Tag Archives: Justice

Refresh our Faith

Epiphany

January 8, 2021

Scripture Reading: Acts 19:1-7
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the inland regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. He said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?’ They replied, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’ Then he said, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ They answered, ‘Into John’s baptism.’ Paul said, ‘John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.’ On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied— altogether there were about twelve of them.

Who taught Paul about Jesus? How much of what Paul first picked up about Jesus was the hearsay around the temple when Saul/Paul as a youth studied under Gamliel. Saul/Paul was a Pharisee and probably received their viewpoint about Jesus. But where did he learn details like how John baptized? Did Ananias* share stories of Jesus’ ministry with Saul/Paul as he recovered from his experience on the road to Damascus?

How much of what we know about God is colored by the source of information we receive? Because of divisions among faith-based groups in our world today, I have felt the need to review my theology. N. T. Wright’s work on Worldviews has been most helpful to me. Studying the Gospels to ascertain how those closest to Jesus described his teachings and his actions caused me to reassess my way of being. During the past two years, I have invested time and energy in anti-racism work and discovered how important it is to attempt to see the world from the eyes of people whose life experiences have been totally different from mine.

As we turn the page on 2020 and move forward into 2021, I invite all to join me in searching for the source of our faith knowledge and discerning if what we take for granted in our belief systems stands the test of God’s love for all.

Prayer:
Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.

Refrain 1:
Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready my God, Thy will to see,
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!** Amen

*The Christ-follower who took Saul in after his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus.

**First verse and refrain of Open My Eyes, That I May See by Clara H. Scott. See at https://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Open_My_Eyes_That_I_May_See/

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 Glory of the Lord

Christmastide

January 5, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Isaiah 60:1-6
Arise, shine; for your light has come,
   and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth,
   and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
   and his glory will appear over you.
Nations shall come to your light,
   and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Lift up your eyes and look around;
   they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
   and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant;
   your heart shall thrill and rejoice,
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,
   the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
   the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
   all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
   and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.

What metaphors of wellbeing do we choose? The first stanza of the above poem speaks to the glory of the Lord, having risen upon us. In elegant terms, the verse tells of light dispels darkness, which elicits thoughts of peace and wellbeing. The second stanza strays to measures of material wealth to represent the wonders of the Lord with us. Jesus changed those metaphors. He described justice as the fruition of God with us. The hungry are fed, the sick are healed, strangers welcomed, and prisoners are restored to wholeness.

Isaiah does state that they all gather. Perhaps suggesting that the coming of the Lord is only realized when all have justice. We might also consider Isaiah’s other description of Justice:

Isaiah 11:6-9
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
   the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
   and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
   their young shall lie down together;
   and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
   and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
   on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
   as the waters cover the sea.

Prayer: Lord, help us understand the depth and breadth of your righteousness, enabling us to live into it. 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.

The Word

Christmastide

January 2, 2021

Scripture Reading:
John 1:(1-9), 10-18
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.”‘) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.—John 1:10-18

The word world used here refers to the universe, worldly affairs, the inhabitants of the world*. Genesis 1 begins the world’s story coming into existence from God’s creative action of turning chaos into an ordered system placed under human care. God spoke, and the ordered system emerged. John indicates that Jesus Christ was the Word from which the world came into being. The world had drifted so far away from its righteous beginning; it no longer recognized the Word from which it derived. The Incarnation of Christ was necessary to correct that disconnection.

We humans have a history of not maintaining our relationship with God when things are going well. Rather than singing Praise God from whom all blessings flow**, we celebrate the good life as our achievement singing Oh Lord; it’s hard to be humble When you’re perfect in every way*** Evil enjoys destroying us through our privilege.

As we enter a new year, some careful self-evaluation may help us turn self-righteousness into God’s righteousness and inch us ever closer to a world ruled by love.

Prayer: Creator and sustainer of the world help us appreciate our creation’s gifts and responsibilities. Help us know you more nearly as we work on modeling our lives after your Word. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/2889.htm
**From a doxology written by Thomas Ken in the 17th century see at https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/8
***From It’s Hard to Be Humble by Mac Davis see at https://genius.com/Mac-davis-its-hard-to-be-humble-lyrics

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.

Wisdom from God

Christmastide

December 31, 2020

Scripture Reading:

Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21
A holy people and blameless race
wisdom delivered from a nation of oppressors.
She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord,
and withstood dread kings with wonders and signs.
She gave to holy people the reward of their labors;
she guided them along a marvelous way,
and became a shelter to them by day,
and a starry flame through the night.
She brought them over the Red Sea,
and led them through deep waters;
but she drowned their enemies,
and cast them up from the depths of the sea.
Therefore the righteous plundered the ungodly;
they sang hymns, O Lord, to your holy name,
and praised with one accord your defending hand;
for wisdom opened the mouths of those who were mute,
and made the tongues of infants speak clearly.

‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. –Matthew 10:16

One of the positive results of the phenomenon of misinformation flooding our land is that most of us are spending more time fact-checking and realizing how words matter. Part of the problem is that we have morphed into a society of thirty-second sound bites that result in words being bent to deliver a message and contain a whole host of ingrained ideas and images. I first experienced this concerning faith several years ago in a theology class. I said I considered myself a fundamentalist as I strive to follow Jesus’ commandments to love God and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. I was assured that was not the meaning of Fundamentalist, with a capital “F.” That word describes a five-step plan for salvation that arose sometime in the 19th century. We now have the same problem with the word evangelical. All Christ-followers are called to be evangelists, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. With a capital “E,” the word Evangelical now describes a group that integrates their faith with a particular political blend of thought.

The Wisdom of Solomon quote above is recognizing and celebrating God’s provision of wisdom to Moses and the Israelites as God led them out of bondage in Egypt.  Jesus, too, advises us to seek wisdom as we share the good news of his leadership and love for all people, ‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. –Matthew 10:16

Prayer: Lord, grant us the wisdom to discern your will in our lives as we share the significance of your Incarnation with others. 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 Guidance

Christmastide

December 29, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Jeremiah 31:7-14

For thus says the Lord:
Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
   and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
   ‘Save, O Lord, your people,
   the remnant of Israel.’
See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
   and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
   those with child and those in labor, together;
   a great company, they shall return here.
With weeping they shall come,
   and with consolations I will lead them back,
I will let them walk by brooks of water,
   in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;
for I have become a father to Israel,
   and Ephraim is my firstborn. — Jeremiah 31:7-9

Jeremiah proclaims that the people will be returned to their land, and indeed they were. People left behind remained, and sharing the land was a challenge when those in exile returned. The temple lay in ruins and had to be rebuilt. While they were technically returning to their homeland, they remained under the governance of their captors. We here in Oklahoma are accustomed to rebuilding after tornadoes and wildfires. Significant loss changes people. We decide if such change is for the better or the worse. Such times of rebuilding and recovery is always for the better when we trust in God to guide us.

Our whole world is currently dealing with the COVID pandemic. Our nation is experiencing a tumultuous election and changing of governmental leadership. Racial division is raw across our land. We are not the first to deal with recovery as those who returned from exile did. I leave you with the words of an old hymn written in 1641 by Georg Neumark:

1 If you but trust in God to guide you
and place your confidence in him,
you’ll find him always there beside you
to give you hope and strength within;
for those who trust God’s changeless love
build on the rock that will not move.

2 Only be still and wait his pleasure
in cheerful hope with heart content.
He fills your needs to fullest measure
with what discerning love has sent;
doubt not our inmost wants are known
to him who chose us for his own.

3 Sing, pray, and keep his ways unswerving,
offer your service faithfully,
and trust his word; though undeserving,
you’ll find his promise true to be.
God never will forsake in need
the soul that trusts in him indeed*.

Prayer: Guide us, O Lord, as we seek recovery and renewal for ourselves, our nation, and our world.  Amen.

*See at https://hymnary.org/text/if_you_but_trust_in_god_to_guide_you#Author

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 Bounty is for All

Christmastide

December 28, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Jeremiah 31:7-14

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
   and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
   and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.’
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,
   and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
   and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
   and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall become like a watered garden,
   and they shall never languish again.
Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
   and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
   I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
   and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,
says the Lord. –Jeremiah 31:10-14.

Jeremiah writes to the Israelites in exile encouraging them not to listen to the voices of the false prophets whose ideas would make things worse. Instead, Jeremiah recommended that the Israelites work toward the welfare of their captors. He sounds like a forerunner of Jesus who said Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven*;  

Our nation finds itself in peril. The rich getting richer and the poor, growing in numbers, has been the reality for several years. People of color find themselves disproportionately among those whose salaries have not kept up with living costs. The COVID pandemic has undoubtedly exacerbated the situation.

Most of my acquaintances are not suffering from financial challenges. Retirees like me who rely on income from the stock market may even be doing better financially. However, they are among those at the highest risk of death due to the virus, and there is no guarantee that the stock market will continue breaking records. Most upper-middle-class and above switched from office to home to work. While they may have been inconvenienced, they are still working and earning. That is not true of almost half our nation’s population who not only do not have enough to eat but are facing eviction.

The Israelite exile was a reckoning for them. They had moved away from God and were basking in their wealth until they were overthrown. In a sense, this pandemic is our reckoning to take the blinders off and deal with the inequalities in our society. When I read the scripture for today, I was drawn to the last sentence, and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, says the Lord. God created a world with enough for everyone. We are charged with the responsibility of handling God’s resources in a manner that meets God’s intentions.

Prayer: Lord, help us use the experiences of 2020 to rectify our failures to assure that your bounty touches the lives of all your children. Amen.

*Verses 44 and 45a of full scripture Matthew 5:43-48

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.

Christmastide

December 26, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 97

The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
   let the many coastlands be glad!

The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
   and all the peoples behold his glory.
All worshippers of images are put to shame,
   those who make their boast in worthless idols;
   all gods bow down before him.
Zion hears and is glad,
   and the towns of Judah rejoice,
   because of your judgements, O God.
For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
   you are exalted far above all gods. –Psalm 97:1, 6-9

As a society, we are having a rough time addressing the COVID pandemic. Some think rights are being taken from them because they cannot eat at their favorite restaurants or have large gatherings; more and more people suffer from hunger and eviction. Our stock market reaches all-time highs as our unemployment rate grows. We worship the idols of wealth and lust for power at the expense of others. Such a caste system runs counter to the creation story that all people are created in God’s image.

I think it is time that we, who call ourselves Christian, do some solemn soul-searching to determine whether we align with Christ’s vision of being his Body in the world today or are creating an image to meet our desires and claim it is God’s. The coming of a new year is an excellent time for such self-assessment. Studying the Sermon on the Mount and Matthew 25 are good places to start. I will reread The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a follow-up to the Sermon on the Mount study. I might even delve into The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis again. I invite you to join me on this journey.

Prayer: Lord, help us make this time of taking the threats of a pandemic seriously by staying home as a time to review our ways of being and realign them with the path you set before us. 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 Responsibility

Advent

December 23, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Titus 2:11-14
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

Titus shares his guidance on how we, who have experienced the Grace of God through Jesus Christ, should represent Christ in our daily lives, renouncing impiety and worldly passions and living lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly. This calling is individual and communal. We seem to have wandered away from both our individual and collective responsibilities.

The prophet Hosea uses the metaphor of an unfaithful wife, a whore to represent Israel’s nation as he calls it back to following God’s ways. Congress and our federal executive branch, for the last eight months, have tried to pass legislation to offset the damages inflicted on our nation and world by COVID-19. It has been many years since I saw the musical, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.  While watching our government’s inaction, words from The Sidestep song from that musical have flashed through my mind.

Fellow Texans,
I am proudly
Standing Here to Humbly see,
I assure you and I mean it,
Now says I don’t speak out as plain as day
Now fellow Texans I’m for progress
And the flag long may it fly,
I’m a poor boy
Come to greatness
So it follows that I cannot tell a lie.

Ohhhh I love to dance a little side step,
And ohhhhh I love to sweep around the wide Step.
Cut a little swath and lead the people on*.

I find it very disturbing that our nation’s stock market is reaping unprecedented highs during this pandemic while poverty increases markedly.  We can and should be critical of our leaders, and we must remember that ours is a nation of the people by the people for the people. In the final analysis, we are as much at fault as our leaders if we do not turn around from our worldly passions and hold those leader’s feet to the fire to act decisively for the Common Good. They need to be reminded that we, the people, have the final say, but we also need to remember that.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for burying our heads in the sand to the growing poverty among our fellow citizens. Direct us on your path to care for all your children. Amen.

See full text at https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHZN_enUS922US922&sxsrf=ALeKk03-ge_4ow3DFyLzj4bbIpb-hIyENQ%3A1608564681860&ei=yb_gX9HkM4z2swWW_IeIDw&q=Lyrics+to+the+side+step+shuffle+from+the+best+little+whorehouse+in+texas&oq=Lyrics+to+the+side+step+shuffle+from+the+best+little+whorehouse+in+texas&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQDDoHCCMQsAIQJzoECC4QDToECAAQDToICAAQBxAFEB5QwtQDWLi_BWDfwAZoCXABeACAAYMBiAHIIZIBBDQzLjaYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6wAEB&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwiR7dazst_tAhUM-6wKHRb-AfEQ4dUDCA0

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.

Judgment

Advent

December 22, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 96

Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king!
   The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
   He will judge the peoples with equity.’
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
   let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
   let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
   before the Lord; for he is coming,
   for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
   and the peoples with his truth. –Psalm 96:10-13

We Christ-followers see Jesus in scriptures like the one above. To the Psalmist, It describes one who is coming who will judge our actions with righteousness. The Psalmist wrote about the long-expected savior foretold by prophets. Some Christians shortcut Jesus’ judgment to a simple separation of who is going to eternal damnation and who will spend eternity with God. That seems a little too cut and dry for me. In the first place, we have all sinned, missed the mark, so without God’s amazing grace, all of us would come up short on righteousness.

As described in the quote above, I tend to interrupt judgment about how we live our lives from day-to-day. Like a supervisory assessment, Jesus assesses how we are doing our job of being a part of the Body of Christ in the world today. Much of the supervision is done in real-time consultation. Here is a situation: how do we approach it in the best way to enhance the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God on earth. It requires praying without ceasing and routinely evaluating what we did in righteousness and where we missed the mark. When we miss the mark, we need to seek forgiveness from God and others we may have harmed in the process. We also need to change our behavior and work diligently, never to make the same mistake again.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your patience with us as you help us get loving like you, right. 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.

Poverty

Advent

December 20, 2020

Scripture Reading: Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

We have in this scripture an interesting juxtaposition. One woman who bore the shame of being unable to conceive throughout the fertile time of her life suddenly becomes pregnant, and a young woman, unmarried, becomes pregnant too soon. Although she was engaged to the future groom, he knew the baby was not his. These women were caught in the sting of their culture’s norms.

Much of my work as a social worker dealt with helping people overcome the culture we live in. It is a two-part challenge, first, advocating for a person to be accepted for their talents and abilities. And second, helping individuals not internalize and become the cultural stereotypes that have been projected on them for most of their lives.  I do not know how many grade-school age girls I observed who made straight A’s in school suddenly start falling behind after reaching puberty and eventually having a baby out of wedlock when they are 14 or 15 years old. They have been acculturated to believe that their worth is tied to being subservient to a male. The church must take a lot of responsibility for that not only being passed through the church but into the larger culture.

Our first priority in life is serving God. Second in importance, if we choose to be parents is to be the best we can be. There are no more important roles in life than being parents, both fathers and mothers, at the right time and under appropriate circumstances. The African proverb: It takes a village to raise a child is also right. We all are called to nurture and encourage children, assure that they have adequate food, clothing, and shelter; quality health care; and education. Approximately 40 percent of our population does not have access to basic needs. That is missing the mark. Our society accepts this vicious cycle of poverty. Most of these people work but do not earn enough to provide for their families.

Jesus had to deal with this same problem. He taught us to feed the hungry, care for the sick.  He did not lead us to reinforce stereotypical behavior. We take for granted being served by a waitress who is being paid in Oklahoma $2.13 per hour with the expectation that the remaining salary is made up through tips to achieve the minimum wage at $7.25.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for burying our heads in the sand to the way we are allowing our neighbors to live in poverty.  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.