Tag Archives: Following Christ

Giving Up On God

Eastertide

May 21, 2022

Scripture Reading: John 14:23-29

Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.

Our society is becoming dedicated to putting our words in Jesus’s mouth. I am fascinated by how many actions/behaviors are not covered in the Bible but quoted as absolutes delivered straight from God, while the foundation of Jesus’s whole ministry is routinely ignored. We make easy exceptions for behavior that has become normalized in our society like adultery and even idolizing greed while over-reacting to actions like wearing a mask to prevent the spread of a virus that has now killed over a million Americans. I think Jesus would have classified wearing a mask as loving your neighbor as yourself.

I fear people are giving up on God when we need to lean on God the most. The further we slide from following Jesus’s commands to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves the more we think God has given up on us. We are the ones that moved and like our ancestors in faith are headed for exile.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we feel the need to overrule your plan for us. Help us to turn back to you. 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 Help Us

Lent

April 4, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a

The Lord God helps me;
   therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
   and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
   he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
   Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
   Let them confront me.
It is the Lord God who helps me;
   who will declare me guilty?
All of them will wear out like a garment;
   the moth will eat them up. –Isaiah 50:7-9

How do followers of Christ see the world so differently? How do we speak truth to righteousness when we cannot agree on what is just, what is of God? The prophets whose messages are recorded in the Hebrew Bible faced those same questions, about different issues but they dealt with the same blindness to the reality that was so clear to those prophets but not to the people.  History tells us that the prophets were right. How do we free ourselves from seeing what we want to see and hearing what we want to hear?

Isaiah’s message in the above scripture is that in the face of such diversity, being in sync with God becomes of even greater importance. The problem was that the people Isaiah was trying to reach thought they were following God and Isaiah was the one off-course. He concludes that only time will tell. That was too late for the Israelites, and they landed in exile. Is that our future?

Prayer: Lord, create in us clean hearts so that we might commune meaningfully with you. 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 Justice

Lent

March 28, 2021

Scripture Reading:
John 12:12-16
The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
‘Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—
   the King of Israel!’
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written:
‘Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
Look, your king is coming,
   sitting on a donkey’s colt!’ –John 12:12-16

Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
   shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
   O daughter Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgements against you,
   he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
   you shall fear disaster no more. –Zephaniah 3:14-15

Kings do not ride on donkeys. Yet here we have the King of Israel riding on a donkey. Donkeys were work animals and the transportation of the poor. Roman leaders arrived in Jerusalem with much pomp and circumstance. They flaunted their power with prize horses decked out in the finest tack, often leading an army. Jesus seems to be goading the powerful with this act.  Early in the book of John, Jesus chased the money changers out of the temple (John 2:13-16), upsetting the leaders of the Jews. What are we to make of these examples?

Civil rights leader Senator John Lewis died July 17, 2020. The history of his life has been in the news ever since. He was the son of a sharecropper. We probably all have seen the pictures of him being beaten on a bridge in Selma, Alabama marching for civil rights. He was both a gentleman and a gentle man who championed the idea of Good Trouble. He was a non-violent Christ-follower and a strong advocate for God’s righteousness and justice. He was perhaps prophetically named John, as he may have adopted his Good Trouble theory from the modeling of Jesus recorded in the book of John.

We must decide in this 21st Century, are we modeling our lives after the Pharisees, the Romans, the Pharisees in collaboration with the Romans, or Jesus as we strive for God’s righteousness today.

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, as we approach the Cross during Holy Week, open our hearts and minds to doing your justice. 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.

Decisions

Eastertide

April 19, 2020

Scripture Reading:
John 20:19-31

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. John 20:24-31

How do we decide when we must have unquestionable proof of something or when we take things at face value? It is a puzzle. I tend to take things at face value if they are routine and nonthreatening to my way of being. I can stew over something for weeks or months when my decision is life-changing yet straightforward.

I guess Thomas and I have that in common. Back in John 11, Thomas was the first disciple to recognize the danger of returning to Judah when Jesus and the Disciples learned of Lazurus’s death. Still, Thomas supported Jesus’s decision to go.

Thomas, …, said to his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’ (John 11:16)

We do not remember Thomas so much for that action. His history accentuates his doubting his fellow disciples’ report that Jesus had risen from the dead. I cannot imagine the shock Jesus’s followers experienced following his crucifixion. Sharing his story was helpful to new converts when the book of John was written sometime toward the end of the first century. They like us are the ones who have not seen and yet have come to believe.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for your patient and steadfast love that continues as we struggle with melding our ways with your ways. 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.

Spiritual Blindness

Living in the Spirit
October 28, 2018

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:46-52
They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

‘What do you want me to do for you?’ This is an intriguing question. Jesus says in Matthew 7:7  ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. So, He does expect us to ask for something, but what do we really want from God and is what we want from God what we really need?

The largest lottery award in the United States had a potential winner, although I have not heard if the prize was claimed. I did not buy a ticket, but I admit I did wonder what I would do with such a large sum of money. About 70 percent of people who suddenly receive a windfall of cash will lose it within a few years, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education*. It is amazing how quickly money can slip through our fingers, but the accumulation of money is often perceived as the answer to all our problems.

Bartimaeus wanted to be able to see again. I think we can all identify with such a desire. Loss of eyesight is a very challenging disability. Spiritual blindness is an even greater hindrance to a meaningful life. Wholeness of spirit results from being in right relationship with God. As we ponder the question when Jesus asks us ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ we surely must consider requesting healing our spiritual blindness.

Prayer: Lord, open our eyes to see your way, your truth, and your life. Amen.

*http://time.com/4176128/powerball-jackpot-lottery-winners/

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.

Risen Savior

Good Friday
March 30, 2018

 Scripture Reading: John 20:1-18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. –John 20:1-10

I was sitting at my desk in an interior office of a state office building. Secretarial staff had desks in an open area outside each of the enclosed offices. Suddenly as if a conductor had raised a baton all the secretarial staff jumped up and shouted words that all said: “What was that?” That was the Oklahoma City bombing. Radios were turned on and we soon heard the announcement that the Murrah Federal building in downtown Oklahoma City had exploded. Emergency respondents were assessing the situation and rescue efforts were beginning. Tentative analysis thought it might have been a gas explosion. Our building was located over 25 blocks from the Murrah building. I had not heard or felt anything. Although the occupants of the open space had experienced both the sound and the shaking.  By then we had located a TV and were seeing the mess in living color. When the call went out for blood donors, particularly those with O- blood, I rushed to my car and headed for the Blood Institute a few blocks away finding a line five blocks long before I even got near the building. I then heard that a bank had opened another site and I headed there with an equally long line, which I joined. Only seconds later an official coming down the line asked who had O- blood and I moved me much closer to the front of the line. It was a surreal experience. One I watched for days on TV trying to make sense of it all. Everybody in Oklahoma City that day has their own story to tell.

All those who experienced first hand the last days of Jesus had their own stories to tell. John remembered the detail that he outran Peter but stopped and let Peter enter the tomb first. Mary Magdalene acknowledging that she did not at first recognize Jesus. All were in shock. Some remembered Jesus’ predictions of his death. Judas could not cope with what he had done. The entire world changed that day.

We serve a risen Savior and continue his ministry to this day. He is our guiding strength. This is the week we set aside to acknowledge all that Jesus Christ is and is to come.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for saving our souls continue to make us whole as we seek to serve you. 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.

Heeding the Prophet

 

Ordinary Time
January 22, 2018

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-20

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: ‘If I hear the voice of the Lord my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.’ Then the Lord replied to me: ‘They are right in what they have said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. –Deuteronomy 18:15-18

A follower of Christ cannot read the above scripture without picturing Jesus as this prophet, one the Jewish community still awaits. While we claim the calling and the title of Christ, do we heed this prophet’s teachings? I fear we invest a lot of time at the least putting our words in his mouth, at worst redrawing him in our image. Jesus’ teachings are hard, particularly in the “me first” world in which we find ourselves.

Matthew 5:41: and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.

Matthew 7:1-3: ‘Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?

Matthew 7:12: ‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.’

Matthew 18:21-22: Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

Matthew 22:39b: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

We, of course, are called to follow all of these actions all the time. Sometimes when we are having trouble with one or the other, it might be a good idea to set aside a period of concentration on one of the more difficult teachings. Letting Christ do his job as judge, while my assignment is loving the other is perhaps the toughest. For some reason, we must think we will rise in Christ’s opinion of us if we are better than someone else. The very opposite of that is true throughout Jesus’ teachings. Indeed, he said, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40b)

The above review just skims the surface surveying only Matthew for Jesus’ teachings on how to heed the prophet that we know as the Christ. Perhaps we might want to review his teachings one more time.

Prayer:  God, forgive me when I put my words in your mouth. Open my eyes that I may see your truth as I glean the scriptures. 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.

 

Taking Up Our Crosses

Living in the Spirit
September 3, 2017

Scripture Reading: Matthew 16:21-28

Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

 ‘For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.’ –Matthew 16:24-28

Our lives stream with choices some simple some complex. We forget that choosing not to choose is a choice. I love the scene in the Jungle Book movie where vultures perched on naked tree branches are caught in a circular conversation, “What do you want to do tonight?” “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” How many times have we had similar conversations? Choosing to deny ourselves and take up our cross to follow Jesus is a life altering decision touching every aspect of who we are and what we do with our lives. We no longer can sit on the fence and watch the world go by saying “isn’t it a shame, somebody ought to do something about that.” We are the somebody.

The world often casts love as a role we simply fall into; make no mistake, love is a choice, as is indifference and hate. Choosing to love is a commitment that takes all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength leaving no room for indifference or hate. I fear our gravest departure from Jesus’ example comes in the form of indifference. How we act as we present ourselves as followers of Christ is how others who observe us understand Jesus. If we project an attitude of indifference, we present an inaccurate picture of Christ. If we caste hate-filled judgment on others in the name of re-creating them in our image, we may drive a wedge between them and the One in whose image they were created.

We have a choice right now in our society whether to live God’s love completely for all of God’s children. When the world tells any they are not welcomed, we must welcome them in the name of God just as they are. If they are hungry, we feed them if they have no clothing we dress them, if they are sick we work toward their healing, if they are in prison, we restore them, and if they are strangers, we recognize them as strangers no more but as our brothers and sisters in Christ. And if any of these realities are the result of systemic injustice, we do justice.

Prayer: God of All, make us whole, make us one. 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.

Right Our Compass

Eastertide
May 6, 2017

Scripture Reading: John 10:1-10

‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. –John 10:1-6

Beware the false prophet! Many Christians seem to be confounded if not lost in the maize of discord among peoples of faith and the political rhetoric resulting from it, perhaps causing it, or at the very least benefiting from it. Houses divided do fall. I believe a review of history will show that all the great nations that eventually failed dissolved first from within. Greed and lust for unlimited power seem to be the primary drivers in our society, both sins. Our compass appears to be drawn by the wrong magnet.

How do we regain our focus, right our compass? We listen for Jesus Christ’s voice gently leading us down the path of justice, what the Bible also calls righteousness. Jesus never railed at regular people along the byways. Certainly, he never tried to scare them to death. He saved his ranting for the religious leaders of the day whose compasses were not working well either.

Jesus fixed things. He healed the sick, including those mentally ill; fed the physically hungry; quenched spiritual thirsts; forgave criminals restoring them to wholeness even as they are being executed; and welcomed strangers in his midst. These activities would seem to be a great place for us to focus.

A lot of refocusing is letting go of wrong or outdated visions that block our ability to find those things on which we can agree and on which our combined efforts multiply greatly without the need to disagree.

Prayer: Lord, fix us too. Make us whole, guide our journey, enhance our ability to love like you. 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.

Customizing Christ

Epiphany
January 20, 2017

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

What I mean is that each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul’, or ‘I belong to Apollos’, or ‘I belong to Cephas’, or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? –1 Corinthians 1:12-13

The phrase, ‘I belong to Christ’ bothers me as it is included in a laundry list of leaders in the church apparently caught in the middle of a game of my preacher is better than yours. Are we not all called to belong to Christ? As I ponder that phrase, I wonder if Paul was trying to say we don’t get to customize Christ—build a Christ based on our values not the other way around. I fear we may all get caught up in creating our own Christ occasionally.

Jesus taught a radically different way of being than was the common practice among the faithful of the first century. He invested his life in standing behind the principles that he taught. I do not think he was bringing a new message as much as he was making the age-old message clearer in more human terms. Loving God, loving our neighbors as we love ourselves, being a blessing to all nations are recorded in some of the earliest writings. So why was it deemed unacceptable in the first century even to the faith community? Why is it still hard for us to live like Jesus today?

Prayer: Lord, just as you opened Saul’s heart and mind on his road to Damascus, open our lives to living through your love on our journeys. 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.