Tag Archives: Body of Christ

Choices

Eastertide
April 4, 2018

Scripture Reading: Psalm 133
How very good and pleasant it is
   when kindred live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
   running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
   running down over the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon,
   which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
   life for evermore.

 God likes it when we get along. The world was designed with just that in mind. The earth is a very complex ecosystem that supports a beautiful diversity of plants and animals, earth and water, men and women. All are important and necessary for our world to thrive. This is the oneness Christ desired for us.

Our response is lukewarm at best and downright evil at worst. Humans are capable of being selfish. We will work toward oneness when there is something in it for us, which is not true oneness at all. This is best illustrated by Heaven and Hell: The Parable of the Long Spoons* by Sofo Archon. Hell is a place full of starving people who would not be starving if they feed each other. Heaven is the opposite, a place where people readily feed each other and flourish as a result.

God created humans with the power of choice. Along with that responsibility, we are also required to face the consequences of our choices. God did not leave us without guidance. Many of the stories of God and God’s peoples are recorded for our use, prophets brought messages from God in ancient times and still speak today. God sent Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to help us make wise choices. Perhaps the most important choice we make is accessing and applying these readily available resources.

Prayer: Thank you God for the world in which we live, the freedom to think and make choices, and the ever-present help you provide in our journey of faith. 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.

A New Beginning

Easter
April 1, 2018

Scripture Reading:  Mark 16:1-8

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’ So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Mark is well known for its brevity and that is no better illustrated than in this original closing segment of the book. While I can draw much from the other gospels and their stories of the resurrection, I rather think Mark’s rendition sets the best stage. The resurrection is a beginning not the ending of the story and us like Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome play our part in the remaining story. The ending is still being written.

Now I have no idea how long these women held out telling no one what they had discovered. They probably did not tell acquaintances or strangers they met along the way. My guess is they were so rattled when they returned from their visit to the tomb that bits and pieces spilled out quickly.  In the company of Jesus’ disciples, their demeanor surely led to questions that had to be answered.

With the trumpets sounding, our organist played Lift High the Cross* as the opening music on Palm Sunday. I love the soaring symbolism in the music which forcefully proclaims we are lifting high an empty cross as we celebrate the empty tomb. I was rather surprised she played in at the beginning of Holy Week, but it nicely wove into the praise of Palm Sunday while painting a picture of what was to follow.

While we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus today, let us remember we are still telling the story of that empty cross and the empty tomb. We are the Body of Christ in the world today called to build a world ruled by God’s love with the abiding grace of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit guiding the way. Let it be so.

Prayer:
God of grace and God of glory,
on your people pour your power;
crown your ancient church’s story,
bring its bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the facing of this hour,
for the facing of this hour**. Amen.

*Set to the tune of “Crucifer” by Sydney Nicholson
**First verse of God of Grace and God of Glory by Harry Emerson Fosdick. See at https://hymnary.org/text/god_of_grace_and_god_of_glory

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 Lent

Lent
February 15, 2018

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:18-22

For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water. –1 Peter 3:18-20

Lent has begun, and I seem to see it all around. I watch PBS’s new series; We’ll Meet Again, that tells the stories of people whose lives intersect in meaningful ways after which they lose contact. Years later one seeks the other out to reconnect. In one story involving the Mt. St. Helen volcanic eruption, a scientist on the mountain emphatically orders a young intern to leave as he deemed it unsafe and she did. He chose to stay and continue to relay information about the volcanic activity and was killed. The information he provided probably saved many lives besides hers. The intern wanted to connect with his family thanking them for his saving her life.

My church book club is currently reading, Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan. The true story of a teenager in Italy during World War II sent to his church’s camp to get him out of harm’s way while his hometown was bombed. He was born to ski, and the camp was in the mountains. Sent there to be safe, he was soon escorting Jewish refugees and downed pilots over the mountains to safety. He not only risked his life taking mountain novices over treacherous land, he also faced certain death if the Nazis caught him and that is just the start of his story. He lived to tell it though as his memories were the basis for the book. A cradle Christian his teen years introduced him to living as part of the body of Christ in very real ways.

Lent is a time when we walk with Jesus and his first Disciples down the road to the cross as he offers his life for our salvation. Living fully as a part of the Body of Christ is our walk toward creating wholeness following the example of Jesus in a fragmented world.

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts and minds to experiences of Lent as we relive Jesus walking closer and closer to the cross. 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.

One in Christ

Advent
December 14, 2017

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.
–1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

In the current craze of what is called fake news, we are challenged to test everything. Paul advised us to test everything in the first century. I do that all the time in my genealogy work. I read the probate of one of my 4th great grandfathers dated in December 1859. When I visited his gravesite, I noted his birthdate was July 15, 1860. I seriously doubt that the county probated his estate before he died. My guess is the headstone was placed several months after the death, and the engraver etched in the current year. That is not so much fake news, I doubt that anyone was trying to sway my thinking one way or the other, but it was wrong information.

My first supervisor with the then Department of Public Welfare once advised me that I needed to add the phrase, in my opinion, before or after I made a statement because in my conversational style I was so sure of myself, I sounded like I was quoting from the Bible. She was right because I always think I am right until objectively proven wrong. Had I visited the cemetery before the probate records I would have sworn my 4th great grandfather’s birthdate was July 15, 1860, which I now am just as sure is wrong.

I doubt I am as sure of myself as Paul was and it possibly took him three years to work out the challenge to his faith he encountered on that road to Damascus. He went from persecuting Christians as a devout Jew to being the leading missionary for Christ. It is hard to change particularly long-held concepts, but I take great hope in the example of Paul that we can change when the availability of new or different and compelling information becomes available.

Our world is in cultural chaos directly related to long-held beliefs about white privilege, the place of women in society, and sexual identity. Division results tearing the Body of Christ asunder. I believe people with other motives fuel the flame of this divisiveness to their ends, not God’s. A house divided against itself cannot stand. (See Matthew 12:22-28) Christ called us to oneness, and I believe that oneness is essential to the welcoming of the Kingdom of God. In my opinion, the first step to moving toward that oneness is truly accepting that God created all people in God’s image, and we must find ways to see the image of God in everyone and love them as the children of God they are.

The second step, even if it is a baby step, is to find the things on which we can agree.  We then work together toward attaining them with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength letting the issues on which we may never agree lay fallow until we have completed the work on the things we hold in common. Such action requires us to leave the thorny issues that plague us to God. They are draining us of energy better spent on say addressing the needs of the least of these.

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, open our eyes to see your image in everyone, open our hearts to love each person as your child. Open our minds to recognize the step we need to be taking to actualize your Kingdom in this world as we invest our energies in doing your will 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

Being the Body of Christ

Living in the Spirit
October 15, 2017

Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:1-14

Then he said to his slaves, “The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.” Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

 ‘But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’ –Matthew 22:8-14

Yesterday we dealt with not accepting God’s invitation. Today, we see the other side of the story—accepting the invitation but not the responsibility that goes with it.  The commitment to God is all or nothing. A sports team fully committed to winning with each player doing his or her part can often beat a team with better players who rely on their native talents.

Christ called his followers to be his Body from the time of his Ascension to today. Our primary tasks are first to love God and love one another as we go into all the world spreading that love and doing justice until the whole world in one in God’s love. While this is a full-time job, carrying out these tasks are best accomplished and most successful when we weave them through our everyday experiences of work and play, being a family, and being a community.

Prayer: Lord, walk with us each step of the way so that being the Body of Christ is second nature in everything we do. 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.

Becoming One

Living in the Spirit
October 13, 2017

Scripture Reading: Philippians 4:1-9

 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. –Philippians 4:8-9

I sat at the symphony recently and listened to an exquisite Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber that just made me feel good all over. The scripture above elicits in me a similar feeling of peace and wellbeing. I think that is what Paul intended to do. In the face of all the world aims at us we have the confidence of faith that the God of peace is with us. One of my favorite scriptures is John 16:33, I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!’

Our challenge is not getting dragged into the chaos that surrounds us and still doing all we can to carry out our calling. The advantage of working as the Body of Christ is the synergy that derives from working one with the other. None of us has all the answers. The problems we face demands all the skills and efforts we can muster with the sure and certain knowledge that Christ is with us even when the occasion arises that we mess up. God created lemons and the person who figured out how to make lemonade.

Part of our task is to be inclusive of those who might do us harm for they are God’s children too. Pray for your enemies is not an empty command. Seeking to understand others and offering them opportunities for positive output exploring common ground may be our greatest work.

 Prayer: God of Might and Miracles move among us and make us one as you are 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.

Be of the Same Mind

Living in the Spirit
October 12, 2017

Scripture Reading: Philippians 4:1-9

I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. –Philippians 2-3

Apparently, Euodia and Syntyche were not of the same mind. There is a lot of that going around today. I mused to a friend recently that I could not understand how people could interpret the same behavior so very differently. It makes one wonder if evil spirits like Screwtape and Wormwood from C. S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters exists. There seems to be some evil trying desperately to separate God’s children from forming the world that God envisioned for us all. Who benefits from a dearth of love in the world? Warmongers might be one group as they make a lot of money from the carnage of battlefields. I suppose anyone who values money more than love benefit. What about all the folks who are missing out on an abundant life because others are reaping benefits they did not sow. Refocusing the disenfranchised on blaming each other for their situations contributes to the mayhem.  Carefully making minority groups of all kinds scapegoats keeps the wheels of fortune moving. History tells us over and over again that such behavior comes to a bad end. Israel fell to Assyria, Judah fell to Babylon, Rome just fell apart failing to hold a workable government together. Sound familiar?

I must confess I want to run away from all the disarray, but God calls us to create a world of love, to be a part of the solution. The starting point is finding the things on which we can become of the same mind and making them work. It also requires us to see beyond our lives and gain perspective from the ways others must face the world. We must be able to set aside the things that distract us that in the grand scheme of things matter only to those interested in causing division.

Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable garland, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified. –1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Prayer: Lord, train us in the way we should go. Help us find the same mind and not be distracted from attaining your vision. 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.

In Times Like These

Living in the Spirit
October 7, 2017

Scripture Reading: Matthew 21:33-46

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”? Matthew 21:42

The stone that the builders rejected
   has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
   it is marvelous in our eyes. –Psalm 118:22-23

Cornerstone: the event, fact, or thing that forms the principal foundation or support upon which an achievement is based or from which a development makes its beginning*

Christ is the chief cornerstone of the Kingdom of God. The end we work for is not a shallow promise without substance. God wrote a vision of a just and good world on the heart of Jesus who came to earth to share it with us and invite us to join in becoming part of his very Body to make God’s vision real for all God’s children.

I turned on the news this morning to hear of another senseless shooting, the worst in the country’s history. We seem to compete for beating our worst. We are still recovering from some of the worst hurricanes in modern times and hear of the people of Puerto Rico caught in catastrophe with little food and water and no electricity. While our governmental leaders seem to be under the impression that if we cut our income, we will have more money to spend while recent and past experience tells us that is not true.

In times like these, you need a Savior,
In times like these, you need an anchor;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

CHORUS: The Rock is Jesus, Yes, He’s the One,
The Rock is Jesus, The only One
Be very sure, be very sure, Your anchor holds,
And grips the Solid Rock.**

Prayer: Lord, give us the strength and courage to continue our work toward your Kingdom in times like these. Amen.

*http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/cornerstone

**First verse and chorus of In Times Like These by Ruth Caye Jones see at http://www.namethathymn.com/christian-hymns/in-times-like-these-lyrics.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.

Kingdom Building

Living in the Spirit
October 6, 2017

Scripture Reading: Philippians 3:4b-14

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. –Philippians 3:12-14

Paul cuts us some slack recognizing how hard it is to change habits of the heart. We must face the fact that what is good for us and others will in many cases be hard for us to effect. In 1991, I staffed a legislative study regarding child care which entailed holding public hearing all around the state. I drove the State Senator who was the sponsor of the project to a public hearing in Tulsa. It lasted longer than expected, was contentious, and sapped both of us of energy. We had neither one eaten before the meeting which ran well past the dinner hour. We stopped at a fast food place to grab a sandwich on our way out of town. The Senator walked in front of me to the counter. The teen behind the counter met my eyes as second in line asking what I wanted. I said she was before me. She said go ahead. He said to me what can I get for you. Clueless, and thinking do you know who she is, I said I need to look at the menu a little longer, and he finally took her order. At that point, I realized what was happening. She is black, and I am white. Why was I so slow to understand? It takes intentionality to live and love like Jesus.

Ushering in the Kingdom of God is a fulltime, full-life project. It involves every aspect of how we function in the world from reducing our carbon footprint to feeding the hungry to working toward God’s justice for all. We must press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Prayer: Our Father in heaven,
   hallowed be your name.
   Your kingdom come.
   Your will be done,
     on earth as it is in heaven.
   Give us this day our daily bread.
   And forgive us our debts,
     as we also have forgiven our debtors.
   And do not bring us to the time of trial,
     but rescue us from the evil one. * Amen.

*Matthew 6:9–13

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.

Serving God More Nearly

Living in the Spirit
September 29, 2017

Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:1-13

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross.

 Therefore God also highly exalted him
   and gave him the name
   that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
   every knee should bend,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
   that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father. –Philippians 2:5-11

We have a great role model in Jesus Christ. We must study his words and his ways and incorporate them into our lives. Too often, I fear, we skim the surface of his teaching, picking and choosing the ones that already are part of our natural selves or are easy to master. We let go of the challenging ones.

Remember the story of the rich young ruler? (Matthew19:16-22) He asked Jesus what he must do to be saved, and Jesus told him to follow the commandments. To which the young man said that he had always done that what else should he do. Jesus replied, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

No armchair quarterbacks needed here. We are called to participate fully investing all our skills and resources on Jesus’ team. All of our efforts are needed to build a world ruled by God’s love.

Prayer: Grant us the courage to step out in faith and serve you more nearly. 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.