Tag Archives: Oneness

Doing the Work of Love

Living in the Spirit

October 14, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 99

The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble!
   He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
The Lord is great in Zion;
   he is exalted over all the peoples.
Let them praise your great and awesome name.
   Holy is he!
Mighty King, lover of justice,
   you have established equity;
you have executed justice
   and righteousness in Jacob.
Extol the Lord our God;
   worship at his footstool.
   Holy is he! –Psalm 99:1-5

As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’—Luke 19:41-44

The vision of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem pops into my head routinely now as I observe the division and chaos going on in the USA. We cannot even agree on what is just and what is not or what is right and what is wrong. Evil has truly worked its magic across our land. The saddest thing is that people on all sides will agree with this statement, but they do not agree on what evil is.

Of one thing I am sure, Jesus loved justice. He saw corruption for what it was, and he was crucified for challenging power. But God is indeed a Might King, a Lover of Justice, and death on the cross was not the last word. We now live in a post-resurrection world. Gifted by grace, we are called to be in partnership with Christ Jesus, Lord of All, to labor in his service. Loving God and loving one another are his commanded action steps toward expanding justice and peace throughout the earth. Hatred and human condemnation have no place in Christ’s job description for us, nor does self-righteousness. We are called to establish equity in all our endeavors. The judgment of our success or failure at doing justice is delegated to Jesus Christ. Thus, Jesus’ ways are our best means of success.

Prayer: God forgive us for we do know what we are doing, and the chaos we are creating we call good.We cannot seem to extract ourselves from the web that enslaves us. Help us to find the path back to you.  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.

Monotheism

Living in the Spirit

October 13, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 45:1-7
Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
   whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
   and strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
   and the gates shall not be closed:
I will go before you
   and level the mountains,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
   and cut through the bars of iron,
I will give you the treasures of darkness
   and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
   the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
For the sake of my servant Jacob,
   and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
   I surname you, though you do not know me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
   besides me there is no god.
   I arm you, though you do not know me,
so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
   and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
   I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness,
   I make weal and create woe;
   I the Lord do all these things.

I wonder if Cyrus was a monotheist like the Israelites. If he was prompted by God to release the Israelites from captivity, he was open to receiving such messages. We Christians and those Israelite, too, tend to think monotheistical with exclusivity. There is no horizontal bar on that cross. Christ calls us to go into the world and welcome all as God accepts us. On our journey, we may find more people than we think who have already met God. Having grown up in Oklahoma amid the influence of indigenous people, I have never been surprised at the indigenous people’s early recognition of the monotheistic God European immigrants proclaimed because the indigenous people had known such a God throughout their history.

I guess this piqued my interest because I see references on social media, implying one group or another holds exclusive rights to defining God, often shaped in the form of their image, not the other way around.

Mahatma Gandhi might have said it best, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

Prayer: God of all, help us see the light of your love in all your children who seek and accept your prompting.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.

God’s Graciousness

Living in the Spirit

October 12, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Exodus 33:12-23

Moses said to the Lord, ‘See, you have said to me, “Bring up this people”; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, “I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.” Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.’ He said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ And he said to him, ‘If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.’

The Lord said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.’ Moses said, ‘Show me your glory, I pray.’ And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, “The Lord”; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

Moses prayers for his salvation and for that of the people he leads. The Lord responds that God will be gracious to Moses and otherwise will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Paul says in Philippians 2:12–Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Moses is praying for protection regarding the Israelites escape from Egypt of both the individuals and the collective involved. Paul, too, seems to be instructing the Philippians as they strive to be the Body of Christ in an unwelcoming world in the same manner. God cares for us as individuals and as part of the family of God, and God holds us accountable as individuals and as the collective Body of Christ. The further we get into the story, the Exodus illustrates that Moses had his hands full, occasionally dealing with his fellow Israelites working together, following God’s ways.

Those proclaiming to be the Body of Christ in the USA today are torn asunder with the various sides, not recognizing the other groups as relating to the same Christ. We, too, must pray for God’s presence to go with all who call on Christ’s name that we might be the One Body of Christ working together toward building the Kingdom of God.

Prayer: Be gracious with us, Lord, forgive us for our sins of self-righteousness. Let your love flow through us, enabling us to love one another. 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.

Selective Love

Living in the Spirit

October 11, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:1-14

‘But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.‘ –Matthew 11-14

One of the hardest things we must recognize is that people are all people. There is no hierarchy of worth. A poor person can be just as greedy as a rich one. An influential person is as capable of being as humble as anyone else. I find it interesting that, while trying to address the inequalities in life, we take steps backward when anyone in the oppressed group makes the same mistake that the privileged make. The privilege cry out, see we were right all along; they are not as good as we are. One of the first things I learned about George Floyd was he had tried to pay for his purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. I wondered how many times that clerk had run the counterfeit test, saw it failed, and handed the bill back to the one making the purchase. Any of us could get a counterfeit bill back in change and not know it. The store called the police on George Floyd.

 I would love to see a grand jury’s findings trying the Breonna Taylor case, whose members did not know the issue before they entered the courtroom. What would have been the response if they were presented the same evidence, except the prosecutor was white? The victim’s picture was of a beautiful, wholesome-looking, white 20-something woman working as an emergency med-tech earning money to become a nurse.

The scripture above is the continuation of the story related to privileged people ignoring the invitation-of-a-lifetime because they felt they had life right anyway. They did not want to be bothered by accepting an invitation to celebrate love. So, the invitation was issued to everyone, commoners, and even the oppressed. They came, but at least one of them failed to take the invitation seriously. Perhaps came just to watch or eat the refreshments but had no intention of celebrating the gift of God’s love.

Each of us is somewhere in this story. God grants us the choice of loving God and loving one another. We are either in or out. There are no gradations in our selections—we cannot choose to say I will love God when I have the time, and it does not interfere with my greed, I will love this person but not that person.

Prayer: God, forgive us when we turn to lesser gods and choosing to love some but not all of your children. 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.

Worry Not

Living in the Spirit

October 9, 2020

Scripture Reading:  
Philippians 4:1-9

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. –Philippians 4:4-9

I always considered my mother a worrier. I got the sense, at times, that my mother might have thought if she worried enough the bad thing she expected would not happen. I finally realized that what I classified as my mother worrying might have been the outward appearance of her prayers and supplications. She was a doer. If there was something, she could do to make things better she did it. Her depth of supplication I classified as worry generally related to something totally out of her control. I would love to chat with Paul to discern his take on the difference in worry and praying without ceasing.

The word translated “worry” Paul uses in the above scripture has a deeper meaning.

The Greek word merimnáō  is described as being drawn in opposite directions; “divided into parts” (A. T. Robertson); (figuratively) “to go to pieces” because pulled apart (in different directions), like the force exerted by sinful anxiety (worry). Positively, this word is used of effectively distributing concern, in proper relation to the whole picture*. What I would call not blowing something out of proportion.

Paul’s letters were written to people who were being pulled apart. Gentiles were being coaxed to consider an entirely different way of being than their culture had taught them—one God rather than many, love defining all actions, and working together in a diverse community of people. We face the same challenges today. And we see the impact of people being torn apart. Our many gods are gods of our own making too. They generally are more sinister than statues. We also are not doing well breaking out of our caste systems of race and wealth and gender. The other audience for Paul’s letters was his established religion who were so unwelcoming of Paul’s newfound relationship with God through Jesus Christ that he was persecuted. And yet, his faith in Christ, and the Holy Spirit’s guidance gave him the peace of being one with God and leading others to join him in that Oneness.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/3309.htm

Prayer: Our whole nation seems torn apart. Finding common ground seems impossible, but we know all things are possible through you. Heal or wounded souls make us whole make us one. 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.

Detecting Our Errors

Living in the Spirit

September 30, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 19

But who can detect their errors?
   Clear me from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
   do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
   and innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
   be acceptable to you,
   O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. –Psalm 19:12-14

Indeed, it is hard, though not impossible, to see the errors of our ways and understandings. I see the world so differently from others because of my background, because I am left-handed, I wear glasses, I am female, I am white. I am unique, as each of you is. Yet God, in God’s wisdom, created us to be interdependent beings in relationship with God, other people, other animals, and the earth itself. Such interrelationship requires us to try to see ourselves as others see us for better or for worse. God will also work with us to enter into the difficult tasks of correcting those faults that are only hidden from ourselves. I call this seeking wholeness with the help of God. The closer we are to wholeness in relationship with God, the better we will enter into the oneness Christ desires, enabling justice for all.

The Psalmist broadens the scope of this prayer from looking inward to dealing with outward challenges. The word insolent to me is descriptive of a personality that is disruptive to oneness, using a divide and conquer ploy. When I see this happening in our society, and I see it more and more, I desire to require everyone to read C. S. Lewis’ book, The Screwtape Letters, in which the devil teaches his nephew the devils tricks. Literature can sometimes take us just enough out of our protective shells to help us see ourselves.

The more significant challenge for Christ-followers is that we are called to love the insolent, while not getting pulled into their game. Thus everything we say and do must be acceptable to God, our rock and our redeemer.

Prayer:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
   be acceptable to you,
   O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. 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’s Worldview

Living in the Spirit

September 19, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 20:1-16

‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” So, the last will be first, and the first will be last.’

I heard many sermons on this scripture over my years. Does a deathbed confession merit eternity in heaven, and what about that prodigal son? Dr. Fred Craddock was my Introduction to the New Testament professor in college. He was trying to reach a room full of freshmen who were required to take the class. I do not recall the scripture Dr. Craddock addressed, probably something from Paul, but I think what he illustrated applies to this scripture. He drew a long horizontal straight line at the top of the blackboard. Under it, he drew what essentially looked like a bell curve with its top center resting just a hair below the straight line. He noted that the straight line was salvation and the bell curve was where diverse people with varied backgrounds might be charted based on human measures of outward righteousness (my words, not his). The space between where one was located on that curve does not matter; salvation is dependent on God’s gift of grace, which fills any void.

We humans seem to need to meet some external measure of our worth, often allowing society to dictate who is right and who is not. Our culture does tend to caste wealth as a measure of worth. My guess is everyone who reads the above scripture, at least those who live in the USA, squirm a bit, thinking that is not fair. In our cultural worldview, we would be correct. Jesus is calling us in this scripture to share his worldview. He wants us to love and want the best for all with no strings attached. God created a diversity of people, and it would be extraordinary for them to all think and act alike. I think what Jesus is saying is we must see our cultural worldview through the lens of Christ’s worldview and make any adjustments necessary to assure that Christ’s worldview dominates.

Prayer: Lord, help us take the time to consider how you would view every situation we encounter, whether it is something we find strange or something we take for granted. 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.

Unity

Living in the Spirit

September 18, 2020

Scripture Reading: Philippians 1:21-30

For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.

Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well— since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Paul may have been in prison in Ephesus when he wrote the letter to the Philippians. Feeling threatened by his foes, he had every reason to consider his mortality. Many did not survive in prison in those days because of starvation or disease. Paul was also a candidate for execution. While my situation is not so dire, being in the at-risk old-folk group who are more susceptible to COVID-19, I, too, am more attuned to my mortality when I hear on the news each day how many have died. One of my more philosophical friends, 25 years my senior, said we all had to die sometime. Of course, he is right. While Paul identified dying as gain, we must not overlook his words living is Christ.

I think most of us would agree that the world is in a big mess, but we are very divided on what we consider constitutes “a mess” and how to fix the problems. I thus was surprised and pleased to know that there is a bipartisan group of congress members called the Problem Solvers Caucus, who are seeking common ground for the Common Good. My Congresswoman, Kendra Horn, is one of them. It is a tough job as it not only involves bringing people together but doing that among those principalities and powers*, mentioned in the King James Version of the Bible, whose success is often based on divide and conquer tactics.

I have long believed that our government, for good or bad, is a direct reflection of we, the people. We are the ones who want to have our cake and eat it too. We are the ones who measure our worth by comparing it to others. We are the ones who want to bury our heads in the sand and not notice the earth is hurting too. So, rather than sit around considering our mortality, it is time that we make the changes in our lives that will then be reflected in our lawmakers’ actions–like loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. Please join me in supporting our lawmakers who are seeking common ground for the Common Good. That includes examining our own lives to see where we may be a part of the divisiveness and work to become a part of the unity Christ envisions for us**. Join Christ in that prayer that we may all be one and mean it.

Prayer: Lord of all, weave us together in love. Amen.

*Ephesians 6:12
**See John 17

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 vs Greed

Living in the Spirit

September 16, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45

O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
   make known his deeds among the peoples.
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
   tell of all his wonderful works.
Glory in his holy name;
   let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and his strength;
   seek his presence continually.
Remember the wonderful works he has done,
   his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered,
O offspring of his servant Abraham,
   children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

So he brought his people out with joy,
   his chosen ones with singing.
He gave them the lands of the nations,
   and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,
that they might keep his statutes
   and observe his laws.

Praise the Lord! –Psalm 105:1-6, 43-45

Does God establish privilege for those who follow God? That seems to be the thurst of most of the stories in the Bible that begin with God’s saving grace and transition to a sense of privilege. Ultimately those who travel the path of privilege fail as the Israelites did when they were exiled.

In the scripture above, the Israelites had every right and responsibility to praise God for rescuing them out of slavery in Egypt. Did that give them the right to take other nations’ land, to steal their wealth because the Israelites observed God’s laws? Is taking land and wealth even within the limits of God’s laws? Greed colors our interpretation of scripture.

Exodus 20:15–You shall not steal.
Exodus 20:17– You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Leviticus 19:18– You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Many of our ancestors left Europe in search of religious freedom only to take the lands of the natives where our ancestors settled. They imported slaves from African as the primary means of producing wealth from that same land. They justified it as God’s will through the theory of Manifest Destiny and the issuance of the Document of Discovery. And we carry the weight of those sins to this day.

Christ came and taught us a new way of living measured not by wealth or privilege but by the love we share as we celebrate the gifts of God’s grace available to all.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for attempting to cast you as the source of the greed that engulfs us. Free us from its chains and give us the courage to live fully in the abundance of your 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.

Serving God in Community

Living in the Spirit

September 6, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Matthew 18:15-20
‘If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’

Scriptures like the one above make me wonder why I committed to using the Lectionary as my source for these devotions. I had grown weary of the use of small sections of the Bible being used, often out of context, to support systems of belief that seemed to be incongruous with other parts of the Bible. I continue to think we need to study the Bible as a whole and deal with those incongruities.  So here I go trying to evaluate this scripture with some objectivity rather than following in Thomas Jefferson’s example and just cutting out the sections I do not care to deal with.

First, we need to understand that the word adelphos*, translated here as “church,” is not the same thing as the building in which we attend worship. Some will include the people who worship in that building as “church.” Others may extend that meaning to our denomination, and perhaps even other denominations with whom we might interact. We may think of the church universal as all Christians. The Greek word means brother and is extended to mean a brother, member of the same religious community, especially a fellow-Christian*.  Today, using the phrase religious community instead of “church” might have been more meaningful. Jesus is giving instructions regarding how a community of faith is to solve problems. I must confess, I checked to make sure I was reading from Matthew rather than Paul because this sounds very much like what he wrote to the churches he served.

My Sunday school class had an interesting discussion once where one participant indicated that sin relates to our relationship to God and that he did not think we sin against one another.  The word translated sin in this scripture means missing the mark. It is used originally as I miss the mark, hence (a) I make a mistake, (b) I sin, commit a sin (against God); sometimes the idea of sinning against a fellow-creature is present**.  My classmate might be right in one regard. If we miss the mark as related to another, we may also commit sin against God.

In either case, the advice is sound that we should deal with misunderstandings and mistakes before they fester and grow into significant impediments to our advancing in a community the vision and mission of God through Jesus Christ.

Prayer: God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, help us to follow you more nearly as we bring with us the sound teachings of our past, live in your love now, and set the stage for the greater good for future generations. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/80.htm
**https://biblehub.com/greek/264.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.