Tag Archives: Ruled by Love

Taking the Blinders Off

Ordinary Time

January 9, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Isaiah 49:1-7

Listen to me, O coastlands,
   pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
   while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
   in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
   in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, ‘You are my servant,
   Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’
But I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
   I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord,
   and my reward with my God.’ –Isaiah 40:1-4

I have recently felt that I have labored in vain. It is not a good feeling. I questioned whether I had made wrong choices and had drifted from God’s guidance to accomplish some things I still believe need to be done. Had I chosen the wrong path? Do I need to realign with God? Or have I run straight into the wall of those principalities and powers that Paul described? If so, what is the best way to meet the needs I have identified?

I recall the story of Balaam*, who thought he was doing what was right until an angel of the Lord stood in his path. Balaam did not see the angel, but his donkey did, and his donkey went in a different direction. Balaam ended up beating the donkey for not obeying Balaam’s instructions. Then the donkey asked Balaam why he was beating him. Had the donkey ever behaved this way before? We must always look deeper into why we are pursuing the path we are taking when everything seems to be going wrong.

The true test of what we are doing is right is whether it passes the test of God’s love. If our actions are not grounded in love, then they are not of God. I cling closely to the scripture Create in me a clean heart and a right spirit. (Psalm 51:10)

Prayer: Lord, take the blinders from my eyes when I see what I want to see, but also help me see what you need me to see. Amen.

*See Numbers 22 beginning at verse 22.

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.

Resting on our Laurels

Ordinary Time

February 15, 2022

Scripture Reading: Genesis 45:3-11, 15

So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, “Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.” And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him. –Genesis 45:8-11, 15

And Joseph delivered all that he promised to the family of Jacob, renamed Israel, Joseph’s family. Exodus 12:40–41 tells us that the Israelites remained in Egypt for 430 years before the Exodus. We do not know exactly when they were forced into slavery. Exodus 1:8 describes that a new Pharoah who did not know Joseph came to power and that was the beginning of the end of their freedom.  One of the lessons of the Exodus is that we cannot rest on our laurels—get lazy or complacent about what we can achieve because we are too busy basking in the memories of former glories. Wealthy empires like Rome generally realized that too late to save themselves. The USA teeters on the edge of such privilege where greed and lust for power blind us from our highest principles.

While we can appreciate what our ancestors accomplished, we should also learn from their mistakes and strive to plan for a better future for our descendants. We cannot rest on our laurels and work toward a world ruled by love at the same time.

Prayer: Lord, grant us the courage to step out in faith and restore our nation to finding common ground for 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.

Bonds of Love

Ordinary Time

February 2, 2022

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 138:1-3, 7-8

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
   before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down towards your holy temple
   and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
   for you have exalted your name and your word
   above everything.
On the day I called, you answered me,
   you increased my strength of soul.


Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
   you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
   and your right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
   Do not forsake the work of your hands. –Psalm 138:1-3, 7-8

God created all for a purpose, and according to the Psalm above the Lord will fulfill that purpose. I must say I do not envy God’s tasks in that regard. The world works hard at distracting us from our purposes and can even be very destructive. I have stood over the bed of abused children on life supports and tried to understand a mother who held her infant’s feet and bottom in boiling water for what reason I never knew. I cannot fathom that God created these children to suffer in such a manner. Such incidents as these, no doubt, planted the seed of advocacy in my being.

When I was a child we sang, He’s got the whole world in his hands*. Children may have a better grasp of that theology than we adults do. God created an interdependent world that only works well when each of the elements in it fulfills their purposes and do not hinder any other from fulfilling theirs. God tethered those elements together with love. When the bonds of love break, we are all called to restore them by whatever means possible.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when the world distracts and misdirects us, restore our souls and our commitment to love like you. Amen.

*See at https://hymnary.org/text/hes_got_the_whole_world_in_his_hands

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

Of Laws and Grace

Ordinary Time

January 19, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 19

The law of the Lord is perfect,
  reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
   making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
   rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
   enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is pure,
   enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
   and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
   even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
   and drippings of the honeycomb. –Psalm 19:7-10 he

Sister Joan Chittister’s book The Ten Commandments: Laws of the Heart helped me understand the importance of law in our lives while delving into the breadth and depths of the Ten Commandments. I grew up on a farm. One evening while watching TV, we saw an ad for a Gubernatorial candidate showing him walking idyllically through a pasture with grazing cattle holding his wife’s hand staring up at the blue sky. My dad said he could never vote for anybody who does not have sense enough to watch where he was stepping in a pasture full of cows. Laws and rules formed from experience ease our paths in life.

God wants the very best for all of God’s creations including each of us, and through God’s various emissaries shared guidance toward that end. The Ten Commandments are the most practical advice we could ever receive. Think about how much better our world with be if we had ever all worked at following them. Instead of practicing sage advice we either use them to establish self-righteousness or to judge others.

A few thousand years later God sent Jesus who introduced us to grace establishing that God’s love is our salvation and God’s supreme commandments to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves encompasses all the laws. Those laws remain relevant as they help us discern how to apply love in our daily lives.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the gift of your grace and for the laws that exemplify our living in your 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.

Feeling at Home in the Kingdom of God

Living in the Spirit

August 9, 2021

Scripture Reading:
1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14

Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places. The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt-offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, ‘Ask what I should give you.’ And Solomon said, ‘You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart towards you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?’

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. God said to him, ‘Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.‘ –1 Kings 3:3-14

In a democracy with a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, we should be able to look in the mirror and see the reflection of our government looking back at us. I fear we can. We are a house divided and do not seem willing or able to seek what is good for all because we think our way is the right way and thus the only way. We have lost our moral fiber to do what is best for all the people, not just for ourselves or people like us.  Solomon asked the right question initially but got caught up in the love of money and power. While his service in office may have been spectacular in its buildings and international intrigue, he left it in shambles, causing the kingdom to split, which began the downfall of a great nation. How do we measure what a great country is by wealth and power, or how well it cares for itself and all its neighbors—a nation ruled by love. We know that love is the ruling factor in God’s Kingdom.  We might be surprised when God’s Kingdom comes to full fruition and find we feel like strangers.

Prayer: Give your servant(s) therefore an understanding mind(s) to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; 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.

Equal in the Eyes of God

Living in the Spirit

November 9, 2020

The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. So the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly for twenty years.

At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgement. She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, “Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.” ’

Scripture Reading: Judges 4:1-7

Deborah was a strong woman. I named my web address after her. She held the position of judge in a very violent time. I do not believe that violence is ever the best solution to anything. Once things get out of hand, it is often the only answer. But it was not the violence that attracted her leadership to me. I liked her perseverance and her common sense.

I strongly think our nation is at a crossroad where we must decide who and what we want to be. Many are totally disgusted with our national government. Honestly, our leadership is a mirror representation of we the people. If we dig through the writings of the Hebrew Bible prophets, we will see ourselves in the people’s reflection of that time. The Bible calls them idols, which represent the lesser gods of their generation the same ones we turn to today. Their worship services included the latest and greatest innovation but were targeted at a likeness of the Creator God molded in an image that addressed their desires. Self-righteousness replaced God’s righteousness.

The image of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem prior to his crucifixion comes to my mine when I consider the state of or world. I am particularly puzzled by the prevalent attitude that people think their worth depends on being better than someone else. For those of us who claim to serve the Creator God being better than anyone else is simply impossible. God created all humans in God’s image. Our founders etched that thought into the framing of our democracy, all people are created equal. Granted those were not the actual first words, which were all men are created equal. It took a couple of hundred years for women to get the right to vote. In the beginning of our nation only landowners could vote, and black people were allotted the right to be only three-fifths human and not allowed to vote. They only received that classification because slave owners wanted a higher count of their population so they could have more representation in Congress. The indigenous people did not rate a mention. We have carried the heresy that one’s worth is based on being better than others from our founding. We do not seem to love God enough to accept his original establishment of the worth of each person. Correcting that heresy is a first step in redemption as individuals, as the Body of Christ in the world today, and as participants in the great experiment of democracy based on the equality of all.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for our failure to accept our worth as established in our very creation. Heal our souls so that we may love you and love one another as you would have us to 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.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

Epiphany

February 23, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 17:1-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’ When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’ And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, ‘Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’

Reading the daily paper is a fearful experience as is reading social media. Who can we trust to tell us the truth? How do we trust half-truths or carefully extracted words taken out of context? How do we tell a Russian post from the post of a citizen of the USA? Is our world going to be unsustainable in ten years or by 2050? What happens when no one can afford health care as prices spiral upward? What do we do about all the violence on the front page from children being killed in their classrooms to Jewish people being slaughtered in their synagogues?

And yet Jesus tells his disciples, us, not to be afraid. We have been given the truth and the truth will set us free*. What we may not fully understand is we are a part of the answer. We are called to implement Jesus’ plan for a world that was declared good at its creation and will be good for all as we join hands with Christ to make it happen.

Prayer: Lord, give us the courage to face the truly fearful realities of our world as we world to turn them upside down. Amen.

*John 8:31-32

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.

Transcending Hate

Epiphany

February 9, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:13-20

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. –Matthew 5:17-20

I was stunned when I heard President Trump on the news recently saying that he disagreed with the Pastor who spoke before the President at the National Prayer breakfast when the Pastor said that we should love our enemies. I realize that the President may not know that the Pastor was quoting Jesus, but that teaching, commandment to some of us, appears in several scriptures.

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For you will heap burning coals on his head, And the LORD will reward you. (Proverbs 25:21-22)

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (Matthew 5:44)

In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:28)

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 John 4:7)

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. (Romans 12:14-21)

I struggled as I thought about even the possibility of disagreeing with Jesus. If I commit to be a follower of Jesus, does that give me the right to pick and choose which of his teachings I will follow?  Of course, we all do that at one time or another with portions of the Hebrew bible, like wearing clothing made from two different fabrics, and even as we study the New Testament books other than the gospels. Some even question the source of parts of the gospels. My final analysis is that Jesus gave us two commandments that he identified as overriding all others, Loving God and Loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. (Mark 12:30-31) I shorthand those commandments by holding decision I must make up to the question, “Does what I think and what I do pass the test of love?” I like M. Scott Peck’s definition of love which is: The will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth*. There is only one trajectory in love and that is always targeted at creating more love.

Prayer: God who is Love, help us love ourselves enough to transcend hate and to love our enemies. Amen.

*The Road Less Traveled, Peck, 1978/1992, p85

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.

The Law of Love

Living in the Spirit
May 24, 2018

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:1-17

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. –Romans 8:1-8

Laws exist to bring order to the potential for chaos. Laws are useless if people do not recognize them for the purpose they serve. Traffic laws are a good example. Speed limits reduce the incidence of accidents. Studies measure the likelihood of accidents as they relate to speed and project the most favorable speed to allow traffic to flow meaningfully while reducing the number of accidents. It is science and it has proven to work. The law implementing prohibition of the sale of alcoholic beverages, intended to reduce the harmful effects of alcohol abuse resulted in increased crime and what came to be known at least in Oklahoma as liquor by the wink. The well regulated legal serving of alcoholic beverages seems to be safer than the absolute prohibition of alcohol.

Biblical laws include everything from murder to healthy food regulations to etiquette. While cultures have changed, and we may have identified safe ways to cook pork but now recommend a limited salt intake, the need for some order regarding safety and general order remains prudent.

With the coming of Christ, we learned that laws were not an end unto themselves but that love, caring for one another wanting the best for one another drives all aspects of our lives including influencing our laws. The challenge is to change ourselves into people who love one another, and the laws will take care of themselves. Laws do not matter to those whose intent is selfish gain.

Prayer:  Lord, let our love multiply throughout our world resulting in positive outcomes for all your children. 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.