Tag Archives: Finding Common Ground

Higher Ground

Ordinary Time

February 9, 2023

Scripture Reading:

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, ‘I belong to Paul’, and another, ‘I belong to Apollos’, are you not merely human? –1 Corinthians 3:1-4

The word flesh, as used here, simply describes being human, which is neither good nor bad, and can be either depending on the circumstances. I met a new great grand niece at my sister’s house at Thanksgiving and watched as the baby was unsure what to do with a few mashed potatoes her mother fed her. I guess she found it OK as she swallowed it but did not seem to want more. Paul is using the metaphor of feeding the body to describe the need to feed the soul.

We live in a very divided culture right now. I watched the Presidential State of the Union speech yesterday. We would not be a democracy, a government by the people if we did not have varying opinions of the ways to run our government.  The standard behavior during this speech is that the members of the Supreme Court and our military leaders remain seated without expressing an opinion of what was being put forward. When the opposing party’s stances on issues vary from what is being presented, they remain seated and do not clap their hands, remain seated and clap their hands, or when common ground exists, stand and clap. A few hecklers among the legislators last night felt it necessary to call out derogatory responses. Paul was dealing with reports of similar behavior among the Christians in Corinth. Our government exists to find common ground for the Common Good, which is true when bringing together the Body of Christ to answer Christ’s call to build the Beloved Community. I think the song Higher Ground addresses this issue well.

I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining ev’ry day;
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

Refrain:
Lord, lift me up, and let me stand
By faith, on heaven’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Though some may dwell where these abound,
My prayer, my aim, is higher ground*

Prayer: Lord, lift me up, and let me stand By faith, on heaven’s tableland; A higher plane than I have found, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Amen.

*First and second verses with the refrain of the hymn Higher Ground by Johnson Oatman, Jr.  See at https://hymnary.org/text/im_pressing_on_the_upward_way

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.

Oneness through Christ

Eastertide

May 28, 2022

Scripture Reading:

John 17:20-26

‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’

Jesus prayed it forward for all of us as he called on us to be one together spreading his love throughout the world. Are we failing him completely? Hate is strong throughout our land, often governed by greed. Faith leaders are more interested in sex, policing everyone but themselves, than they are in feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, or educating children in a safe environment. Is evil so strong we cannot break its bonds? We are the ones being broken by divide and conquer techniques that not only separate us from one another but also from God. I have never thought of Benjamin Franklin being a strongly religious man, but he may have picked up some wisdom from the above-quoted scripture. At least some form of it may have arisen from deep in his mind when he said, We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.

Prayer: Lord, help us all find some common sense for our Common Good as we wrestle with the evils that confront our world. 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.

Finding Common Ground

Living in the Spirit

Scripture Reading:
Ezekiel 33:7-11

So you, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked ones, you shall surely die’, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life. –Ezekiel 33:7-9

I wrote my book Houses Divided: A Letter to the Churches of the USA on Church and State, published in 2013, because I had too. While my illustrations are out-of-date, I think the truth in it still applies. I did not realize I was addressing the same type of divisions among God’s followers that Ezekiel and other prophets did. Evil had severed God-followers. I do not know if the book is worth anything or not because few were read. I did not send it to what is called “evangelical” publishers because I knew they would not publish anything that included some of my ideas. I got nearly the same rejection from all the “progressive” publishers. Each basically said, “We do not publish in this genre.”  I guessed that meant it was a too sticky wicket for them. So, I published it myself.  I wrote it for everyday people in pews, not academics. I do not think my time was wasted as it helped me get my personal theology in order. I am sorry it did not fill that purpose for others.

So, today I read Ezekiel, where he says that the wicked will have to deal with their wickedness when they die, but if we do not warn them to turn from their ways, their blood will also be on our hands. The problem, of course, is that although our systems of belief are markedly different, both sides just know they are right. Evil is good at creating just such a scenario. It is being played out daily in media reports regarding our world today and the upcoming election.

There is no easy answer. Repenting and acknowledging we ever do anything wrong is hard and embarrassing and counter to our culture. Here are a few things I think are worth trying:

  • Remind ourselves when we are confronted by someone with different viewpoints that they were created by God and made in the image of God just like each of us was.
  • Practice empathy in our heads while listening, really listening to what another is saying. What is it like to see this world in their skin, gender, income bracket, education, social status?
  • Seek any common ground.
  • And, most importantly, listen for God’s guidance.

Prayer:
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise*. Amen.

First verse of Dear Lord and Father of mankind by John Greenleaf Whittier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Lord_and_Father_of_Mankind

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.