Category Archives: Uncategorized

Economic Justice

Eastertide

May 26, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

‘See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. –Revelation 22:12-14

I just finished writing a report on the minimum wage including how out of date it is to the cost of living. Thus, reading the first verse above about paying people according to their work struck a chord with me and it was not harmonious. In the USA women still make 20% less than men doing the same work. Work generally identified as women’s work is routinely cast with lower wages than men are paid for like work. And what does the color of one’s skin have to do with anything related to the work one does?

What that scripture says to me is that God is a God of justice and God expects us to be people of justice. The work of the person who cleans the surgical theater is as important in keeping the patient alive as the surgeon’s skill. My paternal grandfather died from what was called blood poisoning at the time, we now call it sepsis. He developed it because the scalpel used by the doctor to lance a boil had not been properly sterilized. What determines the worth of each person’s work? How do we measure economic justice? When Jesus said the poor will always be with us (Matthew 26:11), I think he just recognized the reality that incomes always have varied, which continued to his time on earth. I somehow do not think, Jesus had in mind the current state of the USA economy where CEO compensation has grown 940% since 1978. Typical worker compensation has risen only 12% during that time (2018). (https://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-compensation-2018/)

Prayer: Lord, show us how we can do justice in a world that values wealth more than people. 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.

After Death

Silent Saturday

April 16, 2022

Scripture Reading:

John 18:1-19:42

Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘None of his bones shall be broken.’ And again another passage of scripture says, ‘They will look on the one whom they have pierced.’

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. –John 19:31-42

All are encouraged to read the entire scripture cited above at some point on this Silent Saturday. How do we respond when facing a series of horrible events, over which we have no control, the damage has been done, our lives will never be the same again, and we are surrounded by a dead calm? For just a few minutes put on the sandals and the cloaks of the first-century participants or witnesses in the death of Jesus and relive this scene with them.  The first sentence in the scripture above tells us that the temple leaders wanted to get rid of the evidence as soon as possible. One influential religious leader, Joseph of Arimathea, seems to suffer some regret from not being able to express his interest in Jesus openly. The only thing left for him to do was give Jesus a decent burial. I doubt that many of Jesus’s disciples slept much that night, running what-ifs through their minds over and over. Apparently only John was present at the crucifixion. Were the others afraid the same punishment might bring their end? Judas, of course, had already committed suicide. All kinds of rumors were spreading. Reports were made of the temple curtains splinting, and tombs being opened. The events of Jesus’s death and resurrection eventually changed the very way history is chronicled, initiating a new time continuum as a result of Jesus’s death and what followed.

As we meditate on these events begin to structure ideas about what happens next. What are the disciples to do? Was their work and calling buried with Jesus? Recall his charges to his disciples then that are still our duties as his disciples today.

Prayer: Lord, we live in a dangerous, divided world today, what are you calling us to do in your name? 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 Lord’s Supper

Maundy Thursday

April 14, 2022

Scripture Reading:

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

The Lord’s Supper seems a necessity of life for me as sharing in it with other Christ-followers whether in person or online restores my soul. We live in a complex and sometimes frightening world that Jesus, the Christ, left us to make new with his guidance and in his name. Indeed, he did not leave us alone surrounding us with the Holy Spirit in all phases of our lives and with comfort and awakenings as we interact with the Lord in our spiritual disciplines. Since COVID, my church has been using prepackaged communion cups filled with grape juice covered in foil with a small disk of bread on top covered with plastic. The challenge of accessing the elements in them is a new experience each Sunday but I have noticed that most people work hard to break the seals so they can once again eat the bread and drink the cup to remember who we serve and why.

Prayer: Draw Us in the Spirit’s Tether

 Draw us in the Spirit’s tether,
  for when humbly in your name
 two or three are met together,
you are in the midst of them.
        Alleluia! Alleluia!
Touch we now your garment’s hem

As disciples used to gather
in the name of Christ to sup,
then with thanks to God the giver
break the bread and bless the cup,
        Alleluia! Alleluia!
so now bind our friendship up*.  Amen.

*First two verses of the Hymn Draw Us in the Spirit’s Tether by Percy Dearmer see at https://charlesghose.com/2020/05/23/draw-us-in-the-spirits-tether/

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.

Resting on our Laurels

Ordinary Time

February 15, 2022

Scripture Reading: Genesis 45:3-11, 15

So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, “Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.” And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him. –Genesis 45:8-11, 15

And Joseph delivered all that he promised to the family of Jacob, renamed Israel, Joseph’s family. Exodus 12:40–41 tells us that the Israelites remained in Egypt for 430 years before the Exodus. We do not know exactly when they were forced into slavery. Exodus 1:8 describes that a new Pharoah who did not know Joseph came to power and that was the beginning of the end of their freedom.  One of the lessons of the Exodus is that we cannot rest on our laurels—get lazy or complacent about what we can achieve because we are too busy basking in the memories of former glories. Wealthy empires like Rome generally realized that too late to save themselves. The USA teeters on the edge of such privilege where greed and lust for power blind us from our highest principles.

While we can appreciate what our ancestors accomplished, we should also learn from their mistakes and strive to plan for a better future for our descendants. We cannot rest on our laurels and work toward a world ruled by love at the same time.

Prayer: Lord, grant us the courage to step out in faith and restore our nation to finding common ground for the Common Good. 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.

Advocate for Justice

Living in the Spirit

October 19, 2021

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:7-9

For thus says the Lord:

Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

   and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;

proclaim, give praise, and say,

   ‘Save, O Lord, your people,

   the remnant of Israel.’

See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,

   and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,

among them the blind and the lame,

   those with child and those in labor, together;

   a great company, they shall return here.

With weeping they shall come,

   and with consolations I will lead them back,

I will let them walk by brooks of water,

   in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;

for I have become a father to Israel,

   and Ephraim is my firstborn.

I have not decided whether it is good or bad to know all the bad things are happening in our world within seconds. We can get information overload that makes us numb to crisis after crisis. Yet, being aware of world events helps us see what we were ignorant of in the past.  I view with interest pictures of cargo ships backed up in the Pacific Ocean. The delivery system from abroad has gotten so overcrowded it cannot unload the vessels on time. Part of that results from not having enough truck drivers and people who offload ships.  Layoffs and work stoppages caused by COVID have resulted in employees reconsidering the type of work and shifting to better-paying jobs or demanding higher pay. The real problem is while C.E.O. salaries have skyrocketed, workers’ wages have stagnated. By 2019, C.E.O. compensation grew 940% since 1978*.  In 2020, top C.E.O.s earned 351 times more than the typical worker**. 

In the scripture above, Jeremiah has seen the plight of his people and is assuring them that God will restore them to wholeness. I believe that is the case today. God is working God’s purpose out. Therefore, we as God’s followers are called to do our part for all people to benefit from the love of God where they can walk by brooks of clean water along straight paths in a world where justice prevails.

Prayer: Lord, help us not miss the parts of our world that are curving off your path. Guide us in our advocacy for your justice. Amen.

*https://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-compensation-2018/

**https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/15/in-2020-top-ceos-earned-351-times-more-than-the-typical-worker.html

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.

In the scripture above, Jeremiah has seen the plight of his people and is assuring them that God will restore them to wholeness. I believe that is the case today. God is working God’s purpose out. Therefore, we as God’s followers are called to do our part for all people to benefit from the love of God where they can walk by brooks of clean water along straight paths in a world where justice prevails.

Prayer: Lord, help us not miss the parts of our world that are curving off your path. Guide us in our advocacy for your justice. Amen.

*https://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-compensation-2018/

**https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/15/in-2020-top-ceos-earned-351-times-more-than-the-typical-worker.html

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.

Too Good for God

Living in the Spirit

October 13, 2021

Scripture Reading: Psalm 91:9-16
Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
   the Most High your dwelling-place,
no evil shall befall you,
   no scourge come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you
   to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
   so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
   the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

Those who love me, I will deliver;
   I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them;
   I will be with them in trouble,
   I will rescue them and honor them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
   and show them my salvation.

God is dependable. We who call ourselves Christian have failed to take the message in this Psalm to the ends of the earth. The percentage of people who identify as Christian in the U.S.A. is on a freefall. Many of those who identify as Christian treat it only as a positive item to add to their resume’.  Many of our European counterparts recognize the church as a place for Baptism, Weddings, and Funerals. In the U.S.A., these folks are also identified as Christmas and Easter attenders. The downturn started in the 1960s but has increased at a rapid rate in the 21st Century. Millennials are particularly turned off by what I think they perceive as a lack of substance. When people achieve wealth and power, they no longer feel they need a refuge or a guard or deliverance—they no longer need God. The prophet Amos ungraciously described the women of Israel as the cows of Bashan when he confronted the Israelites about their failure to follow God.

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan
   who are on Mount Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
   who say to their husbands, ‘Bring something to drink!’ –Amos 4:1

Amos brought his warnings around 800 BC.  Assyrians invaded Israel in 732 BC, and the ten tribes that made up Israel were dispersed across the world.

What I just described is a typical pattern among empires throughout history. We need to ask ourselves if we want to break that cycle and turn back to the inclusive God who loves all and provided in creation enough for all to flourish.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we think we have outgrown you or reached a point of development where we attempt to define you in our desired image. Guide us to love like you, practicing your righteousness and justice. 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.

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.

Parenting In Times of Trial

Living in the Spirit

August 2, 2021

Scripture Reading:
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
The king gave orders to Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.’ And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders concerning Absalom.

So the army went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. The men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the slaughter there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. The battle spread over the face of all the country; and the forest claimed more victims that day than the sword.

Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. His head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. And ten young men, Joab’s armour-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him, and killed him.

Then the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, ‘Good tidings for my lord the king! For the Lord has vindicated you this day, delivering you from the power of all who rose up against you.’ The king said to the Cushite, ‘Is it well with the young man Absalom?’ The Cushite answered, ‘May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up to do you harm, be like that young man.’

The king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, ‘O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would that I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!’

What would make a son revolt against his father? Who determines the one who is right and the wrong one? In Absalom’s case, the rebellion may have been simply lust for power or fear that he would not be the chosen heir. Life experience coupled with parents feeling their way through the challenge of raising a child can create unexpected results. My Dad’s father died suddenly and unexpectedly when Dad was ten years old in 1928. The following year marked the beginning of the Great Depression. Both events, I am sure, shaped his life in ways no one could have predicted.

We live in precarious times amid a stubborn pandemic that began in an already tumultuous political environment. Our call as Christ-followers is to dig even deeper into the well of Jesus’s teachings, letting them shape our lives rather than being shaped by the world about us. Loving and taking care of ourselves and our neighbors is the best starting point.

Prayer: Lord, let your love be our guide as we try to survive and thrive against the plagues that confront us. Please give us the courage to follow your course, not the world.  Amen.

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

Finding a Fair Balance

Living in the Spirit

June 25, 2021

Scripture Reading:
2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.

 I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something— now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. As it is written,
‘The one who had much did not have too much,
   and the one who had little did not have too little.’

Jesus did say the poor will always be with us* in a discussion about doing the right things in the right times. What Jesus did not say is true: the rich will always be with us, too. Variances of wealth have always existed. Thus, the terms “poor” and “rich” are relative to place, time, and economy. What we consider poor in the USA is wealth in countries where starvation is rampant. Paul argues that the issue is finding a fair balance between abundance and the needs of others,
As it is written,
‘The one who had much did not have too much,
   and the one who had little did not have too little.’

If this quote sounds familiar, it is from the story of God providing Manna for the Israelites after they fled Egypt. Found in Exodus 16:18 reads:

But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed.

I call that everyone having at least enough of the necessities of life. Paul calls it a fair balance. The USA economy is out of balance and even more out of proportion with many parts of the world.  The Poor Peoples Campaign estimates that over 140 million people in the USA live in poverty or just one major setback like a health crisis or job loss from living in poverty**.  Now is the right time to end poverty.  

Prayer: Lord, help us find the right way to find a fair balance of incomes so that everyone can have enough. Amen.

*Mark 14:7
**For more information, see https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/resource/factsheets/

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.