Tag Archives: Body of Christ

Wisdom and Revelation

Living in the Spirit

November 20, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Ephesians 1:15-23
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

This is such a powerful scripture for times such as these. In some sense, I think we are living at a demarcation from one span of faith development to another not unlike the reformation. How we deal with it matters. While we complain about the principalities and powers here in the USA, we have been afforded a strong reminder during 2020 that if we believe in democracy, we ultimately own the role of being the principalities and powers. When we do not do our part, we allow the lesser gods of the world, like greed and lust for power, to rule. We, too, must pray for a spirit of wisdom and revelation. We, too, need to have the eyes of our hearts enlightened. We, too, need to remember who we serve and who called us to be the Body of Christ in the world and how powerful Christ is. When we align with his leadership, we can overcome the world.

First, we must seek self-revelation. How much of our being is shaped not by Christ but by those same lesser gods? I watched a PBS special about the making of the musical Fiddler on the Roof recently and was reminded of the temptations we all face described in the song, If I Were a Rich Man. We have all experienced it as we dream what we would do if we won a huge lottery pay out.

Second, we must rediscover Jesus Christ and his teachings. Coming to the end of a very challenging year with hope on the horizon of a vaccine that will address the pandemic, is a great time while we are still sheltering at home to immerse ourselves again this winter in the sermon on the mount, Jesus’ parables, and how he dealt with people. While we study, we should pray for wisdom and revelation.

Prayer: God of Mercy and Justice, enlighten our hearts and our minds as we prepare to face our changing times. 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.

Being the Body of Christ

Living in the Spirit

August 2, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 14:13-21
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

What had Jesus just heard that resulted in his withdrawing in a boat to a deserted place by himself? He had just heard the horrible report of John the Baptist’s being beheaded. Apparently, Jesus never got to spend much time alone with God as, in this instance, the people followed him and were waiting on him when he went ashore. His response was to venture forth among them and cure the sick, followed by feeding all of them. There is a lesson in that for all of us.

We have a lot of craziness going on in our world today, people even senselessly being killed. While some people are dying of a virus, others are claiming their rights are being violated if they are required to wear a mask to protect themselves, or others, from getting the virus. Many are out of work, and our economy is in trouble. Yet our leaders cannot find common ground for the Common Good targeted at addressing the virus and its side effects.

The story of the feeding of the 5,000 is a story for our times. Amid great tragedy and personal sorrow, Jesus calmly in love went about the business of restoring health, feeding the hungry, and nurturing souls. We, the Body of Christ in the world today, are called to do the same in direct service and in advocacy for justice.

Prayer: God of Love strengthen our drooping hands and weak knees, show us the path toward our actions so our people and our land can be healed*. Amen.

*Derived from Hebrews 12:12-13.

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 Righteousness

Living in the Spirit

June 26, 2020

Scripture Reading: Romans 6:12-23

What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.—Romans 6:15-19

Recently, I had a conversation about tithing with a friend. She had received a letter from her church saying that it had not yet received her tithe as a reminder to send money. My church sends very business-like updates on the receipt of payment toward my pledge for tax purposes, so I did not think this action was particularly unusual. I had made a pledge and do work to meet it. Apparently, her faith group teaches the following of the tithe described in the Hebrew Bible. Her problem was that she does set aside a tithe but provides it to feed people on the street.

My mother, I think, was influenced by Paul after reading today’s scripture. For she taught us, we were to give our whole being to God’s service in everything we did, including supporting our church. I do think that is what Paul is addressing when he says you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. We must do right, do justice in everything. Wearing masks during the COVID 19 pandemic is doing righteousness, loving our neighbor. There is no separation of church and self. We are individually a part of the Body of Christ and gain synergy in our efforts working within and among the whole Body of Christ.

I also think Paul used the word slave on purpose to get a rise out of his readers because, while some of them had been or were slaves, many were not. There is no privilege among those who make up the Body of Christ. We are all privileged to be in service to the Almighty God.

Prayer: Lord of Life, help us to see where we can do righteousness in everything we do to your glory. 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.

Tiptoeing Around the Edge

Eastertide

May 24, 2020

Scripture Reading: John 17:1-11

‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. –John 17:6-11

I often find myself pondering: Why has the church, the Body of Christ, failed in becoming one? Where are we failing to Love God and be God’s conduit to share God’s love throughout the world? How have we failed at creating a world ruled by love?

Christ called us to do precisely that. And yes, there are those pesky principalities and powers* as the King James Version of the Bible names them that get in our way. But we do serve an awesome God who sent Jesus to model a way of life that, if lived, will result in the fulfillment of the goal of oneness in the whole world ruled by love. J. B. Phillips published his book, Your God is Too Small in 1953. It is still available today and a good book to read, but I think the titled says it all. We only dance around the edges of being the Body of Christ.

Occasionally when a tornado hits or a 100-year flood occurs or an out of control virus strikes, we see both the positive forces of God’s love and the opposing forces of greed battling for dominance. We desperately need to learn to discipline ourselves to love God and love others all the time as we welcome all to become a part of the Body of Christ as God defines it not as we want it to be.

Prayer: God, who is Love, forgive us for tiptoeing around the edges of being the Body of Christ. Help us join your cause with our whole beings. Amen.

*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. (Ephesians 6:12)

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.

Discord

Epiphany

January 23, 2020

Scripture Reading:
1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. –1 Corinthians 1:10-11

My experience is that most of the quarrels that happen in the church are not dealing with the real problem. They are signs that people are not on the same page that there is not a clear shared purpose. The use of the phrase “Chloe’s people” is a sign that the church in Corinth was dealing with a power play. I do not know if “Chloe’s people” were involved in the power play or the innocent people caught in the middle who are often the loser in such situations.

I remember as a child the fight that occurred in my small rural church when a disagreement broke out regarding whether it was appropriate to have upholstered chairs at the communion table rather than wood only chairs. It was considered a grave theological issue by the wood group who thought we should be more austere. We lost one family from that brouhaha. The deeper issue was probably what of cultural changes are benign and what are not in sync with the teachings of Jesus Christ. That same type dispute split my denomination at the turn of the twentieth century over whether organs could be played in churches.

The phrase in the above scripture that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose is critical to the furtherance of our work as the body of Christ active in the world today. When disasters occur, people work together doing whatever needs to be done because lives depend on them. The Body of Christ depends on our working together as we identify and work through those issues on which we differ.

Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. Matthew 12:25                                       

Prayer: Lord, the world is particularly challenging right now and we do not know how do deal with things outside our control. Forgive us when we turn our frustrations on ourselves and each other. Help us see the opportunities you place before us to be a light to a world in chaos. 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.

God Equipped

Kingdom Building

November 18, 2019

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 23:1-6

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord. –Jeremiah 23:1-4

I wrote the book Houses Divided: A Letter to the Churches of the USA on Church and State in 2013, because I felt a pressing need to call the attention of persons of faith to the fact that our internal dividedness was negating our purpose.  Now I think the division is even greater. That is extraordinarily sad to me for our call from Christ to be one is the foundation on which the Kingdom of God is being built or not.

I think that is what Jeremiah is trying to say in the above scripture. We are running away some people, others are not interested in our interpretation of the “Good News” which sounds more exclusive then inclusive, more judgmental than forgiving, more hate-filled, then loving. Becoming one is messy work that cannot be done in a society that prizes lust for power and greed over seeking common ground for the common good.

Apparently, God who created us is under the impression that we have the innate tools to become one. God even came to model the way for us.

And 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

Perhaps we need to search our minds, hearts, and souls and see where we have allowed the tools of oneness to lie dormant. Once found we need to practice using them until we are highly skilled at the art of being one. Who knows that may be when God returns to dwell among us again*?

Prayer: God forgive us when we let the things of the world distract us from the truths you have provided us. Amen.

*See Revelation 21:3

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.

Balm for the Soul

Kingdom Building

November 7, 2019

Scripture Reading:
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring. To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfil by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

My mother’s family lived in Springdale, Arkansas while we lived on a farm almost in the middle of Oklahoma about 200 miles away. We made a couple of trips to see them each year and my Grandmother would come by bus to spend a week or so with us every year. Long distance telephone calls were for important business or reporting very serious news like a death in the family. It was a different world than we have today with cell phones and the Internet. Driving on four or six lane interstate highways is also much faster than driving on two lane roads circling up the Ozark Mountains behind a slow-moving truck. My mother was thus a dedicated letter writer as was her mother and her two sisters. I remember running to the mailbox after seeing the mailman drive up the hill from our house. When there was a letter from “home” for my Mom, I knew she would stop everything she was doing and read it immediately, often more than once savory every word and bit of news. There was always a returning letter on our mailbox the next day with the red flag set in the upright position so the mailman would be sure and take the outgoing mail.

The time span between letters was far greater than a week when Paul was writing to the church at Thessalonica, but I feel confident the receipt of the letter was cherished not unlike my Mother’s letters from home. I also am sure those words of greeting Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ were a welcome balm as the Thessalonians dealt with major problems. While much of our work in being the Body of Christ in the world today is oriented outward, we must always remember that we are also called to care for one another and strengthen one another.

Prayer: Lord, help us to be balm to the souls of our fellow sojourners in 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.

Saving the Lost

Kingdom Building

November 3, 2019

Scripture Reading: Luke 19:1-10

When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’ –Luke 19:5-10

Jesus came to seek out and to save the lost. Jesus sent us forth to do the same thing. The Greek word, apollumi*, translated her as lost has a more dire meaning then we may consider is assigned to the word lost. Apollumi means to destroy, destroy utterly and may be used to mean perishing. Think of the lost sheep that the shepherd leaves his or her 99 other sheep to find. A lone sheep is much more vulnerable than a flock of sheep.

We are called to walk beside those who are lost who cannot seem to find their way or who have strayed from the way of love. I learned a long time ago that there is no magic wand to wave to save people from themselves or the oppression of others. I think sometimes because the stories in the gospels of Jesus’ healings are of necessity truncated reports that we want to fix people just as quickly. Life as the Body of Christ in the world today does not work like that. I remember preparing to testify in court about a child abuse case. I had a rather thick file at my desk that recorded several years of problems with the family. Because of the nature of the case, I went to the filling cabinet and checked for additional information. I found two more equally full files that covered three generations of background on the family. While that might be daunting at first glance, I discovered family members through all three folders who had escaped the prison of poverty and abuse and were living productive lives raising healthy families.

The example provided in the scripture above describes the other end of the spectrum of life, people who seem to have it all. The wealthy who are deemed successful can be just as lost as the poor and oppressed. In some cases, the wealthy and successful may have greater problems because they may be contributing to people being poor and oppressed. Clearly that was the case with Zacchaeus. The story does not tell how long Zacchaeus had been overhearing the gospel shared by Jesus or what peaked his interest or why it was so important for him to hear more. Clearly, something got his attention, changed his life forever, and changed the lives of all those from whom he collected taxes.

Prayer: God of Mercy and of Justice, connect us through your Spirit to be conduits of helping the lost to find their way home. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/622.htm

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

The Lord’s Table for All

Kingdom Building

October 31, 2019

Scripture Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring. To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfil by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul seems so please with the church of the Thessalonians who love for one another is increasing. I wonder if Paul in his wildest imagination could have envisioned a world with so many Christian denominations, they cannot even be counted each with a slightly different nuance on Christ. Even within so-called denominations there are differences. I write this when one faith group refused to serve communion to former Vice-President Biden for supporting legislation related to abortions. Upon hearing that I was first stunned coming from a faith group that recognizes the Lord’s Supper as open to all followers of Christ no matter what. I realized after thinking about it that my faith group and this other faith group have very different interpretations of the meaning of one of the most central acts in Christian worship.

My second reaction stemmed from my strong support of separation of church and state. I do not think God ever wants anyone to choose to follow God because they are forced to follow God. I do not even think that is possible. What people do on the outside to survive in a dogmatic world does not always reflect what they experience internally. God looks at the heart and judges each of us accordingly and I have grave doubts God surveys our fellow humans sampling their opinions of our behavior to help God judge us. Thus, regarding civil law, I think God endow us with the ability to think and reason, to form values, and to use those values as individuals to find common ground among people of all faiths toward providing for the Common Good. In similar vein USA citizens are blessed to live in a nation that protects our rights to practice our faith broadly without any interference from the state.

Prayer: Lord, as your Spirit still moves among us searching for ways to make us the one Body of Christ, guide us in our role as citizen to foster values that complement the building of your Kingdom ruled by love. Amen.

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

Finishing the Race

Kingdom Building

October 24, 2019

Scripture Reading:
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing. —2 Timothy 4:6-8

I hear talk about current world conditions being the forerunner of the second coming of Jesus. I doubt that Jesus ever intended for us to sit around waiting for his return so he could set everything right. I think he called us to do all that we can toward creating a world dominated by love for God and love for all God’s children. I think he would be happiest, (pleasantly surprised?) returning to everything already being set right. What 2 Timothy describes above is the final words of perhaps Paul before his execution, perhaps to his fellow Christ followers who supported him to the end. The words are his reckoning of getting all the things done toward answering Christ’s call to serve he possibly could up to the end of his life. He most likely shared these thoughts to encourage his supporters to continue the work.

We read these words today as people also committed to creating a world dominated by love for God and love for all God’s children. I think it is a good idea to routinely evaluate our progress individually and as the Body of Christ. Right now, the Body of Christ is not readily discernible as a force in the world today because it is so divided and investing much of its energy in fighting over who has a corner on God or at least the “correct” corner. We desperately need to identify one or two things on which we can work together and let the rest go for a while. I think we would all be surprised at what we would accomplish. Yet we cannot even agree on something as basic as feeding the hungry.  

A good start might be going deep into the four gospels and identifying how Jesus worked. We might be surprised how far afield we have drifted from the ways of our role model.

Prayer: Lord, teach us your ways so that we can be one in 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.