Tag Archives: Wholeness

We Need Gilead’s Balm

Living in the Spirit

August 13, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 12:49-56

‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:
father against son
   and son against father,
mother against daughter
   and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
   and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’ –Luke 12:49-53

I think I have shared this story before but at times it bares repeating. I heard Dr. Fred Craddock preach several years ago about the French word Ennui as a descriptor and disrupter of faith at times. We are living in such a time as this. Ennui* has been adopted into the English language and means a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction: languor or emptiness of spirit.

We see it in many places. Voting participation is at a very low point. Having been swamped with dark advertisements among the various campaigns, I do not believe any of them. Church participation is down. People describe themselves as spiritual, not religious. Jesus is quoted as saying he came to light a fire in our world and indeed, he did. The history of God in our world seems cyclical and we humans seem to need such attention-getting action to set us back on our foundation. Climate change is literally lighting fires all around us calling us to be responsible for the earth God created for us. COVID opened the windows to the failures of our health care system. The death of Breanna Taylor and others opened our eyes to the scourge of discrimination in our land. We must work to heal these wounds of our society as we strive for wholeness, oneness, and justice in our country and world.

There is a balm in Gilead
to make the wounded whole,
there is a balm in Gilead
to heal the sin-sick soul.

Sometimes I feel discouraged
and think my work’s in vain,
but then the Holy Spirit
revives my soul again**.

Prayer: Amen.

*https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/ennui

**Refrain and the first verse of There Is a Balm in Gilead. See at https://hymnary.org/text/sometimes_i_feel_discouraged_spiritual

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 Blessing

Living in the Spirit

August 9, 2022

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 23:23-29

Am I a God nearby, says the Lord, and not a God far off? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord. I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back—those who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart? They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal. Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the Lord. Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

As in the times represented in the Bible, we today must deal with false prophets. How do we discern a true prophet from a false prophet? Do the prophets’ words meet the test of loving God and loving all of God’s children? We are called to love not to judge. I appreciate Christ taking on this task and freeing all of us to love people for who they are and who they are becoming.

For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. –John 5:26-29

First, I note, that the things I believe separate me from God may not be the same as those that separate others from God. Second, when I observe people getting caught up in behaviors or ideas that I perceive as being harmful to them or others, my merely judging them and perhaps ostracizing them is not helpful and may be harmful in and of itself. By loving them and walking with them I may be able to assist them in working out their situation or steer them toward others who can aid them without being judgmental. Third, my life experiences are not broad enough for me to fully understand anyone else’s deepest needs. God does know each of God’s children completely and I must depend on God to guide my relationships with others if I might be a tool to help them.

Prayer: Lord, make each of us blessings to others we meet along life’s ways. 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.

Implementing the Beloved Community

Living in the Spirit

August 7, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 12:32-40

‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

‘But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’ –Luke 12:35-40

Life is not waiting around for Christ to return and make everything right resting on the laurels of our self-righteousness. I think Christ would be perfectly happy to return to a world where we love one another, and everyone has enough to eat, clothing to wear, good health, and no crime. Where safe water is abundant, and the air is clean to breathe.  Where when Christ returns he brings a banquet to celebrate the realization of his beloved community throughout the world.

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts and minds to find and implement our roles in implementing his beloved community.  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.

Free to Love or Not

Living in the Spirit

August 3, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 33:12-22

Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
   the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.

The Lord looks down from heaven;
   he sees all humankind.
From where he sits enthroned he watches
   all the inhabitants of the earth—
he who fashions the hearts of them all,
   and observes all their deeds.

A king is not saved by his great army;
   a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
The war horse is a vain hope for victory,
   and by its great might, it cannot save.

Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
   on those who hope in his steadfast love,
to deliver their soul from death,
   and to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord;
   he is our help and shield.
Our heart is glad in him,
   because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
   even as we hope in you.

All humans were made in the image of God and God saw them all as good. This psalmist wrote From where [God] sits enthroned he watches all the inhabitants of the earth—he who fashions the hearts of them all, and observes all their deeds. We were created with the innate capability of discerning right from wrong. That was a courageous act. If we consider God as being the essence of love, then we also must realize that loving is a choice we make. We never make it alone. God’s love can and will enable our love when we choose to have a relationship with God.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for having the courage to love people who struggle with temptations drawing us away from what is right and just.  Nurture us in your ways of loving to the extent that we can nurture others in your ways. 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.

Motivation

Living in the Spirit

August 1, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

When you come to appear before me,
   who asked this from your hand?
   Trample my courts no more;
bringing offerings is futile;
   incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation—
   I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.
Your new moons and your appointed festivals
   my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me,
   I am weary of bearing them.
When you stretch out your hands,
   I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
   I will not listen;
   your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
   remove the evil of your doings
   from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
   learn to do good;
seek justice,
   rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
   plead for the widow. Isaiah 1:10-17

This scripture begs the question of what is going on in our inner beings in our relationship with God. God knows exactly what our motivation is for all our actions. When we worship God are we worshipping God or concerned about how our worship activities impress those around us? Perhaps that is why Jesus said, ‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. –Matthew 6:5-6

We are called to examine ourselves so that our motivations are as in touch with God as our actions.

Prayer: Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   and put a new and right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10) 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.

Love as We Love Ourselves

Living in the Spirit

July 31, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’

I feel like a broken record as I say the same thing, in many ways, all the time. I wonder if Jesus experienced the same response. He told us that we should love our neighbors as we love ourselves. I finally realized that we probably are loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. The problem is we do not love ourselves as God loves us. That results in our need to flaunt outward signs of who we are–fancy clothing, better homes, flashier cars whatever—because we do not love the person God created us to be. We each possess some quality that is needed to realize, the organic beloved community that Jesus visualized as the Kingdom of God.

A man in my church, Lee Bacher, died recently at the age of 98. He embodied the fulfilled person who knew God’s love and knew how to share it with others. I did not know this until the funeral, but he was apparently very stingy when it came to buying anything for himself. The suit he had was perfectly good. I knew him as one of the most generous men in our congregation. Not just with money but with his time and energy. He was a youth sponsor as a young adult and many of the youth whose lives he touched attended his memorial service. He served in most roles as an active church member. After retirement, he volunteered at the food bank once a week, and up to just weeks, before he died, he arrived at the church each week to fold the bulletins for the Sunday service.

Take some time this week to ponder and realize how much God loves you. Let it seep through each of your pores until it has no choice but to flow through you to the rest of God’s children.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for role models like Lee Bacher. 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 Satisfied Mind

Living in the Spirit

July 30, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’

Greed is the pandemic we really need to be worried about. I wrote about it in 2011 and if anything it has gotten worse. Greed is idolatry. In most cases we today are far too sophisticated to bow to a bronze statue. Greed as a controller of our lives is very real and I fear we all have contracted it at one time or another and far too many are addicted to greed-always wanting something bigger and better. I am reminded of the old country and western song A Satisfied Mind.

How many times have
You heard someone say
If I had his money
I could do things my way

But little they know
That it’s so hard to find
One rich man in ten
ith a satisfied mind

Money can’t buy back
Your youth when you’re old
Or a friend when you’re lonely
Or a love that’s grown cold

The wealthiest person
Is a pauper at times
Compared to the man
With a satisfied mind

Prayer: Lord, grant us the gift of a satisfied mind and the courage to maintain it. Amen.

The first, second, fourth, and fifth  segments of A Satisfied Mind written by Jack Rhodes / Red Hays see at https://www.google.com/search?q=Lyrics+by+author+of+a+satisfied+mind&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS987US987&oq=Lyrics+by+author+of+a+satisfied+mind&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160l3j33i299j33i22i29i30l3.11242j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

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.

Liking and Loving

Living in the Spirit

July 29, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Colossians 3:1-11

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all! –Colossians 3:5-11

The question was asked in my Sunday school class this week, “Does loving everyone mean we have to like them?” Everyone laughed but is a good question. Merriam-Webster dictionary list ten different forms of the word like. I picked the first verb form, to be suitable, pleasing, or agreeable to (a person) and to feel attraction toward or take pleasure in*. What matters most in differentiating the words like and love perhaps is how we respond to the other. In my limited experience as a direct social worker, I did not choose the clients with whom I worked, but once I met them, I could tell the difference between those I looked forward to visiting, those I did not mind visiting, and those I did not look forward to visiting. These possibly define the briefest spectrum of the attitude of liking. The act of liking or not is spontaneous, a gut-level reaction. As a professional, I was required to both get past the emotions of favoring some people and distancing myself from others. My job was to help whoever was assigned to me.

“Love is the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth… Love is as love does. Love is an act of will — namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love.” ― M. Scott Peck

Love is a choice of desiring the very best for oneself and for the other. In God’s grand scheme that means all others. Choosing to love someone may require us to look deeper into our “liking” to discern from where our gut-level response came and whether we need to address it.

Prayer: Lord, grant us the courage to love one another and the insight to discern whether our likes and dislikes are meaningful for us to address. Amen.

*https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/Like

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.

God’s Perspective

Living in the Spirit

July 28, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Colossians 3:1-11

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. –Colossian 3:1-4

We are called to seek higher ground. What does that mean? When Jesus sat on the mountain overlooking Jerusalem, he saw a broad vision of what was happening and understood that the way people lived was out of sync with God’s plans for the world God had created. Jesus knew that realigning with God was the only way God’s great Kingdom, God’s beloved community could ever be realized.

‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Matthew 23:37)

Jesus eventually gave his life to align God’s children with God.

I wonder what he sees looking over the breadth and depth of our world today. What do we see when taking in the whole picture? Do we need to examine ourselves first and discover the things in our lives we need to change to bring ourselves into sync with God? As we work toward wholeness, do we also need to work harder at finding oneness with all God’s people and our understanding that all people are God’s? Will God’s justice become real in our world if we become real to God?

Prayer: Lord, show us the view from your higher ground and help us discern how to change our lives to be better aligned with you and with 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.

God’s Timeframe

Living in the Spirit

July 23, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Luke 11:14-31

He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

The noun worry means mental distress or agitation resulting from concern usually for something impending or anticipated, anxiety*. My mother was a worrier. I used to think that she subconsciously thought if she worried enough about something over which she had no control, worrying would help the situation in some way. Mom was a devout Christian and what appeared to me as worry probably was a prayer expressed in anxiety. Mom was a doer of the word and was not at home with being unable to rectify a situation. Paul, too, was a doer of the word and he addressed worrisome experiences in Romans 8:26 when he wrote Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

The story of Jacob wrestling with God, Genesis 32:22-32, Illustrates this idea. Jacob had decided to return home and did not know if he would be welcomed. He wrestled with the situation throughout the night and finally demanded of God a blessing which he was granted with the changing of his name to Israel. Along with being enabled to face his family, he was blessed to become the ancestor of a great nation challenged with being a people through whom God could advance God’s kingdom.

There is a plodding old hymn nobody wants to sing anymore. We do not have the patience. It is not in most hymnals.

God is working this purpose out,
as year succeeds to year;
God is working this purpose out,
and the time is drawing near;
nearer and nearer draws the time,
the time that shall surely be:
when the earth shall be filled with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea**.

Prayer: Grant us the patience to serve you in your time frame, while instilling in us the will to be doers of your word at all times. Amen.

*https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/worry

**First verse of God is Working His Purpose Out by Arthur Campbell Ainger see at https://hymnary.org/text/god_is_working_his_purpose_out#Author

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.