Monthly Archives: June 2016

Perseverance

create-a-world-where-peace-is-built-with-justice-and-where-justice-is-guided-by-loveLiving in the Spirit
June 20, 2016

Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.’ But Elisha said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So they went down to Bethel. –2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

You will need to read all of 2 Kings 2 to feel the fullness of Elisha’s perseverance as this scene is played over and over again. The book of Hebrews also talks about perseverance: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1)

How do we love with perseverance? How do we cling to our calling to love God and love our neighbors as we love ourselves in a world filled with fear and hate? How do we love away hate and fear without alienating the ones we are trying to love? How do we let love cleanse our souls to the extent that there are no enemies just more people for us to love? And how can we chase after our call to love with the same perseverance that Elisha pursued his mentor for the last gift of grace he felt he needed to enable his ministry?

I wonder how the disciples felt as Jesus left them with a call and the gift of grace. We still stand today with the same call and the same gift of grace. Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Love is stronger than hate and fear. God is working God’s purpose out and we are a vital part of God’s work. We are not working alone.

Prayer: Lord, help us to feel your presence in the work we do in your name. Guide us and teach us your will and your way. Amen.

Illustration above from http://www.imagesbuddy.com/images/206/let-us-create-a-world-where-peace-is-built-with-justice-and-where-justice-is-guided-by-love.jpg

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 as Ministry

Mental_Pies2_630Living in the Spirit
June 19, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 8:26-39

Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. –Luke 8:35-39

Psychiatrist still explore the chicken and egg questions of mental illness. Does environment create mental illness or is it biological in origin? Mental illness is surely impacted by both biology and environment. Experts try now to seek treatment on this continuum of cause and effect. While the professionals have made some headway, we in general do not deal with it much better than our ancestors in faith did 2000 years ago.

A high percentage of the homeless on our streets are mentally ill. My church worships with the homeless about once a quarter when we provide participants dinner at a sister church serving people living on the streets. It has been with great joy that at both of the last two meetings we have celebrated with persons who have met the criteria for obtaining an apartment of their own as a part of a program provided by the local Homeless Alliance. These people have done the hard work of learning to care for themselves including taking medicines, perhaps working, and sharing their stories of success with fellow pilgrims on the journey to wholeness.

Wholeness correlates with responsibility. The Man called Legion wanted to follow Jesus in his ministry, but Jesus told him his ministry was with those in his own community. That is essentially what Jesus told us all when he commanded us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts and minds to the needs of the mentally ill and grant us the wholeness and oneness to bring justice to their 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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Our Own Demons

sunny-sideup-eggsLiving in the Spirit
June 18, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 8:26-39

Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me’— for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Legion’; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. –Luke 8:26-31

Heal My Soul. I think I first heard this prayer in a song by David Teems in his album Scars and Stripes which came out in 1998. It has resonated with me ever since. Last year my Sunday School class completed Joel Ortberg’s study Soul Keeping. We all were touched by how much we needed to pay attention to our souls, but often do not. It can be quite scary to think about ridding our souls of the muck and mire that clogs our being like rotting leaves backed up in a sewer line. We do not deal well with emptiness and we are at times hesitant to be filled with the powerful love of God. Why do you suppose that is?

It is really hard at times to see ourselves as others see us or to know ourselves as God knows us. I have done battle with weight most of my adult life. (Was an underweight skinny little kid actually.) My doctor referred me to a nutritionist. A tall angular woman, who I am sure was never a pound overweight in her life, studied very carefully the food diary I had keep the previous week. I was supposed to eat no more than 1200 calories each day and I had fulfilled that requirement but had not lost any weight. There was no question in my mind that she thought I was lying to myself and to her in my accounting. Just for the record, I was not lying. I even had measured and weighed everything. She took a plate and set it on the table between us and then took plastic food, including two sunny-side-up eggs, and carefully displayed them on the plate lecturing me on proper proportions. I am not a violent person, but I was very tempted to pick up those plastics eggs and slap them across her face. You will be pleased to know that I did not. I also did not ever return to see her. We cannot help others, if we let biases based on our own way of being cloud our judgment.

While I doubt we will ever obtain Paul’s perfection in real time, we must deal with our own demons to some degree before we can truly be servants to others. The process of daily examination of ourselves in the presence of God is a worthy one.

Prayer: Heal my soul, O Lord, so that I might be a balm to others. 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.

Not Justice

LibertyLiving in the Spirit
June 17, 2016

Scripture Reading: Galatians 3:23-29

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. –Galatians 3:28-29

I share in the consternation of people who are concerned that white privilege most likely resulted in a young man, found guilty of rape, receiving only a prison sentence of a few months with part of that waived. I celebrate with the family of a young white man in Oklahoma not receiving the death penalty after being found guilty of murdering, not only his father, but also a younger brother. I have always been against the death penalty. I also can assure you that if either of these young men had been black or any other person of color, Muslim or even just middle-eastern these sentences would have been markedly different for the same crimes.

I am a strong supporter of restorative justice and appreciate recent actions in Oklahoma to move toward restoring wholeness to those who have committed crimes. I think most sentences are too long and are not accompanied with nearly enough rehabilitative efforts. I am also appalled, at the same time these steps were taken, our government through increased fees and fines designed to fund criminal justice activities, essentially expanded a form of debtors’ prisons.

And so we read our scripture for today, part of which is quoted above, and ponder how it is that what we call justice is not justice at all, at least not for everyone.

Prayer: Lord, create in us clean hearts to serve you more justly. 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.

The Discipline of Love

Hebrews612Living in the Spirit
June 16, 2016

Scripture Reading: Galatians 3:23-29

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. –Galatians 3:23-26

Discipline, what is it exactly? According to Merriam -Webster Dictionary* it is:

  1. a subject that is taught
  2. training or experience that corrects, molds, strengthens, or perfects especially the mental faculties or moral character
  3. punishment: such as a:  chastisement self-inflicted as mortification or imposed as a penance or as a penalty b:  punishment by one in authority especially with a view to correction or training
  4. control gained by enforcing obedience or order (as in a school or army): strict government to the end of effective action
  5. a rule or system of rules governing conduct or action: system of regulation
  6. an orderly or regular pattern of behavior

The word disciple, one who receives instruction from another, one who accepts the doctrines of another and assists in spreading or implementing them,** perhaps has more importance to those of us who claim to be disciples of Christ as it derives from the word discipline.

Paul takes us all the way back to family in describing the art of discipleship to Christ. We are shaped by family for better or for worse, learning how to care for ourselves and interact with others or not learning these things. In the life of Jesus and his teaching, we have received the ways of his discipline. Training not so much focused on punishment but blessed by love. One that builds on the love transmitted to us by our parents and others and, by God’s grace, a love that fills in voids that might be present in our love.

We cannot change another person. We can own our own issues and through the love and grace of God experience growth in our ability to love more completely. Through God’s love and our love, we can share this discipline of love with all people and that will overcome evil.

Prayer: Lord, teach me to love like Jesus. Amen.

*http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/Discipline

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.

Hope and Direction

love7-300x189Living in the Spirit
June 15, 2016

Scripture Reading: Psalm 42 and 43

O send out your light and your truth;
   let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
   and to your dwelling.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
   to God my exceeding joy;
and I will praise you with the harp,
   O God, my God.  

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my help and my God. –Psalm 43:3-5

How is it that people with very similar backgrounds can understand the world so differently? We have been coached by a society that says: if you just have enough information or knowledge everything will be OK. Yet in our world we neither trust information nor knowledge. It is all suspect most often because it does not pass our own litmus tests for truth. I usually want to know who paid for the research before I bother to read it. The same is true of polls. I took a whole three-hour psychology course in college learning how to construct polls with the least possible bias because it is truly impossible to develop a poll with no bias. I have noted recently that the media reports on a variety of polls targeted at addressing the same issue. I guess they hope it will open the door for us to glean some sense from the diverse results.

Don’t get me wrong, I think information is crucial and knowledge is important. In Matthew 6:21, Jesus is quoted as saying: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Before we examine information, before we drink deeply from the well of knowledge, we need to meld our hearts with the heart of God, the provider of spiritual and eternal truth, who brings hope and direction to our lives and establishes the foundation of love on which all our thoughts and actions are to be based. If something doesn’t pass the test of love it is not of God.

Prayer: Lord, hone our discernment so that when we act, we act out of love and when we react, we react in 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.

 

Branches of Justice

wknd-adventure-chasteencascadesLiving in the Spirit
June 14, 2016

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 19:1-15a

He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. –1 Kings 19:11-15

In the 1980’s I created my own sabbatical. State employees do not get sabbaticals. I had to get special dispensation just to take more than two weeks off, even though I had accumulated enough annual leave to take off three months and was losing leave. I had had it with the earthquakes, wind, and fire of trying to deal with very real human need with very limited resources coupled with the mishmash of varied opinions of what would work and what would not work. I drove east on I-40 with my radio blaring and my mind still dealing with problems I could not solve. In Nashville, after a long hot bath and a good night’s sleep, I started the second day of the journey with the shocking blast of too-loud popular music when I started my car. I quickly quieted the radio and switched to classical sounds. I was soon turning off I-40 and heading toward the Great Smoky Mountain Park. The curving roads forced me to slow down, the beauty called me to roll down my window, and the sound of silence lead me to turn off the radio. I encountered the Holy driving through that forest.

A few weeks later after doing some genealogy and seeing a very good old friend, I headed back home ready, with the help of God, to deal with whatever forces I would meet. The environment I had left had not changed. I had changed. God had reshaped me with a little more patience and a lot more resilience as I continued to answers God’s call to serve others.

The bad things that happen in our world can be our undoing or they can be a catalyst toward even greater action toward doing justice for all God’s children. We are the branches but we must remember, we are together attached to a might vine. (John 15:5)

Prayer: Lord, make us one in your love so that our love grows together exponentially. 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.

Love Like Jesus Loves

Elijah being nurtured by GodLiving in the Spirit
June 13, 2016

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 19:1-15a

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, ‘Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.’ He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. –1 Kings 19:4-9

Hard times, hard times. I spent last week viewing the new Roots series. I recorded the first show because I had a conflict and recorded the rest because I could not take the story night after night. Having read the book and seen the previous series, I was well acquainted with the events. I don’t remember if I knew that my ancestors owned slaves the first time I watched it. Don’t think I did. I knew it this time. Topping that off with watching the news while eating before church on Sunday morning, I learned that 20 people had been killed in Orlando, Florida by another senseless shooting. It was just more than I wanted to handle. By the time I got to church the count had risen to 50, the largest mass shooting in modern US history.

In our scripture today, Elijah had reached his breaking point after taking on the priest of Baal. He made the wrong woman mad, and Queen Jezebel wanted him dead. He ran to the hills and hid out alone, ready to give up and just die, when the scene described above occurred, and he experienced the nurture of a loving God. I, too, experienced the nurture of a loving God as I listened in worship today about lives saved from simply providing the means for people to have clean water, heard a Yoda quote: Do. Or do not. There is no try. , and was reminded that Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’ (John 8:12)

I take heart in one of my favorite scriptures in times like these, John 16:33, I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!’

Prayer: Lord, I thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit and a community of faith working together to let your light shine in the darkness as we Do. Love like 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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Comfort Zones

CircleLiving in the Spirit
June 12, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 7:36-8:3

Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’ Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’ –Luke 7:43-50

I am a horrible card-sender. I currently have two get well cards and a birthday card for the same good friend, not yet sent. I mean well, but apparently not well enough to act. It is not because I did not have a good example. I had the very best example. My mother’s final ministry after she was ninety, primarily consisted of prayer for others and sending cards and notes of encouragement.

What I understand from our scripture today is the woman being condemned was very good at doing the little things that demonstrate compassion and love. I do not think the scripture is suggesting that one must sin greatly to have a closer relationship with God. I think it is saying that perhaps one who has knowledge of their separation from God has a greater appreciation for grace and knows how much a simple act of love can mean when love has not been otherwise forthcoming.

Some of us are experiencing much needed internal conflict dealing with the whole idea that we might be privileged in some way. We think our place in the world, in culture, and in class distinctions is normal and we do not get what this fuss of equality is all about. God is stirring our consciousness to see the world from the vantage point of others upon whom our status of privilege is stacked. It is not an even pyramid. If it were, I think it might be easier to see. There are varying combinations of race and class, gender and race, class and gender and other categories that can be rated in hierarchies of privilege. It is incumbent upon each of us to gain knowledge about how our comfort zones may be separating us from God and let our lives reflect what we have learned.

Prayer: Lord, broaden our awareness of the world about us and enable that widening circle to be reflected in our 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.

Community of God’s Caring Children

MagdaleneWashesJesusFeetLiving in the Spirit
June 11, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 7:36-8:3

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.’ –Luke 7:36-39

Question: if this woman was such a sinner, how did she even get into the Pharisee’s house? How did she learn in the first place that Jesus was in the Pharisee’s house? Since she came prepared to anoint Jesus, she apparently assumed she would be admitted to the Pharisee’s house. I rather like John Crossan’s idea that much of the gospels, not only share the parables of Jesus, but are also written in parabolic form telling the stories about Jesus. Is this notation about the women, Luke’s subtle way if saying that this particular Pharisee was not all he was professing to be?

Jesus clearly saw the image of God in every person with whom he interacted. This Pharisee apparently did not. Perhaps this sinner did not matter to the Pharisee because she was a woman. Perhaps it was important to him to highlight Jesus’ lack of good judgement because he associated with “sinners”. We humans seem to have a need to rank one another. To establish our self-worth based on how much better we are than someone else or some group. There seems to be a lot of that going around in the United States today.

It is apparently very hard for humans to accept that all are worthy and that none of us are any less or more than any other. God makes each person an integral part of a synergistic community of caring children of God where the total is greater than the sum of its parts. What we do with that opportunity is our challenge.

Prayer: Lord, help us build a world based on being a community of your caring 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.