Tag Archives: Love for all

A New Reality

In him we liveLiving in the Spirit
June 26, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 9:51-62

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’ –Luke 9:57-62

If we read this scripture carefully, we soon experience the realization that Jesus is attesting to being homeless. It brings to mind Blanche*’s statement in Streetcar Named Desire, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” Blanche was a character who skirted on the edge of reality until the end of the play when she loses all connection to reality. The play is a depressing commentary on our society and how we treat each other.

Jesus is challenging those who seek him to understand that he is the source of a new reality. It is a challenge to each of us to consider to what we conform our lives. He is not saying we should all live on the streets and hope someone feeds us once in a while. Nor is he saying it is bad to take care of aging parents or to be hospitable to our families. I think he is saying we need to prioritize our lives and live intentionally into those prioritizations. Jesus Christ is the beginning and end of our priorities and by coming into synch with him, we can know the reality of a life lead by love as the song goes not just for some but for everyone**.

Prayer: Lord, make us whole as individuals, as your followers, and as citizens of the world. Amen.

*Blanche is a character from the play, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

**From the song, What the world need now is love by Burt Bacharach and Hal David see at http://www.bacharachonline.com/bacharach_lyrics_chords/whattheworldneeds.html

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.

Who is the Persecutor and who is the Persecuted

No Jews AllowedEastertide
April 20, 2015

Scripture Reading: Acts 4:5-12

The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?’ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. –Acts 4:5-10

This scripture is hard to read and harder still to address for, I believe, we can put ourselves in the shoes of the religious leaders of the day rather than the ones declaring the message of Christ crucified. There are states that are passing laws, my own considered it, to actually guarantee the rights of people of faith, mainly Christians who are seeking such laws, to discriminate against those who are not Christians or at least not of their particular brand of Christianity. When I first heard about these laws I flashed back to documentaries I have seen of Nazi Germany with signs in the windows that said ‘Juden nicht erlaubt‘ (Jews not allowed) or ‘Juden sind nicht erwünscht‘ (Jews not welcomed). I do value highly the fact that I live in a country that’s First Constitutional Amendment includes language that prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, or impeding the free exercise of religion. It seems to me that that is exactly what these laws are attempting to do.

From a strictly faith-based perspective, I cannot believe that an omnificent, omnipresent, and omnipotent God would ever need any kind of civil authority’s protection. I believe that is what Isaiah was saying to Judah when it tried to enter into a pact with Egypt to protect Judah from the invaders that eventually overthrew it. Isaiah was counseling that Judah needed to get its own house in order. These are words we in the United States need to hear. We invest our time an energy in trying to save a Christian from the persecution of having to sell cakes and flowers to someone whose lifestyle we do not approve, while 45,000,000 Americans live in families with incomes below the poverty line, our children are failing at an alarming rate in schools, our prisons are overflowing with people who need mental health and addiction treatment, and our shorelines are moving closer and closer overland, while the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. We need to ask ourselves who is the persecuted and who is the persecutor. It might be a good time to read Matthew 25 again.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for our failure to follow your call courageously. Forgive us for not loving all your children condemning some to shame and others to hunger. Show us your way, your truth, and your life. 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.