Monthly Archives: October 2015

Family of God

Harmony_Day_(5475651018)Living in the Spirit
October 11, 2015

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:17-31

Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’

 Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’ –Mark 10:27-31

Do we worship a god whom we truly believe is capable of all things when we have wars abounding throughout the world, children starving, sex trafficking, the rich getting richer and the incomes of the middle class shrinking? I fear what we may give lip service to is not demonstrated in our ways of being. As we open our hearts and minds to the leadership of God, we will live into God’s omnipotence. When we see all people as our family—brothers and sisters—when we know they are all safe and nourished, we will begin to have a glimmer of God’s perspective.

It is hard to ferret out what is culture and what is theology. We have lots of examples of that in the gospels where ritually washed hands was a sign of piety and plucking and eating wheat while walking through a field on the Sabbath was a sin. Paul struggled mightily with the issues of cultural differences when he introduced the gentiles to Christ crucified. How do we reflect Christ in our lives?

I first supervised social workers in the early 1970’s when the miniskirt was popular. The state eventually issued a dress code which did not set well with some of my staff. I, frankly, did not care if they wore miniskirts or not but what I did care about was how what they wore impacted their relationship with the person they were serving. Wearing a miniskirt to an elderly person’s home was probably a major distraction as was wearing a miniskirt to work with a teenaged boy. I doubt that most of our young mothers on public assistance paid any attention to it.

There are thousands of refugees pouring out of the Middle East and Africa bringing with them rich traditions passed to them from earlier generations that are different from ours. They are our brothers and sisters whom we are called to love.

Prayer: God of all, as we meld together the ways differing among our culture and other cultures, let sources of diversity become opportunities for understanding and growth for all of us on the road to the Kingdom of God. 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.

Fangs of Greed

money-greedyLiving in the Spirit
October 10, 2015

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:17-31

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. –Mark 10:17-22

Paul gives encouragement to the churches in Rome who faced grave consequences for their faith by saying: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (Romans 8:35) We all tend to turn to God when we face difficulties but how much do we value the love of God in the good times? The scene in the story of our scripture above testifies to the fact that Jesus loved the man who had sought him out, but Jesus must have had some question about the man’s willingness to place God at the top of his list of priorities. He could not part with his riches.

I fear this country is suffering from an epidemic of greed that, if not squelched will be its undoing. Our politics and thus are government has come ever more under the influence of wealth. We have interpreted the abundant life of which Jesus talked as meaning financial prosperity, the ability to accumulate things rather than the richness of relationships. I was sickened just yesterday as I heard about the sex trade industry flourishing with parents even selling their own children not just in third world countries but right here in the USA. The speaker I was hearing said the average age of children caught up in the sex trade industry was five years old. This exists because people who have the money are willing to pay a high price to satisfy their lust. They are as pathetic and in need of God’s saving grace as the children they harm.

We each much search our own lives to see what idols we are worshipping that are separating us from God and with God’s help rid ourselves of them. We also have a responsibility to assure that innocents are not being offered on the altars of false idols.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we let anything come between us and you. Empower us to be protectors of the innocents caught in the fangs of greed. 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.

Being Bold

becoming-like-christ (1)Living in the Spirit
October 9, 2015

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 4:12-16

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. –Hebrews 4:14-16

How boldly do we approach the throne of grace? Sometimes I think I lean toward Gentle Jesus Meek and Mild* and avoid the Jesus who called the Pharisees hypocrites to their faces. Part of my reaction results from my taking offense at people who speak in the name of Christ in language I can’t image him using, espousing tenets of faith alien to my perception of the One who called us to love. The truth is we need to be both as meek and as bold as he was. It actually takes a lot of courage to be either in our world today.

Hebrews is calling us to own the grace we have received. It is the relationship we have with God that will sustain us in our quest for a better world. It is God who can enables us to manifest patience and long-suffering** when faced with entrenched and generational challenges like racism and poverty. It is God who can give us the courage to stand up and speak out against the institutional realities of our culture that feed the injustice that causes racism and poverty.

Part of the motto of Star Trek was: To boldly go where no man has gone before. We are called to boldly go where Jesus, the Christ, has already trod and cleared the way for us and will walk with us still, if we approach his grace.

Prayer: Lord guide me in my meekness and my boldness. Let your love be the energy for my action. Amen.

*Title of hymn by Charles Wesley

**Definition of the word meek. See at http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/meek

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.

Word of God

adding-to-Gods-Word-hearingLiving in the Spirit
October 8, 2015

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 4:12-16

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account. –Hebrews 4:12-13

The “word” of God is getting a lot of play in the USA today, often quoted in political context. In Oklahoma a family donated and erected on the state capitol grounds a monument with the Ten Commandments engraved on it. I never saw it so I do not know which version of the Ten Commandments was included, probably the protestant one. A recent Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling ordered it to be removed because it did not meet the Oklahoma Constitutional requirements for separation of church and state. It was moved in the dark of night to the headquarters of a political think tank group, which rather gave credence to the court ruling, I thought.

The Bible is the story of God in the world over time and thus is the word of God to that extent. As John eloquently stated the Bible is not the whole story: But there are also many other things that Jesus did, if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (John 21:25) Our living and being the Body of Christ in the world today is still creating the story.

John also described the Word of God as more than the written word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1-2) I cherish the Biblical records of the people of God, read and study it regularly, and am constantly amazed at the new insights I see at each reading. It brings me closer to true communion with God, which I believe is its purpose. We are to live what we glean from it as we answer the call to faithful witness of the Word of God who came to us and dwelt among us full of truth and grace. (See John 1:14)

Prayer: Lord, I thank you for the many avenues of communion with you which you provide, for the prophets and poets and for your Son Christ Jesus who all attested to your

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.

Preventive and Restorative Justice

Restorative justice2Living in the Spirit
October 7, 2015

Scripture Reading: Psalm 22:1-15

 On you I was cast from my birth,
   and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
Do not be far from me,
   for trouble is near
   and there is no one to help.  

Many bulls encircle me,
   strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
they open wide their mouths at me,
   like a ravening and roaring lion.  

I am poured out like water,
   and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
   it is melted within my breast;
my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
   and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
   you lay me in the dust of death. –Psalm 22:10-15

Our scriptures this week continue the theme of feeling deserted by God. We are all probably acquainted with the first sentence of this scripture: My God, My God why have you forsaken me. Each time I read the whole text I am struck by how closely it describes the end of Jesus’ life. No wonder he quoted it from the cross.

We call it cruel and unusual punishment and the eight amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits it, but even now it is hard to define particularly when we think hurting, even killing someone else will actually ease the pain from loss caused by another or fulfill our sense of revenge when we fill we have been harmed in some way. It never works. Vengeance begets more vengeance and the spiral of evil continues.

We are called to be the ones to help when trouble is near. In the case of crime that help is best defined as preventive or restorative justice. It applies not only to violence but also to white collar crimes. Helping those to be made whole who use others to their own gain, whether they are drug dealers in back alleys or traders on Wall Street, child molesters or murders, will allow them to contribute the good that God instilled at their creation back to their families and communities.

Prayer: God of Justice and of Mercy, give us the tools to restore your children caught up in crime to wholeness. 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.

Abide with Me

hqdefaultLiving in the Spirit
October 6, 2015

Scripture Reading: Job 23:1-9, 16-17

‘If I go forward, he is not there;
   or backward, I cannot perceive him;
on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him;
   I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.
God has made my heart faint;
   the Almighty has terrified me;
If only I could vanish in darkness,
   and thick darkness would cover my face! –Job 23:8-9, 16-17

This scripture from Psalms is almost the direct opposition of the first few verses of Psalm 139:

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
   and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
   O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
   and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
   it is so high that I cannot attain it.

I wonder if the writer of Job was acquainted with this scripture. I wonder if the writer is saying that sometimes we just can’t seem to pull ourselves back from anger and pain. As many times as we have read Psalm 139, its force has been temporarily erased from our memory cards. It is interesting even in the midst of such pain Job does not deny God. Job even continues to see God as being active in Job’s life causing him to nearly faint, terrifying him.

When we find ourselves in such a state our prayer is God abide with me even though right at this moment I do not feel fit to have your company. When we find a fellow traveler on the road to the Kingdom of God who has come to this point on the trip, our job is to abide with them also.

Prayer:
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
 The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
 When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
 Help of the helpless, O abide with me.* Amen.

First verse of the hymn Abide with Me by Henry F. Lyte. See at http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/b/abidewme.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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Love Lasts

1-under-the-shadow-of-his-wings-gladiola-sotomayorLiving in the Spirit
October 5, 2015

Scripture Reading: Job 23:1-9, 16-17

Then Job answered:
 ‘Today also my complaint is bitter;
   his hand is heavy despite my groaning.
O that I knew where I might find him,
   that I might come even to his dwelling!
I would lay my case before him,
   and fill my mouth with arguments.
I would learn what he would answer me,
   and understand what he would say to me.
Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
   No; but he would give heed to me.
There an upright person could reason with him,
   and I should be acquitted forever by my judge. –Job 23:1-9

Feeling separated from God is painful. Job had lost everything including his own health, and he felt he had also lost God. O that I knew where I might find him. Job probably was wondering what he might have done to have suffered such loss. O that I knew where I might find him.

Years ago I placed a little four year old boy in a wonderful foster home with a father that instantly took the little guy under his wings. The boy had been through a lot and needed the powerful love of this man. After living with the family for several months, the father was very critically injured in a work related accident and it was determined that the couples’ returning home to another state to the nurture and care of extended family was needed. They wanted to take the boy with them but his court status would not allow it. When I picked him up to move him to another foster home as we drove away from the house, he said, “Marilynn, I have just thought and thought of ways to talk you out of this and I just can’t.” I thought of that when I read from Job: I would lay my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

God is always there even when we are so bent over with mental, emotional, or even physical pain we do not sense God. My prayer for the little boy was having known such wonderful and unconditional love from his foster father, the boy carried a powerful witness to his own worth throughout his life. God’s love is like that every day.

Prayer: Lord, let us experience your love as fully as we are capable of doing and let your love move through us to help others experience 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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Trusting Like a Child

maxresdefaultLiving in the Spirit
October 4, 2015

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:2-16

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. –Mark 10:13-16

My church operates a child care center. One morning as I was walking from the parking lot to the building, I strolled beside a young father with his, I would guess, about three year old son. We shared greetings and observations about the weather as we walked. The closer we got to the door and out of the parking lot, the more excited the son was to get to school and his dad dropped his hand so he could ran ahead to the door, which he could not have opened on his own as he was neither tall enough to reach the door handle nor strong enough to pull it open. His dad opened the door while saying, “Hold up Bud, we need to let the lady go first.” The little guy stopped as if on a dime, placed his little hands on the bottom of the door doing his part in holding it open, and smiled broadly at me as I thanked him. He was being taught by a gracious father how to be a gracious man.

Children take in information like a sponge in those first formative years. Much of that is what parents and others model for them through their own ways of being. Such a relationship involves total naive trust like children have for their parents and that trust is what Jesus is saying we need to transition to a Kingdom ruled by God.

It is scary to think about trusting God’s message through Christ that we are to live our lives ruled by love when we live in a world where mass shooting are becoming common place, where terrorist are deemed to be behind every bush, and where our worth seems to be established more on what we possess then who we are. But trusting and living God’s message of love is the only way we will find shalom, the peace of God, for which we all long.

Prayer: Lord, grant us your peace, free us from the fears that box our love into small containers shared only when we feel safe by helping us comprehend more completely that ultimate safety lies in your arms of love. 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.

 

Divorce

Living in the Spirit
October 3, 2015

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:2-16

Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ They said, ‘Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, “God made them male and couple getting divorcedfemale.” “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’

 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’ –Mark 10:2-12

Divorce is so common now we celebrate as an exception those who remain together in marriage for 50+ years. We even publish their pictures in the paper. This scripture has become one to ignore.

One of the unsaid truths of this scripture is that there is no mention of a woman divorcing a man. Jesus did not differentiate status between men and woman. The Hebrew Bible laws they are talking about basically say a man can divorce his wife for any reason like selling an animal that had lost its usefulness to him. There were no divorce rights for women. The Pharisees in hearing Jesus’ response might have been as much surprised by his treating women and men equally as they were about his stating a stronger interpretation of marriage than provided in the law.

I believe there are some good reasons for divorce. I believe that God forgives us when we have failed at the love of another including those we marry. God gives us second changes all the time to get love right. Although we do pay the consequences of our actions when we don’t get love right, we need to take the time to learn from those experiences and work not to make the same mistake again.

Prayer: Lord, help us to love each other as you would have us love and when we do not, help us to understand what part we might have played in failing to love like Jesus. Heal the gaps in our ability to love. 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.

Family of God

One in ChristLiving in the Spirit
October 2, 2015

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12

It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying,
‘I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,
   in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.’ –Hebrews 2:10-13

The quote in our scripture today is taken from Psalm 22:22. We are probably more familiar with the first verse of this Psalm for it was the words Jesus quoted from the cross: My God, my God why have you forsaken me? Apparently the early church saw Jesus in all of this Psalm, which ultimately ends in oneness and justice for all God’s people whom Jesus viewed as his brothers and sisters, the family of God.

Yet it seems we as God’s avowed followers, are further apart than ever. We clump together in silos of our own making defining God in terms that fit our needs, fill our hungers, and in the short term quiet our fears. We need to let God out of those tubes. It is time for a rebirth in and through God toward the fulfillment of the Kingdom of which Jesus taught. We want more and more and are never satisfied, are over-sated and still empty, and are letting our fears of change drive us to long for things we thought once existed but never did.

If ever we needed a savior, it is now. Praise be to God we have one. We must get to know him for who he was, is, and is to come. We may be surprised at how very much we will find Jesus Christ is exactly what we needed all along.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for defining you in my image. Remold me and make me like thee divine* so that I may be a part of the solutions to our separateness not a cause. Amen.

*From the hymn Are you Able by Earl Marlatt  See at Http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/r/aryeable.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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.