Tag Archives: Beloved Community

Our Worldview vs the Beloved Community’s Way

Lent

March 19, 2023

Scripture Reading: John 9:1-41

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ He said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshipped him. Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We see”, your sin remains. –John 9:35-41

Are we turning people away from church because we practice our worldview rather than Christ’s?  Jesus called us to a new worldview, the Kingdom of God, or what is also referred to today as the Beloved Community. The Pharisees chose the parts of their faith tradition that met their worldview and ignored others. Thus, they judged other people based on their worldviews. In the first century, having any kind of disability was often viewed as a punishment for sin, for example, being blind.

I was appalled this week when the news showed a segment of debate in our state legislature regarding a bill that would legalize corporal punishment in our public schools for children with disabilities. The bill’s legislator quoted scripture saying spare the rod, spoil the child.  Those exact words are not in scripture; they are derived from Proverbs 13:24, Those who spare the rod hate their children, but those who love them are diligent to discipline them. Another legislator challenged the bill by asking if we were going to make state laws from all the rules in the Bible. The example that came to my mind was Deuteronomy 21:18, 21 as an example, If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother … all the men of the city shall stone him with stones, that he die.  There were not enough legislators present to act on the bill. It will be reconsidered next week. 

How many of our faith expressions are we sifting through our worldviews?  How much of the loss of interest in being a Christ follower relates to how we live God’s love, picking and choosing what is acceptable and good and what is not?     

Jesus said it best as quoted in Matthew 7:5, You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.  Our public schools have been grossly underfunded for years, there are not enough counselors, and there are many better ways of disciplining children that do not require corporal punishment.  Poor education is directly related to adult criminal behavior. When I was in school, I routinely watched many, particularly boys who were disrupting class, got called to the front of the room, were told to grab their ankles, and got several licks with a paddle. It never stopped their hijinks. They did not want to be there in the first place, and being rowdy usually opened the way to dropping out of school, often leading to a life of crime.

Prayer: Lord, open our eyes to discern how others see Christ in our behavior and grant us the courage to change our worldview today to bring us into sync with your Beloved Community vision. Amen.

N.T. Wright has a good study regarding worldviews and our faith views, Worldviews, the Bible, and the Believer. For more information, see https://www.udemy.com/course/worldviews-the-bible-and-the-believer/

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.

Change is Coming

Living in the Spirit

Living in the Spirit

August 18, 2022

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 12:18-29

You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given, ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.’ Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ‘I tremble with fear.’) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. –Hebrews 12:18-24

Hebrews ends with a comparison of a relationship with God via comparing old with new, the law compared to the gospel, Abel’s blood spilled and Jesus’s blood bringing in a new covenant. Moses trembled with fear as he approached the holy mountain while entrance to the heavenly Jerusalem is a coming home experience.

Our world and everything in it routinely experiences small but dramatic changes. Thirty years ago, did you imagine life with a cell phone? Major changes have had even greater ramifications, the Renaissance for example, or the “discovery” of the New World. I believe we are in one of those major-change times right now and I believe we are called, to work with God to tilt the outcome toward the formation of the Beloved Community.

Our world is suffering the chaos of change, threatened with battles between authoritarianism and democracy, the growing division between the haves and the have-nots, and climate change that threatens our very being. God continues to shape our world just as he created the earth out of chaos. We must be open to God’s calling to partner with God in the work of making the Beloved Community a reality.

Prayer: Lord, turn our fear of what is happening in our world today into energy to build your Beloved Community. 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.

Civic Duty of a Christian

Living in the Spirit

August 12, 2022

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. –Hebrews 12:1-2

Anybody can say they are a Christian. However, growing up I sang the song that rendered the message, they will know we are Christians by our love*. Hebrews tells us we are called to run with perseverance the race that is set before us. That race is joining Christ’s crew to finish the task he started in his life, death, and resurrection of transitioning our world into the Kingdom of God– the beloved community of God.

Our nation is built on the concept of the separation of church and state. Our constitution even provides in the First Amendment that Congress make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise. While candidates certainly have a right to claim to be Christian, you may want to check out their record, if you are considering voting for someone this year because they identify as Christian. They may have a different definition of Christianity from yours. Are their actions dedicated to the descriptions of how Jesus judges our work for God’s kingdom found in Matthew 25? Do they seek the good of all people, not just a chosen few? Do they pander to the rich to the detriment of the poor? Do they serve their constituents, not just their political party or their faith group? For example, do they support public education designed to transition all children into adulthood ready to be self-supportive and self-sufficient? Do they understand that being healthy is crucial to being a contributing member of society? Thus, health care must be a right, not a privilege. Does it bother you that the USA ranks number 1 among industrialized countries in the cost of health care** and 18th in the quality of care***? Does it bother you that the USA and Oklahoma’s minimum wage is $7.25 an hour when a living wage for one person is $15.75**** in Oklahoma? What are the candidates for office you are considering doing to address these issues? If the purpose of government is to provide for the Common Good, surely these issues should be at the top of all our elected officials’ concerns.

Prayer: Lord, guide us as we fulfill our civic duties.  Amen.

*See full lyrics of They Will Know We Are Christians by Peter Scholtes at https://hymnary.org/text/we_are_one_in_the_spirit

**https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/health-care-costs-by-country

*** https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/best-healthcare-in-the-world

****https://livingwage.mit.edu/states/40

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.

Implementing the Beloved Community

Living in the Spirit

August 7, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 12:32-40

‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

‘But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’ –Luke 12:35-40

Life is not waiting around for Christ to return and make everything right resting on the laurels of our self-righteousness. I think Christ would be perfectly happy to return to a world where we love one another, and everyone has enough to eat, clothing to wear, good health, and no crime. Where safe water is abundant, and the air is clean to breathe.  Where when Christ returns he brings a banquet to celebrate the realization of his beloved community throughout the world.

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts and minds to find and implement our roles in implementing his beloved community.  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.

Better Together

Living in the Spirit

July 7, 2022

Scripture Reading: Colossians 1:1-14

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit. –Colossians 1:1-8

Recently, I watched the Thunder basketball team’s first game in the summer league. All the players were there because they had achieved great respect as basketball players before they were drafted to the NBA. The players may have had a few practices before this game but mostly they came without much experience in playing with one another. At first, a small amount of chaos occurred within both teams. Team sports to succeed requires precision in working together. Players learn how a particular team member catches the ball leading to an advantageous shot at the goal, for example. Every team member has an important contribution to make the success of the game.

In Paul’s letters to the churches he helped create, he always recognize how well, or not, the members worked together. Not only in how much they excelled in sharing their talents but also in how well they enabled their fellow workers to realize their gifts and implement their use. We are all part of the crew developing the beloved community.

The world is trying hard to divide and conquer God’s people. God can and will empower us to rise above those distractions and hasten the coming of the Kingdom of God.

Prayer: Lord, enable us to serve together and find 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.

Beloved Community

Living in the Spirit

July 3, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’ –Luke 10:17-20

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. –Romans 8:38-39

Church lore passed on by word of mouth, reports that Luke was martyred–hung from a tree. We will probably never know if he died for his faith. He certainly lived for it. We, too, are called to live our faith. I think Luke is speaking with the understanding that by faith we live on a higher ground where God’s love supersedes any harm we may encounter. Paul’s statement, quoted above from Romans, describes that plain. I remember several years ago an elderly couple was kidnaped, probably for their car and money, at a shopping mall and found later by the side of the road dead. I remember vividly the couple’s son in a TV interview, saying his parents would have done anything for anyone, they probably tried to help their assailant. They died knowing that God was with them and that gave the son comfort. They lived on that higher plain.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, churches in the USA veered toward emphasizing individual salvation creating a reservation in heaven for eternity. That played well with the increasing emphasis on profit-making, where our actions are defined by determining what is in it for me? Indeed, there is nothing more important in our lives than our salvation through Jesus Christ, but it is a beginning, not an end. It is available to everyone as Jesus called us to be one and to strive for a world ruled by love. God’s greatest worship moment will be when all his children strive first for the Kingdom of God—God’s beloved community.  

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we stray from our duties of loving our neighbors as we love ourselves because we think we are better than our neighbors. Open our hearts and minds to building your beloved community. 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.