Tag Archives: Oneness

Spiritual Gifts

Lent

March 3, 2023

Scripture Reading:

1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)

Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,
‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
   nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him’—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. —1 Corinthians 2:6-12

The gifts of the spirit are described in various scriptures starting perhaps with what we call Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47). Romans 12:6-8 talks about the fact that we each received differing gifts, all important and all necessary to complete the work Jesus started and passed on to us following his resurrection. Today’s scripture tells us that we need to understand the gifts God has bestowed on us.

What I have experienced in many years of church work is that a lot is done by hard-working, well-intended people like me, whose skills in some things are at best average, but the work needed to be done, and so we do the best we can. One of the things we need to work at harder is helping others understand the gifts God has bestowed on them and give them the support they need to use them. We need to be enablers. I am a member of an advocacy group that posts concerns on social media. I can write, but most people are visual, and what is written is best received if it has some artwork with it. Another person in our group does beautiful and very appropriate graphics. So, I write something and send it to her and she surrounds it with art that makes it more meaningful.

Do we understand what our gifts are, and are we investing in using them and making them even better? Are we identifying the things that need to be done, and no one else has volunteered to do them? If so, are we identifying those with the needed skills and encouraging them to give the work a shot?

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the gifts of your Spirit; guide us in using them wisely, including supporting others in using their gifts. 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.

Repairers of the Breach

Ordinary Time

Ordinary Time

February 21, 2023

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 58:1-12
Shout out, do not hold back!
   Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
   to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet day after day they seek me
   and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
   and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgements,
  they delight to draw near to God.
‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?
   Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,
   and oppress all your workers.
Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
   and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
  will not make your voice heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose,
   a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
   and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
   a day acceptable to the Lord?

Is not this the fast that I choose:
   to loose the bonds of injustice,
   to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
   and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
   and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
   and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
   and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
   the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
   you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
   the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
   and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
   and your gloom be like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually,
   and satisfy your needs in parched places,
   and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
   like a spring of water,
   whose waters never fail.
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
   you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
   the restorer of streets to live in.

This is probably the longest scripture I have included in these devotions, but I could not segment out one part today to hone in on. Don’t just read it; live into it.

Prayer: Please guide me to be a repairer of the breach. 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.

Being Church

Ordinary Time

February 20, 2023

Scripture Reading: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Yet even now, says the Lord,
   return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
   rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
   for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
   and relents from punishing.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
   and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain-offering and a drink-offering
   for the Lord, your God? –Joel 2:12-14

We really need to examine ourselves before we can make a difference in the lives of others. Jesus put it this way:

You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye. –Matthew 7:5

I was raised in the church and did not know anything other than going to church on Sunday. When I was a young adult on my own, I started attending a church that was apparently amid a major meltdown. I watched and listened to the bickering and thought, look at these hypocrites, until one Sunday, I was struck by the recognition that the only person I knew for sure was a hypocrite sitting in that church that morning was me. I decided to take a vacation from church for a while. Some Sundays, I just slept in; on other Sundays, I visited various churches to see where I might fit. At times I went to brunch with friends who did not attend church.  I did this for a few months until I got my head on straight, realizing that I had as much responsibility as being the church at any congregation as anyone else in attendance. At the next church, I walked into, I felt at home and became very active while I lived in that area.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for putting up with my taking long paths to find your truths. 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.

Called to Serve

Ordinary Time

February 10, 2023

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building. –1 Corinthians 3:5-9

We are God’s servants. I have always loved the song He Lives! I serve a risen Savior; He’s in the world today. It simply states our purpose as Christ-followers, to serve the Lord in completing His mission of building the Beloved Community.  We grow in trust and faith as we learn from the work of our ancestors and plan for a better world for our children. Paul tells us in the above scripture that works best when we work together. I am active in the Oklahoma Poor People’s Campaign. Facing the challenges in our society in such a time as this is overwhelming. We do our best work when we do the part we are good at and work closely in supporting those with the knowledge and skills to bring about change in other areas.

Paul stands with us in being a servant, but he directs us specifically to be God’s field and God’s building*. Paul was a traveling minister, a planter of seeds; we are the field that must make the teachings he shared with us come to fruition throughout the whole world. We are the ones called to be the church**, not necessarily a building made of brick and mortar, but a community of faith that can meet together and support each other in using our diverse skills and talents to foster God’s commandment to develop a world ruled by love.

Prayer: Lord, help us each to perfect our skills and talents to serve you better, and teach us to work together so that your synergy expands all that we attempt to do. Amen.

*oikodomḗ – properly, a building (edifice) serving as a home; (figuratively) constructive criticism and instruction that builds a person up to be the suitable dwelling place of God, i.e. where the Lord is “at home.” (https://biblehub.com/greek/3619.htm)

Ekklēsía (from 1537 /ek, “out from and to” and 2564 /kaléō, “to call”) – properly, people called out from the world and to God, the outcome being the Church (the mystical body of Christ) – i.e. the universal (total) body of believers whom God calls out from the world and into His eternal kingdom. (https://biblehub.com/greek/1577.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.

Laws fulfilled

Ordinary Time

February 8, 2023

Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:1-8
Happy are those whose way is blameless,
   who walk in the law of the Lord.
Happy are those who keep his decrees,
   who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
   but walk in his ways.
You have commanded your precepts
   to be kept diligently.
O that my ways may be steadfast
   in keeping your statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame,
   having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
I will praise you with an upright heart,
   when I learn your righteous ordinances.
I will observe your statutes;
   do not utterly forsake me.

We need to establish an eternal link between walking in the law of the Lord and seeking him with our whole hearts. That is the message Jesus brought to us. Matthew 5:17 tells us that Jesus said, ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. As Genesis described God creating the world out of chaos, laws and rules allow us to live within order designed to protect us and make our lives more meaningful when we do not need to live in the fear of the unknown.

Laws are made to be changed to adapt to modifications in our ways of living. We transitioned from rules regarding horse transportation to cars and trucks. I have always thought the law against eating pork was the equivalent of a health rule in our world today. Trichinosis is a deadly disease transmitted by eating pork. There was, thus, a good reason not to eat pork until we learned how to cook it to remove the microscopic parasite Trichinella. The original law was prudent for the time but could be revised once the culprit of the disease was destroyed. Some faith groups choose to continue to follow the Biblical instruction about not eating pork as a way of honoring God, and that is valid too. We must also now consider the admonitions of eating too much red meat for health reasons.

However, human-created laws can and sometimes work for sinister ends. In the USA, we live in a democracy ideally designed to give a voice to all its people in working for the Common Good. We, however, have seen laws that were created for the selfish gain of a few people or for forcing one’s values on others that have no link to the Common Good. That is when seeking God with our whole heart must bring our rules and laws into conformity with God’s love.

Prayer: Lord, help us carefully to discern, in carrying out our civic responsibilities, any laws or rules that do not follow God’s ultimate laws of Loving God, loving our neighbors as ourselves, and recognizing that final judgment belongs to God. Forgive us when we do not see that greed and lust for power are idols as much as any graven image 5000 years ago. 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 of God

Ordinary Times

January 30, 2023

Scripture Reading: Malachi 3:1-4

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? Most of those of us who claim to be Christ-followers generally think we are following the ways of Jesus Christ. The interesting thing is that we have a very broad spectrum of interpretations of what those ways are and how we emulate them in our lives today. First, we must trust the stories of Jesus passed down by our faith ancestors. Even in the first century, we have the beginnings of different interpretations. We also must glean our understanding of Jesus Christ through stories all originally written in languages other than those we speak. Finally, we have over 2000 years of life experiences that have shaped our understanding of God. The truth is, we probably all interpret God’s path through our personal preferences, reading and following the scriptures with which we are most comfortable.

John, the latest gospel written, addressed that issue in the first sentence of that book, John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Jesus Christ can never be fully understood through the written word. He is the Word, and we meet him through a combination of studying the Bible, sharing discussions with other God-followers, and, most importantly, developing a personal relationship with God through practicing spiritual disciplines that keep us in sync with God. Jesus even modeled that himself—going up the mountain to meditate and pray, throwing his body to the ground in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking God to take what he was facing from him (Luke 22:42); and in the end, hanging on the cross reporting to God that he has finished the work he was sent to complete (John 19:30).

Hebrews 4:12 states that Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And it is in that reckoning that we find the truth and work toward the maturity in faith to find the oneness among all Christ-followers that will be the Kingdom of God.

Prayer: Lord, examine each of us and help us to find the best way we can do our part in oneness with all people. 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.

Christ Crucified

Ordinary Time

January 26, 2023

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
   and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. –1 Corinthians 1:18-26

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. –John 15:13

The Greek language has several words that are translated into English as the word love. The Greek word Agápē* translated as love in this quote from John typically refers to divine love (= what God prefers). Christ crucified was and is an act of divine love expressing God’s preference that all God’s people know that God loves you and me and all people. As God loves all of us, God calls us to love one another. That simple statement, followed by the action necessary to fulfill it, is the keystone to abundant life. A keystone is the wedge-shaped piece at the crown of an arch especially: such a piece inserted last and locking the other pieces in place**.

John 10:10 tells us that Jesus said The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Is Paul saying to the Corinthians and to us that the wisdom of the world is that thief that comes only to steal and kill and destroy? Greed, lust for power, and bigotry are not what God prefers. I now think I must add violence to this list of the principalities and the powers that too often are pressing to overcome the power of love. Surely, we Christ-followers must account for our acceptance of violence as a routine part of life and become more vigilant in spreading God’s love to all people.

Prayer: Lord, do not ever let us grow in acceptance of violence as a normal part of life. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/26.htm

** https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/keystone

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

Ordinary Time

January 25, 2023

Scripture Reading: Psalm 15
O Lord, who may abide in your tent?
   Who may dwell on your holy hill?

Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,
   and speak the truth from their heart;
who do not slander with their tongue,
   and do no evil to their friends,
   nor take up a reproach against their neighbors;
in whose eyes the wicked are despised,
   but who honor those who fear the Lord;
who stand by their oath even to their hurt;
who do not lend money at interest,
   and do not take a bribe against the innocent.

Those who do these things shall never be moved.

Create in me a clean heart and a right spirit, (Psalm 51:10) and Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord. (Psalms 141:3) are two prays that are important to pray daily. I identify with Jacob who wrestles with an angel in preparation for his reconciliation with his brother Esau. We cannot walk blamelessly, speech the truth, or any of the other thing listed in the above scripture until we deal with our own demons.

We also can not follow the above guidance unless we take the time and energy to understand the people with whom we are interacting. None of us can ever know all the things that impact the lives of those we encounter daily.  We do not know if they left a sick child at home or have an ingrown toenail dueling with too-tight shoes nor if we are white do we know what it is like to be black if we are female, what it is like to be male or vice versa.  We must always look for the good triggers and the bad triggers in our interactions, guiding our next steps in communicating God’s love while dealing with sometimes tough issues.

Prayer: Hear our prayers, O Lord, and guide us in our love. 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.

Jesus as a Mentor

Ordinary Time

January 22, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Matthew 4:12-23

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. –Matthew 4:18-23

I read the book Jesus, CEO: Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership by Laurie Beth Jones when it was first published in 1996, and I was still working. I thought of it as I read the above scripture recognizing that Jesus’s leadership role was much like a CEO’s job. I remember that I thought the book provided good guidance for people who supervise other people. I could not remember the author’s name, so I searched for it on the Internet. I was surprised to see that the book had been republished and updated on its 25th anniversary in 2021. I guess I will read it again.

One does not have to be a CEO to learn from Jesus’s way of dealing with people and drawing out the very best in each person while helping people to work well together as a team.  Jesus was a great coach. Being a leader is both an art and a science. I strongly believe that God created each person with unique skills that are necessary to fulfill the Kingdom of God. Our role is to be the very best person we can be while helping others do the same thing. That requires us to recognize the skills and abilities of others and understand the best way to communicate with them. When working as a team, we must develop our own skills to negotiate and compromise and surround ourselves with people who make the group with whom we are working whole.

Because all teams require the meshing together of differing skills, we all must learn to love ourselves as the person God created us to be so we can recognize that the talents and skills of others do not diminish who we are and what we are contributing. We are all called to make each other whole.  The talents of a good surgeon would be wasted if the cleaning crew had failed to do their job. My paternal grandfather died because a scalpel had not been sterilized properly.

Prayer: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10). 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 Power of God’s Love

Ordinary Time

January 20, 2023

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. –1 Corinthians 1:18

The Greek word apollumi* translated here as perishing means absolute destruction, to come to a miserable end.  While we may long for a second coming where all evil will be ended, death is the certainty we all face in real-time with the hope and faith that it is not the final answer.

We live and have our being in the meantime, and it is in the meantime that our focus must be. We are called to share the message about the cross so that those who are perishing because they are missing the faith, hope, and love of Christ can experience the love of God.  Please note the language in this scripture describes the here and now, not a done deal. The people are described as perishing, not destroyed.

This is not just about individual salvation but also about systemic change resulting from our being the whole body of Christ worldwide. That starts for us in the USA in our communities, our states, and yes, our nation.

Benjamin Franklin spoke the words; Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.

Our country is perishing in various ways, and we as individuals and members of communities of faith,we are charged with bringing the same faith, hope, and love we know to reconcile the whole world to Christ’s amazing grace.

Prayer: Lord, open the doors of our hearts for sharing your love with others so that your amazing grace can influence outcomes for those with all kinds of needs across the world. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/622.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.