Tag Archives: Made in the Image of God

Godlike

Living in the Spirit

August 17, 2022

Scripture Reading:
 Psalm 103:1-8
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
   and all that is within me,
   bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
   and do not forget all his benefits—
who forgives all your iniquity,
   who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit,
   who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live
   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord works vindication
   and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
   his acts to the people of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

We serve a mighty God, a loving God. Like a parent, God watches us mature and struggle with good and bad choices. We need to learn from our mistakes and our successes. We need to recognize God in the work we do. I shared a story in my Sunday school class recently. How I withdrew from a club when I thought it had mistreated my sister. My sister continued in the club until she graduated from high school.  I then added something that even surprised me. I said I guess I am more like my mother than I thought. I often describe my mother as the great egalitarian. I pale in comparison. Loving everyone was buried deep in the marrow of her bones. My sister is actually more like my mother than me. They both loved to work in the garden and sew. As we are all somewhat like our human parents, we all have been gifted by God with Godly traits that God expects us to develop and use to God’s glory. This Psalm invites us to recognize that and also that God is always with us in all situations.

Prayer: Lord, help us to grow and develop the art of loving others you imprinted in each of 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.

Privilege

Eastertide

May 8, 2022

Scripture Reading:

John 10:22-30

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.’

We are in a pandemic of people being told truth who chose not to believe it because it was not what they wanted to hear. As I read the above-quoted scripture, I wondered if that was the problem with the religious leaders in this story. The Jews had been waiting for the Messiah for years, but would the Messiah’s presence disturb their leadership, their power, their privilege?  

A new divide and conquer issue arises almost weekly in the US now with no one willing to look at the realities of the issues or seek common ground for the Common Good. The bathroom issue is currently catching fire in Oklahoma. While schools and other governmental entities are dealing with the war over the issue, I have noticed that many restaurants have taken down the signs designating gender allowing anyone to use whichever facility they choose. In Sweden, bathrooms were built for privacy and none were designated.

Bathrooms are not the issue. The problem we are dealing with is fearing the loss of our privilege like the leaders of the temple in Jesus’ day feared would happen if Jesus really was the Messiah. They killed him because of it. The sad thing is, that Jesus’ coming was a gift of abundant life for all. No one needs to be better than anyone else to be a person of worth to God. God created all of us in God’s image and loves all of us.

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts to love all your children as you love all of 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.

Ethnocentrism

Living in the Spirit

October 25, 2021

Scripture Reading: Ruth 1:1-18

So [Naomi] said, ‘See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’ But Ruth said,
‘Do not press me to leave you
   or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
   where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
   and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die—
   there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus and so to me,
   and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!’
When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. –Ruth 1:15-18

This scripture was once used in wedding ceremonies; however, they were being taken out of context. I have not heard it read at a wedding for many years. I recall a pastor suggesting that when a couple asked these words be included at their wedding, it would be more appropriate for the bride to say these words to her newly acquired mother-in-law. They were omitted.

There are all types of intrigue included in this story. Ruth was a foreigner choosing to leave her homeland and adopt that of her mother-in-law. She gathered leftover grain in the fields so she and

Naomi could eat. She did not practice the faith of the Israelites but was a convert. We measure people’s worth based on cultural values. God looks at their hearts*. Ethnocentricity seems to be inborn in people. I do not think God put it there at our creation. Ethnocentricity is the belief that a dominant ethnic group is superior to other ethnic groups, and that its perspectives should be adopted at the individual and societal levels**.

At some point in our lives, we absorb from our society the idea that our worth is established based on being better than another or some other person or people. If we believe that all people are created in the image of God, there are no people left with whom to compare ourselves to calculate our worth. Most of our societal problems could be addressed more quickly if we could get past our unnecessary need to be better than another person or group. Be who God created you to be. It does not get any better than that.

Prayer: Lord, help us remove the social elements we have taken on from our culture that are distracting us from serving you by loving as you love us. Amen.

*See 1 Samuel 16:7

**https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198796688.001.0001/acref-9780198796688-e-657

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.

Faith’s Bottomline

Lent

February 26, 2021

Scripture Reading: Romans 4:13-25

Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become ‘the father of many nations’, according to what was said, ‘So numerous shall your descendants be.’ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith ‘was reckoned to him as righteousness.’ Now the words, ‘it was reckoned to him’, were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification. –Romans 4:18-25

The word reckon means to find the bottom line*. This scripture is saying that Abraham’s faith was the bottom line of his righteousness.  Doing right, doing justice is often measured by how well we obey laws or treat others equitably. Paul is challenging us to see the source of our actions. Our trust in God enables everything we are or do. Our faith defines who we are. The drawing of that bottom line occurred when God’s image was implanted in us at our creation. Thus, we came equipped with the ability to have faith. Abraham chose to live his faith. We must decide what is our bottom line, too.

Remembering this truth is essential when so many people feel lost in the mainstream of life.  I watched the videos of angry, even hate-filled people storm our nation’s Capital on January 6, wondering what happened to them to make them so lost in that chaos. How have we as Christ-followers failed our neighbors who feel disenfranchised? Are we storing God’s love in silos of worldviews that limit the spread of God’s Kingdom to all people? Have we lost our bottom line as we substitute worldly idols for faith in the one true living God? Have we lost our connection to righteousness and justice?

Now is the time to reclaim our source of righteousness and let it flow out of us to enable faith as a bottom line for all people.

Prayer: Christ, your death on the cross was the ultimate sign of your love for all people. Empower our faith through your love to reckon our righteousness.  Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/3049.htm

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 Rock From which we are Carved

Living in the Spirit

August 18, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 51:1-6

Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness,
   you that seek the Lord.
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
   and to the quarry from which you were dug.
Look to Abraham your father
   and to Sarah who bore you;
for he was but one when I called him,
   but I blessed him and made him many.
For the Lord will comfort Zion;
   he will comfort all her waste places,
and will make her wilderness like Eden,
   her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
   thanksgiving and the voice of song. –Isaiah 51:1-3

Michelangelo was a 26-year-old artist challenged to create a statue of the youth David from a massive piece of mediocre marble*. It had been tossed on the trash heap of discarded stones the worth of which others had not recognized. The artist decided not to depict David after he had defeated Goliath, but as he might have appeared before entering the field of battle. David holds the stone he chose to hurl near his shoulder in preparation. Not much was expected of the rock and not much was probably expected of David. He was the youngest son, the shepherd boy, known for his musical talents. He became the greatest king in Israel’s history.

In our scripture today, Isaiah is calling each of us to look to the Rock from which we were hewn as we pursue righteousness. What gifts have we received from our heritage and our life experience? Do we simply see them as a pile of worthless rocks, or can we envision the image of God imprinted into each of us at our creation?

We live in a world where what is right and what is just has lost definition. Righteousness lies in the junk pile of stones tossed aside as counter to our cultural values. Justice is measured in dollars, not what is right and good for all God’s children. We are better than that. We are the creation of the living God who breathed the breath of life in us and planted the seeds of God’s love in every fiber of our being. The time has come for us to draw out our ability to love, and with God’s help, be a part of the re-creation of a righteous and just society.

Prayer: Lord, today, help me to see your image in myself so that in days to come, I can see your image in all your children as I work for a just and righteous world. Amen.

*https://www.britannica.com/story/how-a-rejected-block-of-marble-became-the-worlds-most-famous-statue

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.

Manifest Destiny?

Living in the Spirit

Living in the Spirit

July 13, 2020

Scripture Reading: Genesis 28:10-19a

Jacob left Beer-sheba and went towards Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ –Genesis 28:10-17

Land grants began with Abram. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.’ (Genesis 15:18-21) . Genesis 26:3 continues the land grant for Isaac, and Exodus 23:13 describes the boundaries of the Promised Land to Moses.

I struggle with scriptures like the ones above. Didn’t God create the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, and others also? Were they not made in the image of God? I understand the calling of Abraham to be a blessing to other nations but was taking their land from them being a blessing? Is there a record somewhere of these events from the viewpoint of those other nations?

The Europeans migrating to what is now the USA claimed divine intervention. The Doctrine of Discovery was invoked by Pope Alexander VI in the Papal Bull “Inter Caetera” in 1493. It established a spiritual, political, and legal justification for colonization and seizure of land not inhabited by Christians. In the 18 hundreds, we called that principle Manifest Destiny.

How do people of faith in God move from an inclusive Supreme Being who created a world putting God’s likeness in each human being morph into a deity that supported exclusiveness identifying winners and losers among God’s own children?

I do not know the answers to these questions. I would love to have sat and discussed it with Jesus when he dwelt among us on earth. I do not recall any quotes attributed to him that even addressed land ownership. He talked about things like selling everything a person had to gain something more significant than earthly wealth. I do know that he loved us enough to take on all the evil in the world on a cross, gifted us with grace, and sent us forth to emulate his way of being, within the foundation of loving God and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Prayer: Thank your Lord for coming among us and modeling your way for us to follow. We are often tempted to project the world’s methods as your ways. Let your light shine in our darkness and help us to clearly see your path 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.

Seeing God in Everyone

Christmastide

January 5, 2020

Scripture Reading:
John 1:10-18

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 1:14-18

What is it like to be human? Is that what God wondered when God determined to become flesh and live among us? Does the infinite gain a better understand of the finite by experiencing being finite? Were Jesus’ actions and teachings designed to help humans gain a better grasp of the infinite? Was grace the result of Jesus’ experience as a human?

We live in a world of humans that we neither understand or strive to know and wonder why war and violence is so common. The Word’s becoming flesh and living among us was God’s modeling for us the need to work at understanding others and helping them understand us. Our mission of understanding starts with the concept that all humans are created in the image of God and that we are all siblings of Christ.

I mourn the unease between our country and Turkey today more than I would have had I never spent a wonderful ten days touring that country four years ago. I was particularly interested in seeing the various places, many of them ruins now, where Paul worked. Part of the tour included chances to meet and eat with local citizens. By coincidence my birthday occurred during this trip and on that day at one of the friendly visits out popped a birthday cake, of course prearranged by the tour company, but still enjoyed by all. Not only did I get to know Turks better but more than half of the people on the tour were from other countries primarily Australia, China, and South African.

Prayer:
1 God of grace and God of glory,
on your people pour your power;
crown your ancient church’s story,
bring its bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
for the facing of this hour,
for the facing of this hour.

2 Lo! the hosts of evil round us
scorn the Christ, assail his ways!
From the fears that long have bound us
free our hearts to faith and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
for the living of these days,
for the living of these days.

3 Cure your children’s warring madness;
bend our pride to your control;
shame our wanton, selfish gladness,
rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
lest we miss your kingdom’s goal,
lest we miss your kingdom’s goal.

4 Save us from weak resignation
to the evils we deplore;
let the gift of your salvation
be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
serving you whom we adore,
serving you whom we adore. 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.

Worth

Kingdom Building

August 18, 2019

Scripture Reading: Luke 12:49-56

He also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, “It is going to rain”; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, “There will be scorching heat”; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? –Luke 12:53-56

Filters, we spend a lifetime building filters that shape for good or bad the way we perceive the world about us. The air condition technician just visited my home this week to make sure my air conditioning unit was working properly and to change the filters which were clogged with the dirt and other waste that floats in the air all the time and must be cleared regularly for air to flow freely either cooling or heating my home. My house was built in 1923 and I do not know when the first central heat and air system was installed but it was long enough ago that the filters required are rather unique, although still available. Using the wrong filter, would be at the least unproductive and might cause a negative impact if it allowed the spread of disease-causing elements.

Similarly, when our spiritual filters get clogged with the debris of the world, we must through the practice of our spiritual disciplines, seek God’s cleansing power to remove the clutter of life that prevents us from seeing what is right before our spiritual eyes. Such cleansing allows the rush of the Spirit’s renewing breath of fresh life that empowers our work and nurtures our souls.

One wrong-sized filter of our own creation that seems to permeate humankind is the one that says to us our worth is established through comparison with others. This surely was one filter that was planted in our hearts and minds very early in human history and it has plagued us ever since. Every human being was made in the image of God and we are called to see that image in all our interactions and relationships with others.  That is the basis of loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. We each came with built in worth and because we each have built in worth; we are freed to love one another because we are all children of God. Much of our inability to see the damage we do to one another stems from our searching for our worth outside God’s love for us as we define the worth of others outside the love of God. Greed is often the driver of our need to create hierarchies of worth as is lust for power.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we forget who we are by moving away from whose we are. 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.

Made in the Image of God

Living in the Spirit
November 12, 2018

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 1:4-20

 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore, Eli thought she was drunk. So, Eli said to her, ‘How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine.’ But Hannah answered, ‘No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time.’ Then Eli answered, ‘Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.’ And she said, ‘Let your servant find favor in your sight.’ Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.

They rose early in the morning and worshipped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked him of the Lord.’                                                                                                                                         –1 Samuel 1:12–20

How do we judge others? How important are first impressions? Do we transfer unpleasant events from our lives to others without regard to who they really are? How do we look past our prejudices and see the image of God in each person with whom we deal? In the story above, Eli made an incorrect assumption about Hannah but very quickly changed courses when he understood more about her and the sorrow with which she wrestled.

Jesus saw the person beyond the situation in his encounters.  He seemed particularly sensitive to the needs of women for a man in his culture: the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, the Syrophoenician woman, the mother whose son had died, the woman who touched the hem of his garment seeking healing. In impetuous Peter, he saw and groomed the leader of a church. He helped brothers James and John, who were lusting for power, see the more important way. Jesus saw the faith in a Roman Centurion and the potential in blind Bartimaeus.

Intentionality of effort is required in seeing the image of God in each person we encounter. In many situations, we will need the blessed presence of the Holy Spirit to get past our limitations. It certainly requires us to accept that, we too, are made in the image of God and thus are fully capable of loving one another.

Prayer: Lord, empower us to love first and let love guide the course of all our interactions 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.

Negative Filters

Advent
December 15, 2017

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
–1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

We live in a world that wants to blame others, castigate others, judge others to solve its problems. Perhaps we would reap more positive results if we plumbed deep within ourselves seeking God’s sanctification. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Sanctify* means:

  1. to make sacred or holy-set apart to a sacred purpose or to religious use: consecrate, hallow
  2. to make free from sin: cleanse from moral corruption and pollution: purify
  3. to impart or impute sacredness, inviolability, title to reverence, venerability, or
  4. to make efficient as the means of holiness: make productive of holiness or piety

We rarely if ever are capable of changing another person. With God’s help, we can change ourselves. Each of us has a set of filters, some stronger than others, that color the way we view the world around us. These filters become a part of our mentality from the moment we are born. Hopefully, the first filter is one that says we are loved and wanted. Many filters are good and provide shortcuts for our brains, so we do not need to start every action or interaction from scratch. Some filters are not good. It is these filters that’s removal is necessary for us to each serve God productively.

I love item four above. We do not realize how much effort we waste by allowing those negative filters to rule our lives. Our negative filters obstruct our attempts to love God and love as Jesus loves because they incorrectly define the person we are striving to love. The only definition of any other person that matters is their creation in the image of God. When we judge another by any other criteria, our love cannot be productive. Particularly when we feel the need to force others to be like us before we can care for or about them, we fail God.

Prayer: God, forgive us when we pull away from you in search of things that will never satisfy our needs.  Make us whole so that we can fully become the people you created us to be. Cleanse us and make us your productive servants. Amen.

*http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/Sanctify

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.