Tag Archives: Discipline

Choosing the Right Road

Kingdom Building

November 2, 2019

Scripture Reading: Luke 19:1-10

He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. –Luke 19:1-4

What is in it for me?  Zacchaeus worked at being a shrewd businessman. He had risen to the level of chief tax collector and was rich. My guess is that he always had his eyes opened for the next best way to make money. I cannot help but think the popularity of this man called Jesus was just another potential scheme to work. Of course, I may be misjudging Zacchaeus. I think we all were created with the potential to be drawn to God and even behind the lust for riches, Zacchaeus was wondering is this all there is?

Our world seems to be tilting toward being drawn in search of what is in it for me. As followers of Christ we are called to draw forth the search for as M. Scott Peck* would say, echoing Robert Frost**, The Road Less Traveled finding a richer and fuller life through the practice of discipline and acts of love.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference**.

Prayer: Lord, grant us the courage to seek and find the road less traveled. Amen.

*See The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck, Arrow Books (1978;1992)
**See The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost at https://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/frost/section7/

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’s Discipline

Lent
March 6, 2019

Scripture Reading: Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
   who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress;
   my God, in whom I trust.’
Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
   the Most High your dwelling-place,
no evil shall befall you,
   no scourge come near your tent.

 Those who love me, I will deliver;
   I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them;
   I will be with them in trouble,
   I will rescue them and honor them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
   and show them my salvation. –Psalm 91:1-2, 9-10, 14-16

“As long as you live in my house, you obey my rules.”  Is a phrase, I dare say, most teenagers have heard in one form or another. Hopefully, teenagers hear this phrase as a form of discipline guiding them to be more self-sufficient. It is often implied in the final discourse over routine discussions regarding cleaning a room or carrying out the trash. In more serious learning moments, it may be applied to avoiding violent behavior or use of illegal drugs. We sometime forget that this must have been the situation with the Prodigal Son who decided living in his father’s house was not the life for him until he learned the hard way that indeed it was the life for him.

Family in general is born in relationships as is the family of God. Today’s scripture is describing life in the family of God. The word above translated “scourge” is a metaphor, especially of a disease, regarded as sent by a divine chastisement*. Living in God’s will protects us from evil and from scourges as we learn the disciplines of a loving God.

We have a more nuanced understanding of illnesses today. We know about germs and contagion and no longer believe that all diseases are God’s direct chastisements. We also, however, cannot deny that our individual and collective behavior can and does contribute to our health status. Think about the Flint, Michigan Water Crisis**. In our relationship with God, we learn through God’s love how to become whole and how to love in oneness with all in a just society.

Prayer: Most High God teach me your will and your way that leads to wholeness, oneness, and justice. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5061.htm
** https://www.nrdc.org/stories/flint-water-crisis-everything-you-need-know

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 Discipline of Love

Hebrews612Living in the Spirit
June 16, 2016

Scripture Reading: Galatians 3:23-29

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. –Galatians 3:23-26

Discipline, what is it exactly? According to Merriam -Webster Dictionary* it is:

  1. a subject that is taught
  2. training or experience that corrects, molds, strengthens, or perfects especially the mental faculties or moral character
  3. punishment: such as a:  chastisement self-inflicted as mortification or imposed as a penance or as a penalty b:  punishment by one in authority especially with a view to correction or training
  4. control gained by enforcing obedience or order (as in a school or army): strict government to the end of effective action
  5. a rule or system of rules governing conduct or action: system of regulation
  6. an orderly or regular pattern of behavior

The word disciple, one who receives instruction from another, one who accepts the doctrines of another and assists in spreading or implementing them,** perhaps has more importance to those of us who claim to be disciples of Christ as it derives from the word discipline.

Paul takes us all the way back to family in describing the art of discipleship to Christ. We are shaped by family for better or for worse, learning how to care for ourselves and interact with others or not learning these things. In the life of Jesus and his teaching, we have received the ways of his discipline. Training not so much focused on punishment but blessed by love. One that builds on the love transmitted to us by our parents and others and, by God’s grace, a love that fills in voids that might be present in our love.

We cannot change another person. We can own our own issues and through the love and grace of God experience growth in our ability to love more completely. Through God’s love and our love, we can share this discipline of love with all people and that will overcome evil.

Prayer: Lord, teach me to love like Jesus. Amen.

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

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.