Author Archives: WOJ@deborahsdescendants.com

God vs Chaos

Living in the Spirit

November 18, 2021

Scripture Reading: Psalm 93

The Lord is king, he is robed in majesty;
   the Lord is robed, he is girded with strength.
He has established the world; it shall never be moved;
   your throne is established from of old;
   you are from everlasting.

The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
   the floods have lifted up their voice;
   the floods lift up their roaring.
More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters,
   more majestic than the waves of the sea,
   majestic on high is the Lord!

Your decrees are very sure;
   holiness befits your house,
   O Lord, forevermore.

Making order out of chaos was God’s first task in creation. Order out of chaos is what we need today. We have had floods on the east coast, hurricanes in the south, tornados in mid-America, and fires on the west coast causing chaos. COVID has also taken its toll across the world. At the root of much of our chaos are greed and self-righteousness. Climate change is connected to our unusual weather, which is predicted to get even worse if we do not take prudent steps to prevent it. Trimming our carbon footprint threatens major sources of wealth. We couple that with the attitude that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness exist without responsibility and forget our Pledge of Allegiance includes assuring justice for all.

Creation in the ancient Near East was often viewed as a battle between God and the forces of chaos– the sea or the waters of the deep. In this battle, God has proven victorious; so chaos is ordered, and the world is “established” as solid and immovable*.

The Psalm above tells us that chaos challenges us always, but we can take comfort in knowing that God is the victor over chaos. God, I am sure would appreciate some help and cooperation from us.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we are participants in the chaos of our world rather than practitioners of your order.  Amen.

*The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume IV page 1054

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.

Due to COVID

Living in the Spirit

November 16, 2021

Scripture Reading: Psalm 132:1-12, (13-18)

The Lord swore to David a sure oath
   from which he will not turn back:
‘One of the sons of your body
   I will set on your throne.
If your sons keep my covenant
   and my decrees that I shall teach them,
their sons also, for evermore,
   shall sit on your throne.’

For the Lord has chosen Zion;
   he has desired it for his habitation:
‘This is my resting-place forever;
   here I will reside, for I have desired it.
I will abundantly bless its provisions;
   I will satisfy its poor with bread.
Its priests I will clothe with salvation,
   and its faithful will shout for joy.
There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David;
   I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
His enemies I will clothe with disgrace,
   but on him, his crown will gleam.’ –Psalm 132:11-18

The rich history of God’s people carefully carried forward in scripture is a blessing to all who read it. The stories carefully blend God’s personal relationship with each of God’s children while encompassing the oneness God desires for all creation, from loving our near neighbors to those found at the ends of the earth. Most Christians see the above scripture as foretelling the coming of Christ, God with us. The One who sees clearly by the light of God’s lamp and thus is the One we can follow without fear. His light guides us.

I have been surprised to find lexicon-driven scriptures regarding the coming of Christ before Advent. Maybe I have not been paying attention in the past. Perhaps, due to COVID, we are all anxious for good news. I grow weary of that phrase “due to COVID.” We are now being told COViD will most likely become endemic, with us forever ranked in severity somewhere between the common cold and the flu, adding another annual booster shot. Evil, too, is endemic, never going away and always being in the way to distract us from fulfilling God’s vision for all. We build up antibodies to evil by maintaining a close, loving relationship with God.  We reduce the impact of evil in our world by spreading the good news of God’s love and grace provided through Jesus Christ.

Prayer: O Come, O Come Emanual and ransom the whole world. 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.

Politics and Justice

Living in the Spirit

November 15, 2021

Scripture Reading:
2 Samuel 23:2-7

The spirit of the Lord speaks through me,
   his word is upon my tongue.
The God of Israel has spoken,
   the Rock of Israel has said to me:
One who rules over people justly,
   ruling in the fear of God,
is like the light of morning,
   like the sun rising on a cloudless morning,
   gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.

Is not my house like this with God?
   For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
   ordered in all things and secure.
Will he not cause to prosper
   all my help and my desire?
But the godless are all like thorns that are thrown away;
   for they cannot be picked up with the hand;
to touch them one uses an iron bar
   or the shaft of a spear.
   And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot. –2 Samuel 23:2-7

Politics has crossed the line into jurisprudence– practical wisdom about the law. In Oklahoma last week, we legally executed a man for murder who was possibly mentally ill.  According to witnesses, he suffered numerous convulsions after he was administered the first drug and vomited twice while tethered to a gurney with arms outstretched. A federal court hearing is scheduled in February to determine once again whether Oklahoma’s method of execution is cruel and unusual punishment. Thirty men were on death row when this hearing was called who would be impacted by it. They were each required to choose the method of execution they would prefer, to be a party in the case. The man executed last week said making such a choice would be the equivalent of suicide, and his faith forbids suicide. Thus, he was removed from the case and immediately moved into execution protocols. This week our Governor will decide whether to execute a man for which there is compelling evidence that he did not commit the crime for which he was given the death penalty. Will the Governor decide based on the facts of the case or the point that 61% of Oklahoma’s support the death penalty?

David is the identified author of the above scripture, written at the end of his reign as king. Thus, the advice comes from an experienced politician. Yes, politics exist in a monarchy. David’s sage observation is to be a successful leader; one must do justice. Sometimes leaders need to be teachers also. They need to share with their constituents the broader picture of issues they may not know or understand.

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, open our hearts and minds to considering all aspects of justice and as we strive to do what is right as citizens of a nation and state where justice is defined by people we elect. 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.

The Bigger Picture

Living in the Spirit

November 13, 2021

Scripture Reading: Mark 13:1-8

As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?’ Then Jesus began to say to them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, “I am he!” and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

Living in what is dubbed “Tornado Alley” all my life, I have learned that all buildings are vulnerable. While I have never seen the temple wall in Jerusalem, I have seen the ruins of other great cities. Jesus cautioned his disciples against putting their faith in stones and what they represent. Instead, he called us to trust in the God who created the earth and all that is in it. The tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma, on May 3, 1999, was classified as an F5 (greater than 200 mph) and 8/10th of a mile wide. Driving by the devastation in its wake brought close the impact on all involved. However, seeing the view from the air was unbelievable. There was nothing left on a broad span of the neighborhood hit, except lengths of concrete driveways and parts of foundations. The Jerusalem temple was destroyed by war, which most likely occurred about the same time the book of Mark was written.

Jesus shared the big picture with his disciples. He wants us to grasp that the challenges of everyday life are impacted by the decisions we made in the past and daily. Yes, we need to feed the hungry now, clothe the naked, provide water for the thirsty, care for the sick, restore the prisoner, and welcome the stranger in real-time. However, it is just as vital that we address the ways of our world that cause systemic problems. For example, ending poverty would allow those who are hungry to buy their food. Removing the lead from water pipes makes water safe to drink and prevents severe impacts on children. Improving our immigration laws would make routine the hiring of needed seasonal workers. Working to stabilize countries in economic distress would allow people to thrive in their homeland, reducing refugees’ influx.

None of the prophets who correctly predicted the failure of nations wanted their predictions to come true, including Jesus. Just the opposite, they hoped to prevent what was evident to them. That is still true today.

Prayer: God of Justice, open our hearts and minds to see the harm we do to ourselves and others as the idols of our world distract us from following your warnings. 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.

Loving God by Loving Each Other

Living in the Spirit

November 12, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Hebrews 10:11-14, (15-18), 19-25

Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. –Hebrews 10:11-14.

And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds

The Greek word translated as “provoke” in the above scripture is paroksysmós – a provocation which literally jabs (cuts) someone so they “must” respond*. I am not into jabbing or cutting anyone, but I do not understand how people who claim to worship the same God can have such markedly different understandings of God’s will for God’s people. There are many aspects of faith we could debate, but the Hebrew Bible and the teachings of Jesus are very clear we are all called to love God and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Yet, we are being split asunder, one from the other, by the divide and conquer methods of evil in almost every aspect of life. Our actions are driving people away from churches and, I fear, from God. I wonder if the author of Hebrews was facing the same challenges within a hundred years of Jesus’s sojourn on earth. How fickle we can be.

Everything we do or say needs to be influenced by our love of God, everything. Charles Wesley may have said it best:

Help us to help each other, Lord,
each other’s cross to bear;
let each his friendly aid afford,
and feel another’s care.

Up into thee, our living head,
let us in all things grow,
and by thy sacrifice be led
the fruits of love to show.

Touched by the lodestone of thy love
let all our hearts agree;
and ever towards each other move,
and ever move towards thee.

This is the bond of perfectness,
thy spotless charity.
O let us still, we pray, possess
the mind that was in thee**.

Prayer: Father, forgive us, for we do not know what we are doing***.  Turn us around and teach us how to love each other and, in so doing, demonstrate our love for you. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/3948.htm

**See at https://hymnary.org/text/help_us_to_help_each_other_lord

***Taken from Luke 23:34

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.

Maturing in Love

Living in the Spirit

November 11, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Hebrews 10:11-14, (15-18), 19-25

And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, ‘he sat down at the right hand of God’, and since then has been waiting ‘until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.’ For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy
Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,
‘This is the covenant that I will make with them
   after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
   and I will write them on their minds’,
he also adds,
‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.—Hebrews 10:11-14

Love is not something anyone can command. Love of self, love of family, love of God must be a choice. The words “free will” are not included in the above scripture, but they are present between the lines. The greatest gift God gave us in creating us was the right to choose who and how we love. That gift was given from the One who is love and, in creating humans in that One’s image, freely chose to love each of us no matter what. God’s love and Christ were present at the creation and continued through the many acts of rescuing and reframing of God’s people described in the Hebrew Bible. God enabled those who chose to love him, Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Esther, and many prophets, to provide guidance and opportunities to live the better way of life ruled by love. God even wrote those laws on human hearts, making them readily accessible. Humans, however, proved to be malleable to the temptations of other gods, drawing away from the One who created them. God never gives up. God came to dwell among us in the person of Jesus, who taught us by his life and his words and ultimately gave his life for our salvation. However, God is God, and crucifixion was not the last word. Jesus, the Christ, arose and dwells with us still in the Holy Spirit. His act of love granted us the grace we needed to live in God’s house forever as we strive toward perfecting our ability to love.

At times our growing pains are palpable. We now, unfortunately, live in such a time as this. In many ways, we are acting like a two-year-old transitioning from infancy to childhood. Greed, lust for power, and self-righteousness have replaced justice and God’s righteousness, as we worship gods of our design. Continuing down this path has never worked before and will not work this time. Our world was created to function at its best when it is ruled by love, and we are suffering from not accepting that reality. The time is now to turn around and refocus our lives on God’s way of being, individually and collectively, until we are all one in God.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for our foolish ways. We invite your Spirit into our lives to restore our souls individually and collectively as we strive to become one in your 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

God’s Constant Presence

Living in the Spirit

November 10, 2021

Scripture Reading: Daniel 12:1-3 and Psalm 16

‘At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. –Daniel 12:1-3

Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord;
   I have no good apart from you.’

As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble,
   in whom is all my delight.

Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;
   their drink-offerings of blood I will not pour out
   or take their names upon my lips.

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
   you hold my lot.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
   I have a goodly heritage.

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
   in the night also my heart instructs me.
I keep the Lord always before me;
   because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
   my body also rests secure.
For you do not give me up to Sheol,
   or let your faithful one see the Pit.

You show me the path of life.
   In your presence there is fullness of joy;
   in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

The lectionary listed two scriptures noted above for today, and I thought about using Psalm 16. It is joyous. The above snippet from Daniel is just a tease about the whole book chosen, most likely because it foretells the coming of a savior.

The morning news often grabs my attention and shifts my thinking in a different direction. Actually, I read this story the first time yesterday. A man in a small Nashville church sitting on the front row rose, turned toward the other congregates, and pointed a gun at them. The Pastor, out of the man’s sight, slipped behind him, wrapping his arms around him, taking the man and the weapon to the floor. Others quickly helped restrain him, and the police soon removed him. No one was hurt. Hopefully, the man who needed mental health services got it. News reports indicated that the congregation credited the Pastor with saving their lives. However, he explained their lives were in God’s hands the whole time.

While I do not enjoy trying to identify all the hidden meanings in Daniel and other apocryphal writings, I do appreciate their message that our lives are in God’s hands all the time. It is to our great benefit to rejoice and be glad in that fact.

Prayer: Thank you, God, for guiding us as we serve you. Open our ears to hear your advice and give us the courage to follow 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.

King of the Mountain

Living in the Spirit

November 9, 2021

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 2:1-10

Hannah prayed and said,

‘There is no Holy One like the Lord,
   no one besides you;
   there is no Rock like our God.
Talk no more so very proudly,
   let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
   and by him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty are broken,
   but the feeble gird on strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
   but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
The barren has borne seven,
   but she who has many children is forlorn.
The Lord kills and brings to life;
   he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
   he brings low, he also exalts.
He raises up the poor from the dust;
   he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
   and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
   and on them he has set the world. –1 Samuel 2:1a, 2-8

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
   and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
   and to walk humbly with your God? –Micah 6:8

When I was in grade school, one of the games we played was King of the Mountain. We would find a naturally raised spot in the playground or create such a place as our mountain. The goal would be to push, pull, or shove off our “mountain” whoever made it to the top and take their place. Unfortunately, what was a game to us readily transferred into adult behavior. I have occasionally considered sending our governmental leaders books on how to deal with a child experiencing the terrible twos because that is how they act. I am not sure if Hannah’s prayer above includes a bit of that sentiment or if it suggests that God is the great equalizer. Indeed, most Kings that bully their way to the top of the mountain do come down.

Micah prescribes an alternative way that prevents one-upmanship allowing all to prosper in the love of God while experiencing the abundant life of enough for all. That is to do justice, be kind, and walk humbly with God. In practice, it might work better if we started by walking humbly with God.

Prayer: God of Grace, forgive us when we seek the ways of the world rather than prospering in your 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

All Made in the Image of God

Living in the Spirit

November 8, 2021

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 1:4-20

On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year after year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her, ‘Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?

Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time.’ Then Eli answered, ‘Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.’ And she said, ‘Let your servant find favor in your sight.’ Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.

 They rose early in the morning and worshipped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked him of the Lord.‘ –1 Samuel 1:4 -8, 16-20

The Bible is a record of the history of God mingled with particular cultures in specific times. It is a story still being written in our culture and our time. In Hannah’s time, women were most likely perceived only as incubators to hatch the seed planted by a male. Not being able to perform that function was the cause of great shame for a woman. This reality, coupled with the burning desire to be a mother no matter what the culture dictated, left Hannah in great distress. She laid her anguish before God. When Priest Eli heard her plight, he assured her that God would grant her petition to have a child. The Prophet Samuel was the answer to that prayer.

We, too, pray in the angst of culture created by other gods of our world trying to dictate divide and conquer measures of worth.  We humans seem to be drawn to the need to judge human value by identifying traits and statuses that create hierarchies of some people being better than others. We need more people of God looking deeper into people’s pain, enabling all to recognize that all are created in God’s very image. Samuel grew up to become such a witness.

Prayer: Lord, help us look deeper into “The ways we have always done things” and sift out the wheat from the chaff.  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.

A Just Nation

Living in the Spirit

November 7, 2021

Scripture Reading: John 11:32-44

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’ John 11:38-42

Soon after I graduated from college and started my first job as a social worker, I participated in a Bible study based on the story of the raising of Lazarus. We explored the question was our faith dead or alive? Did our faith need to be unbound and let go? If so, where was it leading us? This was a good time in my life to consider, as a young adult, how I would live my faith. I am a cradle Christian who never experienced life without being a part of a Christian community of faith.  I attended a Christian College. I accepted Jesus as my Savior as a youth.  But the time had come for me to choose how to live my faith beyond the influence of family and the church’s culture. My life experiences discerning how my faith defined me coincided with my first experiences as a social worker providing direct services. I only spent two years working directly with the poor and families caught in the child welfare system. While I spent 33 years more working in social work administration, those prior two years provided me with a lifetime of lessons in the need to do justice and see that the world’s systemic ways must be addressed for justice to be realized.  Jesus was very clear about our need to address such issues.

While we readily think that we are the most powerful nation globally, we fail to see if that were true that could classify us as what the Bible calls an empire. The question with which we must struggle is whether there can be justice within an empire. Unfortunately, history does not give us much hope for that. Greed and lust for power have overtaken most empires. Can our faith in God unbind us from these snares of empire?

Prayer: Lord, Paul tells us that faith, hope, and love abides and the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13). Fill us with your love, renew our hope, strengthen our faith toward building a world ruled by 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.