Tag Archives: Discernment

Living in an Ever Changing World

Fearof GodLiving in the Spirit
July 22, 2015

Scripture Reading: Psalm 14

Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’
   They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
   there is no one who does good.  

The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind
   to see if there are any who are wise,
   who seek after God.

 They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse;
   there is no one who does good,
   no, not one.  

Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
   who eat up my people as they eat bread,
   and do not call upon the Lord? –Psalm 14:1-4

The Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, while the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing, according to an extensive new survey by the Pew Research Center.* While this statement is probably not news to most of us, it somehow becomes more real when etched in black and white statistics.

What may be more alarming are the number of people who are using God as their weapon of choice in political battles. How do we discern who has called on the Lord or not when we see God’s people being oppressed in God’s name? Is it any wonder people turn away from what they perceive to be wrong? I find myself totally discounting people who quote chapter and verse out of context to prove a point. Yet I, too, struggle to understand the application of ancient scriptures in today’s world. Indeed, people have been human since their beginning and we human’s do tend to fail to learn from our past mistakes. The truth in those ancient scriptures matter and we must seek their truth.

We seem to be driven by the fear of rapid change, and forget one of those oft repeated phrases running throughout the Bible in a wide variety of contexts, “Fear not, I am with you.” While we run around being scared of every little shadow that seems to move, we fail to remember that we serve an awesome God full of wonder and grace worthy of our fear.

Prayer: Lord, we do call upon you now to guide us and undergird us with your love enabling us to be productive participants in your work. Amen.

*http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/
 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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

The Sign

Feeding the 5000Lent
March 8, 2015

Scripture Reading: John 2:13-22

The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign can you show us for doing this?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. — John 2:18-22

Discernment of God’s will has always been a challenge. The ancients often look for a sign as do we today. I am afraid though that we sometimes look for any sign that shows the easy way out. As I review the history of God and God’s people, it is rare to find any instance that could be classified as easy. Perhaps the story of feeding the 5,000 might be considered easy, but then if you have ever tried to feed even 500 people at one time when there is already an abundance of food, you know that feeding 5,000 people would never be easy.

In actuality, my experience has been that dedicated attempts to carry out the work of the Body of Christ in the world today is usually down right hard. There is always something or someone blocking progress. It rains the day of the Habitat build, the contractors didn’t show up to fix the leak in the baptistery, or the biggest marathon in the city is on Sunday morning and just getting to church is a major undertaking. Of course, there are far more serious obstacles to overcome: terrorist closing off the way to get humanitarian services to hungry, homeless, and sick refugees; or local people just simply wanting to bury their dead when their loved ones are the source of contagion.

The only sign we need to prove we are doing God’s will is Christ reflecting back to us through the faces of our neighbors that we love. We have already received the only sign that matters, the resurrected Christ.

Prayer: O God of Wonder and Grace, run the race with us every step of the way helping us meet and overcome any obstacle on our path that is keeping us from doing your will. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

Discernment

TeamLent
March 6, 2015

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. — 1 Corinthians 1:22-25

We spend a lot of time trying to discern the will of God. Small groups meet about it. Books are written about it. Particularly when working together as a congregation or a committee in a congregation, we prayerfully consider everyone’s views, discuss pros and cons, and even quote scripture. In general, I think such discernment is good unless it becomes the end unto itself.

I am a basketball fan. If a basketball team operated like a church, they would never win a game. Players individually and collectively must stay in great physical and mental shape. They must eat right, exercise, get plenty of rest, learn how to handle the barrage of pundits attacking them one day and almost worshiping them the next. Most importantly they need to practice, individually and collectively. Basketball games move so fast that players must function instinctively, automatically knowing where their teammates are at any given time, being attuned to when a teammate needs a block or to be bailed out of a tight situation. One of the phrases most often heard from an unhappy coach is, “You guys are just standing around.” They must be engaged every minute they are on the court. In all honesty, players must be engaged when they are sitting on the bench, because they have to be ready to pick up in the midst of play the minute they hit the court. It works when they share a common goal, winning, and when they are willing to sacrifice themselves for the team to win.

I think Paul may be saying something similar to the Corinthians. “You guys are just standing around. Have you forgotten why you are out there in the first place?” We serve an awesome God who is with us every step of the way, whose weakness is stronger than our greatest strength. God sent his Son with the game plan, to love God, to love our neighbors, and to tell all of God’s children about God’s love by word and by deed. This is our goal and nothing should be allowed to get in the way of attaining it.

Prayer: Lord, help us be doers of the word. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.