Tag Archives: Oneness

Vanity

Living in the Spirit

July 26, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Ecclesiastes 2:18-23
I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me —and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.

What legacy will each of us leave? Will it matter? I certainly have inherited some of my mother’s ways of being. I often describe my mom as the world’s best egalitarian. Every grandchild got equal to the same thing from her whether it was an Afghan or a quilt. When she made out her health care directive, she insisted that all three of her children were listed equally. I may not be as good at treating everyone equally as she was, but it crosses my mind in my decision-making. I dare say she may have developed this attitude because she saw the opposite in some of her life experiences. We do sometimes change patterns of behavior because we have seen the negative results of such behavior.

On the other hand, as the world changes so must our responses to those changes. Children today have no concept of a world without instant communications. I laughed at myself when I drove away from my house and by the time I reached the end of the block, I realized I had forgotten my cell phone. I turned around and got it and then wondered how many times before I had driven down I-35 toward the Stillwater exist near my family’s farm with no means of communication. We worked hard to create a more efficient and effective world. Our descendants hopefully will do the same thing. Some now would argue whether instant communication is always good.

The Hebrew word “Hebel”, translated here as vanity means worthless, more like in vain, than perhaps a perception of false pride*. We are called to do our best to leave our descendants a more advanced world than we may have inherited but the wisdom and love of God are constant and this too we must pass on to coming generations and pray that our example is not in vain.

Prayer: Lord, let the love we inherited from you be the greatest gift we pass on to our descendants. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1892.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 Common Good and Abundant Life

Living in the Spirit

Kudzu Graveyard

July 24, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 11:14-23

Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, ‘He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.’ Others, to test him, kept demanding from him a sign from heaven. But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? —for you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. Now if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his plunder. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

I am not a literalist, but I must say I was a little unnerved when I read from the scripture today that Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house. Oklahoma is suffering from major drought and deadly heat, as is much of the world. Farmers are hunting for hay to feed their cattle over the winter. Wildfires are burning the grass further reducing the production of hay. Just a few weeks ago I saw flooding on TV from Montana to Tennessee watching houses being lifted off their foundations and floating down out-of-control rivers of water. While climate change is destroying living space, our elected leaders are devoting their time to concerns about what restrooms people should be allowed to use and whether our children have the mental stamina to handle studying history. The problem they cannot seem to figure out is how to provide for the common good while assuring that the rich continue getting richer not recognizing that the common good is the foundation of financial stability. Greed is like the Kudzu plant, nicknamed “the vine that ate the South”, it eats everything around it until nothing is left and it dies.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10) Jesus came to bring us the fullness of life where indeed everyone has enough of the necessities of life, but all have the opportunity to experience the fullness of life.

Prayer: Lord, help us provide for the Common Good as a part of our supporting the fullness of life for everyone. 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.

Part of the Beloved Community

Living in the Spirit

July 15, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Colossians 1:15-28

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. —Colossians 1:24-28

I wonder how many times I have written the words greed and lust for power over the past ten years as forces leading to our destruction as a nation. Greed is described in the story of the Garden of Eden. Esau and Jacob’s story described lust for power. While these attributes(?) have been with us from the beginning, they seem to raise their ugly heads in pandemic proportion from time to time. We are living in such a time as that and are already paying the consequences. Greed demands that the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. Lust for power requires someone else to decide how we live, breathe, and have our being. King Ahab and his wife Jezebel are good examples from the Bible. Vladimir Putin is a great example of that today. Paul’s challenge as an apostle of Jesus Christ was bringing people together to become one in Christ whose lives, like ours, had been shaped for generations by at least some of the ways of the world like greed and lust for power whether practicing them or being their victims.

Jesus’s vision of the Kingdom of God, what today might be referred to as the beloved community, can never be fueled by greed and lust for power. God created an organic world where all parts have purposes of importance that must work together to attain optimum outcomes for each and all its parts. Living into that vision demands that we, with the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit let go of what separates us from God and embrace the culture of the beloved community.

Prayer:
Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I’m tired, I’m weak, I’m lone
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home*. Amen.

*First verse of Precious Lord, Take My Hand, by Thomas A. Dorsey see at https://www.austincc.edu/dlauderb/2341/Lyrics/PreciousLord.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.

Hospitality

Living in the Spirit

July 12, 2022

Scripture Reading: Genesis 18:1-10a

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, ‘My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.’ So they said, ‘Do as you have said.’ And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, ‘Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.’ Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate. –Genesis 18:1-8

Did you catch that? The Lord [Yahwah] appeared, and Abraham runs to greet three men he saw, he bows to them and said ‘My lord [an honorary title] and offers hospitality. The appearance of the Lord seems to be in and among the arrival of the three men. Hospitality was a very important responsibility in Abraham’s culture that was carried down through my family. Our doors were opened to anyone who stopped, and no one ever left without at the very least an offer of a drink of water. We had a neighbor with a mental illness who spent much of her day walking up and down the country road that led from her house by ours. She occasionally entered our back kitchen screen door without knocking. She never spoke but my mother would always carry on a one-way conversation with her inviting her to have a seat at the table, while Mom talked about how hot or cold it might be, that we might need rain, and that the tomato crop had been good this year. Mom always offered her a glass of water or tea if we had it, and food which she never touched. My mother had a look she gave we kids that said be nice and be quiet while the woman was there. Just as quickly as she arrived, she would suddenly stand up and leave out the back door and continue her walk. We are all made in the image of God, I believe my mother saw God’s image in everyone she met just as Abraham did, just as we should continue to do today.

Prayer: Lord, we live in a sometimes scary world, help us find ways to love through our fears and help our hospitality be constructive in the lives of the people we meet. 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.

Beloved Community

Living in the Spirit

July 3, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’ –Luke 10:17-20

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. –Romans 8:38-39

Church lore passed on by word of mouth, reports that Luke was martyred–hung from a tree. We will probably never know if he died for his faith. He certainly lived for it. We, too, are called to live our faith. I think Luke is speaking with the understanding that by faith we live on a higher ground where God’s love supersedes any harm we may encounter. Paul’s statement, quoted above from Romans, describes that plain. I remember several years ago an elderly couple was kidnaped, probably for their car and money, at a shopping mall and found later by the side of the road dead. I remember vividly the couple’s son in a TV interview, saying his parents would have done anything for anyone, they probably tried to help their assailant. They died knowing that God was with them and that gave the son comfort. They lived on that higher plain.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, churches in the USA veered toward emphasizing individual salvation creating a reservation in heaven for eternity. That played well with the increasing emphasis on profit-making, where our actions are defined by determining what is in it for me? Indeed, there is nothing more important in our lives than our salvation through Jesus Christ, but it is a beginning, not an end. It is available to everyone as Jesus called us to be one and to strive for a world ruled by love. God’s greatest worship moment will be when all his children strive first for the Kingdom of God—God’s beloved community.  

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we stray from our duties of loving our neighbors as we love ourselves because we think we are better than our neighbors. Open our hearts and minds to building your beloved community. 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.

Living in the Compassionate Community

Living in the Spirit

June 30, 2022

Scripture Reading: Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16

My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor’s work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads.

Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.

Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith. –Galatians 6:1-10

Paul starts this scripture with the admonition that if we detect a transgression in others who have received the Spirit, we should gently address it with them. The remainder of the scripture basically tells us that we are responsible for our actions and that we are responsible for examining ourselves and staying in sync with God. We do indeed reap what we sow. Since Paul addresses these teachings to people who have received the Spirit, I think the unspoken precursor to this is that we are called to introduce others to the love of God. We are not called to condemn anyone.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me when I stray from following your way. Help me turn around and regain being in sync with you in all that I do or say. 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.

Faith Mentor

Living in the Spirit

June 21, 2022

Scripture Reading:

1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21

Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.

 So he set out from there, and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was ploughing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, ‘Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.’ Then Elijah said to him, ‘Go back again; for what have I done to you?’ He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

I did not realize the lectionary had prequels. Yesterday we remembered Elisha taking over the role of Elijah as he was whisked to the heavens on a chariot of fire and horses of fire. Today we go back to Elisha’s entry into being a prophet. The role of faith mentor is crucial. Jesus was the living example of a faith mentor. We are all called to be faith mentors. The smallest child senses when their presence in church is welcomed—even celebrated.  Hebrews 11:1-3, describes it thusly, Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

Living your faith will be the best sermon you will ever preach.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for modeling for us how to live our faith. 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.

God’s Hope for the World

Living in the Spirit

June 15, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 22:19-28

I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;
   in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
   All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
   stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he did not despise or abhor
   the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
   but heard when I cried to him.

From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
   my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
   those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
   May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth shall remember
   and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
   shall worship before him.
For dominion belongs to the Lord,
   and he rules over the nations. –Psalm 22:22-28

Most of us are probably more familiar with the first verse of Psalm 22 which Jesus quoted from the cross: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?    Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? Reading the remainder of the chapter suggests that he took comfort from that scripture even in the agony of a painful death. It takes the reader all the way back to their ancestor Jacob who knew God and attested to God’s support and brings the history of God forward for Christ-followers’ understanding of God’s continuing fidelity in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. God’s vision of the whole world being blessed through his love continues to this day.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your saving grace giving us hope in a world that is being challenged from every quarter. 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.

Changing in God’s Way

Living in the Spirit

June 8, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 8
O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
   Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
   to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
   mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
   and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
   you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
   and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
   whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

I wonder if God regrets giving us dominion over the works of God’s hands. We surely can mess things up very quickly. Oklahoma is known for its dangerous weather but even for someone who has lived here for decades, I have not seen weather like we are having now. It seems we daily beat some weather record. We are more and more having to deal with issues that demand the whole world to work well together to address everything from climate change to pandemics. We do not do a good job of addressing these issues as individual nations much less having all work together. God created us too and I cannot help but think God created us with the innate ability to rise above our greed and lust for power and find common ground for the Common Good.

Oklahoma released several prisoners a few years ago because they had been sentenced to extreme sentences for non-violent crimes. The state reduced the sentences for new offenders and then realized that several of our current prisoners had already served more time than the current sentence for the crime they committed. So, we did a mass release. What we did not take into consideration was that prison itself changes people and that many of those released needed help adjusting to the outside world again. Moses dealt with this in the wilderness after leading the Israelites out of Egypt.

Humans seek what is called homeostasis, which describes a tendency toward maintenance of relatively stable social conditions among groups*. We prefer to live with what we know even if it is not the best way to survive or thrive. When forces outside ourselves alter our normal patterns, we quickly search for new homeostasis, for example, how to succeed in prison and then how to succeed out of prison. Right now, we seem to wake up every morning with a new pattern of living from weird weather to pandemics to mass shootings. At each point in meeting these challenges, the best way to learn how to deal with them is to follow the guidance of our world’s original Creator. Thus, we must take the time to analyze whether our response to the world is in keeping with God’s intentions for the world and adjust to follow God’s intentions.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we let the challenges in our world get the better of us. Grant us your peace so we can be carriers of your peace to others facing the same challenges that 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.