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The Harvest of Love

Advent
December 8, 2018

Scripture Reading: Philippians 1:3-11

And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God. –Philippians 1:9-11

My dad was a custom hay baler. He bought a new straw hat every spring to wear while working outside, A wise idea for most people working long hours in the sun, it was especially important for him because he was bald. He had a habit of tossing his straw hate into the baler as he completed the last row of the last field to commemorate the end of another season when the hay harvest was over. There is something special about finishing a task. There is a tremendous amount of work that goes into baling hay with a lot of ups and downs throughout the season. Weather is a primary determinate of success over which the farmer has no control. Machinery breaks down and must be fixed. I remember many trips to town to get a new part to replace one that was broken. My dad was also his own mechanic, welder, and make-doer.

Paul’s prayer for Christ’s followers in the scripture today is grounded in a similar knowledge that sharing the love of God is hard work, requiring adjustments on the fly based on the realities we face each day. Advent marks the beginning of a new year in the church calendar. Staying with the idea of the harvest, Advent is the time to get ready for the planting or as my dad would do, buy a new straw hat. It is the time of darkness before the spring sowing of seed that allows us to assess where we are in our mission to love others while recalling what the world was like without the light and love of God through Jesus Christ. During this time, we welcome anew the coming of God in human form in preparation for another year of our love overflowing as we strive to be the Body of Christ in the world today.

Prayer: Lord, surround us with your love during this Advent season as we perfect our art of loving as Jesus loves. 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.

Doing Good Works

Advent
December 7, 2018

Scripture Reading: Philippians 1:3-11

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. —Philippians 1:3-6

Is Paul suggesting that if all Christ’s followers begin a good work and bring it to completion, God’s kingdom will become a reality? So what good work(s) have you got going? Have you completed and started on new good works? Have you started some and decided the timing was not right, so you set them aside for a time and worked on other good works? Has the time arrived to revisit those held back to dust them off and try again?

Doing good works takes patience, cooperation, and good timing. The Thunder (that is the Oklahoma City pro basketball team) were getting their socks beaten off in a game last night; got behind 23 points. The other team could not seem to miss a shot and the Thunder, let’s just say, were not at their defensive best. They kept playing; kept trying to win, until with the help of every member on the team working together started playing like a well-oiled machine with great assists being delivered in a timely manner to the players making shots and they won by two points in the last eight seconds of the game.

Paul is addressing the plural you in the above scripture—the whole Body of Christ called to patiently work together within the context of God’s good timing. We are to do good work as individuals and as communities of faith toward transforming our world into one ruled by love as we complete one good work at a time.

Prayer: God grant us the humility to work together as we strive for the sum of our parts to be far greater than what we can accomplish alone. 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.

Not of this World

Living in the Spirit
November 24, 2018

Scripture Reading: John 18:33-37

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’

What does Jesus mean when he says, If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews?  Is he saying that no human entity owns God, not even a chosen people? Jesus was born a Jew, but here he refers to Jews as something of which he sees as a perhaps sect? The language is most likely referring to the Jewish leaders who turned Jesus over to Pilate, but it seems to describe Jesus’ reference point as something greater than any formal religion or tribalism.

We live in a dangerous world. Scary because of all the senseless shootings and other violence. Scary because of the hate venom being spewed out regarding everything from race to sexuality to disabilities.  Scary because we are developing into a me-first society. Dangerous because we do not seem as a society to care. My cynical hope is that we will eventually get so sick of our behavior and ennui-an emptiness of spirit, we will return to caring or learn to care and change our way of being.

When violence, bigotry, and hate are being done in the name of God, we have reached the deepest depths of sin. Jesus facing execution is an excellent example of such behavior. When a non-believing Roman leader senses the irony of the situation brought before him, we reach the full potential of our separation from God. Praise be to God, truth did not end with that encounter or with the stark reality of the cross. Truth revealed its eternal nature in Christ’s resurrection which established the tasks set before followers of Christ. We are called to be the conduit of creating a world ruled by love. It starts with each of us as individuals and grows one loving relationship at a time until the whole world knows God’s love.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for our emptiness of spirit. Restore us to wholeness that we might 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.

Kingdom Building

Living in the Spirit
November 20, 2018

Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 23:1-7

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 23:5-7

Our military is constructing defenses against illegal entry into our country stringing coils of barbed wire across various places on our southern border. I grew up surrounded by barbed wire even encounter some that also included electrified fencing which burnt holes in my gloves when I gripped it to maneuver my way over the prickly barrier.  Of course, the barbed wire I encounter was designed to keep cattle in not people out. I agree an ordered, secure world is the desired outcome. The question with which we must struggle is: what does a world where all of God’s children live in peace, security, and harmony look like? How do we make that happen? For that is the call that David makes to God followers at the end of his life which his descendant in faith, Jesus, revisits in his incarnation on this earth. We are charged to work toward establishing the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom that’s prime directive is to develop such a world through acts of love.

Throughout history, war and other forms of violence charted the course of nation-building and governance with greed and lust for power being the prime directives. I was surprised when I received my genealogical DNA results to find I was 20% Scandinavian. I have no knowledge of any connection with Scandinavia. According to the DNA report, I am only 6% English, although I can trace many lines to England. I also know Viking invasions were common in that part of the world.

When my ancestors came to the New World, they came with the religious guidance of the Doctrine of Discovery and eventually Manifest Destiny. They believed that God gave this land to Europeans regardless of who was already here. They had short memories of their historical roots resulting from invasions.

We will never fulfill our calling regarding the Kingdom of God until we first conquer the sins of greed and lust for power. I do not think we can do either until we return to right relationship with God.

Prayer: God of Mercy and Justice, forgive us when the ways of evil entice us to love them more than we love you. Guide us in repenting of our foolish ways. 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.

Teamwork

Living in the Spirit
November 16, 2018

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 10:19-25

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.

Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds. I got stuck on that word, provoke, as it somehow does not seem proper etiquette for encouraging good behavior. I turned to my trusty concordance and things got even worse! The Greek word paroksysmós means a provocation which literally jabs (cuts) someone so they “must” respond*.

I immediately recalled an incident from my childhood. We were having a fundraiser of some type at my school that involved food and my mother was in the kitchen cooking when my dad arrived. Several long rows of tables in our lunch room were filled with diners as Dad scanned the room looking for mom. He saw the back of her head and recognized the dress she wore, walked up behind and beside her placing his hand under her arm and asking her to scoot down when one of our elementary teachers, the person he had “jabbed” sort of screamed, jumped up facing him, wondering who on earth was accosting her. My Dad turned bright red stumbling back apologizing profusely. We never let him live it down needless to say. In all fairness, to Dad, the teacher’s hair was the same color and style as my mother’s and my mother did own an identical dress. We must be wise in who and how we provoke one another.

That said, this scripture does take us to task regarding our response to a world that seems to have lost its way at times from either loving one another or doing good deeds. Perhaps the example we need to explore is an athletic team where the players have no problem holding one another accountable for doing their part in winning a game. That is the way any good team works. Each participant must share the same level of commitment to the goal at hand. When someone is not doing his or her part they learn about it immediately from a fellow teammate.

Prayer: God, enable our teamwork as we strive to love one another and do good deeds. Amen.

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

Disconsolate

Living in the Spirit
November 13, 2018

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 2:1-10

‘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 2:2-8

This song above from 1 Samuel reflects the reaction of a barren woman made whole, gifted with the child for which she longed. Having children in Hannah’s time went beyond the natural desires to have a child but defined a woman’s self-worth. We may cringe at the spite or revenge it echoes but we cannot question the sincerity of its statement.

Beyond the personal story it tells, it introduces the Israelite journey from being ruled by judges to becoming a great kingdom. The people of Israel felt the same sting that Hannah the barren woman felt. There were unrest and a feeling that they were not where they needed to be. I thought of the old hymn Come, Ye Disconsolate when I read this, and I thought that we in the USA are caught in a similar snare.

Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish;
Come to the mercy-seat, fervently kneel;
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish,
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal*.

Disconsolate**: deeply dejected and dispirited:  hopelessly sad:  being beyond consolation

There is a dis-ease among our citizens that results in some feeling that the world has passed them by as they seek meaning. We search often in all the wrong places among many lesser gods for answers to our deepest needs and we find empty even dangerous responses. I love the final sentence in each verse of this old hymn.

Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish,
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal*.

Prayer: Lord, help us to always remember that
  There is no Holy One like the Lord,
   no one besides you;
   there is no Rock like our God. Amen.

*First verse of Come, Ye Disconsolate by Robert Moore. See at **https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/684

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.

Christ in Us

Living in the Spirit
November 1, 2018

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 Greek word translated tent here has a very special life in the history of the people of Israel. It denotes the place where God dwelled with them on their sojourn out of slavery traveling to the promised land. It is also called a booth, tabernacle, abode, dwelling. A place where sacrifices were offered to God. Followers of Christ continued that idea in recognizing Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice in his death and resurrection initiating God’s eternal presence within us through the Spirit of God.

God seems to weave God’s love through cultures and the development of society to meet the demands of life’s transitions from living in tents to worshipping in temples, to welcoming the Spirit into our hearts leading toward the full fruition of God’s vision of one great community of love.

Followers of Christ are a part of that great tapestry in the making. We must always keep that in the forefront of our minds and our hearts as we deal with the ever-present challenges and outright evil that rears its ugly head. Building that community of love starts with each of us loving like Jesus loves and all of us joining hands and finding Common Ground through love to grow the Common Good for the whole world moving from wholeness to oneness, to justice for all.

Prayer: God who is Love, bless us in our weakness as we strive to follow your vision of creating a Kingdom 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.

Remembering Eugene Peterson

Living in the Spirit
October 26, 2018

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 7:23-28

So now we have a high priest who perfectly fits our needs: completely holy, uncompromised by sin, with authority extending as high as God’s presence in heaven itself. Unlike the other high priests, he doesn’t have to offer sacrifices for his own sins every day before he can get around to us and our sins. He’s done it, once and for all: offered up himself as the sacrifice. The law appoints as high priests men who are never able to get the job done right. But this intervening command of God, which came later, appoints the Son, who is absolutely, eternally perfect*. –Hebrews 7:26-28

I use the lectionary to write these devotions because it forces me to deal with scriptures that span the breadth of the Bible including some that I find uncomfortable and some that may not be inspiring when I read them when I must search for meaning. The above scripture met the latter criteria earlier this week resulting in me writing two devotions on the Psalm for the week and now returning to Hebrews to visit this one again.

Inspiration comes from unlikely places at times. This morning I read in the paper that Eugene Peterson the theologian most known by his translation of the Bible called The Message quoted here today died 10-22-2018. I appreciated the works of Eugene Peterson and was sorry to read of his passing. Seeing his name, however, sent me to read how he translated this scripture from Hebrews. His more casual, common sense wording is exactly what I need at times. While his translation: The law appoints as high priests men who are never able to get the job done right applies to all who attempt theology, Eugene Peterson provided a wealth of understanding that has stood the test of time and for that, I am most thankful.

So, I dedicate this devotion to Eugene Peterson who clearly accepted Christ as the high priest who perfectly fits our needs. Peterson dedicated his life to spreading that message in The Message.

Prayer: We thank you, Lord, for all those who open understanding of your ways to us. Amen.

*The Message Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Prepare

Living in the Spirit
October 24, 2018

Scripture Reading: Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)

I sought the Lord, and he answered me,
   and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him, and be radiant;
   so your faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord,
   and was saved from every trouble.
The angel of the Lord encamps
   around those who fear him, and delivers them.
O taste and see that the Lord is good;
   happy are those who take refuge in him.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
   but the Lord rescues them from them all. –Psalm 34:4-8

The explanation of this Psalm that appears in the cited source below is: Of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. Abimelech gave David bread in the story reported in 1 Samuel 21. It was King Achish of Gath before whom David acted the madman. He was lying to both as he was using all his cunning to escape from King Saul.  I assume this poem was written with hindsight when David felt secure.

Hopefully, most of us are not experiencing peril like David’s, but the world can be too much with us* at times when such assurance is a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46).

One of the things I admire about David is that he lived his life in active tense. I have discovered through my grammar checker program that I have a propensity to write in passive tense and that is not the accepted way of writing in modern English. (I also do not naturally apply enough commas and do not use enough articles: a, an, and the). I make some of the changes the grammar checker recommends, and I leave some in based on my bias regarding whether it makes sense or not, which probably means it does not make sense to someone else. I do not think any of that would mean anything to David because he lived in active tense. Are we all called to live in active tense?

Are we called to stay in close communion with God in everything we do so that we are engaged and ready when the need to serve presents itself? Athletes must stay prepared to play when sent into a game even if they routinely set on the bench. Paul tells us we must serve Christ as a good athlete. I would add like David.

Prayer: Lord, help us remain ready to serve when you call. Amen.

*Derived from William Wordsworth’s poem The World Is Too Much with Us see at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45564/the-world-is-too-much-with-us

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.

Servant-Leaders

Living in the Spirit
October 21, 2018

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:35-45

When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’—Mark 10:41-45

Servanthood is a role of leadership. A leader’s task is to maximize the talents and skills of the people with whom the leader works whether it be in a business, a church, or the government. Jesus modeled the role of servant-leader well. I fear we have lost that role among leaders who are more concerned about their own aggrandizement or selfish gain. I fear the model of the self-serving leader is gaining ground.

When I was a child, granted I was a child a long time ago, we played a game called King off the Mountain. The goal of the game was for someone to climb onto some sort of risen area and have someone else try to push them off. If that person succeeded, he or she became King on the Mountain and the next persons attempted to push them off. The goal, of course, was to see how long one person could stay at the top. It is a game that can get violent and I hope it is no longer played. What it illustrates is important. People who invest most of their time in trying to be on the top of the Mountain rarely get anything of worth done and they may hurt a lot of other people in the process.

I do see the servant-leader in our world today sometimes in unusual places. People who play on sports teams to succeed must recognize the skills and help to grow everyone’s abilities if they wish to win games. Recently, we observed rescues from hurricane damage and floods that were totally dependent on highly skilled servant-leaders. Soldiers recognize the need for servant-leadership.

Most of us find ourselves in the role of leader at some point in life. Are we modeling the servant-leadership Jesus practiced? Do we support leaders who follow Jesus’ example or are we caught in the trap of seeking only what seems best for ourselves?

Prayer: Lord, help me be a servant-leader following in your footsteps. 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.