Tag Archives: Oneness

Sharing our Gifts

Epiphany

February 14, 2020

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

None of us are perfect; all of us are gifted with abilities to make this world we live in reflect the love that God longs for us to live. None of us can do everything; God created a diversity of people so that all that needs to get done can. No gift is better than any other; the staff who clean operating rooms are as responsible for the success of the surgery as the surgeons. Celebrating the gifts of one another is a good thing as we strive together to create the world God envisioned for God’s children; creating hierarchies of worth is a waste of time and energy as we are all created in the image of God. “to whom much is given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48) relates to responsibility not privilege.

We live in a world that tends toward tearing down rather than building up. That is never more present than in an election year were we-the-people must discern the leadership we need to succeed as a country, state, county, or city. We would be wise to take Paul’s admonitions to heart, as we prayerfully consider what kind of government we want and who can best deliver it by maximizing the gifts of all our citizens as we strive to work together for the Common Good.

Prayer: Lord, help us to take the time to consider what is the Common Good. Guide us in our discernment of who can best represent us in achieving the Common 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.

Salt of the Earth

Epiphany

February 8, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:13-20

‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. –Matthew 5:12-16

I like salt, always have. Thus, it was a challenge for me when the health experts said we needed to limit our salt intake to more reasonable amounts. When I tracked the amount of salt, I was intaking, however, I found I was not doing so badly. Most days I was right at or even slightly below the recommended daily consumption amount. What I do know is I do not like too much salt. Most mornings I eat my own concoctions of egg whites cooked in my microwave and I do add salt to that. Experience has taught me that if I do not stir it well before I pop it into the microwave, my frittata, that is what I call it, is a little bland until I get a mouthful of a little bit of egg with a whole lot of salt that I almost want to spit out.

Salt is a seasoning and a preservative. It is at its best when applied consistently in just the right amount. That is a good formula for our sharing our love with one another, with all our neighbors, and with our enemies. It is important that we turn to God to help us discern how best to share the salt of our love.

Prayer: Lord, in the rush of the world we sometime forget to stir your love so that it is reflected in every part of our lives. Help us become salt that has not lost its taste and is served with a generous pinch of your guidance. 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.

Practicing Privilege

Epiphany

February 6, 2020

Scripture Reading:
1 Corinthians 2:1-12

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. –1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Paul describes himself in 1 Corinthians 9:21b by saying, I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means save some. That is not being two faced, it is recognizing that when we encounter others where they are in their lives, we will most likely have better success in communicating with them.

White privilege is taken as an insult by some, but it is a reality with which those of us who are white must deal. I frankly think we need to face any privilege that sets us apart from others. Anytime we are conditioned to think that our group’s way of being is the proper way of being we have boxed out many people with whom we need to work to fashion a world ruled by God’s love that is indeed our primary mission. When we feel a need to judge whether we will interact with another by whether that person is wearing the right clothing or hair style, speaking the way we were taught to speak, possessing the same type of education we have, or even loving the kind of people we think they should, we are practicing privilege. What we often end up doing is causing people to focus on changing their lives to be like ours or turning them off from any good news we might share. Our goal is not to make others become more like us. Our goal is for us together with others to become more like Christ.

Prayer: Lord forgive us when we work harder to make people become like us rather than work together for all to become more like 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.

Foolish Ways

Epiphany

January 27, 2020

Scripture Reading: Micah 6:1-8

‘O my people, what have I done to you?
   In what have I wearied you? Answer me!
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
   and redeemed you from the house of slavery;
and I sent before you Moses,
   Aaron, and Miriam.
O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised,
   what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
   that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.’ –Micah 6:3-5

How does God feel when we turn our backs on God? How does God discern between prayers offered by God’s children when they solicit opposing outcomes?  How can God’s people ignore God or create God in the image we desire rather than searching for the truth in God’s love? Micah writes words in God’s inspired voice that asked similar questions. What did God do to deserve such treatment? After raising this question, Micah then lists just some of the saving acts of the Lord over time.

Evil wins by dividing people. There is a lot of that going on in the USA. As people of faith, God calls us to overcome evil with good and show that love always wins over hate. Evil is very, very seductive, enticing us with those things sometimes that on the outside looks good but can still be divisive. I doubt we ever agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on quality health care, including access to safe, affordable, preventive birth control. The state of Colorado reduced its abortion rate by 40% in one year by guaranteeing free preventive birth control for anyone who needs it. We may not agree on the causes of climate change, but surely, we can agree to do all that is necessary to curb that which we see happening before us.

We need to open our hearts and minds to one another, trying to understand each other better and understand that we are all children of the same God who longs to bring us together under God’s wings.

Prayer:
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper rev’rence, praise*. Amen.

*First verse of Dear Lord and Father of Mankind by John Greenleaf Whittier see at https://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Dear_Lord_and_Father_of_Mankind/

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.

Weave us Together

Epiphany

January 26, 2020

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 believe that each person on this earth is a child of God gifted with talents and skills that, when melded together in positive integration will result in the actualization of the vision of God’s kingdom ruled by the love that Jesus proclaimed. Further, I believe that Jesus came to prepare us for the work necessary to enable each of God’s children to fulfill their potential as workers charge with building that kingdom ruled by love. I also believe that God granted us free will to chose whether we accept that calling or not. That gift of freedom, of necessity, opens the door to self-centered or group-centered ambitions that are not in keeping with God’s vision.  The ultimate end of selfism is greed or lust for power or other evils that contribute to negative outcomes for all of God’s children, including those who turned away from God’s abiding love.

Jesus valued diversity among his disciples. He chose fishermen and tax collectors, old and young, and while we have to read around a bit in the writings of a male-dominated culture to find it, even both women and men. The most well-known 12 were probably all Jews, but in their ministries, they fanned out throughout the world. The disciples’ writings and reports of their work tell us just how hard and messy it is to bring all together in a shared vision. Recently, in a discussion at a meeting of well-seasoned participants, we got into a discussion of the things we experienced regarding disagreements in churches and just shook our heads about things of little consequence that resulted in hurt feelings and even church breakups. We agreed that the issue of discussion was not the primary cause of the problem. The main problem was power plays that left others feeling left out or not respected.

Seeking wholeness through our relationship with God is the only way we can successfully be the Body of Christ in the world today. It is a constant activity in our lives asking God to filter out the diversions of the world and open our lives to the wonders of the power of God’s love.

Prayer:
We are many textures,
we are many colors,
Each one different from the other.
But we are entwined with one another
in one great tapestry.

Weave, weave, weave us together,
Weave us together, in unity and love.
Weave, weave, weave us together,
weave us together, together in love*. Amen.

First verse and chorus from Weave us Together by Rosemary Crow see at http://ehymnbook.org/CMMS/hymnSong.php?id=pd16696

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.

Discord

Epiphany

January 23, 2020

Scripture Reading:
1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. –1 Corinthians 1:10-11

My experience is that most of the quarrels that happen in the church are not dealing with the real problem. They are signs that people are not on the same page that there is not a clear shared purpose. The use of the phrase “Chloe’s people” is a sign that the church in Corinth was dealing with a power play. I do not know if “Chloe’s people” were involved in the power play or the innocent people caught in the middle who are often the loser in such situations.

I remember as a child the fight that occurred in my small rural church when a disagreement broke out regarding whether it was appropriate to have upholstered chairs at the communion table rather than wood only chairs. It was considered a grave theological issue by the wood group who thought we should be more austere. We lost one family from that brouhaha. The deeper issue was probably what of cultural changes are benign and what are not in sync with the teachings of Jesus Christ. That same type dispute split my denomination at the turn of the twentieth century over whether organs could be played in churches.

The phrase in the above scripture that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose is critical to the furtherance of our work as the body of Christ active in the world today. When disasters occur, people work together doing whatever needs to be done because lives depend on them. The Body of Christ depends on our working together as we identify and work through those issues on which we differ.

Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. Matthew 12:25                                       

Prayer: Lord, the world is particularly challenging right now and we do not know how do deal with things outside our control. Forgive us when we turn our frustrations on ourselves and each other. Help us see the opportunities you place before us to be a light to a world in chaos. 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 as a Disciple

Epiphany

January 19, 2020

Scripture Reading: John 1:29-42

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter). –John 1:35-42

When I was a child as far as I knew, everybody went to church. Well there was the occasional reprobate that was the exception to every rule. Ours was a homogeneous group of farmers and businesspeople who supported farmers. There were three churches in my hometown: Christian, Evangelical United Brethren that eventually united with the Methodists, and Lutheran. The little church on the corner of my grandmother’s farm, which closed when I was five was my first church. It was served by a Baptist minister. He preached one Sunday a month at four different rural churches and we all got together on fifth Sunday with each church taking a turn at hosting what were called Fifth Sunday Sings. When it closed my family started attending the Christian church. I have since determined that the EUB were one set of families who migrated from Germany in the 1880’s and the Lutheran’s were another set of families who also migrated from Germany and both groups ran in the runs that opened settlement to non-Indians in the heart of the land set aside for the Indian Removal. In my case other cultures came to me. I was unaware of any real differences in beliefs. I attended Bible school at all the churches but the Lutheran Church; don’t think they had Vacation Bible school. I did learn a vast number of hymns from this ecumenical involvement.

My experience was not unlike that of the first Christians who were formed from the homogeneous peoples of Galilee and Judea. They were under Roman rule, I guess that is a major difference. Their call to be disciples was the bridge toward the remainder of the world learning about the love God has for all God’s people. It is still our call today only the world has grown a lot smaller and more diverse. There remains much to learn as we share the love of God from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth.

Prayer: Lord, lead us in understanding one another so that we might work together building your Kingdom of 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.

Sharing the Stories of God

Epiphany

January 18, 2020

Scripture Reading: John 1:29-42

The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’ –John 1:29-34

My dabbling in genealogy has led me to believe that we are all cousins. That is certainly true of all the descendants of Jacob which both Jesus and John were. I met a person while in graduate school whose husband’s last name was the same as my maternal grandmother’s maiden name. It did not take much comparisons to discern that they were first cousins several times removed. I also think that all people are children of God and thus siblings. Luke 1:36 describes Mary and Elizabeth as related and that they had an important relationship at the beginning of Mary’s pregnancy. John is quoted in the scripture above saying that he did not know Jesus and that is possible also. None of us know all our cousins and while Mary and Elizabeth may have had a relationship before Jesus was born, they may never have seen each other again after that visit.

As we make excursions through the gospels, we find references to events that may not mesh one with the other while they may not contradict either. John may be saying that he did not know that Jesus was the Chosen One until the baptism. Matthew (11:4) and Luke (7:22) both record the story of John being in prison and sending friends to ask Jesus if he were the Messiah. My brother, sister, and I rarely described the same family stories in the same way. Our understandings of events were shaped not only by our age and gender differences but also by our personalities. I would thus be more skeptical of the Bible if everything lined up perfectly because life is never reported that way.

There may be a message in these thoughts for those of us who are called to share the stories of Jesus with those who have not heard them or those who heard them but the stories were not conveyed so that God’s love was shared in a meaningful way. We must be intentional in shaping our message to the needs of the person with whom we are having discussion.

Prayer: Lord, make us mindful of the needs of others as we try to share your love with them. 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.

Perception Matters

Epiphany

January 14, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 49:1-7

And now the Lord says,
   who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
   and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
   and my God has become my strength—
he says,
‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
   to raise up the tribes of Jacob
   and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
   that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’ –Isaiah 49:5-6

In my opinion one of the shortfalls of the English language is that the same word can mean different things and different spellings of words can sound the same. A case in point, when I read the phrase above ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob my mind processed the adverb too as the preposition to which did not make any sense as I completed the phrase.  I reread it and experience an aha moment that what Isaiah is quoting God saying is that it is to small a thing for God’s people to only raise up or restore the tribes of Jacob. I wonder why the NRSV translators did not use some of the words defining the Hebrew word used here Qalal: to be slight, swift or trifling It is too small a thing. In the next phrase the same word light (a different Hebrew word Or*) is used to describe God’s empowerment of God’s people to show the way for all nations to be restored. I wonder if the translators were trying to illuminate that God did not just give enough light to restore Jacob but the whole world.

We in the USA are struggling with this concept right now. What role does our nation play in restoring itself and all the other nations of the world? Do we perceive of other nations as our siblings in God or do we see them as sources of wealth for ourselves or do we see them as competitors for wealth or do we see them as enemies to fear and to conquer? Just as words matter perceptions matter. We need to carefully explore our perceptions about other nations and bring them into alignment with God’s perception of the wholeness of God’s world.

Prayer: Lord, give us the gift of your light so we can better see the perception you have of your world. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7043.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.

Baptism

Epiphany

January 12, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:13-17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’

Jesus’ baptism is reported in all four gospels. The description in Mark (Mark 1:9-11) and Luke (Luke 3:21-23) are similar, the voice speaks to Jesus. In Matthew (quoted above) the voice addresses all present. John (John 1:29–33) shares what John the Baptist reported particularly indicating seeing the dove.

Having worked in child welfare services and been involved in several court hearings, I learned early, primarily from the police involved, that it is rare for witnesses to see exactly the same thing so the differences should not be too concerning. Actually, the police get more suspicious when all present report exactly the same story. We also know that each gospel was written for differing audiences and the authors were trying to get the gist of the event as correct as the facts. Matthew and John both felt the need to share that there were witnesses present. Mark and Luke may have wanted to share that Jesus received and accepted his calling at this point.

As I order the coffee for our church fellowship time, the man that makes the coffee at my church on Sunday morning told me that we were almost out of coffee. I also forget things I am told in passing and I assured him that I would order the coffee as soon as I got home but would he please ask me on Sunday if I ordered the coffee. He laughingly said he would, if he remembered. Someone who overheard the conversation asked me why I had made the request and I told them that I have discovered I remember to do what I am asked to do if I know someone else is expecting me to complete the task. I have added the incentive of not letting the other down to fulfilling the responsibility I have accepted.

Baptism is just such an outward sign of a person’s commitment to follow Christ by making it a public experience even if the only witness is God and the Pastor.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for blessing us with a community of faith before whom we can hold ourselves accountable as we work to answer your call. 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.