Monthly Archives: June 2017

Doubt

Living in the Spirit
June 9, 2017

Scripture Reading: Matthew 28:16-20
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

Doubt is a healthy response. Overplayed doubt can immobilize and is not healthy. Being without doubt is dangerous. Think about it. Doubt makes us question what seems unlikely or improbable particularly if the situation is outside our normal concepts of reality. Doubt makes us consider all the possibilities before we allow a new concept to enter our comfort zones. The Greek word, distazo*, translated  in our scripture as doubt means going two ways, shifting between positions turning something over and over again in our minds until we gain a sense of peace with our understanding of whatever made us question in the first place.

Coming to peace with any reality is the first step to courage. Courage is what enabled common people from the first century to transcend self-expectations becoming more than they ever expected to be. In so doing they took the teaching of Jesus from a tiny country in the middle east and changed the whole world. We are called to continue that mission. Failure is not an option if we want to live in a world ruled by love, not eaten up with greed and lust for power.

Prayer: Lord, as you wrestled with Jacob thousands of years ago helping him realize who you were, wrestle with us today until we come to peace with who you are and what you need us to do. Empower us to continue living your love and passing it to others you place in our paths. Amen.

*http://biblehub.com/greek/1365.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.

Relationships

Living in the Spirit
June 8, 2017

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Paul was not acquainted with “Yours truly” or “Sincerely.” He ended his letters with extended admonishments and blessings. General in nature, his closings are good for most of us at any time. I particularly like his phrase Put things in order. A lot of our problems today result from us blowing things out of proportion. How much time do we spend trying to soothe ruffled feathers because we may not have communicated something well? How often do we ignore a small sore point letting it fester until it becomes a major issue? Barney Fife put it well; we need to nip those things in the bud.

I concur that we need to work on finding agreement with one another, and sometimes I think it is important we learn to agree to disagree deciding to work together on things about which we do agree. We certainly need to live in peace with one another.

When we do disagree or are even angry with another, we need to practice the art of praying for them and our relationship with them. Inviting God into any relationship eventually, brings healing and wholeness even when it may result in a parting of ways. Paul’s closing prayer is a good model to follow.

Prayer: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

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.

Created with a Brain

Living in the Spirit
June 7, 2017

Scripture Reading: Psalm 8

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
   mortals that you care for them? 

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
   and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
   you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
   and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
   whatever passes along the paths of the seas. –Psalm 8:3-8

This listing of creatures for which humans are assigned responsibility are all sources of food for humans. We need to take care of the things that take care of us. Our earth is a delicately balanced eco-system designed to be self-sustaining with proper care.

Is the Psalmist placing emphasis on the word, “What”? In other words, asking a rather cynical question, “Why are you bothering to mess with humans”? I wonder that myself at times. God trusts us greatly as God knows our capabilities and gave us the freedom to use them at all or to use them for good or to use them for evil.  God’s desire is that we fully utilize our gifts for good.

I do think we need to avoid evil, but most of us are probably guiltier of not fully developing and using our gifts. It is the season of graduations where bright young people are finishing one aspect of life and moving on to the next. Speakers at graduation ceremonies are trying to prepare them for the next steps.

I remember in college struggling to write a five-page paper thinking it was the hardest thing to complete because it covered the breadth of a whole semester’s work. Writing concisely, while covering material fully, is difficult. Less than a year later, I remembered that paper as I completed a court summary of a family’s situation that involved summarizing three manila folders of information covering 20 years of child abuse and neglect history. It was just another routine day at the office.

Continuous learning is important; continuous application of what we learn is even more important. Learning to let go of things taught us as truth which on further evidence is not is important also. God created us with brains for a reason. Figuring out how to use them fully in conjunction with our lives in Christ is a lifelong journey of love.

Prayer: Lord, help us not shy away from being fully the people you created us to be. Guide our proper use of your gifts. 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
June 6, 2017

Rest for the Soul

Scripture Reading: Genesis 1:1-2:4a

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. –Genesis 2:1-3

As I experienced life in broadening context, I discovered various types of rest are necessary to re-energize different aspects of my being. I learned about hard physical work in childhood on the farm, and in high school and college when I worked as a nurses aide and as a waitress. Being physically worn out makes sleep come easily unless one’s body aches so bad he or she cannot sleep. Days off are a haven for sore muscles.

Resting one’s mind has different challenges. My mind runs full speed ahead none stop when I am awake. Sometimes its busyness keeps me awake. I read somewhere, sorry I do not remember where that the best form of rest for a busy mind is not trying to empty it but to distract it for breaks by making it work on something other than its main focus. Counting while taking a walk or riding a bike is distracting. I must confess I have, however, walked many additional steps because I stop counting and move back to whatever subject was at hand. I hope I am making progress. Completing Sudoku’s helps me more than anything to change my focus. I find after I have rested my mind, it works better. Sleep is also very important for a restless mind.

Do we need rest for our souls? Certainly, we do. Spending time with God, listening for God is soul resting. Music helps me along this path. It is no wonder to me that Near to the Heart of God is my favorite hymn.

There is a place of quiet rest,
near to the heart of God,
a place where sin cannot molest,
near to the heart of God*.

Prayer:
O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
sent from the heart of God,
hold us, who wait before thee,
near to the heart of God*. Amen.

*First verse and refrain of Near to the Heart of God by Cleland Boyd McAfee see at http://hymnary.org/text/there_is_a_place_of_quiet_rest

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.

Dominion

Living in the Spirit
June 5, 2017

Scripture Reading: Genesis 1:1-2:4a

So God created humankind in his image,
   in the image of God he created them;
   male and female he created them.
God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. –Genesis 1:27-31

Growing up on a farm, I inherited a certain reverence for the land. It was the source of our livelihood. We all farmed: father, mother, and children. I was in charge of chickens and helped to milk cows. I traded working in the garden for housework every chance I got. My dad also was an oil well pumper running the machines that extracted oil from the earth. I laughed when I heard someone on the news recently complaining about the noise wind turbines make as a reason to discontinue building wind farms. Most nights as I child I went to sleep to the pumping of oil wells.

My dad grew up fast in the midst of the depression. His father died when my dad was ten in 1928. The wall street crash and the dust bowl followed shortly after that. Tough times led to learning better land conservation measures.  Rows of trees planted during those years still appear along the way while driving across the prairie. Recycling was a way of life as every tobacco can was used for such things as closing off mouse holes and feed sacks were the primary fabric for dresses. When the dresses wore out, salvageable sections were used to make quilt blocks. My mom used to drive me crazy washing the paper plates and plastic utensils I purchased for my Christmas dinner specifically to keep from having to wash dishes. If I said anything, she would just answer, “these can be used again” and kept washing.

When did our culture decide the ability to waste things was a sign of progress? Did we have to suffer the consequences of losing the best top soil in the Dust Bowl, before we learned how to take care of our farmland? What are we missing now that will come back to bite us hard in the future? What is our responsibility in the world we have today regarding our assigned role of having dominion over the earth?

Prayer: Lord, help us conserve your world for future generations. Forgive us when we bask in waste at the expense of nature. 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.

Sent

Pentecost
June 4, 2017

Scripture Reading: John 20:19-23

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

As the Father has sent me, so I send you. For what reason was Jesus sent? Marshaling all humans to work toward and achieve a world ruled by love seems to be the primary thrust of Jesus ministry. It started at creation when God the parent imprinted the ability to love in each of us. God’s abiding love shone forth in the gift of Jesus as a role model, a teacher, and ultimately as a Savior. Without question, we each have a major role to play. Love is impotent when it lies dormant; it multiplies exponentially with the smallest expression. What greater example of the phenomenon of love is there than an itinerate preacher, the questionable son of a carpenter who lived perhaps 33 years left the seeds 2,000 years ago that are still producing love today.

Is it human nature to expect a return on any investment we make? Can we love without ever seeing any return? God practices love without any promise of return. If God through Jesus Christ loves without strings, does he expect the same behavior from us? God’s love is based on the sure and certain knowledge that love always grows more love even when God saw his only son cruelly crucified on a cross.

O Love, that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be. 

O Light, that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be*.

Prayer: Let your love flow through me to others. Amen.

*Verses one and two from hymn O, Love that Wilt Not let Me go by George Matheson  see at https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/432

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.

Continuum of Caring

Eastertide
June 3, 2017

Scripture Reading: John 7:37-39
On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” ’ Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Yom Kippur, also called the Day of Atonement, is the high holy day in the Jewish faith a day of repentance, a day of forgiveness. The day Jesus chooses to speak of living water flowing out of believer’s hearts. If we get nothing else from reading the Gospels, we get the message that we are called to nourish the whole world. Go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19) Go into all the world (Mark 16:15) Love your neighbor (Matthew 22; Mark 12; Luke 10; John 13)  Who is my neighbor? (Luke 10) there was a Samaritan (Luke 10) Serving the least of these (Matthew 25)

I think there is a need for a Continuum of Caring to address the needs of the world. I spent many years working in government based human services. Though there are those that like to denigrate anything done by the government, it is the most productive means of meeting the Common Good from building and maintaining roads, to protecting our nation, to meeting basic needs when necessary. The government is not good at providing one-on-one loving support to individuals and families caught in the challenges of life. Loving one’s neighbor is a God thing. There are many other players between these two points of my continuum, both for-profits and not-for-profits some, religious others not who fill the gaps between the broad brush approach of government and the one-on-one of loving our neighbors. All are important and need to work together in positive ways to create a world where justice prevails for all and charity is no longer necessary*. Jesus called it the Kingdom of God.

Prayer: Lord, help us to find the tiniest areas on which we can agree, work together on them, and like the mustard seed let them grow and spread to reshape our world in your oneness. Amen.

*While we do our good works, let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary. -Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic

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.

Race

Eastertide
June 2, 2017

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:3-13

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
–1 Corinthians 12:12-13

One body including all people was the world view followed by Paul. He picked it up from the teachings of Jesus. Paul’s list of groups differing included Jews/Greeks and slaves/free.The first two came from tribes. The latter two resulted from cultural distinctions sometimes resulting from tribal discord. One tribe would steal members of another tribe whom they enslaved. Slaves referred to as servants or bonded also were created within the Hebrew tribe often the result of impoverishment. Such practices are recorded early in the Hebrew Bible* and continued into at least the 18th century among Christians. My five generations back English grandfather at the age of 15 was indentured by his father in 1783 for seven years to learn how to operate a forge. Also during that period his master, also English, was to teach him how to read, write, and cipher. Apparently, it worked. My grandfather labored successfully at a forge for many years and signed his will so I know he could write his name. His younger brother signed his will with an X witnessed by others.

What is not present in that discussion is race. Race is a relatively new cultural classification appearing first in the same century my ancestor was indentured**. Was it created to support the economic need for relatively free labor? I find myself more and more identifying greed and lust for power as the primary sin-drivers in our world. We justify both by projecting them into other more exploitable issues like race. Race is one thing I do not think we can justify by Biblical quotes as it did not exist at the compiling of the Bible.

If we drink of the same Spirit of God, we cannot uphold such distinctions. After years of being carefully taught, it is hard to erase its stain from our beings. I doubt that we can without the power of that same Spirit to heal our souls. Let us drink deeply until we are cleansed.

Prayer: Lord, renew our hearts so that we can be one with all your children. Amen.

*Leviticus 25:39-40
**http://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-02-09.htm
***Picture above is Greek painting of three Chaldeans with captive Hebrews see at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrews

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.

Spiritual Gifts

Eastertide
June 1, 2017

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:3-13

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. –1 Corinthians 12:4-11

Similar to the fact that many of us do not know what to make of the Holy Spirit, we are also confused about the gifts of the Spirit. Some flaunt their gifts, “I am the world’s greatest athlete, movie star, doctor, lawyer, mother, dad, truck driver, or whatever.” Some hide them under a basket*. I like Russell Westbrook’s approach. I know of no one who questions his gifts, and his goals are personally to get better every day and to help each of his team members improve. Personal accolades do not mean as much to him as team wins. These are good aspirations for the whole Body of Christ.

Do you know what your gifts are? Books and other tools exist to help us identify our gifts. While they are helpful, learning to know ourselves is just as important. I think seeking justice is in my DNA, but I was surely also influenced by my egalitarian mother. Anymore, I exercise that gift using a keyboard rather than my feet and posters because I now accept that I am more an introvert than extrovert and I have bad knees.

It is important that we take the time to identify what brings us joy or any of the other fruit of the Spirit. The fruit or produce of the Spirit as spelled out in Galatians 5:22-23 is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. Backtracking from an experience of joy, for example, you may be surprised to find its source. Most likely it stems from one of your gifts. I am talking true joy, and it most likely occurs after a lot of hard work and perhaps meeting many challenges. I felt it when I heard the Governor of Oklahoma had vetoed an onerous bill designed to increase the interest rate on payday loans in our state.

Prayer: Lord, help us to trace our gifts and to hone our crafts together with all our fellow members of your Body engaged in the world today. Amen.

*See Matthew 5:15

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.