world today? I remember well in a discussion about online media when someone said that they did not know what was true or not. One of my nephews said, “Oh, I just don’t believe any of it.” Yet, truth exists. In some instances, we do not want to believe or deal with the truth.  Part of the problem is finding the answer to whom we can trust. We have some leaders who seem to believe if words come from their mouths, it is true.  The truth may hurt their bottom line or political future. I just heard on the news that one of the candidates for Speaker of the House of Representatives could not garner enough votes to win lost because he was one of two of his party’s Representatives who supported Vice-President Pence in following the Constitution and accepting that Joe Biden had won the election after 60 court cases had not found any miscarry of the voting processes that had been challenged.

Change starts with We the People in a democracy. In many instances, we are getting what we wanted; we just do not realize that we are trying to have our cake and eat it, too.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for being misled by the ways of the world. Help us seek justice and truth and recognize it when we find it.  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.

October 25, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice, you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

I have spent most of my adult life working with or for the poor. Much of that work has been in seeking justice for them.  J. S. Mills says it is inconsistent with justice to be partial as our scripture says above: you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great. We tend to debase the poor and defer to the rich, great or not. Neither response is right. While we as a nation take great pride in quoting from the Declaration of Independence that All People are Created Equal, we quickly succumb to living in hierarchies of human worth.

The children’s hospital I worked at several years ago was being totally rebuilt, causing staff to park three or four blocks from the building in a rather dangerous part of town. A few special parking places were reserved for the doctors and administrators right next to the building. Many of the staff were older people who were responsible for cleaning the building, spending most of their day doing hard labor besides walking several blocks, both ways, to get to work with poor lighting in a high crime area. Some complained, noting that doctors got close parking places.  The response was that the doctor’s work was far more important than the cleaning staff. Someone spoke up and said the surgeon’s work would not make any difference in the life of a patient if the operating room had not been appropriately cleaned and sanitized.  That same week, small buses were made available to drive people parking in the distant parking lot to the front door of the hospital.

Prayer: Lord, help us to always remember that all people are made in the image of God and deserve to be treated equally and with equity. 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.

Living in the Spirit

October 24, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17

Turn, O Lord! How long?
   Have compassion on your servants!
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
   so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
   and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be manifest to your servants,
   and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
   and prosper for us the work of our hands—
   O prosper the work of our hands! –Psalm 90:13-17

My Bible heads Psalm 90 with the phrase, God’s Eternity and Human Frailty–A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. I was first impressed that the oral tradition of a prayer of Moses was apparently passed down through the centuries. When I was a child, we had to memorize many thoughts. Today, we just Google whatever we need to know. Our internet world has opened doors to a much broader understanding of the world, but I wonder how we carry the wisdom from that in our living as humans.

This scripture deals with our humanity and our dependence on our relationship with God to do what is right in a world full of evil. I particularly love the final phrase of this prayer. I like that it ends with an exclamation mark, indicating how important our relationship with God intertwines with the success of our works.

Prayer:
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
   and prosper for us the work of our hands—
   O prosper the work of our hands!  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.

Living in the Spirit

October 23, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. The Lord said to him, ‘This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, “I will give it to your descendants”; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.’ Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command. He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated. The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.

Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unequalled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

All kinds of events/ideas flashed through my mind as I read this scripture. Was getting the Israelites to their homeland Moses’ final goal, with the idea that once he attained it, he could rest? Currently, we are dealing with two nations trying to regain or hold onto land they identify as theirs. Russia wants Ukraine back, and Israel wants to keep what it worked hard to reclaim in 1948, the same land where Moses delivered the Israelites after rescuing them from Egyptian slavery. Some indigenous people in the USA recognize that the earth belongs to the Great Spirit, who has provided it for all people to share and to care for wisely, as the land provides the necessities of life for all God’s people.

Our world seems to be at a turning point.  We can either move forward toward building the Kingdom of God, or we can give up and give in to letting the world define us. We can build and live in God’s Beloved Community on God’s created land in peace, harmony, and justice, or we can destroy the land and the people on it.

Prayer: Lord, show us how to live in harmony with one another as we share in the bounty of the land you created for our use.  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.

Living in the Spirit

October 22, 2023

Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:15-22
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

:The Pharisees recognize Jesus as viewing each person both uniquely and with equity. for you do not regard people with partiality

3199 mélō* (the third person singular of melō, “to care, be concerned”) – to care about (be concerned with), especially paying attention (giving thought) to – i.e. “taking an interest” (L-S) with the “implication of some apprehension . . . “

Partiality: a predilection or fondness for one person or one thing rather than others**

The characteristic Jesus possessed of showing no partiality is impossible for most of us. Beyond that, we might not want to admit it, but we would like to be held in higher esteem by others who are important to us. That is more from our worldview than the teachings of Jesus.

Some African communities’ worldview operates on the idea called Ubuntu, which means a person is a person through other persons***. Working together with everyone doing their part is important to them. I am not an expert on this custom, but I think our culture could learn from it. I believe it is a little closer to what Jesus taught. Each person is of equal worth, and each person is expected to do their part in living together as a community. Ubuntu might be something our nation might want to consider as we strive to be better than others.

Prayer: Lord, Help us to see one another as each is made in the image of God, and all are loved equally by our Creator. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/3199.htm

**https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/partiality

***https://iep.utm.edu/hunhu-ubuntu-southern-african-thought/

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.

Living in the Spirit

October 21, 2023

Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:15-22
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

The USA did not invent the separation of church and state. Jesus even recognized the need for some entity to provide for the Common Good when he said render under Casaer that which is Casaer’s (Matthew 22:21). However, I am unsure if Casaer and I had the same definition of the Common Good as I do. The first Christ-followers appointed deacons to provide for the Common Good of their group.  The Hebrew Bible teaches that someone must be responsible for widows, orphans, and aliens (we seem to be skipping over that last one). Indeed, the nations have pursued many varieties of how to govern and what the definition of the Common Good is. Everybody needs roads and water, for example. The larger the community, the greater the need for sewers and stop signs. The government deals with the practical. Faith groups deal with the spiritual. There are times when these cross paths. Faith groups may advocate for services for the homeless. My church operates a child development center and carefully follows the laws in place to ensure that the children are receiving safe care.

The USA, however, had its beginning as some people fled from Europe, like the Pilgrims, to be able to practice their faith as they understood it. Others, like the Puritans, brought some of the European faith ideas with the intent to make a country that followed their idea, which was different from the Pilgrams’ ideas. Other faith groups began to arrive with their style of faith practice. The best solution was to allow freedom of religion: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; (From the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States) The best thing about the freedom of religion is it keeps us all honest as we strive to relate to God and for Christians to respond to Christ call to love our neighbors as we love ourselves granting each person the right to know God more nearly if they so choose. I strongly feel that God wants those created in God’s image to choose communion with God.

Prayer: Lord, guide us in being examples of your love and not dictators of our understanding of you. 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.

Living in the Spirit

October 20, 2023

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of people we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place where your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

This letter to the Thessalonians is believed to be the first of Paul’s letters that have been published. He writes to a congregation suffering persecution while still holding tight to their faith. We are living in very troubling times right now with wars in both Ukraine and the Middle East. With Russia and China coalescing to strengthen their power in the world, our faith communities shrinking rather than growing and being challenged with the blending of worldview and faith for greed and lust for power. People who are crying out that we are being indoctrinated into misguided beliefs are the ones doing indoctrination. One of the USA’s founders, Thomas Paine said it this way: THESE are the times that try men’s souls, women‘s too.

These are the times we must turn even more toward God’s loving guidance and hold on to the hope promised in the development of God’s Beloved Community, as the people of Thessalonica did in the first century. God’s vision for us was right on then and is right on today.

Prayer: Lord, guide us to build the Beloved Community in times like these.  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.

Living in the Spirit

October 19, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13)

Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king!
   The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
   He will judge the peoples with equity.’
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
   let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
   let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
   before the Lord; for he is coming,
   for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
   and the peoples with his truth. –Psalm 96:10-13

Right now, it does not seem like the world is firmly established from climate change to two major wars. Countries seem to be dueling to determine who can kill the most first, fighting over what? Land and who owns it. Perhaps they are seeking retribution for ancient infringements. After we kill thousands of innocent people, including children, what have we accomplished?

The Bible is full of stories of ancient people acting similarly. Yet, woven throughout that Holy Scripture is the wisdom of God and how we can live together in a firmly established world from Moses receiving the Ten Commandments through prophets warning all regarding how to live in sync with God’s plan for us even to sending God’s son to model a way of life built on love. Jesus went so far as to give his life for our redemption. God in grace resurrected Jesus Christ, who instructed us again on the need to love one another and left us with the Holy Spirit to help us along the way.

As we humans debate the finer points of such things as climate change and war, we forget that God is judging the whole world regarding our care of it, including its occupants. We need to give greater heed to the last sentence of the above scripture:
 He will judge the world with righteousness,
   and the peoples with his truth.

Prayer:  Lord, open our hearts and minds to see and follow your righteous ways. 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.