Author Archives: WOJ@deborahsdescendants.com

The Play’s the Thing

Living in the Spirit

September 27, 2021

Scripture Reading: Job 1:1, 2:1-10

There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’ The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.’ Then Satan answered the Lord, ‘Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives. But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.’ The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.’

So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes.

Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.’ But he said to her, ‘You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

The book of Job is a play examining the relationship between a God-follower and how he sustains his relationship with God despite the multitude of bad events Satan casts upon him to separate him from God. The book When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner comes to mind, as does Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:43-45, ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

I have a problem with the premise of this text that God allows Satan to test Job’s faith like a contest, but it is just a play. God does gift us with free will, and thus we must choose to follow God’s way or the ways of the world.

We also live in community with other people where our successes or failures can impact them as theirs impacts us. Few would choose to catch the COVID virus, but all who fail to take prudent precautions not only put themselves at risk of the contagion but everyone else with whom they might come into contact. Our failure to address climate change results in thousands of people having their lives turned upside down from fires, drought, and lethal storms.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we are blind to how our behavior negatively impacts 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Hell on Earth

Living in the Spirit

September 26, 2021

Scripture Reading: Mark 9:38-50

‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

‘For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.’ –Mark 9:42-50

As an adult, I have never been a student of the theology of eschatology–concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind. No doubt my reaction is the result of being overdosed with it as a child.

What I have discovered is that people are good at creating hell on earth for themselves and others. My local morning news almost daily opens with stories about who was killed in my city the night before. National news often reports on mass shootings of innocent people buying groceries, working at their jobs, or attending school. People in the streets constantly shout, “You cannot make me wear a mask, get a vaccination, or socially distance.” They are not saying aloud but are implying that they do not care who might get sick and die, including themselves, because they failed to do such simple things.

I recently discovered that in trying to be healthy, I had cut back too much on salt. I love salt, and it is effortless for me to overdo it. However, I started getting leg cramps, and when I reported that to my orthopedic surgeon, he asked me if I was eating enough salt. He could see no other reason for the cramps. No one in my entire life had ever asked me if I was getting enough salt. Then, I remembered that I had recently switched from drinking regular vegetable juice to low sodium. That change had lowered my salt intake enough to cause the leg cramps.

For our souls to survive and thrive in our world today, we must be sure we are intaking enough of God’s Love in our lives to sustain us through life’s challenges and allows us to live at peace with one another. We must pass the Love of God much more actively to all our neighbors to the ends of the earth.

Prayer: Lord, heal our souls and restore us through your Love to be people of peace. 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 Love

Living in the Spirit

September 25, 2021

Scripture Reading: Mark 9:38-50

John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward. –Mark 9:38-41

Jesus’ statement, Whoever is not against us is for us speaks to the political nature of the world. We may say we do not like politics, but politics has always been woven through people’s interactions. Unfortunately, we tend to segregate politics to our elections and political parties. In doing so, we miss much of the backstory that rules our country.  Who pulls the elected officials’ strings?

Please note that Jesus is not describing a member of a silent majority. He is talking about a man who was casting out demons in the name of Jesus. The man was actively engaged in serving God in the name of Jesus. There is no mention of the man receiving acclaim or benefits for his actions.  Fred Craddock addresses this issue in his book Overhearing the Gospel*.  How we live, and act may tell the story of God with Us more than perfect attendance pins from Sunday school or higher education degrees that never get past the ivory walls of academia. We are called to serve God in the world. Jesus described this in his closing prayer found in John 17:14-16,

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

This idea is sometimes described as being in the world but not of the world. Therefore, we dedicate ourselves to serving in the Kingdom of God, where God’s love rules and creates better lives for all the people of the world.

Prayer: God, grant us the courage to practice your Love in all aspects of our lives. Amen.

*First published in 1978, it is still available in an updated format.

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.

Keep It Simple

Living in the Spirit

September 24, 2021

Scripture Reading: James 5:13-20

Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Evil distracts keeping us agitated about things that often do not impact us directly, pulling us away from really making a difference for good in this world. Evil’s impact is heightened by “gotcha” media that is more interested in making money than informing. We are caught in a maze that keeps us lost and has no way out.

God’s answers to our challenges are direct and straightforward, using Love as a guiding principle in everything we do. James, the author of the above Scripture, was a real champion of keeping it simple stupid. Wearing masks and socially distancing to reduce virus contagion may be the best example of that. If the fossil fuel industry had invested as much money in finding ways to reduce carbon emissions as it did in buying lawmakers, it might have solved its pollution problem by now. The same may be said for the industrial war machine, who, with a bit of ingenuity, could build machines that would help address other problems like global warming. People who are adamant about passing laws to make abortion a crime, rarely support legislation that would provide affordable, accessible health care, quality education, and lifting families out of poverty. All together are proven methods for ending abortions by addressing unwanted, unplanned pregnancies. Now that voters are catching on to their actions, these distractors try to stop people from the vote.

Rather than getting caught in a maze, we might want to walk a labyrinth, an intricate, sometimes symbolic pattern that has a path that leads into a center. I was taught one way of walking a labyrinth as one enters; they meditate/contemplate identifying anything separating them from God. When they arrive at the center, laying those shortfalls before God, they seek forgiveness. As they return via the labyrinth to the entrance, they rejoice in the forgiveness and Love of God and leave better prepared to face the distractions of life.

Prayer: God of Mercy and Justice, forgive us of our foolish ways, and empower our ability to love like Jesus. 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.

Carefully Taught

Living in the Spirit

September 23, 2021

Scripture Reading: Psalm 19:7-14

The law of the Lord is perfect,
   reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
   making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
   rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
   enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is pure,
   enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
   and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
   even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
   and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover by them is your servant warned;
   in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can detect their errors?
   Clear me from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
   do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
   and innocent of great transgression.

Good question: who can detect their errors? The song You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught from the musical South Pacific tells us that the rules we play by may not be God’s or God’s taken out of context or misinterpreted. This song tells us that other sources, our family, community, culture define what we should hate and fear, mainly as our actions relate to diverse people.  Loving like God would have us Love beyond the boundaries of a closed society. Breaking away from long-held attitudes and perceptions is challenging and may only be accomplished by opening our whole beings to the Spirit of God flowing through us, enabling us to love like Jesus.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
   be acceptable to you,
   O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. 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 Priesthood of all Believers

Living in the Spirit

September 22, 2021

Scripture Reading:

Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29

So the Lord said to Moses, ‘Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you.

So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.

Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.’ And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, ‘My lord Moses, stop them!’ But Moses said to him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!’ –Numbers 11:16, 24-29

Protestants call what Moses describes above the Priesthood of all Believers. The New Testament describes it in 1 Peter 2:9, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  It is also referred to in the book of Revelation more than once. For example, Revelation 1:6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. (Mark 9:38-40)

We are called to an awesome responsibility, being called to share the Love of God to the whole world, a world full of false prophets dedicated to increasing their power and wealth. We face two significant challenges. First, to not be deceived by those false prophets. Second, as recorded in 2 Timothy 2:15 to

Do [our] best to present [ourselves] to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.

Prayer: Lord, grant us the understanding of your way so that we can represent you in all that we do and say. Forgive us when we stray from your presence and lead us back to 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Oneness

Living in the Spirit

September 21, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29

The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, ‘If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.’

Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the Lord became very angry, and Moses was displeased. So Moses said to the Lord, ‘Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, “Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child”, to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, “Give us meat to eat!” I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once—if I have found favor in your sight—and do not let me see my misery.’ –Numbers 11: 4-6, 10-15

The rabble were probably the camp-followers attending Hebrews at the Exodus*. The lowest fringe people, possibly not Israelites, led the grumbling that soon became contagious. I was struck by the listing of foods, which includes not the necessities of life but the unique flavors that enhance meals. Bread is not mentioned, nor is milk or water. Fish is the meat they miss, which is hard to find in a desert. They were collecting manna regularly. They want their image of good times back. They do not recognize that they would not have left if those times had been good.

Listening to the news, I hear the hunger of the people for stability. They want everything to return to normal, even if normal is the equivalent life of the outcastes in Egypt. It is hard to accept that we are being forced to transition to a new normal. We long for a government that waves a magic wand and makes all these challenges go away. I worked for the Department of Human Services for 35 years and know what it takes to deal with a significant crisis with too little resources across one state. I cannot imagine addressing the COVID pandemic; hurricanes, floods, and tornados; wildfires; and an influx of refugees at our southern border all at once.  Daily prayers for our leaders are essential.

We also want a magic-wand God to fix everything, even that which we break. God with Us is not our handyperson. God created us with talents, skills, and brains to solve problems when we work together as one and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. When we stop being self-righteous and selfish and start humbly searching for the common good, we will realize that God has been there all along, waiting for us to get over our tantrums and start working with each other with God’s guidance to address the needs of our nation and the world.

Prayer: God, forgive us for failing to be the people you created us to be. Create in us clean hearts and the right spirits to labor in your name for the recovery of our world. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/628.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.

What is Just?

Living in the Spirit

September 20, 2021

So the King and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the King again said to Esther, ‘What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.’ Then Queen Esther answered, ‘If I have won your favor, O King, and if it pleases the King, let my life be given me—that is my petition—and the lives of my people—that is my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the King.’ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, ‘Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?’ Esther said, ‘A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!’ Then Haman was terrified before the King and the Queen. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the King, said, ‘Look, the very gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.’ And the King said, ‘Hang him on that.’ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the King abated. –Esther 7:1-6, 9-10

Where do we draw the line on injustice present in our world today, and what are we willing to do about it? Who decides what is just and right and what is not? I recently listened to a state Attorney General say that his job is to obey the law and that he believes that life begins at conception; thus, that is what he will uphold. The law does not say that. The conversation eventually turned to the death penalty being reinstituted. The Attorney General said his job was to enforce the law. In the case being discussed, the trial was critically bungled. A jury did find the defendant guilty of murder. The issue passed through the full review process, so the defendant must be executed even though massive amounts of information were left out of the trial that strongly discounts the trial results, but that did not matter.

Esther’s family and community were scheduled to be annihilated for no good reason. She had been taken into the King’s home and designated as Queen. Even so, she risks her life to go before him and ask for her people to be spared. It was the right, the just thing to do, and he responded positively to her requests.

How do we as Christ-followers discern what is just and right in God’s eyes? What is life and when does it begin, when should it end? I could make a well-documented Biblically supported argument that life begins with breath and ends with the lack of breadth. That does not mean in the 21st century that we should not render artificial respiration to someone who needs it, nor does it mean that we should keep someone on life-supports after their brain no longer functions. God did not give us willy-nilly the ability to think, reason, and explore all avenues to deal with justice issues. The well-tested proven way to end abortion is to prevent unwanted, unplanned pregnancies, and that requires the availability of quality, affordable health care, ending poverty, and providing quality education.

The death penalty has no good purpose. It does not serve as a deterrent to crime, and it cost far more than keeping someone in prison for life if it has been determined the person is a danger to others.

Prayer: Lord, open our minds to broader ways of discerning true justice and righteousness.  Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National to of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Navigated by Love

Living in the Spirit

September 19, 2021

Scripture Reading: Mark 9:30-37

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’ –Mark 9:33-37

‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’

I fear when the USA, as a nation, looks in the mirror, it sees the past, struggling groups of people escaping religious persecution or famine coming to a new world in search of the freedom to live as our ancestors chose. This was our land; God gave this land to us. Some did consider that the land was vast enough for both the original occupants and those newly arrived, but the majority did not. Our Manifest Destiny grew into an empire. Thus, we are now following the steps of earlier empires like Egypt, Babylon, and Rome. These nations were ruled by greed and lust for power. They all failed, rotted from within.

We can choose to be the people Christ called us to be, setting an example for the whole world. ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ This is a world ruled by love where everyone has enough to meet their basic needs and become whatever God created them to be. The will to put loving God and loving one another first dictates how we need to govern.

It feels like we are standing on the precipice of our nation, trying to decide which way to go. It reminds me of Jesus weeping as he overlooked Jerusalem.

As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’ (Luke 19:41-44)

Prayer: God with Us, take the blinders from our eyes and show us your better way of righteousness and justice navigated 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.

Jesus Teaches

Living in the Spirit

September 18, 2021

Scripture Reading: Mark 9:30-37

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. –Mark 9:30-32

Denial and isolation are the first stages of the grief process. The disciples most likely basked in Jesus’ teaching, but according to Mark, from the beginning, Jesus was open about the end of his earthly ministry. How often do we hear what we want to hear? How often do our relationships begin with seeing in the other only what we want to see? Jesus wanted these disciples to understand fully who he was and why he came to be with them. It took his resurrection and, perhaps even, the arrival of the Holy Spirit for his followers to perceive who they had encountered,

I fear we humans experience the same process to this day. I cringe when I hear some practices and ideologies spoken in the name of the One who preached the Sermon on the Mount, told his followers they would be judged by how they fed the hungry/welcomed the stranger and indicated that loving God and loving one’s neighbors as oneself were the most important commandments.

Of course, all Christ-followers have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). What an incredible Savior we have who knows us each better than we know ourselves and forgives us when we recognize our downfalls and repent from them. God is a god of second chances. God rejoices when we grow in wisdom and truth as Jesus did. God with us came in the form of an infant and grew in understanding of humanity through a child’s experience. God continues to be with us as we stumble through the challenges of our world today. God feeds our hope as well as our endurance and innovation.  We need now to work toward the better world ahead of us as we accept the role of people of the cross with the knowledge that God is working God’s purpose out, and we must discern what our part of that mission is and work toward it with all our hearts, minds, and souls.

Let us go forth in the strength of God,
with the banner of Christ unfurled,
that the light of the glorious gospel of truth
may shine throughout the world.
Let us all fight with sorrow and sin
to set the captives free,
that the earth may be filled with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea*

Prayer: Lord, help us understand what you are saying to us and show us how to serve you. Amen.

*The third verse of the hymn God is Working His Purpose Out by Arthur Campbell Ainger see at https://hymnary.org/text/god_is_working_his_purpose_out#Author

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.