Author Archives: WOJ@deborahsdescendants.com

What Ifs

Living in the Spirit

November 6, 2021

Scripture Reading: John 11:32-44

When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’ –John 11:2-37

Was Mary merely stating the obvious in the scripture above, or was she blaming Jesus for not coming when he was called? Maybe both, grief clouds our thinking. I had wondered why Jesus did not go immediately when he was notified of Lazarus’s illness. He would have been entering dangerous territory crossing from Galilee to Judah. Did Jesus need time to prepare himself for this next phase of his ministry? Many of us have tossed and turned throughout a sleepless night trying to discern God’s plan for some action, the consequences of which we cannot be sure. I often write a serious post and let it lay fallow for a night before I post, reword, or toss it. However, those instances are not life or death in nature. “What ifs” are lessons to be learned. We cannot change the past; we can avoid making the same mistakes. Hebrews 11:1 states that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. We can note that the raising of Lazarus was a pivotal point in Jesus’s sojourn on earth.

That said, we would do well to remember that Jesus taught and practiced preventive behavior. The Ten Commandants are excellent guidance for living a fruitful life. Jesus seems to have taken those rules a step further in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus prescribes a preventive form of righteousness dealing with the causes of the sins outlawed in the Commandment. If we address the anger that leads to murder, we save ourselves from sin and another person’s life. If we love our enemies, we will not take advantage of them.

Prayer: Lord, grant us your shalom when we face situations that are not clear to us at the moment. Guide our thoughts and our words in such a time as these until we gain greater understanding. 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.

Water of Life

Living in the Spirit

November 5, 2021

Scripture Reading:

Revelation 21:1-6a

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’

And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.

We do not know how important water is in our lives until we have none. In the late 1970s, I moved to Denver, which was the first time I was introduced to the importance of conserving water. In Oklahoma, waitpersons usually brought water to the table for everyone often when they brought the menu. In the Rocky Mountain area, one had to order water. Hearing about the water problems now in the west is heartbreaking. I wonder when the writer of Revelation describes seeing a new heaven and new earth meant to leave out a new sea. The section of Revelation ends with the phrase, To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. All life is a gift from God. Those who recognize that are the ones who will call on God when they thirst for God and God’s righteousness now and in the Kingdom to Come.

Psalm 63:1 describes this relationship well

O God, you are my God, I seek you,
   my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
   as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

My doctor advised me a few years ago that I was not drinking enough water. Thus, I started a regime of measured drinking amounts of water. In that process, I discovered that I did not like the taste of the water from my tap. So, I started adding a dash of peppermint flavoring and solved my problem. I wonder if our fulfilling our thirst for God requires us to improve our relationship with God so that we desire God as God is not the way we want God to be. God’s spring water does not require the addition of peppermint. If our souls do not like the taste of what we are giving it, we are sipping from the wrong cup.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we chase after things of this world that separate us from you. Draw us back to your spring of living water. 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.

gods of our creation

Living in the Spirit

November 4, 2021

Scripture Reading: Revelation 21:1-6a
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’

And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.

The word translated “dwell with” above is the Greek word skēnóō, which in English more precisely represents tabernacle and means dwelling in intimate communion with the resurrected Christ – even as He who Himself lived in unbroken communion with the Father during the days of His flesh*.

The poetic vision described above is far afield from our world today. We are more divided than I can ever remember. We are not the one people of God; Jesus longed for us to be. We cannot be the one people of God because we worship many gods we create in images we desire. If our most significant concern about the world is whether the ideal Christmas toy for our child is on one of those boats that cannot unload and thus will not be available to purchase in time for Christmas, we are in deep trouble. The toy or the microchips needed for cars could have been manufactured in the USA if we had been willing to pay our fellow citizens living wages. Instead, Our companies contracted with businesses in countries that allow low wages, child labor, and unsafe working environments.

Empires fail when they get too greedy for their own good.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we turn away from you toward the lesser gods that entice us. Open our hearts to the worth of your peace and love. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/4637.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.

Changing for the Better

Living in the Spirit

November 3, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 24

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
   the world, and those who live in it;
for he has founded it on the seas,
   and established it on the rivers.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
   And who shall stand in his holy place?
Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
   who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
   and do not swear deceitfully.
They will receive blessing from the Lord,
   and vindication from the God of their salvation.
Such is the company of those who seek him,
   who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Psalm 24:1-6

The indigenous peoples of the Americas did not recognize individual land ownership. They believed that the earth was created for and shared by all peoples, much as the above scripture describes. This idea differed markedly from the European culture when they came to occupy the Americas. The Europeans not only practiced land ownership but used it as a definer of ones worth. This collision of culture laid the groundwork for much misunderstanding and wars. I am not acquainted enough with world history to know where the Europeans developed their land ownership philosophy. Basic laws regarding land were laid out following the Norman invasion of 1066.

As the world progresses, people make changes to accommodate new ways of living. Horse and buggies changed to cars. I read an interesting discussion about the observance of not working on the Sabbath regarding electric lights. Did flipping a switch constitute work? That was the question that arose with the introduction of electric lights. Our culture deals daily with new ways of living as we communion with many diverse cultures. Our challenge is determining how we insert these changes into our lives while discerning how they mesh with our faith. The Psalm above handles that self-examination by asking Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?  And who shall stand in his holy place? The Psalmist is challenging us to act with intentionality in all we do to assure that we are in sync with the Lord we serve. We should never assume that our way is always the better way. And better ways should not be the source of greed and discrimination which are never in sync with God’s plan.

Prayer: Open our hearts to grow from the diversity of the world you created for all. 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.

Faith and Hope

Living in the Spirit

November 2, 2021

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 25:6-9

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
   a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines,
   of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain
   the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
   the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death for ever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
   and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
   for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
   Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
   This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
   let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

There is a feeling now in our world that a shroud is cast over all peoples. The COVID virus is undoubtedly taking its toll. About the time we seem to get it under control, it rears its ugly head again. Scriptures like the one above were, most likely, written to give people hope in what seemed like a hopeless situation. God knows we need hope now. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. A lesson I have learned from studying the history of God is that God is rarely if ever, magic wane waver. Jesus, on occasion, healed by touch and forgave immediately, but he added things like pick up your bed and walk (John 5:8-16) or go and sin no more (John 8:7).

We most often think of Jesus’s primary task being our salvation, but he spent most of his time while on earth training disciples to carry on his work when he was gone. Once I read the first chapter of Acts, which is essentially a board meeting making plans to further Jesus’s work, I followed immediately by reading the second chapter, which describes the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Faith is the knowledge that God is with us in all we do, especially in bringing forth God’s Kingdom on earth, but God always expects us to do our part.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your abiding presence. Help me clearly see the task you set before me and complete them to your glory. 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.

Death Penalty

Living in the Spirit

November 1, 2021

Scripture Reading:

Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
For though in the sight of others they were punished,
their hope is full of immortality.
Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt-offering he accepted them.
In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,
and will run like sparks through the stubble.
They will govern nations and rule over peoples,
Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect.

Oklahoma has jumped back into the desire to execute prisons with great enthusiasm. A new governor and his newly appointed Attorney General are anxious to correct the state’s requirement to do this job. I wish they had the same enthusiasm for solving our homeless problem or that we are in the top ten worst states in the nation for public education and health care. Oklahoma placed a moratorium on execution in 2015 after a second botched attempt at executing persons sentenced to the death penalty. Last week we used the same protocols to execute a man and got the same results. Witnesses reported that while he was strapped on a gurney like Jesus on the cross, he vomited all over himself twice and convulsed two dozen times immediately after being given the sedative that was the first step in the process. The second shot paralysis him. And finally, they administered the lethal drug that killed him.  

Prayer: May John Marion Grant rest in peace, and may God have mercy on all responsible for his execution, including me whose taxes helped pay for 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.

God’s Joy

Living in the Spirit

October 31, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Mark 12:28-34

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbor as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any question.

How far are we from the Kingdom of God? In my college freshman New Testament course 103, Professor Fred Craddock taught that salvation was a gift of grace. He drew two lines on a blackboard. The top line indicated obtaining salvation. The second line illustrated the level of good works we had done. The distance between the two revealed the presence of God’s grace, making up the shortfall. God’s grace opens the entrance for each of us into the Kingdom of God.  Indeed, one can obtain God’s grace even when there is much distance between the lines at the time. We recognize God’s love for us and accept Christ’s gift of grace. Our love of God fulfilled in this gift of grace propels us to follow Jesus’s ways of loving God and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. I imagine God knows joy when God’s followers love one another and all others. God experiences greater joy when we create a world where all are loved and valued, where all have enough of the necessities of life, and where justice prevails. When those qualities exist, we will not be far from the Kingdom of God. Indeed, we might find ourselves in it.

Prayer: God of grace and God of glory,
on thy people pour thy pow’r.
Crown thine ancient church’s story,
bring its bud to glorious flow’r.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the facing of this hour,
for the facing of this hour. 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

Living in the Spirit

Scripture Reading:
Mark 12:28-34

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbor as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any question.

We probably have a good idea of what it means to love with all our hearts. My spiritual director trainer shared with our class that he had not understood unconditional love until he switched roles and became his mother’s caretaker when she was helpless without voice near the end of her life. I took a test recently to determine how I communed with God and scored highest on being an intellectual, meaning I have to test everything in my mind before I can be comfortable with it. Loving God with all our minds means we can logically accept this mysterious holy one. Loving one with all my strength reminds me of the day I was working through college as a nurse’s aide. One of our patients was fully paralyzed and weighed over 300 pounds. We used a hydraulic lift to remove her from her bed and to lower her into a bathtub.  I was on one end of the lift with another aide on the other end when one of the wheels closest to me fell off. I was left balancing the lift with the patient until several people raised it enough to get the wheel back in place. God gave us adrenaline for such a time as that. I see loving God with all our strength as serving God in whatever way God calls us to act.

I saved loving God with all our souls for last; it puzzled me. The soul is who we are for eternity, but I think Jesus meant more than that. Then I thought loving one’s soul might tie into that second most important commandment of loving oneself. God created us, loves us just as we are and as we are becoming, and wants us to love ourselves as we grow and develop in relationship to God. Loving with our heart is parent love; loving with our soul is a child’s love under the protective wings of a loving parent.

Prayer: Dear Lord, in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy*. Amen.

*See Psalm 63

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.

Works as Worship

Living in the Spirit

October 29, 2021

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 9:11-14

But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!

The works we do are worship of the living God. God indeed loves our communing through prayer and meditation, praising with music, reading scriptures that remind us of the history of God from creation to eternity. However, God’s greatest joy may be witnessing our loving one another and all others.

What are those dead works that we need to cleanse from our conscience? What is sapping our energy away from the works that are worship? When and how are we guilty of directing our time, energy, and resources toward dead outcomes? Our lists will all differ, but I think it is essential that we examine our actions periodically to identify misplaced efforts and redirect our work from them. Jesus instructed the disciples when he sent them out into the world to spread the good news according to Matthew 10:14 saying: If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Discerning when the time has come to walk away is hard but perhaps not permanent. Martin Luther King Jr. instigated the Poor People’s Campaign shortly before he was assassinated in 1968. The idea went dormant for years but had a rebirth in 2017 and is active today.

Our worship works may take much longer than we would hope, but perseverance is another way to worship God. For example, advocates for health care in Oklahoma had to work for more than ten years to get Medicaid expansion approved, and it took a vote of the people to make it happen.

How much time do we spend in meetings that go nowhere and accomplish nothing? How many hours do we invest in doing things just because we have always done them? When I first joined my church, it had a robust Wednesday night dinner followed by great classes. Thirty years later, it no longer met the needs of families where both parents worked outside the home and valued their evening with their children. We eventually disbanded it.

Finally, in our fragmented world, how often do we want just to give up? We see hate and anger being encouraged in our land, divide and conquer tactics trying to separate us as a means of others obtaining power. Dead works can also describe giving up on God’s way of loving being the best way of living. We are all called to never give up on God’s love.

Prayer: Lord, guide us in examining our lives to clear out the dead works that are getting in the way of works that are worship. 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.

Serving God

Living in the Spirit

October 28, 2021

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 9:11-14

But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!

Once for all. . . obtaining eternal redemption, Jesus’s death on the cross freed us from repetitious penitence, allowing us to devote our time and talent to loving God and loving one another.  I grew up on a farm and knew the labor necessary just to head a heifer to the desired location. I remember Dad bringing home a cow that turned out to be headstrong and wild. The whole family got involved in trying to get her in the milking barn. She even swam the pond to escape the barrier we had created to capture her. Consequently, she was returned to the sale barn the following week.

The above scripture could be a good metaphor for getting distracted by the dead works that entangle us from following the plan that Jesus set forth for us. I see that plan summarized in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and Jesus telling us we will be judged on how well we care for others described in Matthew 25:31-46. I am not critical of our faith ancestors who were offering items of worth in homage to God. However, Jesus’s death and resurrection tell us that the thing most valuable to God is our giving back, by choice, the life God gave us in service and in love to actualizing God’s original vision of our world.

Prayer: God of Grace, thank you for the teachings of Jesus showing us how to serve you and for Christ’s continuing support and love as we choose to love you more dearly and serve you more nearly. 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.