Tag Archives: Oneness

Trouble We Got Some

guide-meLiving in the Spirit
October 24, 2016

Scripture Reading: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.
O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
   and you will not listen?
Or cry to you ‘Violence!’
   and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrongdoing
   and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
   strife and contention arise.
So the law becomes slack
   and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous—
   therefore judgement comes forth perverted. –Habakkuk 1:1-4

I am a glutton for punishment. I record the Sunday morning news shows and usually view them beginning with lunch. I ask myself a similar question regarding the news to the one raised by Habakkuk in our scripture today. Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble? Why is what seems so clear to me totally obscure to others? Is common ground possible? Why does everybody saying the same stale words addressing the same less important issues attract my attention? Surely God, does not expect me to do anything about this mess?

I believe our political system is a very accurate reflection of our general population, including me, although I hate to face it. I further believe that our political system will not improve until and unless we get our lives in order. In a few years, the issues that divide us will seem as antiquated as our reading in Paul’s writings about eating meat offered to idols or whether gentile men must be circumcised. These two issues were dividing the church in the first century and had the members not agreed to disagree on them and move on to following Christ’s concern of feeding the hungry, Christ’s kingdom vision might never have survived and we would be the poorer for it.

People of faith must heed the call of our brokenness and become diligent in modeling Christ’s message so that the whole world can learn his lessons of love and inclusion.

Prayer: Lord, I see the trouble, help me make my contribution to ending it in your way, your truth, as exemplified in your life. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Diversity vs. Division

diversity2Living in the Spirit
October 22, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 18:9-14

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” –Luke 18:9-12

There is no place for God when we are full of ourselves. Paradoxically being full of ourselves leaves us empty. There seems to be a lot of empty souls these days. Is the church, the called Body of Christ, missing the mark on bringing wholeness to a broken world? Have we gotten so caught up in being right that we are wronging the ones we are commissioned to serve? Is the Pharisee’s need to exclaim his righteousness merely a cry for help in filling his emptiness?

If nothing else comes out of our divisive election cycle this year, the church’s need to model oneness must be recognized and reignited. Diversity and divisiveness do not share the same meaning. I can never fully understand you, and you can never fully understand me. As we encounter the full spectrum of humanity throughout our universe, we can choose to be blessed by learning and growing together through our differences or we can curse ourselves to flounder in emptiness through isolation, bigotry, and privilege. Make no mistake it is a choice.

I strongly encourage everyone to vote on November 8. Prayerfully study the candidates and issues and express your sense of what is best for attaining the Common Good at all levels of our governments. On November 9, dedicate yourself first to praying for the Body of Christ being a conduit for oneness in a diverse world. Second work with all your heart to make oneness a reality. If you want, you can start praying today for the Oneness of God and never stop until we attain it with God’s help.

Prayer: Lord, 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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Clean Hearts Lined with Love

boys-will-be-boysLiving in the Spirit
October 11, 2016

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:27-34

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. –Jeremiah 31:31-34

I recently heard a male TV commentator express frustration at trying to understand why self-identified Christian women could turn blind eyes to gender discrimination in a political campaign. What the commentator did not understand is themes of “boys will be boys” and the unspoken reality “girls just have to deal with it” have been stressed in faith training for generations. Culture colors the interpretation of scripture.

Jesus spoke a radical message of inclusion and equality among all God’s children. Paul picked up the idea when he spoke of there being neither male nor female (Galatians 3:28). Even before the canonization of the Bible, commentators on Paul’s writings attempted to correct the “error” of his understanding.

Boys (and girls) do mature particularly under the influence of healthy male and female role models. Men and women are both capable of extreme weakness and strength. God does forgive. The Kingdom of God will never come to fruition until all its citizens are fully actualized.

Having heard many of those faith lessons taught throughout my life, I can testify that they cannot be corrected until they are recognized. That is also true of all the “isms.” Recognizing them is scary. Letting them go is even scarier, particularly when done in isolation.

Prayer: Create in us clean hearts and line them with your love so that our hearts become fertile environments for knowing you and becoming more like you both as individuals and in communities of 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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Wrangling Over Words

headlam-stalemate-2709Living in the Spirit
October 7, 2016

Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-15

Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth. –2 Timothy 2:14-15

People of faith are very good at wrangling over words. As we have seen illustrated in Congress and our state legislature so is the government. The only thing gained through wrangling over words is stalemate. We are not responsible for anything if we cannot get those “other” people to do things our way.

Paul dealt with this a lot in forging the formation of the church. He had to find compromises on everything from wearing hats to eating meat offered to idols. We read over these segment of scripture with glazed eyes because we feel we are so far past such discussions. Are we? The issues of the first century were just as important to them as the issues of the 21st century are to us. Paul worked toward finding common sense answers even to agreeing to disagree about some things. He did that by continually reminding people the overriding purpose of their call, recognizing that Jesus Christ is Lord. What do you think the people of the 41st century would think of our discord? Will they still be recognizing that Jesus Christ is Lord?

A new model for helping the homeless emerged in recent years that seems to be working. It involves providing housing first and then dealing with the problems that may have resulted in the homelessness in the first place. Implementing such a program requires an amazing amount of dedication, coordination, and cooperation among a broad spectrum of organizations. These folks do not have time to wrangle over words. They are living and doing justice.

Prayer: Lord, bless us with common sense to see that justice can be attained in many ways if we want it enough. Help us blend our gifts to address the challenges of our times. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

The Word Dwells Among Us

diversityLiving in the Spirit
October 6, 2016

Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-15

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. –2 Timothy 2:8-10

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . .. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1, 14)

In our digital world during an election year, we parse words to leech out truth while the writers or speakers shun absolutes directing their positions toward saying what they think we want to hear. If it were not so important, it might be a fun game. The proof, of course, is in the resulting actions that occur too late to change course. It is ironic that a whole system of fact checking has developed where lying is ranked by flagrancy.

We followers of Christ have been parsing Biblical words going all the way back to its compilation. Multiple sects of Christianity resulted grouped around words and their significance to the group’s members. Honestly, portraying the acts of an infinite and sovereign being lends itself to a diversity of descriptors particularly in relation to God who is unique to each of us and common to all.

How do we attain oneness in diversity? How does our love of God through Jesus Christ, the Word, direct and define our oneness? How do we answer the call of the Word to include all in our oneness while celebrating our diversity? How do we love as Jesus loves?

Prayer: God of Mercy, flood us with your love to enable our loving each other just as each of us is. Help us grow together in becoming the individuals you created us to be working together toward making your vision of wholeness our reality. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Faith

trust-fallLiving in the Spirit
October 1, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 17:5-10

The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ The Lord replied, ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey you. –Luke 17:5-6

Is Jesus saying to his disciples you either have faith or you do not? Have you ever participated in a ropes course or something similar where you do some challenging, usually physical activities, with a group to increase group cohesion? Often one of the activities is to cross your arms over your chest and fall straight backward with the faith that your teammates will catch you. I am not an athlete. I am also afraid of heights and somewhat claustrophobic. I worked in a time when ropes courses were popular, and I had no choice but to participate. My goal when I was involved was simply to survive. I once suggested in a closing feedback period that having the group form a choir and sing a concert would result in the same sense of camaraderie. To me, it would have been a lot less dangerous and more fun. I got some pretty wicked looks from some of my team. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.

I am not sure faith can be learned; it must be real, unexplainable trust. I think the ability to faith (and yes I know faith is not a verb), is planted in us as a part of being made in the image of God. Whether it grows and bears fruit is determined by our recognizing its presence at some point and welcoming it into our lives. C. S. Lewis thought God chased him down until he finally acknowledged faith. The thing about faith is that we all most likely will find a big tree in our way at one time or another and it is really good to know the One who can help us deal with our life’s big trees when needed.

Prayer: God Almighty, sometimes our faith in you is colored by experiences in life that make it difficult for us to trust anyone and that ultimately may impact our relationship with you. Help us turn toward you rather than away from you so that the truth of our relationship with you enables our relationships with others. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Exile

strangers-no-moreLiving in the Spirit
September 28, 2016

Scripture Reading: Psalm 137

How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither!
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
   if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
   above my highest joy. –Psalm 137:4-6

Exile—how can our hearts sing when ripped away from home? Taunted—dependent on strangers for good or for bad, how are we to know the difference? Used—working only to survive for one more day so our children can survive for one more day.

Today, refugees stream across borders around the world escaping from death, searching for life. They leave intolerable, unsustainable situations and enter a vast unknown. The children of Abraham knew the reality of loss and fear when taken into captivity over 2,500 years ago. The children of Abraham today are both the refugees and those called to welcome the stranger. It is our faith heritage.

How do we welcome strangers, share hospitality when we fear them? How do we get past our prejudices and see others as the children of God we are called to love? How do we tell them in word and deed they are strangers no more?

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace*.

Prayer: God of Mercy, refocus or actions and attitudes toward your way of seeing all your children. Enable our loving the stranger. Amen.

*Chorus to Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus by Helen Howarth Lemmel see at https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/645

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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Restore the Souls of our Cities

lamentationsLiving in the Spirit
September 26, 2016

Scripture Reading: Lamentations 1:1-6

How lonely sits the city that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal.  

She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her,
they have become her enemies. –Lamentations 1:1-2

Last week a news report was staged on the empty streets of Charlotte, North Carolina where only hours before emotions boiled over into those same streets following a shooting. The stark difference was chilling. Do we desert our cities once again leaving them to decay around the people unable to escape or do we invest our energies in loving those cities into vibrant places of life and growth with enough for all? I say once again because I remember the white flight of the 1950’s and 1960’s, which lingers to haunt us still.

The tools of equal justice, preventive justice, and restorative justice work. Quality public education works, particularly when it targets the real needs of the students and adequately funds schools. Coordinating job training for youth and adults with the needs of new businesses works. Such programs only work if applied. They will only be applied if we the people insist.

We make lamentations now for not doing enough to prevent the anger and desperation on the streets. Let us channel our lamentations into actions to heal our wounded cities.

Prayer: Lord, hear our prayers, heal our divisions, 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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Scrooge

scroogeLiving in the Spirit
September 21, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 16:19-31

He said, “Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.” Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.” He said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” ’
–Luke 16:27-31

I know it is not Christmas, but I always think of Scrooge when I read this scripture. Remember in Charles Dicken’s  A Christmas Carol, how Scrooge’s old friend Marley appears to him to tell him that he would have three visitors. These ghostly visions are coming to relate his past to his present and warn him about their shortfalls impacting his future. Unlike the prediction of our scripture today, Scrooge gets the message. He repents of his greed and miserliness. He receives the rewards of a loving family and a loving employee.

Abraham did not hold out much hope for the rich man’s brothers. The brothers, probably like the rich man, might have been so full of themselves they had no room in their life for God much less for being a partner in building the Kingdom of God.

Maybe it is time for each of us to consider the ghosts of our past and present to determine how they are shaping our future and that of the coming generations. The rewards of love are priceless.

Prayer: Lord, help us examine ourselves to see what from our past has filled us with anything that blocks your vision for us, what from our present is keeping us from loving like you love, and what is your hope for our future. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Privilege

parable-of-rich-man-and-lazarusLiving in the Spirit
September 24, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 16:19-31

‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.” But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” –Luke 16:19-26

Jesus seemed to have a problem with privilege. Privilege seems to be a goal toward which all strive but for some reason privilege does not seem to exist in our minds unless we have it and someone else does not. Therein, lies the problem.

According to the Merriam-Webster* dictionary privilege means:

1 a: a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor: special enjoyment of a good or exemption from an evil or burden

d: any of various fundamental or specially sacred rights considered as peculiarly guaranteed and secured to all persons by modern constitutional governments (as the enjoyment of life, liberty, and reputation, the right to acquire and possess property, the right to pursue happiness) (Emphasis Added)

Indeed, there are some privileges granted as peculiar to a given situation, like the right to blow out candles on our birthday cake. There are other privileges guaranteed to all persons known as sacred rights. My guess, this definition draws from the history of God’s promises to all God’s children. In our government, we attempt to emulate such sacred rights. We are not perfect at it, but the need to strive toward such a state must resonates in our every action.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we fall short of upholding the sacred rights of all people. Make us aware when we fall short of reaching that goal. Guide our steps in reclaiming our mutual privilege. Amen.

*http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/privilege

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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.