Tag Archives: Oneness

Empowered to Love

Lent

April 2, 2020

Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:5-11

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
   he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross. –Philippians 2:5-8

What was in Christ’s mind? According to this poem/hymn, Christ recognized that he was made in the form of God but was not equal to God. Perhaps that relates specifically to his tenure as a human. For Jesus to be fully human and thus completely understanding of how humans think and feel, it was imperative that God Incarnate must experience full humanness. Did that require him to give up special powers? Yet he healed the sick and raised the dead. Have we reached for knowledge and wisdom to follow in his footsteps? We have come a long way, but we are not finished yet. Jesus was cautious. He did not use his gifts for selfish gain or personal aggrandizement. Are we to follow that model also?

What does it mean to empty oneself? Are we to purge ourselves of all things that made us who we are and start over again? Jesus talked about being born again. I doubt that we could ever shed our histories. Some may be embedded in our DNA. We do need to work at ridding ourselves of all the baggage that we carry that is holding us back from being the person we are created to be. Finally, if called, could we be obedient to the point of death? As I write this, I cannot help but think of all the health care workers who are striving to save people from the covid 19 virus, many of whom have already given their lives in service to others.

 According to Genesis we are all made in the image of God and none of us are equal to God, but we have been blessed to be siblings with his Son Jesus Christ and invited by him to share in forming a Kingdom ruled by love. What does it mean to be made in the image of God? We are each fully capable of loving ourselves and one another. We have no excuse for hating anyone or disparaging anyone or classifying ourselves as better than anyone. And most of us have probably only tapped the tip of the resources God placed in each of us at our beginning. In times like these we need to persevere, testing the limits of God’s gift to love and apply it as needed even if it simply means sheltering at home.

Prayer: Lord of Love, thank you for the gift of your Son to model the ways of love. Strengthen us as we face the challenges of life and help us grow in oneness and justice as we deal with this crisis.

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.

Let There Be Light

Lent

March 28, 2020

Scripture Reading:
John 11:1-45

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ But when Jesus heard it, he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.’ –John 11:1-9

As I read in the above scripture that Jesus chose to walk into danger by choice to fulfill his mission, I thought of all the health care workers and emergency respondents who are doing exactly that—walking into danger by choice right now. A friend has a son who is a nurse and who is apparently on call with FEMA to serve in disasters. He was sent to Puerto Rico shortly after that disaster happened; he now is in New York City dealing with the covid 19 pandemic.

I like the idea of working in the light of day so that we do not stumble. That speaks to me of prevention and protective measures and the oneness that must be present for any pandemic to be swept away.  The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is to make my bed. Sometime in late February or early March, I am not sure when, there was enough light streaming through my bedroom windows so that it was not necessary for me to turn on the light electricity provides. By habit I am an early riser. I found it a bit disconcerting the first morning of Daylight Savings Time that I had to turn on the light. Just a couple of weeks later the daylight was streaming again.

We do God’s work in our world in both times of light and darkness. During times of great joy and great fear God’s light persists. In this time of bleak darkness, we need to depend on that light to shine on our path and show us the way to be God’s people within his light of love.

Prayer: Open our hearts and minds to let your light shine through us during bad times as well as good. 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.

Life

Lent

March 24, 2020

Scripture Reading
Ezekiel 37:1-14

So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. –Ezekiel 37:7-10

The Hebrew word Ruach* is translated into English based on its use as breath, wind, or spirit. In the instance above it is used as a sign and symbol of life. The presence of God and the presence of life are inseparable and have been since God breathed the breath of life into humanity. When we move away from God, we move away from life. In the scene painted so dramatically above, all the breath was gone from the people and only their lifeless bones remained to show they ever existed.

When we turn away from God, seek after lesser gods instead, we eventually become like those dry bones, of no use to ourselves, our community, or the creation about us and maybe even become a detriment. When greed or personal power or lust or anything else becomes more important than God in our lives then we become like those drying, decaying bones. This is a decidedly ugly picture. When we are ready to return to a relationship with God, God readily restores Gods Ruach to us.

As many of us are self-isolating to help control the covid 19 pandemic, we have the time to reflect on how far we have drifted from God who is Love as our source of life and meaning in life. Starting with each of us and spreading to and through all of us as the children of God, we need to examine our priorities and allow God to do a new thing in us**.

Prayer: Lord, help me see myself through your eyes and where needed help me let go of all that is keeping me from being the person you created me to be. Empower me to work with others to be your hands and feet in turning our world into a placed ruled by love. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7307.htm

**Isaiah 43:19

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.

Loving without Hugging

Lent

March 23, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Ezekiel 37:1-14

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ –Ezekiel 37:1-6

Bones strewn around open ground first makes me think that a horrid battle had occurred where bodies had been left to rot some years back. They could also indicate other kinds of attack such as pestilence or disease. We daily watch the charts showing the number of deaths among peoples around the world rise markedly each day as we take more seriously our task of withdrawing from people so that the covid19 virus spreads less. Like me, most of us want to do something, anything to stop the spread of the disease and yet we are charged specifically with the inertia of avoiding crowds. I am writing this as I await my own church’s Facebook worship. I have seen inquiries on social media from pastors wondering what the new normal is regarding funerals where crowds are expected exchanging loving, comforting hugs.

I have heard only a few crazy theories about this virus’ causes and I do believe as Jesus taught that it rains on the just and the unjust*. I also think that every life challenge is a teaching moment. In this instance we are reminded again what is important and what is not. Oneness with all is not just a pipe dream but was/is the intentional creative spirit God planted in each of us at our creation and one we reject at our own peril. And we are never alone as God’s abiding presence surrounds us 24/7 for eternity.

Prayer: Lord, as we lose patience with awaiting the end of our current challenge remind us to learn from the experience, to recognize the wonder of Oneness, and to love you more dearly as you guide us through recovery because we are all in this together. Amen.

*Matthew 5:45

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.

Blindly Seeing

Lent

March 22, 2020

Scripture Reading: John 9:1-41

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ He said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshipped him. Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgement so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We see”, your sin remains. —John 9:35-41

What causes us not to see what is right in front of us? Do we only see what we want to see? Do humans create blinders when they cannot or do not want to deal with the truth? What seems so clear to me is absurd to others while what they profess is totally alien to me. Why did the sale of guns increase because of a virus pandemic? How can we become one when we are so very far apart?

The story of the blind Bartimaeus is too real to be created as an allegory designed to help Christ followers understand how fragile our faith becomes when we are not able to be honest with ourselves and confront the fears gripping our hearts. It is that realness that makes the allegory work. Jesus describes purpose in the Pharisees blindness. They are caught in the web of lust for power and greed to the detriment of anyone who gets in their ways and not caring who they must step over to get more power and more greed.

When such behavior is carried to an extreme, we can be very critical but to be honest the lust for power and greed are as epidemic in our world as the coronavirus. We need to be very, very careful not to be drawn into their grasp.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see that which deceives with false facades of righteousness and justice. 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.

Leadership

Lent

March 16, 2020

Scripture Reading:
1 Samuel 16:1-13

The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.’ Samuel said, ‘How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.’ And the Lord said, ‘Take a heifer with you, and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.” Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.’ Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, ‘Do you come peaceably?’ He said, ‘Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.’ And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. –1 Samuel 16:1-5

Before we review this scripture, we need to think about what led up to it. The people of Israel wanted to have the power they saw in their neighboring countries who had kings not the tribal leadership they had. They clamored for a king and finally when Samuel lifted the idea to God, God relented and essentially said if they want a king give them a king. As far as I can tell Saul’s primary qualification for being king according to the people was that he was tall and good looking. We humans can be fickle and thus can let our fickleness cloud our common sense.

Flashing forward to the end of Saul’s reign, we learn that the country was in worse shape than before his selection as king and Samuel is tasked by God to set things right. I must confess I feel sorry for Saul. He clearly was out of his element in taking the job, but his pride at being selected probability made him accept it. The people of Israel were primarily at fault for letting envy and greed drive their lives rather than sharing a form of governance that would provide for the Common Good, the primary purpose of government.

This is an apt scripture for an election year. As we consider the candidates for office, we need to examine their primary purpose in seeking offices and test that against whether it provides for the Common Good of all citizens.

Prayer: Lord, cleanse us of all the fickle things of life that drive our decision and help us seek leaders whose hearts and minds are centered on the Common Good.

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.

Receiving Jesus’ Testamony

Lent

March 7, 2020

Scripture Reading: John 3:1-17 or Matthew 17:1-9

‘Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. –John 3:11-17

Are we followers of Christ by doing the job Jesus assigned us to do? Are we now in the same position as the people of the first century; are we not receiving Jesus’ testimony? I just listened again to Hymn for the 81%* by Daniel Deitrich. He is much younger than I am but he writes for all the children of the church over the years including me who sang Jesus Loves Me and Jesus Loves all the Children of the World Red and Yellow, Black and White and in our teens sang They Will Know We are Christians by Our Love. When we learned these songs together with reading the stories of Jesus describing how he lived his love, we thought that was what we are supposed to do. Nothing about Jesus’ message has changed. Apparently, nothing about human’s receiving his testimony has changed either.

Prayer: Father forgive us, for we know not what we do**. Clean our hearts and minds of the world’s waste that is cluttering our being from receiving Jesus’ testimony. Make us whole, make us one. Amen.

*See at https://www.google.com/search?q=Hymn+for+the+81%25&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS852US852&oq=Hymn+for+the+81%25&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.7822j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
**Derived from Luke 23:34

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.

Making All Things Good

Lent

March 2, 2020

Scripture Reading: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’ –Genesis 2:15-16

At times, when I read scripture, particularly very familiar scripture, I think of the weirdest things like if the garden of Eden were perfect why did it need to be tilled and kept. Creation is a new beginning of a continuous process. While it sounds contradictory, change is a constant. In my job in human services, I was involved in the roll out of a multitude of new programs and new computer programs to support them. The first tries in computer programming are referred to as beta testing. I remember when our first computer program tracking case records, limited the number of letters for first names to seven letters. For the record, my first name has eight letters. We immediately received responses that seven was not enough. The same need to test and tweak new creations applies to initiatives like the Affordable Care Act. Common sense changes were needed within the first year but were never made because ruler-ship of Congress had changed. In the political arena change is often to redo or undo something passed by a previous administration when failure becomes a desired option by the current majority.

So goes our relationship with God in communion with all of God’s children. Faith traverses the same paths as progress.  As children of God we are called to be one.  Our challenge as God’s people is to maintain our fidelity to God while welcoming the continuum of creation, working to make all things good, and never accepting failure as a desired option.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to join with you in striving to make all things good. 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.

No Matter What

Lent

February 28, 2020

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. –2 Corinthians 6:1-10

Jesus never said it would be easy. Paul proves that in the above scripture. What would send a man into the world to share the message of an itinerant preacher, from a working-class family, who probably had only basic training from Sabbath school? Paul was trained at the feet of a leading theologian of the day, Gamaliel.

The second letter of Paul to the Corinthians has the flavor of clearing up misunderstandings from some previous correspondence. Paul was extraordinarily dedicated to sharing his understanding of the truth of Jesus Christ as it impacts the lives of all who hear it even if he has to say, “Let’s try that one more time.” Communication is complicated among people who know each other very well; it grows more complex the more diverse the communicators become. People from different cultures, languages, faiths, ages, skin tones have varying life experiences that frame their viewpoints. Bridging those differences is a challenge and results in an incredible experience of broadening one’s scope of life leading toward that Kingdom ruled by love Paul was introduced to on the road to Damascus. He had met the living Christ who change Paul’s life and drove him to share that marvelous reality with the rest of the world no matter what it took. We are called to that same ministry.

Prayer: God of Love, enable us to share your love to the whole world despite the challenges and help us grown in your love through the experiences. 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 Communion

Epiphany

February 17, 2020

Scripture Reading: Exodus 24:12-18

The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.’ So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, ‘Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.’ –Exodus 24:12-14

Come up to me on the mountain—What does it mean to be called? What does it take to answer that call? The Hebrew Bible is full of stories of individuals who are called by God to be leaders or lead battles or deliver specific messages—Moses, Gideon, David, Isaiah, Elijah. God’s callings in the New Testament are often to groups of Christ’s followers. While there is are individual discussions reported, Jesus tended to speak to the disciples as a body and to others in small and large group.

When we choose to follow God, we are declaring our intent to serve God. Serving involves a calling.  God’s callings to individuals can involve danger, usually involve hard work, makes us question, if we are able to do what we realize we are being called to do, and our calling is the source of the greatest joy in our lives.

God created a world with diverse humans having various skills designed to complement each other. Combining those skills is necessary to fulfill God’s calling to create a world ruled by love. Relationship and discipleship are intricately linked. We must develop skills of communication and coexistence to take God’s individual callings to the higher plain of communion.

When I search for a picture to illustrate the idea of living communion, the vast majority of pictures were ancient in origin. Have we lost the sense of being a communion of saints?

Prayer: 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. (Amen) 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

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.