Tag Archives: Oneness

One in Christ

One in ChristLiving in the Spirit
June 5, 2015

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. –2 Corinthians 4:16-5:1

The snap, crackle, and pop of arthritic joints greeted me this morning as I arose from my bed foot to floor, stood, and stretched my arms high. It has become a routine sound in my life reminding me that I am alive and thus have things to accomplish today. It doesn’t hurt and I am thankful that I still have working ears to hear it. I somehow recoil at the phrase wasting away though, true as it may be. While our bodies may be wasting away, the building, Paul describes we have from God is developing as an even stronger structure in its preparation for the great day when justice exists throughout the earth.

I work at keeping my body going as it wastes away. Brush and floss my teeth, exercise daily, try to eat right, and get a decent amount of rest trying to postpone disabling results as much or more than extending life.  According to the Oklahoma Department of Health the two leading causes of poor health in Oklahoma are obesity and tobacco use, both of which are in our control, hard as it is to break the lifestyle that supports them.

We need to work at strengthening our spiritual lives as well. What are the leading causes of poor spiritual lives for you? What are you doing to reverse their course? I must confess I do a lot of the “right” things not unlike the leaders of faith throughout the Bible. I go to church most Sundays, facilitate a Sunday school class, serve on various teams, and support it financially. While I still think these activities are important parts of my faith development my need to be attentive to the spiritual development of the others in my life is very important and may at times get lost in the busyness of the church. Imagining myself as part of the Body Christ helps me set priorities in what I do and say.

Prayer: Lord, make us one in the Spirit, grow us together so that our skills and talents complement each other as your Kingdom comes. 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.

Running on Love

spirit-of-pentecostLiving in the Spirit
May 27, 2015

Scripture Reading: Psalm 29

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
   ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
   worship the Lord in holy splendor.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
   the God of glory thunders,
   the Lord, over mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
   the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. –Psalm 29:1-4 

I have a voice that carries well. So did both my mother and dad, not my sister and brother so much.  It is a good gift when one needs to get someone’s attention; it is not a good gift if one is trying to whisper. We hear often about the still small voice of God, but our Psalmist today wants us to give God our attention.

I suppose this scripture is included in the lectionary for Pentecost because God took great pains on that day to get everyone’s attention. Rushing winds and tongues of fire were used on that day, and people being enabled to speak in languages they previously did not know. Such and experience would have left a lasting impression on me. Although if it were to happen today, we would probably have seen it as just one more bit of technology at work.

Our scripture today is telling us to never, ever take God for granted or write God off because we have got a handle on this world. The truth, in regard to a world running on love, is that we have barely scratched the surface.

Prayer: Speak to us, Lord, in whatever way is needed to get our attention about making love the thing that fuels this world. 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 Advocate

ParacleteEastertide May 23, 2015

Scripture Reading: John 15:26-27 ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

Advocate* is the English translation of the Greek paraklétos** that was the word used to describe an attorney at the time the book of John was written. Merriam-Webster identifies three definitions and one example:

1. one that pleads the cause of another : defender

2. one that argues for, defends, maintains, or recommends a cause or proposal

3. one who supports or promotes the interests of another: someone giving evidence that stands up in court.

To whom is this Advocate speaking the truth in our scripture today? It would seem that this Spirit of truth is sent to each of us to help us discern our way in the manner of Jesus Christ. Yet, the word is always oriented to the other and the coming of the Spirit is to, not only help us discern what is right and just, but to also help us to share the truth with others.

I am reminded of Pilate’s question at Jesus’ trial: What is truth? (John 18:38) We live in a time when truth is not cheap, but seems to be decided by the highest bidder as the media competes for our attention in any way they can to succeed and make money. Beyond that Christians seem to have differing spirits whispering in our ears as we speak opposing truths in the name of Jesus. What is truth indeed?

In Ephesians 4:4-6 Paul writes, There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. Perhaps we need to work a little harder at the oneness Jesus called us to live by opening ourselves to the leading of the Advocate and perceiving the truth together.

Prayer: Lord, as we celebrate our diversity help us to claim our oneness in 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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

A New Creation

Whole body of ChristEastertide May 20, 2015

Scripture Reading: Psalm 104:24-34

These all look to you
   to give them their food in due season;
when you give to them, they gather it up;
   when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
when you hide your face, they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die
   and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created;
   and you renew the face of the ground. –Psalm 104:27-30

The imagery of always being in a state of re-creation seems appropriate at this time of year when many graduations are happening. My nieces, both pre-school educators, are currently celebrating the advancement of their students into first grade, many grade schools acknowledge the move from elementary school to middle school, then high school, college or tech school, and work. Learning does not stop there. In many ways it just begins. And so it goes with most aspects of life.

Our life in the Spirit it like that also. There may have been one grand aha experience in some people’s lives like is described at Pentecost when all were filled with the Spirit, but for most of us, our gifts from the Spirit are accrued gradually with perhaps some great awakenings, but most often with small nudges and insights that occur every day. Each time we are touched by the Spirit we are changed. I believe those changes are gradually helping us fully realize the talents and skills God instilled in us at our beginning.

More importantly, we are called to community to live and grow and be re-created together as a part of the whole body of Christ. Bringing together the diverse offerings of each person not only brings to fruition the wholeness of individuals, but becomes the oneness that Jesus indicted was so essential.

As I watch the news, I fear we are failing at spreading this good news about God and God’s ever present Spirit striving to make us one. We seem bent on divisiveness from bullying to war, from declaring exceptionalism to outright racism, and from materialism to flagrant greed in a world of people starving for love as well as food. I do not know a time in my life when we have needed the gifts of the Spirit more to make us confident Disciples of Christ spreading love and justice throughout the lands.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, rest on me, give me the strength and courage to spread your love and justice throughout the lands. Place within me the connective tissue that reaches out to form bonds of love with others so that Christ’s desire for us to be one is realized. 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.

Speaking Other Languages

Come Holy SpiritEastertide
May 19, 2015

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. –Acts 2:1-6

Taking Spanish in college, I soon learned that I could read it better than I could speak it, and I now know that since I have not used it, I have lost most of it. Being articulate with the use of guacamole and taco does not count. I also do not text. I guess I am just being stubborn, but it is so much easier to leave a voice message rather than take the time to type out a message with two rather clumsy thumbs that require me to delete and reenter as many letters or numbers as I input successfully. The result is I have a limited knowledge of text speak. I do know LOL. Taking the tests associated with Ruby Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty, helped me understand that I have only a basic knowledge of the language of poverty even though I have worked in that area for over 40 years, am amazingly good at middle class, and failed miserably the language of the rich.

In general, I live, move, and have my being in silos I have chosen or that were chosen for me by my ancestors. It is very, very hard to move beyond those silos but it is possible through the love of God, the example of Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 17:28, states, For “In [Christ] we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said, “For we too are his offspring.”

 The Kingdom of God will never flourish across this earth until we remove ourselves from our silos of exclusion and open ourselves to the other. Paul’s list for working toward inclusion is: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28) What is in your list for inclusion? What is your plan for climbing out of your silos?

Prayer: Lord, make me whole so that I can open myself to the others in the world today. Let your spirit guide me in meeting people where they are and joining them in growing together toward the oneness to which you have called us. 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 Inclusive Spirit

Same-Spirit-PentecostEastertide
May 18, 2015

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-21

“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
   and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
   and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
   in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
     and they shall prophesy…. 

Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” –Acts 2”17-18, 21

The message of Pentecost is inclusive. There is no greater challenge facing the church of Jesus Christ than accepting that message into every fiber of our individual and collective beings. Humans seem to be drawn to be exclusive. We are a competitive lot needing to be first or best or whatever other superlative may apply. I do not think that is a bad thing. I could see Jesus playing a pickup game on the beach with the disciples. We have reached the development in science, literature, medicine, and, yes, even sports trying to beat our individual bests. Our worth as individuals and groups, however, is not established by being better than someone else. Our worth was established the day God’s image was melded into our being.

The church is called to be the conduit of the talents and skills of all people toward spreading the love of God throughout the earth and that means we first must love one another. We must invest our energy in enabling each person to be a fully actualized Christian. Disciple making is not a one and done experience, it is a lifetime of growing together in love and faith. We must experience as much of the joy of Christ at the accomplishment of others as we do our own. In all honesty our accomplishments are the results of that wonderful cloud of witnesses that went before us and serve with us now.

Prayer: Lord, heal my soul so that I do not feel the need to be better than another. Grant me the joy of working in communion with fellow Christians. 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.

Unity

Brothers and sistersEastertide May 6, 2015

Scripture Reading: Psalm 133

How very good and pleasant it is
when kindred live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron,
running down over the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon,
   which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
   life for evermore.

The first definition Merriam Webster list for kindred is a natural grouping*. While a family is a natural grouping, I suppose, I have always considered the word to mean blood relative, which is listed in Merriam Webster under the word archaic. The Hebrew treats it as brother** but then in Hebrew the word brother connotes a broader spectrum than a blood relative also. As we have followed Jesus command to take his message to the ends of the earth our natural grouping of followers of Christ has grown and still there are others to be added.

Perhaps the Psalmist is celebrating when actual, blood brothers and sisters get along. It is a good place to start. There is something very special about siblings. We know each other about as well as any people can know each other. We know about the times of joy and achievement, about the times of shame and despair of each other from earliest childhood. Brothers and sisters are the training camp for life where we learn to get along with each other while learning to stand up for ourselves. It is indeed pleasant when siblings get along.

Today is a good day to remember the best things about being brothers and sisters by blood or in Christ and to celebrate the joy of unity which can be very fragile.

Prayer: God who created us, made us each the persons we are becoming, we thank you for our brothers and sisters in life and in Christ and pray that our relationships can foster unity among all peoples by being a shining example of it. Make us whole, make us one. Amen.

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

**http://biblehub.com/hebrew/251.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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Wholeness Leads to Oneness

Living Our FaithEastertide April 17, 2015

Scripture Reading: 1 John 3:1-7 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. –1 John 3:4-7

How do we explain a definition of sin as lawlessness, when we have previously discussed sin as separation from God? The English word “lawlessness” is rooted truly in being without law*. My perception, and perhaps yours, is that the word “lawless” means breaking laws, but it actually means not having any law. If sin is lawlessness and sin is also being separated from God then being lawless means we are set adrift in the world rather like not having gravity to keep us anchored to the earth. Thus if we are not separated from God, we are not sinning, our lives are grounded in God. It, of course, would be very difficult to function in society without structure and order. It is just easier to function in community when everyone has at least a general idea of what is considered right and wrong. The laws given to Moses provided that structure.

The Greek word for lawlessness, anomia, has the connotation of negative influence on a person’s soul.** Obeying laws or rules in and of themselves is not righteousness. It actually can turn into self-righteousness that separates us from God. Living in community with one another in the spirit of the laws, loving God and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves, is righteousness and protects our souls from being less than whole.

We have been called to be one in Christ that can only happen, if we each are working individually to be whole.

Prayer: Lord, help us to understand the way we are to live out your laws in righteousness. Make us whole so that we can be one. Amen.

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

**http://biblehub.com/greek/458.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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Forgive or Retain?

The MissionEastertide
April 11 2015

Scripture Reading: John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ –John 20:19-23

What does Jesus mean by retaining the sins of any? First, I think it is important that we recognize that in the book of John “sin” is a theological failing, not a moral or behavioral transgression.* More importantly we must look at our role model, Jesus Christ, and note that in his walk on earth, I do not recall, an instance when he did not forgive. He even implored God to forgive those responsible for his death on the cross.

What results from the retention of sin within a community? Most often I would say, the answer to that question is broken relationships, discord, dysfunction, and lack of progress toward the community’s purpose. Could Jesus have been giving his followers a warning? He had become very well acquainted with humans being human. He knew from experience that evil came raise its ugly head and totally disrupt positive forward movement by the smallest of slights or disagreements. Could he be saying: Let it go? Retaining anyone’s sins, including our own after being forgiven, has no redeeming value.

The Mission* is my favorite all time movie. It is the story of the church being established in South America at the same time natives were being captured and sold into slavery. One of the slave traders has an encounter with one of the missionary priests who grants the slave trader forgiveness for his horrendous sins and instructs him to climb a very steep mountain with all his armor tied in a bag on his back. The slave trader makes it to the top totally exhausted and totally defenseless. The first person he encounters is a native youth with an axe in his hand. There is a moment in the movie where the slave trader clearly understands his plight when the youth briskly swings the axe down and cuts the rope holding the bag, which falls down the mountainside metal clanging against metal. His sins had been forgiven and now he knew it, too.

There is always a period of time after a disconnection or “sin”, even when fault is clear, which by the way is rare for fault is almost always shared, that wounds need to heal on all sides, but healing is faster when we can let the situation go and in many instances we can only do that by asking God to abide with us in the healing process.

Prayer: Lord, give us the strength to let go of the retention of sin, heal all involved and abide with us as we heal. Amen.

*The New Interpreter’s Bible: A commentary in Twelve Volumes, Volume IX Luke and John, Abingdon Press 1995, page 847.
**For more information about The Mission see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091530/
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.

Dying to Sin

SinLent
March 21, 2015

Scripture Reading: John 12:20-33

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. — John 12:20-26

What is holding us back from fully being the persons God created us to be? Jesus uses the example of a seed that must be planted in the earth and die to produce even more fruit. Yes, he may be predicting his own death and the impact that would have on the spreading of his message. But this paragraph has some interesting wording that seems unrelated that I think we might want to prob.

There were some Greeks, non-Jews, at the festival that wanted to see Jesus. When the disciples bring them to Jesus, he starts talking about bearing fruit. Later Paul will talk about Jesus’ death resulting in his followers dying to the law. (Rom. 7:4) Jesus seems to be opening the door for all of God’s children to be included among the perception of who were the chosen. I think Paul got that message and worked hard to make all one in the Body of Christ.

There is perhaps another issue here worth exploring. 1 Peter 2:24, talks about our dying to sin through the death of Jesus. When we are separated from God we are caught up in our own undoing. When we define ourselves by the call of lesser gods: money, power, racism, self-righteousness; we separate ourselves from God. It is a paradox, but it is true when we give up these lesser gods and other things that separate us from the one true God, we become whole.

In a world torn apart by greed, bigotry, elitism, and war; we need to turn back to the one who gave his very life so that we can overcome that which is now overcoming us.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for craving the things of this world and letting the attainment of them define us. Cleanse us, heal us, and let your love so overflow us that we can be stronger than that which beguiles us. 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.