Living in the Spirit

October 8, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Matthew 21:33-46
‘Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’
Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
“The stone that the builders rejected
   has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
   and it is amazing in our eyes”?
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Following his resurrection, Christ called on us to begin the building of the Kingdom of God on earth and continue to develop it until his return. That Kingdom is defined for us in his teaching carried forth by his disciples and recorded in the gospels now included in the book we call the Bible. It prescribes a way of being as individuals and as nations from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, through the examples described in parables, to Matthew’s description of how he will judge nations in Matthew 25. We are not only challenged to live Christ’s instructions individually, but we are also to build societies based on his way of being. Both tasks are subject to our implementation of them based on our ideals rather than Christ’s. Thus, we are tempted to turn righteousness into self-righteousness, which results in justice becoming unjust in the name of God. Those same gospels record this reality when they describe the actions of some Pharisees and other religious leaders in Jesus’s time on earth. We see this in our world today.

This might be a good time of the year as we move toward celebrating the coming of the Christ Child to review the gospels and consider how much of our faith-based efforts are shaped by Jesus’s teachings and how much is reflective of our worldview today.

Prayer: Lord, open our minds to your teachings and help us incorporate them into our whole beings. 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 in the Spirit

October 7, 2023

Scripture Reading: Matthew 21:33-46
‘Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’

Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
“The stone that the builders rejected
   has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
   and it is amazing in our eyes”?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Sound familiar? We elect people to represent us in Congress, as is appropriate in a democracy based on a representative form of government. Yet, the more outspoken our representatives become, the more interested they are in their power and financial well-being rather than their constituent’s well-being. The purpose of a democratic form of government is to find common ground to provide for the Common Good. Some of our leaders drum up controversial issues that have little, if anything, to do with most people’s lives, often playing on prejudices that distract us from our leaders not addressing the significant issues in our lives.  

Matthew 25:31-46 tells us that God will judge the nations on how well we feed the poor, provide water for all to drink, clothe the naked, care for the sick, reform the prisoner, and welcome the stranger. Our failure to meet these basic needs and provide for the Common Good will be our downfall.

Prayer: Lord, grant us the strength to ensure that our leaders understand your vision of the Common Good and help us work to fulfill 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.

Living in the Spirit

October 6, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Philippians 3:4b-14
even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Christ cannot be compartmentalized. Our relationship with Jesus Christ must be reflected in everything we do and say, from morning prayers through time for devotion and study, but just as important, how we great the mail carrier, volunteer at the local school, take care of our family and neighbors, feed the hungry, work for justice, and enjoy a Thunder game that I sometimes must record and watch later. Our faith is not something we do in two hours on Sunday morning, it is our way of being as we address all aspects of life. One of my mother’s favorite sayings was, “Do not cry over spilled milk.” Paul, in his way, is saying that in the above scripture. We sometimes make mistakes; we need to learn from them and move ahead as we answer Christ’s call to build a better world ruled by love.

Prayer: We thank you, God, for the gift of your Son, who models your way of being, and for the constant presence of the Holy Spirit to guide our paths.  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 in the Spirit

October 5, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Psalm 80:7-15
Restore us, O God of hosts;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved.

You brought a vine out of Egypt;
   you drove out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it;
   it took deep root and filled the land.
The mountains were covered with its shade,
   the mighty cedars with its branches;
it sent out its branches to the sea,
   and its shoots to the River.
|Why then have you broken down its walls,
   so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
The boar from the forest ravages it,
   and all that move in the field feed on it.

Turn again, O God of hosts;
   look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
   the stock that your right hand planted.

This psalm brought to mind John 15:4-5, Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

God had a purpose for bringing the Israelites out of Egypt: spreading God’s way of being throughout the world. Granted, there was a lot of violence and greed described in that history.  People did not always get it right. I am sorry to say we still don’t. Still, we have that same call today, branching out to love our neighbors worldwide as we build the beloved community.

Prayer: Lord, abide with us and help us fulfill your vision of a world 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.

Living in the Spirit

Living in the Spirit

October 4, 2023

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 5:1-7
Let me sing for my beloved
   my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
   on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
   and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watch-tower in the midst of it,
   and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
   but it yielded wild grapes.

And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
   and people of Judah,
judge between me
   and my vineyard.
What more was there to do for my vineyard
   that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
   why did it yield wild grapes?

And now I will tell you
   what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
   and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
   and it shall be trampled down.
I will make it a waste;
   it shall not be pruned or hoed,
   and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
   that they rain no rain upon it.

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
   is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
   are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
   but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
   but heard a cry!

God inspires a diversity of his people to meet his people where they are and where they can understand God’s ways. This poem is one such example. Gardeners can all identify with carefully tending their plants, yet they do not produce fruit.  What has interfered to cause the plants to fail? How did the world distract the house of Israel and the people of Judah to turn away from God’s care? I remember once, when I was a child living on our farm, the weather was such that our tomato plants grew strong and tall, making beautiful plants but producing no tomatoes. While we do not control the weather, we do have things that distract us from following God and ending up in chaos that traps us.  That is why it is so important to open our hearts and minds to God’s guidance and study the variety of writings that the whole Bible provides.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for sending us various messages to help us retain our life in your 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.

Living in the Spirit

October 3, 2023

Scripture Reading: Psalm 19

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. –Psalm 19:7-10

I just heard on the news that another pedestrian had been hit by a car and killed in Oklahoma City.  Such events have been happening more and more. People do not follow the rules of the road. I do not know if I get more frustrated with people who never use a turn signal or never turn it off after making the turn. We all, at times, get distracted while driving, with our minds set more on what is going on at our destination than the process of getting there.  That is why it is so important to build habits out of good practices so that our right response to life situations can be automatic. In sports, it is called muscle memory. If we practice enough and maintain our muscles through exercise, we, as a catcher, receive the football automatically and run in for a touchdown, or the basketball is tossed perfectly to allow the shooter to score.  

God’s laws create spiritual memory. If we practice God’s laws daily, our right response to life challenges becomes automatic. I heard a report of a shooting at our state fair recently. Two teenagers, one 15 and the other 16, got into an argument that ended in one getting shot and the other running away. A couple of days later, the news reported that as most ran away after hearing the shots fired, a nearby 14-year-old boy immediately ran to the one who was shot and started applying pressure to stop the bleeding until the ambulance arrived. That was pure spiritual memory at work; he had already established in his young life, the memory that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Prayer: Lord, guide us to maintain our spiritual memory of living well exercised. 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 in the Spirits

October 2, 2023

Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
Then God spoke all these words:
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work.
Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.’

While some tend to worship the Ten Commandments, hanging them on our walls, hoping they say something about us. We dust them as needed.  We do not necessarily work to follow them consistently. They describe a way of being that, if followed, will lead to greater success in life. God wants us to succeed and be the people God created us to be. They are not designed to guarantee you a place in heaven. The Ten Commandments describe the actions that will help us all build the Kingdom of God, the Beloved Community,  right now, as the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth (John 1:14) and with the fulfillment of the Beloved Community described in Revelation 21:3-4: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying.
‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’

Prayer: Let the Beloved Community be so.  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.

October 1, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Matthew 21:23-32

‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him. Matthew 21:28-32

How often do we give lip service to being a Disciple of Christ, but do not live it?  We live in a challenging world where our faith is being tested daily by actions done in the name of Christ, that differ from our understanding of his message. Some of those actions are being incorporated into the functions of our government. The problem is that all sides of this discussion could be writing this message. We cannot seem to find common ground in either our faith or our governance. Much of that conundrum results from forces of darkness working against us. Ephesians. 6:12 in the King James Versions describes it as For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. NRSV words it this way:

For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

How do we deal with the darkness that makes us quarrel among ourselves? We need to find the things we can agree on and work together to make them happen until all the principalities and powers are overthrown by the strength of our love through Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we get distracted by the world’s ways and fail to do the simplest thing that will bring us back into your service.  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 in the Spirit

September 30, 2023

Scripture Reading: Matthew 20:1-16
‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’

I more and more think that we each, having been created in the image of God, have unique skills and talents that are necessary for our reaching the interdependence to be One in Christ. It is also not only necessary for each of us to become the best we can be; we must also enable all others to become the best people they were created to be. Yes, if you wonder what these thoughts have to do with this scripture, the simple answer is not much. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that our reward as Christ-followers is not a personal achievement but mastering the perfection of molding together all to be One, and that includes the people who woke up early and recognized this calling and the ones who arrived later in the day.

Prayer: Lord, give us the gift of being the best we can be in the Oneness of all people being the best we all can be together as One. 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 in the Spirit

September 29, 2023

Scripture Reading: Philippians 1:21-30
For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.

Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well— since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

What does it mean to Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ? I am in a Bible study that this week reviewed the gospels of Matthew and Mark. It was a lot of reading for very busy people! It was worth the read. We often parse things we study, and delving into particulars is important. It is also important to step back and view the whole story as it unfolds to understand how our faith fits into the world in which we live. The gospels record the life of Christ in the real-time of the first century. Jesus was a storyteller, a healer, one who prays, one who knows the Hebrew scriptures, a champion for justice, a respecter of men and women, and a lover of children. The list could be longer, but working to live a life within the framework of this list is a great place to start living our lives in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Prayer: Lord, open our eyes to see and respond to opportunities to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. 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.