Tag Archives: Building the Beloved Community

God Incarnate, Jesus Christ

Advent

November 28, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,
   and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
   the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
   the spirit of counsel and might,
   the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
   or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
   and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
   and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
   and faithfulness the belt around his loins. –Isaiah 11:1-5

Jesse was King David’s father. He was the son of Ohed who was the son of Boaz and Ruth. Matthew 1 tells us that Jesus comes from that line. When I have the time, I dive into my genealogy. I can see traces of both my mother and father in my siblings and me. Our dad gave us a love of music. I often describe my mother as the world’s greatest egalitarian.  She did believe that all people are created equal and should be treated that way.

I have wondered if God incarnate came to us in human form so that God could better understand we humans whom God created. From that experience, we receive redemption and the grace that enables us to become the people we were created to be as we move and have our being, choosing to build a world ruled by love based on learning from our past successes and failures.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for creating humans who can grow in faith and pass it on to the next generation.  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.

From War to Peace

Advent

November 22, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5
The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come
   the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
   and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
   Many peoples shall come and say,
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
   to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
   and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
   and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
   and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
   and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
   neither shall they learn war anymore.
O house of Jacob,
   come, let us walk
   in the light of the Lord!

As challenging and heartbreaking as pulling our troops out of Afghanistan was, I think it was the right thing to do. What we have not noted well is that this is the first time in over 20 years that we have not been at war, declared or not.  We do not know what is going to happen in Ukraine or if Russia will move into NATO countries that might immediately thrust us into another war. Now is the time, however, to re-think our relationships with other nations and how we can move further away from violence as a cure for anything.

One of the goals we need to work on is making sure that every person in our world has enough—enough food, clothing, shelter, health care, safety, and a safe climate. A living wage for everyone would make a significant difference in each of these necessities. Ultimately it is the Kingdom of God, the Beloved Community.

Prayer: Lord, help us identify our role in developing the Beloved Community and empower us to fulfill it at our best. 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.

Recovering

Living in the Spirit

November 12, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 21:5-19

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, ‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.’

They asked him, ‘Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?’ And he said, ‘Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, “I am he!” and, “The time is near!” Do not go after them.

‘When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.’ Then he said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. –Luke 21:5-11

Luke was believed to be written around the time that the temple in Jerusalem was desecrated and destroyed. The book’s message was surely impacted by that event.

 A few days ago, a level-four tornado struck causing major damage in Idabel, a town in southeast Oklahoma. On the day after the tornado, I watched a reporter standing in front of a church that was now a pile of scrap wood interspersed with broken pieces of stained glass. Two days later the same reporter stood in front of people setting up folding chairs in the yard with debris in the background that had not yet been removed. They were preparing for worship. This church did not have the long history of the temple in Jerusalem, but for its members it contains similar memories of weddings and funerals, making lifelong friends, and watching children grow in spirit and truth, adults too. Such events remind us that bad things do happen to good people. However, they also remind us of what is important in life and that loving God and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves can never be destroyed and will prevail as we restore our buildings while sharing our love as we work to build the Beloved Community.

Prayer: Lord, we pray for all the people caught in climatic disasters, the ravages of war, and the violence of discrimination. Show us the ways we can share our love with them in meaningful ways including advocacy. 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.

Enabling Others

Living in the Spirit

November 10, 2022

Scripture Reading:
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

The Greek word for idleness as used above is   atáktōs – properly, disorderly (“breaking rank”); insubordinate to God’s Word and hence fruitless (unproductive) – because lacking proper order (discipline)*

The 80/20 Rule (also known as the Pareto Principle) means that 20 percent of something is responsible for 80 percent of the results (i.e., 20 percent of the workforce provides 80 percent of production) **.

In building the Beloved Community, we all must do our part, and that does not always happen. I have spent the last several months trying to discern why people in Oklahoma do not vote. We have one of the worst voting records in the nation. The only thing I could discern is that many people do not feel like they matter. The issues that are important to them may be given lip service in campaign ads but are barely or rarely actualized. For example, I am looking forward to seeing what actions are implemented that successfully reduce worldwide inflation and who is responsible for making that happen.

Do we do the same thing within our faith fellowships?  Through our actions do we send messages to people that their work in the church does not matter or is not good enough? I have found myself completing a task in the church because it needed to be done, but I certainly was not the most prepared or qualified person to do it. Part of being in the 20% worker bee group includes enabling and nurturing those in the 80% group to contribute their skills and talents in meaningful ways.

In the above scripture, Paul comes across as rather coarse in the above scripture, but he is trying to encourage all to use their talents and skills to the furtherance of building that Beloved Community.

Prayer: Lord, give us the skills to lead others to share their skills. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/814.htm

**https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle

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 Song

Living in the Spirit

November 9, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 98
O sing to the Lord a new song,
   for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
   have gained him victory.
The Lord has made known his victory;
   he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
   to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
   the victory of our God.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
   break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
   with the lyre and the sound of melody.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
   make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
   the world and those who live in it.
Let the floods clap their hands;
   let the hills sing together for joy
at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
   to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
   and the peoples with equity.

What a wonderful scripture for the day after the election. I do not know about you, but I am ready for a new song. Or perhaps I am longing for this very old psalm that assures us that God is the God of joy, beauty, music, and nature. God is love. We seem to have lost sight of that over the tension of the problems in our world today. As we prepare to turn the page on our choices of who will represent us in our government and start working together, we must let go of our divisiveness and work together to build God’s beloved world community.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for ordering chaos when you created the earth and for ordering the chaos we bring on ourselves as we meet the challenges of the world head-on.  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.

Growing into Faith

Living in the Spirit

October 11, 2022

Scripture Reading: Genesis 32:22-31
The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’ So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ Then the man said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.’ Then Jacob asked him, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’ The sun rose upon him as he passed Peniel, limping because of his hip.

We are always the child of our parents, but at some point, in our lives, we must transition to being fully responsible for our actions and decision. We call it adulthood. It is not defined by age but by that point in time when we step out and take responsibility for who we are and what we do. It is also when we personally commit ourselves to God. Jacob came lately to that point. His story describes a person who was full of himself. He stole his brother’s birthright and cheated his father-in-law out of sheep. I do not know what he had in mind when he decided to return to his original home. It may have been to continue his conman habits, but as he traveled home, he had an encounter with God that turned him around refocusing his skills and talents on following God putting all those misplaced skills to better use.

Self-examination needs to be a part of our lives. Are we investing our skills and talents to fulfill our calling of creating the beloved community, the Kingdom of God in this world today? Sometimes such self-examination may result in our, too, wrestling with God until we understand our role in that calling.

Prayer: Lord, grace us with finding our role in the development of the beloved community and dedicating ourselves to its fulfillment. 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 is not Dead

Living in the Spirit

October 3, 2022

Scripture Reading:
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Yesterday was a very busy day for me. About 9:30 pm, I finally kicked back in my recliner and pulled up the national newspapers to read. It was depressing, to say the least. Reports from the impact of hurricane Ian laid out grime details of its destructive, deadly impact. The division in our nation seeped through almost every other article. A line from the Christmas carol, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day came to mind

For hate is strong and mocks the song
 Of peace on Earth, goodwill to men*.

Jeremiah, in the scripture above, provides good advice for us today.  Continue to build the beloved community no matter what is going on around us. The carol goes on to say,

Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on Earth, goodwill to men*

Prayer: Let it be so. Amen.

*From the hymn, I heard the bells on Christmas day by Henry W. Longfellow, see at https://hymnary.org/text/i_heard_the_bells_on_christmas_day

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.

Interdependence

Living in the Spirit

September 10, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 15:1-10

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

So he told them this parable: ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance. –Luke 15:1-7

My brother and I talk via phone most Saturdays. One Saturday morning in the spring during calving season, the first thing he said after hello was that he had just come in from walking the pasture as one of his new calves was not with its mother, and he could not find it. The next week he reported that he had not found it after a few days fearing the worst had happened, but he kept looking, and on the third or fourth day he walked out to the barnyard, and there was the mother cow and the calf together. All seemed well. My brother is a retired lineman, but in his heart, he has always been a farmer. He lives on our family farm. We had a small dairy when I was a child, and my mom always had a beautiful garden. My first job was feeding the chickens and gathering eggs. People who grow up on a farm get a degree in reality about life and death, about the necessity of doing the work in the rain or sunshine on a regular schedule, and that all people and animals matter–good life lessons for anyone. I was also the kid who turned every calf into a pet and ran crying and yelling behind the pickup when dad took a steer to the butcher, “Please do not kill Smokie; I love Smokie.” I also ate the roasts and steaks and hamburgers, which dad picked up a few days later.

Jesus’ audience was well acquainted with the importance of a missing lamb. God created an interdependent world where all things matter. We are charged with the responsibility of being the best person we can be as God created us to be, but also, being engaged in supporting others as they fulfill their purpose in God’s Beloved Community.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see the beauty of your image in each person we encounter as we work to live 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.