Tag Archives: Loving Like Jesus

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Living in the Spirit

June 28, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 66:10-14

Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
   all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
   all you who mourn over her—
that you may nurse and be satisfied
   from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
   from her glorious bosom.

For thus says the Lord:
I will extend prosperity to her like a river,
   and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm,
   and dandled on her knees.
As a mother comforts her child,
   so I will comfort you;
   you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
   your bodies shall flourish like the grass;
and it shall be known that the hand of the Lord is with his servants,
   and his indignation is against his enemies.

I voted early last week so all the fierce campaign ads interrupting my TV watching are of little use to me until the primaries are over. I tend to ignore any ad that does not report who paid for it. They are usually the nastiest, but I must say some of the actual candidates are stretching my patients. So, I am sure that environment open my eyes to recognizing what the first phrase in the above scripture is addressing

Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
   all you who love her;

Do we all love our country or, in the case of this scripture, city? Isaiah wrote his book probably around 740 to 700 BCE in the Kingdom of Judah. In 733 BCE, Jerusalem becomes a vassal (feudal lord) of the Neo-Assyrian Empire*. While we can learn much from the wisdom of our faith ancestors, their way of living was far removed from ours. People, however, are people whether in 733 BCE or 2022 CE. We adapt and change, taking steps forward and backward, in whatever situation we might find ourselves. We have developed over these thousands of years to the extent that we as individuals in a democracy have the right to vote for our leaders. I cannot imagine how the residents of Jerusalem in 733 BCE might understand that, although the residents of Ukraine right now might have a better feel for how they felt. We must not take our rights for granted. We must take the time to review the candidates for the area in which we vote. Try to sort out the truth from half-truths and pure fiction. We must not be driven solely by hot button issues that have little or no impact on most people. We must look for candidates that have all their constituents’ interests at heart, not just their chosen few who support the candidate’s ideas that do not take into account all the people they represent.

Prayer: Lord, guide us in our choices as we vote for people who care about a compassionate world. Amen.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Jerusalem

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.

Discernment

Living in the Spirit

June 27, 2022

Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 5:1-14

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favour with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.’ So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. And the king of Aram said, ‘Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.’

He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, ‘When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.’ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, ‘Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.’

But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, ‘Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.’ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.’ But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, ‘I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?’ He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, “Wash, and be clean”?’ So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

And a little child shall lead them*. I worry at times about how divisiveness in our society is impacting children. I now realize, having been exposed as a child to theology that did not match the Jesus that loved me. I became very skeptical as an adult. I eventually recognized that was a good thing. We all need to explore and understand the breadth and depth of God’s love and mercy for all people. And we need to funnel our life choices through that understanding.  To do that we must study, pray/meditate, and live our love.

Prayer: Lord, grant us to skills to find you through the muck and mire of our divide and conquer world. Amen.

*Derived from Isaiah 11:6

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.

Moving Forward

Living in the Spirit

June 26, 2022

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 9:56-62

Jesus is saying our commitment to God must be all or nothing if we long for what he called the Kingdom of God, what is now being described as the Compassionate Community or the Beloved Community. The time for our commitment to working toward the full formation of the Kingdom of God is now. The principalities and powers of evil are enfolding us with hatred, bigotry, greed, and lust for power that will be our undoing as individuals and as a nation if we do not turn away from it. They are doing their best to divide and conquer, and it is working. No wonder they do not want us to study history, the failure of great empires would look way too much like our world today.  Government corruption, over-expansion of military spending, and economic troubles where the rich got richer, and the number of poor increased all describe empires before they fell.

Constantine’s takeover of Christianity and redefining its tenets to advance his cause may well have been the final blow to Rome’s decline. Christianity is now a credential for candidates for office, but the Christianity being fostered does not seem to be based on Jesus’s definition of the most important commandants when he answered the question, ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matthew 22:36-40)

We do serve a living Savior who indeed is in the world today* ready and longing to help us in our work. He is asking us to put our hands to the plow and implement the beloved world community he envisions for us rather than allowing those principalities and powers to rule. We never work alone when we are doing God’s work.

Prayer: Lord, grant us the courage and the wisdom to foster a world ruled by love.  Amen.

*Derived from the hymn, He Lives by Alfred Henry Ackley  See at https://www.hymnal.net/fr/hymn/h/503/8

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.

Freedom to do Right

Living in the Spirit

June 23, 2022

Scripture Reading: Galatians 5:1, 13-25

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. –Galatians 5:1, 13-15

I saw a post on social media the other day that said something to the effect that freedom is not permission to do whatever you want. It frees you to do what is right. I wondered if that observation was based on the above scripture.

I am already sick of the political ads both those sponsored by the candidate and the horrible ones that are sponsored by craftily named organizations that do not reveal who is paying for them or what their ulterior motive is. The USA was, indeed, founded on the principle of governance of the people, by the people, and for the people. It was established with checks and balances to help guarantee that we do what is right. Those checks and balances do not always work, but we the people are the final source of protecting our freedom to do what is right not what is expedient for the wealthy and powerful. Here are some rules I follow during these seasons of political ads:

  • If a group does not identify its financial source, not just the patriotic name of the group but the names of those sending the checks, I ignore them.
  • Incumbents can run on their record; you may want to check it out to see if you share their stances.  Go to https://www.congress.gov/ to view federal incumbents’ voting records and see what they support and what they do not. For state incumbents see http://www.oklegislature.gov/AdvancedSearchForm.aspx.
  • Non-incumbents often have a webpage where they outline their legislative priorities.
  • Do your homework. Do not be fooled by candidates running on hot-button issues which often represent a very small part, if any, of elected officials’ responsibilities and may even be out of their jurisdiction.

Discerning what is right for all God’s people is a great challenge in our world. Marcus Borg wrote a book several years ago entitled Reading the Bible Again For the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously But Not Literally. The title itself is good advice. This might be a good time to read the Bible again for the first time. Learning from the challenges and the mistakes of our ancestors in faith could be helpful. While the culture may be different; people are not.  I was impressed by Greg Jacob’s testimony in the January 6th hearings. He was Mike Pence’s legal advisor and followed him to the basement of the capitol escaping the mob that was coming and threatening to hang Mike Pence. While Pence and Jabob waited in the basement, Jacob read his Bible and found similarities in Daniel 6, the story of Daniel in the lion’s den to Pence’s situation.

Prayer: Lord, we live in difficult times. Teach us your lessons so that we might express our freedom to do what is 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.

What are our Idols?

Living in the Spirit

June 22, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 16

Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord;
   I have no good apart from you.’

As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble,
   in whom is all my delight.

Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;
   their drink-offerings of blood I will not pour out
   or take their names upon my lips.

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
   you hold my lot.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
   I have a goodly heritage.

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
   in the night also my heart instructs me.
I keep the Lord always before me;
   because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices
   my body also rests secure.
For you do not give me up to Sheol,
   or let your faithful one see the Pit.

You show me the path of life.
   In your presence there is fullness of joy;
   in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

I fear our world thinks we are too sophisticated for idol worship. Our idols are not statues. We worship things like greed and power. We measure our worth by comparing ourselves to others and labeling them as lower than us because of the color of their skin or who they love discounting the fact that all were created by God which supersedes any measure of worth we might follow. There is no way to be better than anyone else no matter how hard we try. Let us turn away from the bigotry we practice and intentionally work to truly love ourselves so we can love our neighbors.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for loving us as our creator and helping us love all others as you love 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.

Leaving our Ivory Palaces

Living in the Spirit

June 19, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 8:26-39

Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. –Luke 8:32-39

One of the greatest challenges we face in these days of divide and conquer is sharing our faith with loved ones and friends when they are on a totally different path. I belong to a Christian Facebook group and cannot believe how many postings I have seen where people had been asked to leave their church because they did not support the political viewpoints of its leaders. Also, I have read many posting where people had not responded to any political discussion but had made the difficult decision of leaving the church they loved because it has drifted away from its purpose. Thus, I do not take likely the assignment Jesus gave the man he had healed of the demons when he said, ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’

I like the idea of finding issues and actions on which we and our loved ones can agree. Work on a Habitat house together. Feed the hungry. Adopt a nursing home and visit its residents who do not have anyone. We need to all get out of our ivory palaces as the old song says and address the great needs of people like the ones that crossed Jesus’s path regularly and he stopped and cared for them. If we see the world through Jesus’s eyes we might find our way to Oneness.

My Lord has garments so wondrous fine,
and myrrh their texture fills;
its fragrance reached to this heart of mine,
with joy my being thrills.

Out of the ivory palaces
into a world of woe,
only his great eternal love
made my Savior go*.

Prayer: Lord, guide us in spending some time each week living life among people as you did when you walked this earth.  Amen.

*The first verse and chorus of Out of the Ivory Palaces by Henry Barraclough see at https://hymnary.org/text/my_lord_has_garments_so_wondrous_fine

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.

Carefully Taught

Living in the Spirit

Actors John Kerr and France Nuyen in a scene from the 1958 film South Pacific. The interracial romance between the onstage pair unsettled some audiences.

June 17, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Galatians 3:23-29

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

I cannot read this portion of scripture without hearing in my head – You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught from the musical South Pacific by Rodgers & Hammerstein. Here are the first three verses:

You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear,
You’ve got to be taught from year to year,
It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear—
You’ve got to be carefully taught!

You’ve got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a different shade—
You’ve got to be carefully taught.

You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate—
You’ve got to be carefully taught!
You’ve got to be carefully taught!*

Bigotry is becoming normal in our society today. The current popular target of our hate is turned toward people in the LGBTQIA2S+ community but it still lurks across all lines of differences. God created each of us in God’s image. Every time we have a flash of bigotry fly through our minds, we need to remember that—God created each of us in God’s image.

Prayer: Lord, help us not teach bigotry by our actions or our words and heal us from the bigotry we have been taught that lingers in our being. Amen.

*See at https://rodgersandhammerstein.com/song/south-pacific/youve-got-to-be-carefully-taught/

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.

Seeking God

Living in the Spirit

Living in the Spirit

June 14, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 65:1-9

I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
   to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am’,
   to a nation that did not call on my name.
I held out my hands all day long
   to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
   following their own devices;
a people who provoke me
   to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
   and offering incense on bricks;
who sit inside tombs,
   and spend the night in secret places;
who eat swine’s flesh,
   with broth of abominable things in their vessels;
who say, ‘Keep to yourself,
   do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.’
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
   a fire that burns all day long. –Isaiah 65:1-5

This is a sad scripture. Isaiah indicates that God was available and accessible for the Israelites who were in desperate need of the gifts of God’s love and guidance, and they would not turn to God. Things haven’t changed much over the centuries. Sounds like the Israelites responded to God as many today are doing, defining God as we want God to be rather than as God is. It is sad because God’s ways protect our self-interest. The world does not accept that because greed, for example, is inconsistent with our self-interests.

We as individuals, disciples, and citizens of this world are called to examine ourselves and bring our way into sync with God’s ways. We might be amazed at how much better our lives would be if we conformed to the love of God.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we ignore your presence in our lives and jump from one distracting answer to another while trying to address the challenges of living in the world today. 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.

In A Fog

Eastertide

May 30, 2022

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-21

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
   and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
   and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
   in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
     and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
   and signs on the earth below,
     blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
   and the moon to blood,
     before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” –Acts 2:1-14

And so it begins. The disciples had to shake the fog out of their heads before they could read the scriptures of old and see themselves in them. They had to replace Judas and move on. We, too, go through times of fog when nothing is clear, and all seems out of sync. We are living in such a time as that right now. Our world is still fighting a stubborn virus while trying to recover from its aftermath. Mass shootings are happening repeatedly. We keep asking why. Our leadership seems impotent to address the issues that confound us some stand staunchly in the way of progress while others are being corrupted by greed and lust for power.

We, too, might benefit from an old hymn for evil has always lurked in the background and we are the servants of God called to overcome it.

1 Let justice flow like streams
of sparkling water, pure,
enabling growth, refreshing life,
abundant, cleansing, sure.

2 Let righteousness roll on
as others’ cares we heed,
an ever-flowing stream of faith
translated into deed.

3 So may God’s plumb line, straight,
define our measure true,
and justice, right, and peace pervade
this world our whole life through*.

Prayer: Amen.

* Let justice flow like streams by Jane Parker Huber, See at https://hymnary.org/text/let_justice_flow_like_streams

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.

Learning to Trust God

Eastertide

May 29, 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.’

How important is it to have someone we trust say they trust someone else, and we can trust them too? When we apply for a job, we are often required to provide references. My dad cosigned the first loan I made to buy a car. Having paid that loan off as prescribed by the agreement, I never had to have anyone cosign for me again. One of Jesus’s missions, when he came in human form, was to tell us by word and example that we could trust God.

I can envision God scratching his head following the exile, following the calamity after the exile, and following the rule of Greece and Rome wondering, “What do I need to do to convince my children that I love them and that my love is the guiding principle in living successfully in the world I created?” God decided to come to us in the incarnation of Jesus Christ to model the way that living in God’s world works.

What we have learned is that when we get out of sync with God’s plan for the world, we suffer the consequences. There is no room for hate, bigotry, greed, dishonesty, violence, or adultery in God’s world.  Just as there is no room for the results of such behavior such as allowing poverty or violence to exist.

Prayer: Help us clearly see the way Jesus modeled life in your love and change our lives to follow his way. 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.