Tag Archives: Righteousness

God with Us

Christmas
December 25, 2017

 

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 61:10-62:3

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
   my whole being shall exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
   he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
   and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
   and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
o the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
   to spring up before all the nations. –Isaiah 61:10-11

Funny how our brains work—when I first viewed these two verses, I thought how long they were. My immediate next thought was the remembrance that the shortest verse in the Bible is Jesus wept (John 11:35). I have not completed a complete comparison of the lengths of all the Bible verses. I placed my faith in unknown scholars who met my criteria as valid sources. I was also taught that the Bible in its original languages had no chapters and verses. These additions were made by humans to make the Bible conform to the ways of the people. Although I have read some of the books not selected for inclusion in the Bible, I generally accept that the compilers picked the right ones including the Book of Isaiah. I am human, and I make mistakes at times, so I think all humans make mistakes now and then.  I do have faith that God continues active and engaged in our lives and we see that activity clearer at sometimes more than at others. God forgives us for our mistakes, helps us recover from them, and when we let God, God will guide us in ways to prevent the same mistake from happening again.

This may seem like a strange meditation for Christmas Day, but it is what Christ’s coming to be with us is all about. He became the Word 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 1:14) The Bible is the source of strength and enlightenment about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. He is the Word toward which we strive that establishes the righteousness and justice of God. The Bible is an excellent source of knowledge about the works of God designed to enhance our lives in Christ every day as we seek to follow the Word in our lives.

While God wants us to each and all strive to be the people we were created to be, God recognized the need to dwell among us as we struggle to be God’s conduit to bring righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

Prayer: O come, O Come Emmanuel. 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.

Of God and Idols

Living in the Spirit
June 30, 2017

Scripture Reading: Romans 6:12-23

What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

  When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. –Romans 6:15-23

Paul presumes in this writing that all humans must be slaves to something. The word slave brings on negative connotations for most of us who understand slavery as out of the slave’s control. Perhaps we need to look more closely at the words if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves. Paul is describing a person who is a slave by choice. I have ancestors who worked as indentured slaves, often called servants, as a youth to learn a viable trade. Such arrangements included binding legal contracts. I think this is what Paul has in mind. While it applies to our relationship with God, it clearly states that we also choose to make ourselves slaves to sin.

Choosing to place our faith in things that separate us from God is idolatry. One of the most insidious forms of idolatry is the prescription drug epidemic laying waste of many across our land. It starts so innocently but clings ever tighter and tighter. The same is true for illegal drugs. Greed and lust for power fit well into the pit of idolatry too. We are surely separated from God when we perceive ourselves as better than others because of the color of our skins or our gender or any other reason. I do not believe God loves any one of his children more than any other. Why do we have a need to establish such standards?

Before we acknowledged the presence of God in God’s righteousness and justice, we did not understand the significance of idolatry. We do now.

Prayer: Lord, free us from our need for lesser gods. Be present with us each step we take closer to you and away from 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.

Being a light to the Nations

lightChristmas
January 3, 2017

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 42:1-9

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
   I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
   a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
   from the prison those who sit in darkness. –Isaiah 42:6-7

Are we living in darkness? I use eye drops each morning. Keep them on the chest next to my bed. I can usually find the container in the dark though my feeling around sometimes results in my knocking it to the floor and even under the bed. In our world of electronic gadgets, we rarely experience total darkness. The light around my clock’s face sends out enough light that could guide me to my little eye drop container if I sat it in just the right spot. If I wake with a start in total darkness, it is the realization that the electricity is out. There is no battery backup in my old clock, no street lights without electricity either. Occasionally as I feel around for my eye drops, I wonder how well I would do if I had to deal with total blindness. I am so nearsighted without my glasses and have astigmatism I am well acquainted with seeing through a mirror, dimly*. I wonder if my lack of total darkness makes me more or less vulnerable?

Do we become overconfident in our routine perceptions? Do most people? What do I look at every day and never see? It seems Isaiah believes God thinks people do become overconfident as he calls us to be a light to the nations. If God’s light were abundant, such work would be unnecessary. We will not become a light unless we perceive the need for light and that perception must start with self-examination.

Prayer: Lord, help me take in what you want me to see that I am now missing. Help me understand why I need to see these pieces absent from my vision. Guide me to use my new insight to your glory. Amen.

*Derived from 1 Corinthians 13:12

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.

Righteousness or Self-Righteousness

seflrighteousvschristlikeAdvent
December 3, 2016

Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:1-12

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. –Matthew 3:7-10

What is the distinction between righteousness and self-righteousness? The first is inclusive the second is exclusive. Righteousness deals with justice which assumes a community accommodating both diversity and similarity. Self-righteousness builds walls keeping community out unless it feeds the individual’s desires. The gospels tell a story of religious leaders caught up in fulfilling individual desires to the detriment of the people they shepherded. John the Baptist confronts the leaders asserting that they are not reflecting the ways of their ancestor Abraham but were defining what is right for all by what was right for themselves.

I have a friend who seems to have perfect pitch. He can sing any note, and it will match the sound of the same note played on a well-tuned piano. I do not have this gift. I work at matching the notes I hear. His is a natural gift; for me singing the correct note takes lots of practice and focused listening. For some justice and righteousness comes naturally. For most of the rest of us, we must practice it every day, holding our concepts of righteousness next to Christ’s and adjusting our justice to match his. To do that, we must possess a good understanding of God’s justice and righteousness. Bible study is a key element in broadening understand of God’s justice, and we must accompany Bible study with total surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Anyone can flip through the Bible, find a verse or two that supports their viewpoint, and declare it God’s justice. Why do you think John was calling those Pharisees and Sadducees to task?

During this Advent season as we examine ourselves, let us explore what is righteous about our lives and what may be self-righteous. Let the Holy Spirit help us ferret out the truth.

Prayer: Lord, make us whole so that we do not try to fill the gaps in our self-concepts with our own creation of righteousness. 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.

Discerning Right

fakeAdvent
November 28, 2016

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10

His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
   He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
   or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
   and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
   and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
   and faithfulness the belt around his loins. –Isaiah 11:3-5

Fake news seems to be all the rage now as we are learning that some of the information we receive via social media is totally fabricated. Fake news is not new. All we need to do to view fake news is skim through the tabloids that line the wait to checkout in many stores. Social media fake news perhaps carries more weight since it most likely was shared with us by someone we trust. I am cynical of most things on social media. I tire of having to waste my time scrolling past something and determining that it is fake.

Isaiah tells us that the coming descendant of Jesse does not judge by what he sees or hears but by what is right. While I agree with this sentiment, knowing what is right seems to be a judgment point in and of itself. How do we who have vastly differing interpretations of what is right discern a common vision in Christ? Does doing right require us to let go of some cherished parts of our lives? Does it require us to love some people we perceived to be unlovable, not our kind of folks? Does continuing the battles on a few select issues on which we will never agree, trick us into believing we are doing the best we can at doing right?

Calling a moratorium on dealing with the wedge issues of the day makes sense. I fear though that we will just find other issues to take their place. Taking the time to ask God to guide us toward righteousness might be a better place to start. It will involve truly turning our lives over to God and letting God shape our vision.

Prayer: Lord, as we once again await your incarnation, make this a fertile time for the nurturing of our wholeness as you prepare us for renewed discipleship. 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.

Fulfilling Righteousness

he-has-the-whole-worldLiving in the Spirit
October 17, 2016

Scripture Reading: Joel 2:23-32

O children of Zion, be glad
   and rejoice in the Lord your God;
for he has given the early rain for your vindication,
   he has poured down for you abundant rain,
   the early and the later rain, as before.
The threshing-floors shall be full of grain,
   the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. 

I will repay you for the years
   that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
   my great army, which I sent against you. –Joel 2:23-25

Agrarian cultures have a unique relationship with the weather. At my house as a child dinner was at noon as was the mid-day news on television. I doubt that was a coincidence. While my family did keep up with current events, our purpose in having the TV on at noon was to get an update on the weather. In Oklahoma, the weather can change very quickly. While driving a tracker in a field, my paternal grandmother’s first husband was killed by a strike of lightening. The storm may have been a total surprise, or her husband may have been tenaciously trying to get his work done before it rained.

It is not a far jump from dealing with the reality of the weather to an understanding that God might be in some way working through the weather in a punishing response to human actions or lack of action. While I do believe it rains on the just and the unjust*, God does seem to let us suffer the consequences of our actions. Global warming and its devastation may be a good example of that.

Righteousness throughout the Bible has to do with the fulfillment of the demands of a relationship, and [in our scripture today] God promises to fulfill the covenant relation with the people by restoring yearly rains**. Weather is just one part of our relationship with God. War or peace, feast or famine, health or sickness, all aspects of our lives directly relate to whether we are in sync with God. If nothing else, this current election cycle in the USA should send all peoples of faith to a time of prayerful rebuilding our individual relationships with God which surely impact or collective responses to dealing with such issues.

Prayer: Forgive us, O God, as we have slipped further and further away from fulfilling our relationship with you. We recognize that you have not moved from us. We are confused about the future. As we deal with a more diverse global community, give us the strength and the courage to live our love of both you and our neighbor in new and positive ways. Amen.

*Matthew 5:45
**The New Interpreter’s Bible: a Commentary in Twelve Volumes, Volume VII, page 324. Abingdon Press, 1996

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 Art of Doing Justice

mlk-justice-and-righteousness-word-artLiving in the Spirit
August 9, 2016

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 5:1-7

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
   is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
   are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
   but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
   but heard a cry! –Isaiah 5:7

As a part of our covenant with God, God expects justice and righteousness. The two words share common root meanings. Justice relates to being fair and most often is used in finding the balance in a dispute regarding what is fair. Righteousness means being in synch with God, a part of which is living out God’s understanding of fairness. As a society, the USA commits to a system of justice protected by a check and balance system of three interdependent but separate branches of governance; Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Our country is caught in a great struggle to determine what is just because we do not agree on what is right. The result is ennui, gridlock where there is no willingness even to consider seeking justice, identifying and implementing what is fair. I do not know what happened first our religious differences spilling over into our governmental differences or our governmental differences spilling over into our religious differences.

I do know that people of faith to be faithful need to move away from gridlock and find the areas for which we can find common ground lifting us out of the muck and mire of ennui. The early Christian church provides a model. When Paul traveled to Jerusalem to deal with contentious issues of their time, they seemed to stalemate regarding whether gentiles had to be circumcised and whether they should eat meat sold in the market that was offered to idols. What they did agree on was the need to help the poor, and that is what they implemented. We could learn from these ancestors in faith.

Prayer: Lord, help us find representatives who are willing to find ways of working together that will reflect progress toward the world as you envision it. 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 Facts of Justice

Right sideEastertide
April 9, 2016

Scripture Reading: John 21:1-19

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. –John 21:4-8

As a left handed person, I sort of cringe every time I read about the rightness of being on the right side. I also take some solace when I hear the Holy Spirit being referred to as the Left Hand of God. That said and accepting the cultural norm in describing the “right” way as the better way, I can make some sense out of this story of Jesus and his disciples. In the Hebrew “right” is also identified as “just”, which also occurs in the Greek. Our English word “righteousness” is related to “justice”. The disciples had returned to their normal work of fishing. In the stunned grief of losing their leader, they may have lost his purpose. My guess is they were sensing a whole set of emotions telling them their world had changed, and they would never be the same. Their purpose had changed.

Fishing is an honorable vocation and I am sure there are many people who fish for a living or for food or for recreation who practice the avocation of justice Jesus modeled for his disciples. It was his way that we have been called to follow.

What then is justice? Justice deals in facts. We serve the little gold fish crackers as part of our feast in children’s worship. Generally, I place five in each cup. After one of the children had passed the cups out, one child said, “My cup only has four” as she pointed to her neighbor saying “hers has five.” The neighbor nodded verifying the error. I added the fifth gold fish to the first child’s cup and justice prevailed. These were preschoolers. They understand facts and inequality. They also do justice.

It is hard to find uncolored and unblemished facts today. We might do well to search deeper making sure or neighbors have their fair share.

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, help us live justice and practice mercy too. 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.

Whose Righteousness are we Following?

worship-modeLent
March 10, 2016

Scripture Reading: Philippians 3:4b-14

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith –Philippians 3:4a-9

What’s in your faith resume’? What is the difference in being well schooled in the faith and living the faith? Paul had a great resume’ and he was living his beliefs as he persecuted the church. He no doubt had the best intentions in the world. I am amused at the many polls that report various attitudes based on faith that define people of faith by whether they attend church weekly or more or less often. Paul was no doubt at the temple whenever there was something going on.

Now do not misunderstand me, I strongly support engagement with a community of faith including weekly worship. I, frankly, think the times I need to be in worship most are those times I don’t want to be there when my mind is racing, my attention is distracted, and I am wondering why we are sing all four verses of a song. I have forgotten in these moments the source of my strength. I am in desperate need of being still and knowing God. Sometimes the third verse rarely sung is what pulls me back to the presence of God.

We need to find God’s righteousness and live God’s righteousness as was modeled for us in the life of Jesus. It is when we settle for our own righteousness that we run amuck.

Prayer: Lord, be present with us when we are distracted by the things of the world. Give us a nudge to remind us of your righteousness. 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 Lord is our Righteousness

righteousnessAdvent
November 24, 2015

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 33:14-16

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfil the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

The Hebrew word translated righteousness here is only used twice in the Hebrew Bible, both times by Jeremiah (see also 23:6). It refers to the Messianic King to come and is described thusly, righteousness as vindicated, justification in controversy with enemies and troubles, deliverance, victory, prosperity*. The interesting thing about this scripture is that it can easily be transformed from righteousness for all people to self-righteousness for some.

The implication of Kingdom language is at least that the Messiah is coming to bring righteousness to more than just me or even the people who think and act and look like me. Jesus came to this world to demonstrate in real time how the love of God works. It is like the love between parents and a newborn; like the love between fellow workers for a cause, we call them disciples; and like the love of one willing to risk and sacrifice his or her own life for others. These truths have been placed in human hands. Alone each of these examples can play out daily absent God’s love. Children are abused and neglected, churches war within themselves and with each other over who is more righteous, and suicide bombers waste their lives proving nothing.

The irony of God is played out fully in sending a helpless infant to show the way to the Lord’s righteousness. We too are infants in love as compared to the love of God and need the nurture of God’s abiding presence to abet our recognizing what is righteousness and living it.

Prayer: Love that will not let me go infuse me with the insights I need to fulfill your righteousness in every part of my being and life. Amen.

*http://biblehub.com/hebrew/6664.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.