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Death Where is Your Sting

Lent
April 1, 2017

Scripture Reading: John 11:1-45

Then after this he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.’ After saying this, he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.’ Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’ –John 11:7-16

The point of no return is a reality in all lives. We routinely experience such events of lesser magnitude but none as final as death itself. The soldier who throws his body on a live grenade to save his buddies faces the point of no return with a split-second decision. The family holding the do-not-resuscitate form in their hands nods in agreement as the hospital staff pull the plug. Knowing all along this was their loved ones wishes, does not make it any easier. While some identify the transfiguration as Jesus’ point of no return, I tend to see the story of Lazarus being the time when Jesus’ march to the cross began.

Jesus life was in danger and it was his choice to carry out his mission or not. He demonstrates his ultimate teaching that loving God and loving our neighbor, friend also in this case, is more important than life itself. While Lazarus was apparently a good man, was saving his life worth the loss of one like Jesus? Jesus clearly saw that it was.

Of course, that was not the end of the story. God conquers death for Lazarus setting the stage for death being conquered for all. Paul stated it this way, 1 Corinthians 15:55 ‘Where, O death, is your victory?   Where, O death, is your sting? John Donne put it like this:

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.*

Prayer: Lord help us live your mission in the sure and certain blessings of your abiding presence each day and in eternity. Amen.

*See at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/44107

Picture credit:<!– HTML Credit Code for Can Stock Photo –>
<a href=”http://www.canstockphoto.com”>(c) Can Stock Photo / kostiuchenko</a>

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 Tenacious Spirit

Lent
March 31, 2017

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:6-11

But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. –Romans 8:9-11

The Spirit is tenacious. I once had a tenacious dog.  I got him when he was barely six weeks old. He fit in the palm of my hand when he first came to live with me, and only weighed eight pounds when fully grown. He was the runt of the litter and his other siblings were picking on him. He had places chewed off his little ear from their mischief. I soon found he had epilepsy and was allergic to flee bites. Starting with several strikes against him, he became one of the sweetest dogs I ever knew, smartest too. He never met a stranger, loved everyone. He stayed in the kitchen during the day and had for a bed an old electric blanket that had outlived its usefulness. It was queen-sized and still had the metal elements for transmitting heat. Thus, it was very heavy. One evening, he disappeared from my side. I heard a strange noise and discovered him trying to pull the blanket with his tiny body and tinier teeth.  He would not give it up so I just left him to wear himself out and returned to the living room. Sometime later he rounded the end of my sofa with blanket in tow pulling it up next to my chair. Turning around on it a couple of times, he laid down and went to sleep. He had pulled the blanket some 40 feet because he is by nature a creature of community, wanted his own bed but longed for the presence of others. Much like we long for God and a community of faith.

The Spirit continuously works to be in us and work through us. We only need open the door and welcome the Spirit. And yes, from the day of the blanket pull, my little guy used my lap for napping and his bed was moved to my bedroom for the night.

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

Spiritual Vision


Lent
March 25, 2017

Scripture Reading: John 9:1-41

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’ They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’ –John 9:1-12

The book of John reports the story of Jesus’ addressing physical blindness, perhaps to help us see more clearly the ramifications of spiritual blindness. Spiritual blindness occurs when the seductions of the world become cataracts prohibiting us from perceiving the world as God’s kingdom which God gifted us and recruited us to nurture and protect.

I must confess, I am utterly astounded by the values, perhaps theology, that drives our civic governance. Maternity care is not viewed as an essential health provision. There are others but this one floored me most. Preventive services are far more cost effective, not only in health care but also in criminal justice. Yet we do not fund them and pay the price, in the case of prenatal care for the lifetime services needed for a child born with major medical problems, that are often avoidable with quality prenatal care. Businesses are clamoring for a better educated workforce while we cut spending for public schools. Greed seems to be the primary driving force in our world today. Profit making is our purpose. My mother would call it cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Jesus came to remove the spiritual cataracts blocking our vision. His is a distributive form of justice. One that does not toss us into the pool and if we by nature came swim and save ourselves, that is great. If we sink and drown, well that just life. In Jesus’ world peace and prosperity coexist when everyone has enough, and each matter to the other.

Prayer: Lord laser off the film covering our spiritual eyes. Forgive us from our greed. Help us to seek your vision in spirit and in truth. 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.

Wake Up!

Lent
March 24, 2017

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 5:8-14

For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light—for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
‘Sleeper, awake!
   Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.’

The last phrase in this scripture is most likely a quote from an ancient hymn now otherwise lost. It made me wonder how numb have I become to the world about me. Does anything I do make a difference? At times, I identify with Don Quixote who did battle with windmills. What seems so right to me is deemed wrong by many.  How do we ever define what the common good is, if our values are so different?

Perhaps we all need to exchange places for a time and view the world from another’s perspective. I worked in human services for 35 years and was aware of the tremendous lack of services for the mentally ill during that time. It was through my church that I experienced the reality of the life for many persons with mental illness. I was serving in a soup kitchen line one evening. A local pie company had donated some pies whose shelf life was ending soon. The ones I was handing out were packaged in wrappers displaying ninja turtles in various stances. The next man in line stepping before me picked up one of the packages of fried pie and studied it intently. He was a giant of a man. At least a head taller than me. A Native American, his skin was bronzed deeply from the sun. I could not guess his age but he wore dog tags, I supposed he was a Vietnam War veteran. He asked, “What kind of pie is green?” Realizing he could not read, I explained the pictures were of cartoon like characters; the pie crust was filled with vanilla pudding. He took one and proceeded down the line. My dad and uncle were veterans of World War II; they both received excellent follow-up care from the Veterans Administration. I stood stung by the reality that, not just this one, but many of our veterans struggle daily to survive on the street.

We all need to wake up to the world around us and see the reality of it, and only then attempt to define and provide for the Common Good.

Prayer: Lord rescue us from the barriers we build each day that keeps us from seeing the needs of our neighbors near and far. 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.

Privacy and Transparency

Lent
March 23, 2017

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 5:8-14

For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light—for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
‘Sleeper, awake!
   Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.’

What an interesting scripture! My first impression on reading it was that I never read it before. I know that is not true because I have read the entire Bible more than once, taught the book of Ephesians where every verse was considered, and followed the lectionary, from which this was selected, in daily devotions for many years. God plants seed for thought as we need them.

Two things greatly debated in our society these days are, the protection of privacy and the need for transparency creating a contraction or at least a bit of a conundrum, wouldn’t you say? At least 20 years ago, something happened at the state agency where I worked resulting from an inappropriate email that was sent. I do not remember what the email contained; it did make the evening news. While the controversy happened in a totally different area of the agency, we were all advised to take notice. At a follow-up staff meeting, I remember telling my staff they should not put anything in an email they would not want their mother to read on the front page of the local paper. Government employees live in glass houses so do Christians. Our lives interpret the story of Jesus to others, right or wrong.

Just like everyone else, I do not want my identify stolen, but keeping those pesky passwords up to date and remembering them is not the subject of our scripture today. Psalm 51:10 (Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me) guides us to an openness enabling us to let our light shine. When that happens, others can see the love of God present and engaged in the world today. Psalm 139 is a good reminder that God knows our every move, our every thought, our every action and when we fail to act. If we live with that in mine and hone our lives to please God, we need not fear the darkness surrounding us or being the light of the world Jesus called us to be.

Prayer: Psalm 139: 1-6
O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
   and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
   O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
   and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
   it is so high that I cannot attain 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

Leadership

Lent
March 21, 2017

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-13

When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.’ But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’ Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, ‘Neither has the Lord chosen this one.’ Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, ‘Neither has the Lord chosen this one.’ Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen any of these.’ Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are all your sons here?’ And he said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.’ And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.’ He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, ‘Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.’ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from t1hat day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah. –1 Samuel 16:6-13

David was handsome as was Saul, perhaps not as tall. Also, both men’s stories are told with the knowledge of hindsight. David succeeded far beyond expectations so his childhood stories become the source of legend while Saul remains forever on the rubble pile of lost causes. Identifying the right person at the right time matters as does training and experience which David gained as Saul’s general. I learned how to supervise from some very good supervisors and how not to supervise from some poor ones. Although I have a degree in social work administration including classes well taught, I learned the good side of supervision first hand from working for and observing the manager of the restaurant in which I worked in high school and college.

Little is written about Saul’s relationship with God. David’s is well documented and very true to human experience. It runs the gamut from total ecstasy to total shame, turning a blind eye to some behavior, experiencing the freeing nature of forgiveness, and knowing the comfort of resting in the arms of God at life’s transitions.

There is nothing that is more important than our building and growing and nurturing our relationship with God. Nothing. Everything else we touch in the world when we are in sync with God is influenced by the love of God. We may not see these positive outcomes. Keeping account of our successes takes time away from more important duties. Now learning from our mistakes is a different matter altogether.

Prayer: God who is love, abide with us as we worked toward creating a world ruled by your love. Help us learn from both our successes and failures and help us enable one another to be our best. 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.

Choosing God

Lent
March 19, 2017

Scripture Reading: John 4:5-42

The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. –John 4:19-23

Funny on how we can so easily reach agreement on that which we disagree and rarely take the time to build on that which we do agree. The Samaritans landed in Israel in the split of Israel and Judah after the death of Solomon. The temple was in Judah. Thus, over time, I guess, the Samaritans designated their own sight for worshiping God that was not recognized by the Judean side of the family. Thus, the subject matter for Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman reached back to this old breach. Jesus’ answer is very practical. The place and building does not matter. We worship God in spirit and in truth wherever we might be.

This mirrors the fight over prayer in school. Should it be allowed, should it be mandatory? The answer in a joke is “As long as there are tests, there will be prayer in school.” I do not know who originated it and apparently, no one else does. I heard it first from Frosty Troy a former local newspaper writer. The point is well taken. Our relationship with God drives how we relate to others. We can never make others relate to us as we might wish. I believe the Lord wants us to choose to relate to God who is omnipotent, all powerful, capable of creating us and surely capable of changing our will but chooses to be loved by choice.

The solutions to our problems lie in our ability to identify the issues on which we do agree and build on them. While there is much descent on whether we should provide necessities to people who lack them, we never seem to discuss the fact that if all workers earned a living wage the need to subsidize those wages with food stamps, child care subsidies, and to a degree Medicaid would markedly be reduced. If we put as much effort into identifying ways businesses could succeed and pay a living wage, we could stop wasting our time with legislation requiring people to work, many of whom are already working.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we let our pride or our greed or our need to always be right get in the way of fulfilling your call to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Prevent us from making excuses, guide us to finding answers that provide justice for everyone. Amen.

For a better understanding of a living wage see http://livingwage.mit.edu/articles/15-minimum-wage-can-an-individual-or-a-family-live-on-it

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.

Reconciliation

Lent
March 17, 2017

Scripture Reading:  Romans 5:1-11

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. –Romans 5:6-11

I do not like to do anything that deals with money and avoid it if possible. When I hear the word reconcile, I think of making my checkbook match my bank statement. In 1996 the general church in which I participate, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), initiated an expanded ministry to address the issues around racism. Its stated purpose is:

The Initiative called the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to practice faithfulness with regard to the elimination of racism, which exists in all manifestations of the church, to discern the presence and nature of racism as sin, to develop strategies to eradicate it, and to work toward racial reconciliation.

 There is that word again, reconciliation. Paul uses it in our scripture today, I believe, to indicate Jesus Christ’s making us whole. It is the right word to use. Racism divides us in many ways and frustrates us not unlike trying to find the missing amount that keeps our checkbooks out of balance. Racism is a serious hindrance to our being in balance with all of God’s children. Our relationships with others can be way out of balance, totally severed even. More often today the streams of racism are subtle hard to recognize in ourselves.

True reconciliation with all of God’s children starts with being reconciled with God. We took the first step when we joined our lives with Christ. The gift of the Holy Spirit guides our quest for wholeness. Part of our wholeness comes in our expanded love of all of God’s children just as they are and rejoicing in who they are as they are.

Prayer: Lord, make us whole, make us one. Let your justice, formed from peace and love, spread throughout this land. 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.

 

Free to Love

Lent
March 11, 2017

Scripture Reading: John 3:1-17

Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” –John 3:16-17.

I received one of those Facebook faith testing messages today that was a simple yes or no question with a big check box next to a big YES and a big check box next to a big NO. The question was “Do you believe in prayer at school?” Now I think I know where the message creator was coming from and I am pretty sure it was not the same place from whence I start. Paul advises us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 to pray without ceasing. So, it follows that if one attends school one would pray at school. Jesus admonishes us in Matthew 6:6 when we pray to do it in secret. My answer to the faith testing question would be Yes, we should pray at school and anywhere else we may find ourselves and our prayers in such instances should be between God and us.

I believe with all my heart that God wants us to love God by our free choice. Jesus never forced himself on anyone. With most people, he met along the way he opened the conversation with a question or two. What do you want? What do you need? Asking how can I love you? The scripture quote above is from the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus. We are given the free choice to follow the guidance of the Spirit or not. It makes sense to elicit the support of people who understand your vision and are excited about helping to implement it. Jesus welcomed all to join him in his quest to transform the world into the Kingdom of God through love not violence or oppression or force.

Prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy. 

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love. 

For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned;
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life*. Amen

*Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

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.

Prophetic Voice

Epiphany
February 24, 2017

Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 1:16-21

So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. –2 Peter 1:19-21

Th book of Amos written around 750 BCE could have been penned or keyboarded yesterday. It speaks of rampant greed and the use of religion for selfish gain. Humans have difficultly learning from history when it impedes our avarice. I was watching a rerun of Foyle’s War recently which dealt with the aftermath of World War II where the vulture capitalist ruthlessly attached to whichever side brought them the most reward in the recovery. The ones in the show were in league with Stalin. It was chilling to watch.  I have wondered how much of the continuation of our recent wars are as much about the growth of private contractors’ bottom lines as it is about terrorism. I have no question that the increase in the number of prisoners in the USA is related to growing the private prison industry. As with Israel in the 750’s BCE, our society will crumble around us if we do not repent and change our ways.

The faith community is being distracted from such issues as we are pitted one against the other. Very personal, emotion laden issues are tossed in our faces each time we start pilfering around the edges of other problems. It was going on as far back as the 1980’s when I spent a fair amount of time working with others to address the problems of teenage pregnancy and low-birth weight babies. None of our energies were targeted at abortion. It is my experience that most people in Oklahoma generally do not believe in abortion. We were trying to reduce unwanted pregnancies and assure that every newborn had a healthy start. Our efforts were routinely thwarted when funding bills were considered by cries of abortion being an ulterior motive in our efforts. Using government funds to pay for abortion has been against the law since the 1970’s and still is today.  If there were ulterior motives, they most likely were to use well intended people of faith to stop the use of tax dollars on addressing human need.

We have prophetic voices speaking today. As was true in Amos’ day, we must carefully discern the voice of God when hearing them speak. The litmus test I like to apply is determining if prophetic ideas pass the test of love. Where is the love in cutting funding for prenatal care? Where is the love in sending first-time, drug offenders to prison rather than restoring them to wholeness in a community based setting?

Prayer: God, open our ears to hear truth when truth is spoken and to identify manipulation when truth is not spoken. Amen.

Pictured above is The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II Pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church, Disciples of Christ in Goldsboro, North Carolina and architect of the Forward Together Moral Movement that gained national acclaim with its Moral Monday protests at the North Carolina General Assembly in 2013.

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.