Tag Archives: Family of God

Changing in God’s Way

Living in the Spirit

June 8, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 8
O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
   Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
   to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
   mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
   and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
   you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
   and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
   whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

I wonder if God regrets giving us dominion over the works of God’s hands. We surely can mess things up very quickly. Oklahoma is known for its dangerous weather but even for someone who has lived here for decades, I have not seen weather like we are having now. It seems we daily beat some weather record. We are more and more having to deal with issues that demand the whole world to work well together to address everything from climate change to pandemics. We do not do a good job of addressing these issues as individual nations much less having all work together. God created us too and I cannot help but think God created us with the innate ability to rise above our greed and lust for power and find common ground for the Common Good.

Oklahoma released several prisoners a few years ago because they had been sentenced to extreme sentences for non-violent crimes. The state reduced the sentences for new offenders and then realized that several of our current prisoners had already served more time than the current sentence for the crime they committed. So, we did a mass release. What we did not take into consideration was that prison itself changes people and that many of those released needed help adjusting to the outside world again. Moses dealt with this in the wilderness after leading the Israelites out of Egypt.

Humans seek what is called homeostasis, which describes a tendency toward maintenance of relatively stable social conditions among groups*. We prefer to live with what we know even if it is not the best way to survive or thrive. When forces outside ourselves alter our normal patterns, we quickly search for new homeostasis, for example, how to succeed in prison and then how to succeed out of prison. Right now, we seem to wake up every morning with a new pattern of living from weird weather to pandemics to mass shootings. At each point in meeting these challenges, the best way to learn how to deal with them is to follow the guidance of our world’s original Creator. Thus, we must take the time to analyze whether our response to the world is in keeping with God’s intentions for the world and adjust to follow God’s intentions.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we let the challenges in our world get the better of us. Grant us your peace so we can be carriers of your peace to others facing the same challenges that we are. 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.

What’s is a Family

Living in the Spirit

October 2, 2021

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:2-16

Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ They said, ‘Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, “God made them male and female.” “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’

Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’ –Mark 10:2-12

What’s in a family? As a people, we seem to have lost our way regarding the most critical influencer in our lives, the family. God created the family as the means of procreating and maintaining the human species, but that is hardly the family’s sole purpose.  I am reading The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom, the story of an Irish girl whose parents both died on the ship bringing the family to the USA in the 1700 hundreds. This child was sold as an indentured slave to a family that lived on a plantation staffed by enslaved Africans. She was integrated into the house servants’ group. They became her family until her indenture was nearly over. She was separated from that family as a teenager to be reintroduced into society as a white person. What’s in a family, indeed?

The story of the first couple God created began the long history of God’s family, which includes all the diverse people of the world called to love God and love one another. With that example, humans formed other families with the same calling. The behavior of human families and how they interact and influence current and future generations is crucial to fulfilling the calling to love all of God’s children. It is a sacred trust. Doing anything to damage such a trust is harmful to all involved. I think that is the point that Jesus makes in the above scripture. He did not quote the Hebrew practice of stoning the guilty parties*. He even intervened to save a woman caught in adultery from being stoned, forgave her, and cautioned her to sin no more**.

I think Jesus is saying for people to take control of all aspects of our lives, appreciating the gifts God has given us to receive and share love and not make a mockery of love. When we make mistakes learn from them, and when we do love, love with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength as part of the family of God.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when the habits of the world overcome the ways of your love. Please help us serve you more nearly in all aspects of our lives. Amen.

*Leviticus 20:10

**John 7:53–8:11 Jesus and the woman caught in adultery

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.

What Constitutes Family?

Living in the Spirit

July 9, 2021

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

If my mother, the great egalitarian, made something for one in a group, she did the same for all. Thus, each of her grandchildren has one of her handmade Afghans and quilts. That is also true of her children. Since there are only three children and seven grandchildren, how does the next generation pass down what our ancestors gave us? My house is full. I am not a hoarder. I have no problem throwing stuff away, but I have lived in the same place for over 40 years, and all my closets and draws are full of things I no longer need or use. Thus, I deal with many things by donating them to charities or tossing them in the trash. What do you do with grandma’s quilts? How do you pick who gets them?

I was discussing this recently among the family as we talked about who might want something I had, would females desire some items more than males, and should age be a factor in determining who gets first pick? The question of adoption came up as criteria as I have both adopted children and stepchildren among my next-generation family members. I was considering taking it all to the charities because I did not want to cause a family feud or force something on someone who was not interested in it. These people are carefully arranged on my family tree even though they are not marked as sharing my DNA. My DNA profile has been upgraded twice as the science of studying it has expanded. However, the knowledge that we are all made in God’s image has never changed and answers what constitutes the family of God?

Paul, too, did not want to cause a family feud. The segment of Ephesians above is trying to answer the question. What constitutes a family? In the family of God, all people are members of God’s family, if they choose to be. Some in Ephesus had known God throughout their lives. Others had only recently been introduced to God. With a diversity of backgrounds, these people, us too, are called to be one. Only God’s abiding love can make that happen if we share God’s vision that our oneness is key to the successful functioning of God’s kingdom.

Prayer: Lord, cleanse us of the need to create hierarchies of sharing the blessings of knowing you and being loved by you. Make us lovers of souls just as you are. 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.

Family of God

Living in the Spirit

June 21, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 10:24-39

‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.  –Matthew 10:34-39

I said yesterday, Jesus spoke some challenging words. Quoted above are some more of them. Jesus came to earth to stir us from the complacency of accepting what is standard in our society as just when it is not righteous in God’s ways. As students of the Bible, we must judge what is righteous, based on God’s rules of love. That is not an easy task.

Over time, I have come to accept that people’s relationship with God is driven by who they are regarding the importance of scripture. Some flourish in knowing a set of rules to follow; others build their life based on the model of Christ’s life. In both instances we must commit ourselves to to delving deeply into the Spiritual Disciplines to understand Christ’s ways better. Christ is the only one who knows each and all of us well enough to see if we are aligned with God’s ways.

I find it interesting that people can be raised by the same parents with the same ancestors and see how totally different they think. Jesus and his brother James are good examples. While James did eventually come around to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, he continued his intense need to follow the traditions of his Jewish faith. Even in life, Jesus translated scriptures as what was the best benefit for God’s mission and God’s people, like plucking wheat to eat on the Sabbath.

So, where does that leave us in meshing our faith with family members, friends, and sisters and brothers in Christ? Listening to not only words said in dialogue but also the driving intent behind them is essential. Listening to another’s responses after expressing ourselves rather than planning our next response also helps. Building any discussion based on first acknowledging to ourselves that the person with whom we are communicating is a person we love is vital. We must remember we are called to love all our brothers and sisters in life and in Christ as we interact with them.

Prayer: Lord, help us be Spirit-led in all our interactions with one another. 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’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.

Family and the Rule of Love

FamilyLiving in the Spirit
August 13, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Psalm 133 

How very good and pleasant it is
   when kindred live together in unity! — Psalm 133:1

My mother died on January 13 in the midst of a frigid blizzard. It was fitting, I suppose, for my father, nearly 30 years earlier, had died on January 15 in a frigid blizzard. Their deaths had nothing to do with the weather but the weather had everything to do with planning memorials and settling the business of death. It thus was a few weeks later when there was no longer ice on the road that I traveled the seventy miles to my mother’s hometown to meet with my brother and sister to close out my mother’s bank account. My sister was at work but she would meet my brother and me at the bank. While discussing these plans on the phone, she said that she would pick up the death certificate we needed at the funeral home on her way to the bank. I volunteered to do that since I was taking the whole day off from work. When I arrived at the funeral home and made my request for the death certificate, the staff person, while very cordial, seemed very nervous. She went to the back and consulted apparently with her boss. She then returned to her desk and called my sister to get permission to give me the death certificate. After a short conversation with my sister, the woman handed me the death certificate. Knowing that I had overheard her conversation, I guess she felt the need to apologize. She said, “You have no idea how many family feuds have erupted right here at this desk over a death certificate.” The home had long practiced a policy of establishing the name of the one person who was to get the death certificate at the first visit by the family.

Families are our first opportunities to interact with other human being. They are complex structures that form the basis of all societies. Families built on the rule of love work hard at wanting the very best for each individual member while fostering the very best for the family as a whole. Weaving together diversities and similarities of personalities is a constant challenge among people at differing stages of growth and development.

The family of God must also be built on the foundation of the rule of love. We are called to be one in Christ that doesn’t mean we have to be the same. It probably means we should not because loving like God surely means loving in diverse ways. It takes all of us to even begin to love like God.

Prayer: Father and Mother of All, mold us into one by helping us to see the beauty in each of our individualities. 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.

 

 

 

Weave Us Together

Living in the Spirit
July 7, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Genesis 25:19-24 

These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean. — Matthew 11:28-30  

When I can carve out the time, genealogy is one of my favorite pursuits. For me, I am sure that is tied closely to my love of history. The opening of our scripture today is innocent enough. The announcement of the coming birth of Isaac’s first child, actually to be his first two children as Rebekah is expecting twins. Isaac, the son that was so important in that society, was to carry on the family name and tradition. Of course, if we read the previous chapters in Genesis we know that Abraham had an older son by Hagar, Ishmael, but he is not mentioned here. In fact Ishmael is only mentioned again in a positive light when he returns to help bury his father.

It is amazing to me sometimes when I find some little tidbit of family history how much my ancestors are reflected in my current family. I am truly a white Anglo-Saxon protestant but each of the eight lines I track introduce slight variations that have passed through the centuries to me.  One of my paternal great grandfathers was blinded fighting for the North in the Civil War. One of my maternal great grandfathers was a slave owner and a Confederate captain in this War Between the States. These facts of history shaped my grandparents who shaped my parents who shaped me.

So goes the family of God. Abraham’s relationship with God shaped Isaac and we shall soon see how Isaac’s relationship with God shaped the babies in Rebekah’s womb. As we read these stories let us pay particular attention to how God weaves in and through our human families to continue God’s love throughout the generations.

Prayer:  We are many textures, we are many colors,
               Each one different from the other.
               But we are entwined in one another in one great tapestry…
               Weave us together, together in love.* Amen.

* From the song Weave, words and music by Rosemary Crow

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.

Prayer

Living in the Spirit
June 18, 2014 

Scripture Reading: Psalm 86:1-10, 16, 17 

There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.
All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord,
   and shall glorify your name.
For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.
Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant;
   save the child of your serving-maid.
Show me a sign of your favor, so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame,
   because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me. – Psalm 86:8-10, 16, 17 

The people who compiled the lectionary surely envisioned Hagar when they read this Psalm, which is most likely why it follows her story.  Genesis 21:15-17 (see June 17 devotion) records Hagar’s only prayer as a request not to have to watch her child die. She had given up. In fact, it does not record any words at all from Ismael, but it does say that God heard Ismael’s voice.  I am reminded of Romans 8:26—Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. It is important to pray and to pray earnestly even though we may be way off course in what we ask. God hears our prayers and translate then in God’s infinite wisdom and understanding.

While this Psalm can be seen through the eyes of Hagar, it also can be seen through the eyes of Jesus. Mary described herself as the servant of the Lord (Luke 1:38) when she accepted the call to be the mother of the Messiah. She stood at the foot of his cross and watched him die. I think Jesus would have taken great heart in verse 9: All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. Jesus was dedicated to bringing us all together as the family of God.

Prayer: Thank you for the gift of Jesus, for his teachings and his example, for his understanding and love and for his great sacrifice. 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.