And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, "This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you." Acts 17:2-3
Throughout the remainder of this chapter there is a sense of newness. That Paul and the apostles are talking about something new… and it both intrigues and irritates Jews and Gentiles alike. When the newness seems to get out of hand the followers of the way of Jesus Christ are spoken about as, “These people who have been turning the world upside down.” (Acts 17:6)
Of course they haven’t done this at all – all they have done is pointed out what Jesus did. The crowds are right about what has happened, it’s just that they are blaming the wrong people – they should be blaming Jesus. I think this is why it is interesting that what Paul is talking about is why the Messiah needed to suffer and die and rise from the dead.
Sadly the text only tells us that this is what he is teaching, it doesn’t actually tell us his answer. Conjecturing on why Jesus had to die, and how that death offered salvation to the world is a favorite past time of theologians – but none of us really has an answer, and I’m prone to think that there isn’t any one answer but lots of reasons. However today let me play with one reason that interests me and seems to relate to all this newness and world-turned-upside-downness that is happening in this chapter of Acts.
We all have an idea of who God is. We all have some particular desires about how God will act in our life, and how God will be in relationship to us. That is to say, each of us knows how we wish to be saved. And I think in many ways that we limit who God really is by only conceiving of God as we wish to – only hearing God say what we want to hear – only being willing to see God at work in ways that we like.
Jesus knew this… and thus Jesus knew that he was never going to be able to save us from ourselves… until our God died (or our limited, and limiting, notion of who God is and what God does is taken away from us). It is only when our conception of salvation dies, that we can become open to true salvation. It is only when we give up putting God in the box we would like God to be in that we can be open to a relationship with God as God really is. That’s wordy I know, but I hope you are following me because I think it’s of vital importance.
So Jesus had to die… that God might come to life. We become saved when the small notions of God that we cling to are replaced with the awesome mystery of the God who really is. And when that God lives – and lives in our lives… our worlds are turned upside down.
What ways are you putting God in a box and limiting your openness to the activity of God in your life?
How are you practicing listening to the God who really is, rather than just telling God who you want God to be?
What does it mean for you as an individual and the church as a whole to be open to having our world turned upside down?
God of mystery,
You are always doing a new thing in our midst. Help us to keep open to your Spirit that is always urging us in new directions. Give us the strength to boldly move into your upside down future. Amen.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
November 4: Cornerstone
After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. (Acts 16:23-25)
How often have you seen a movie or television show have a character end up in prison only to sit there dejected and hopeless, singing in almost monotone voice, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, nobody knows my sorrow?”
It is one of those songs that I associate with despair. Despair is more than sorrow or trouble… despair is a complete lack of hope, it is the loss of life. Soren Kierkegaard calls despair the sickness unto death, and considers it actually worse than death itself.
So why do I reflect on this now? Because this is not the song Paul and Silas are singing – they are singing hymns to God… and whatever they are singing everyone WANTS to listen to (even in the middle of the night).
I imagine we all have visuals of characters and people in jail that go a different route – that are filled with anger and rage and ready to strike out at anyone who comes near them. Anger and rage may just be very similar to despair – because they aren’t a way towards life and hope and they are as destructive to the person who is consumed by them as they are to the object of their hate.
Paul and Silas do not hate, in fact a few verses later they will stop the guard from killing himself.
And of course we all have seen lots of shows and movies about prison breaks, there was even a television show called Prison Break. Here there are daring and intricate plots to escape the cell that holds the person. Paul and Silas do not break out of prison. In fact when the jail cells are rocked open in the earthquake a point is made (in saving the guard from killing himself) that they are all still there. Not only has Paul and Silas not left, everyone is sitting in their cells – not running!
Despair… Fight… Flight… these are response we know and expect in moments of great adversity. We lose hope. We strike out. We run from reality.
Paul and Silas go a different route. They sing hymn and say prayers to God. They witness hope to the other prisoners and captivate them with their faith. They show love and grace to the guard and not only save his life but offer a new way of life to that guard’s entire family. And finally they push a confrontation with the very people who put them in jail in order to unmask that what was done was wrong, they don’t flee but their confrontation is not one of malice and hate.
Their actions are counter to all our instincts. Their actions are based in a very deep trust in God – more than I can imagine. Their actions are rooted in a hope that survives beatings, shackling, mocking… they have an abundant life that cannot be contained.
How do we get that life? Haven’t you ever met someone who so exuded grace and quiet peace and said to yourself – I want that! Here is the thing… you don’t just get “that”… you live it. You practice it – you let grace shape you so you can shape your life and the lives around you with grace.
You learn to allow sorrow – without falling into despair.
You learn to confront injustice – without resorting to anger and hate.
You learn trust God – without needing to flee adversity.
And you learn it all one small step at time… and until then – you sing.
What is causing you sorrow… anger… fear?
Have you spoken your grief, angst and anxiety to God… to a companion?
Do you trust that God is strong enough for you… with you in your pain… enabling you to have life?
God our Cornerstone,
It truly is you that holds our worlds together. So often we find ourselves too weak and helpless, and we move to despair. Remind us that you are not too weak to hold us up. Strengthen us to respond in trust and love to a world that too often stays in anger, hate and fear. Amen.
How often have you seen a movie or television show have a character end up in prison only to sit there dejected and hopeless, singing in almost monotone voice, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, nobody knows my sorrow?”
It is one of those songs that I associate with despair. Despair is more than sorrow or trouble… despair is a complete lack of hope, it is the loss of life. Soren Kierkegaard calls despair the sickness unto death, and considers it actually worse than death itself.
So why do I reflect on this now? Because this is not the song Paul and Silas are singing – they are singing hymns to God… and whatever they are singing everyone WANTS to listen to (even in the middle of the night).
I imagine we all have visuals of characters and people in jail that go a different route – that are filled with anger and rage and ready to strike out at anyone who comes near them. Anger and rage may just be very similar to despair – because they aren’t a way towards life and hope and they are as destructive to the person who is consumed by them as they are to the object of their hate.
Paul and Silas do not hate, in fact a few verses later they will stop the guard from killing himself.
And of course we all have seen lots of shows and movies about prison breaks, there was even a television show called Prison Break. Here there are daring and intricate plots to escape the cell that holds the person. Paul and Silas do not break out of prison. In fact when the jail cells are rocked open in the earthquake a point is made (in saving the guard from killing himself) that they are all still there. Not only has Paul and Silas not left, everyone is sitting in their cells – not running!
Despair… Fight… Flight… these are response we know and expect in moments of great adversity. We lose hope. We strike out. We run from reality.
Paul and Silas go a different route. They sing hymn and say prayers to God. They witness hope to the other prisoners and captivate them with their faith. They show love and grace to the guard and not only save his life but offer a new way of life to that guard’s entire family. And finally they push a confrontation with the very people who put them in jail in order to unmask that what was done was wrong, they don’t flee but their confrontation is not one of malice and hate.
Their actions are counter to all our instincts. Their actions are based in a very deep trust in God – more than I can imagine. Their actions are rooted in a hope that survives beatings, shackling, mocking… they have an abundant life that cannot be contained.
How do we get that life? Haven’t you ever met someone who so exuded grace and quiet peace and said to yourself – I want that! Here is the thing… you don’t just get “that”… you live it. You practice it – you let grace shape you so you can shape your life and the lives around you with grace.
You learn to allow sorrow – without falling into despair.
You learn to confront injustice – without resorting to anger and hate.
You learn trust God – without needing to flee adversity.
And you learn it all one small step at time… and until then – you sing.
What is causing you sorrow… anger… fear?
Have you spoken your grief, angst and anxiety to God… to a companion?
Do you trust that God is strong enough for you… with you in your pain… enabling you to have life?
God our Cornerstone,
It truly is you that holds our worlds together. So often we find ourselves too weak and helpless, and we move to despair. Remind us that you are not too weak to hold us up. Strengthen us to respond in trust and love to a world that too often stays in anger, hate and fear. Amen.
Monday, October 25, 2010
October 25: Mining the Stories
One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour. But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe." The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. (Acts 16:16-22)
Okay so I have given a much larger selection than has been my custom. I just couldn’t see cutting this one short – there is too much to unpack in this text as a complete story.
Funny highlight: Paul heals someone out of annoyance!
Disturbing trend: Fickle crowds turn from wonder to malice.
Familiar message: Following Jesus isn’t easy or popular.
Typical Witness: A slave-girl… the least powerful person in town.
Easy Out: “customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt”
Truth and Consequence: Messing with people’s money is a quick way to beating.
Each of these makes for an intriguing devotional on its own… at this point you are probably able to complete my thoughts for me. In fact it’s something of a good exercise – take each of these thoughts and start to mine it for nuggets. What do you see there? How does it relate to your own life and situation? What are the questions you find yourself wanting to ask about your (our) journey of discipleship?
You might say I’m trying the easy way out of my job today and pushing it off on you… then again, you might say (and I will!) that this is the best way I can do my job. Have fun, and let me (let all of us) know what you are seeing…
Inspiring God,
As we journey together let our community be a crossroads for a network of journeys where each of our paths cross and enrich our shared lives together. Stir us, inspire us, and send us out transformed and transforming.
Amen.
Okay so I have given a much larger selection than has been my custom. I just couldn’t see cutting this one short – there is too much to unpack in this text as a complete story.
Funny highlight: Paul heals someone out of annoyance!
Disturbing trend: Fickle crowds turn from wonder to malice.
Familiar message: Following Jesus isn’t easy or popular.
Typical Witness: A slave-girl… the least powerful person in town.
Easy Out: “customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt”
Truth and Consequence: Messing with people’s money is a quick way to beating.
Each of these makes for an intriguing devotional on its own… at this point you are probably able to complete my thoughts for me. In fact it’s something of a good exercise – take each of these thoughts and start to mine it for nuggets. What do you see there? How does it relate to your own life and situation? What are the questions you find yourself wanting to ask about your (our) journey of discipleship?
You might say I’m trying the easy way out of my job today and pushing it off on you… then again, you might say (and I will!) that this is the best way I can do my job. Have fun, and let me (let all of us) know what you are seeing…
Inspiring God,
As we journey together let our community be a crossroads for a network of journeys where each of our paths cross and enrich our shared lives together. Stir us, inspire us, and send us out transformed and transforming.
Amen.
Monday, October 18, 2010
October 18: Exposed Roots
NEWS ALERT! We interrupt our normal program journeying as disciples through the Acts of the Apostles to bring you the following reflection thoughts. Please stay tuned following this alert for your regularly scheduled program (okay so I’m never really regular with our little devotional reflections, you needn’t remind me).
**********************************************************************************
Last Friday I was having a new television service installed and for a while had the television turned on to a station I wasn’t paying any attention to as the installer was trying to figure out a problem with the phones. When he left the room I allowed my attention to turn to the television show that had come on, Ask This Old House. It is a program about restoring old homes and it was near the end of the program and there was a landscape specialist looking at the yard of the house. He got really animated and frustrated as he showed us trees that had developed what he called “Mulch Volcanoes”.
“Mulch Volcanoes”, he explained, are what happen when every season some grounds crew (or naïve homeowner) comes out and just dumps a fresh load of mulch around a tree and moves on. The mound of mulch rises up the trunk of the tree and begins to suffocate it. Similarly this sometimes just happens when a tree is planted too deep in the ground. The problem is this: even roots need to breathe. Trees have what is called a root flare, where the roots begin to branch out from the trunk and spread out into the soil. This root flare is supposed to be partly exposed to the air to allow them to breathe. (For information and visual aids: http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/garden/view_question/id/484/ ). A healthy tree has a nicely exposed base where the roots start to spread out into the ground.
When we allow these roots to be buried they will actually send out secondary root systems to travel up towards the top of the soil in order to get air, and these secondary root systems will actually suffocate and kill a tree. In the case of the television show I was watching it was actually too late to save many of the trees in the yard. They had strangled the life out of themselves.
At this point I went back to what I was doing helping the installer get out of my house as quickly as possible… and I thought I had learned a bit of trivia that was intriguing but not overly important in my life. (Out of laziness all of my trees have nicely exposed root flare!)
Then on Sunday morning as I was sifting thoughts through my mind it hit me – hit me in a moment of prophetic vision similar to Ezekiel being shown the river flowing from the temple to give life to the world (Ezekiel 47, the text Katie preached so powerfully – and prophetically – from on Sunday).
How many of us have covered up our root flare? How many of us have been scared to let our roots be exposed? How many of us are strangling the life out of ourselves?
Our faith has roots, and is our roots.
Our faith has a story from which we come, from which we are living, and towards which we are headed. Our lives are anchored and rooted… or we hope they are, in soil that is some mixture of our families, our culture, our vocation, our own sense of moral agency… a whole mix of things really. Our lives are also rooted in our faith – scriptural narratives, religious tradition and our own experience of the living Christ. And these roots are watered by the river of the Holy Spirit that is ever flowing, ever deepening, ever expanding to bring life to the world.
But if we continually insist on covering up our roots – for well meaning reasons even – then we are strangling ourselves and we are risking not being fruitful… maybe even spiritual and emotional death.
As a community of disciples we need to help one another gingerly and carefully unearth our “root flare”. We need to encourage each other be vulnerable enough to expose the soil in which we are rooted. We need to breathe in, and breathe out, our life giving faith - sharing what it is we have seen and heard.
It is risky work. It is healing work. It is participating in God’s transformative mission.
What reasons do find yourself giving for “covering up” your roots?
Who do you trust to help you unearth the rich and deep roots of your faith and life?
How might you help others to find such healing in their lives?
Revealing God,
You came to us to show us the roots of who you are – in the flesh. Help us to live similarly exposed lives. Remind us to constantly breath in, and out, your life giving Spirit.
Amen.
**********************************************************************************
Last Friday I was having a new television service installed and for a while had the television turned on to a station I wasn’t paying any attention to as the installer was trying to figure out a problem with the phones. When he left the room I allowed my attention to turn to the television show that had come on, Ask This Old House. It is a program about restoring old homes and it was near the end of the program and there was a landscape specialist looking at the yard of the house. He got really animated and frustrated as he showed us trees that had developed what he called “Mulch Volcanoes”.
“Mulch Volcanoes”, he explained, are what happen when every season some grounds crew (or naïve homeowner) comes out and just dumps a fresh load of mulch around a tree and moves on. The mound of mulch rises up the trunk of the tree and begins to suffocate it. Similarly this sometimes just happens when a tree is planted too deep in the ground. The problem is this: even roots need to breathe. Trees have what is called a root flare, where the roots begin to branch out from the trunk and spread out into the soil. This root flare is supposed to be partly exposed to the air to allow them to breathe. (For information and visual aids: http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/garden/view_question/id/484/ ). A healthy tree has a nicely exposed base where the roots start to spread out into the ground.
When we allow these roots to be buried they will actually send out secondary root systems to travel up towards the top of the soil in order to get air, and these secondary root systems will actually suffocate and kill a tree. In the case of the television show I was watching it was actually too late to save many of the trees in the yard. They had strangled the life out of themselves.
At this point I went back to what I was doing helping the installer get out of my house as quickly as possible… and I thought I had learned a bit of trivia that was intriguing but not overly important in my life. (Out of laziness all of my trees have nicely exposed root flare!)
Then on Sunday morning as I was sifting thoughts through my mind it hit me – hit me in a moment of prophetic vision similar to Ezekiel being shown the river flowing from the temple to give life to the world (Ezekiel 47, the text Katie preached so powerfully – and prophetically – from on Sunday).
How many of us have covered up our root flare? How many of us have been scared to let our roots be exposed? How many of us are strangling the life out of ourselves?
Our faith has roots, and is our roots.
Our faith has a story from which we come, from which we are living, and towards which we are headed. Our lives are anchored and rooted… or we hope they are, in soil that is some mixture of our families, our culture, our vocation, our own sense of moral agency… a whole mix of things really. Our lives are also rooted in our faith – scriptural narratives, religious tradition and our own experience of the living Christ. And these roots are watered by the river of the Holy Spirit that is ever flowing, ever deepening, ever expanding to bring life to the world.
But if we continually insist on covering up our roots – for well meaning reasons even – then we are strangling ourselves and we are risking not being fruitful… maybe even spiritual and emotional death.
As a community of disciples we need to help one another gingerly and carefully unearth our “root flare”. We need to encourage each other be vulnerable enough to expose the soil in which we are rooted. We need to breathe in, and breathe out, our life giving faith - sharing what it is we have seen and heard.
It is risky work. It is healing work. It is participating in God’s transformative mission.
What reasons do find yourself giving for “covering up” your roots?
Who do you trust to help you unearth the rich and deep roots of your faith and life?
How might you help others to find such healing in their lives?
Revealing God,
You came to us to show us the roots of who you are – in the flesh. Help us to live similarly exposed lives. Remind us to constantly breath in, and out, your life giving Spirit.
Amen.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
October 13: Contextual Theology
Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him; and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. (Acts 16:3)
So let me just start off by saying that one of the reasons I really enjoy writing these devotionals/reflections is that it gets me looking at scripture differently. Sifting through the text line after line for small nuggets that might illuminate a conversation on discipleship has helped me to see things I have previously just read over and never noticed. This particular verse just jumped out at me as all kinds of craziness – I swear that somehow I have never read it before… though I’m sure I have several times.
Paul… circumcises????
This is Paul we are talking about… Paul who spends a significant amount of time saying that Gentiles do not need to be circumcised and that circumcision is nothing. Spend some time in Galatians and you will see just how clear he is about his stance on not doing circumcision. You will also see that he promotes another case where such was pointedly not required:
But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. (Gal 2:3)
Many scholars will tell you that a point is made two verses earlier from where we began in Acts today to note that Timothy is half Jew (through his mother) and half Gentile (through his Greek father) and so he is of Jewish descent but not a Jew because he is uncircumcised. The conjecture on this strange inconsistency from Paul is that he circumcises Timothy to ease tension with Jewish Christians and make Timothy more acceptable to them.
This doesn’t hold water with me at all. (By the way I spent over an hour researching this little inconsistency… I even dragged Tom in on the fun!) Again look to Galatians where Paul not only holds Peter (referred to as Cephas by Paul) to account for hypocrisy but does so in very accusing and public language. His problem with Peter was doing something that was wrong in order (get this), to please the concerns of Jewish Christians.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. (Gal 2:11-12)
Paul has no patience with doing anything for the wrong reasons – and he seems to think placating people and crowds is a wrong reason. Paul’s faith and trust in God and reliance that only the Gospel is important is unyielding in his life. And while I’m quite willing to think that Paul has some serious faults (and perhaps a fair bit of competitive bias against Peter) I just can’t imagine a person this sure of his convictions would waffle in randomness…. something else must be going on, and something important.
And this got me to two things. The first is a potential answer. Scholar Walter Kaiser reminds us that there is a difference between forcing a gentile to adopt Jewish ways and saying she/he needs to be circumcised to be saved, and healing the torn identity of a half-Jew.
Titus (in Galatians) was a Gentile = do not circumcise.
Timothy (in Acts) was a half-Jew living as unaccepted by either tradition of his lineage = circumcise.
To force Titus to be circumsized was to say he and his faith was incomplete without it (which is radically not true for Paul). But to offer the same to Timothy is to offering healing and wholeness to a person who has never full lived his own identity. The circumsicion here is not about Chrsitian faith but Timothy's own particular identity.
This approach to the inconsistency seems like it’s on to something… and what it’s on to makes my day complete! Don’t you just love when God seems to have arranged your day (little known to you) to have the same subject come up over and over again in different guises?
Yesterday’s subject (this is when I was doing all that thinking) the subject was essential tenets; call them fundamentals of faith. What do we name as things everyone has to believe or has to do? And the traditional answer in our reformed/Presbyterian tradition is not to name them. That we just can’t offer unconditional answers to that question. It would be nice… but they just aren’t there.
Jesus doesn’t come close to saying here is what are orthodox beliefs (right beliefs) and you have to believe them or else! The closest you come is probably the Sermon on the Mount and the beatitudes… and perhaps the one I’m most likely to choose:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength… and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31)
Neither of these however makes all our decisions clear. Neither of these are answers, as much as they provoke questions. How do we love? Who is our neighbor? What does all your strength look like in my daily life?
And this is discipleship… living the questions. Paul is certain circumcision is unnecessary for Christian faith – but even he recognizes that context matters. One rule does not rule over all people in all times. And so Paul does something that appears radically inconsistent… and yet for Paul – who has problems with everything – it wasn’t a problem at all. Because in that place and at that time it is what makes senses to the Gospel message Paul carries. And Paul won’t be governed by rules… but by the Gospel that is Jesus Christ and the freedom that faith in Christ offers the world. It offers healing to those whose identity is torn; it offers reconciliation that brings divided groups (Jews and Gentiles, woman and men, poor and rich) together, it tears down dividing walls of hostility.
And how do we do that? …by discipleship that seeks to live in the questions!
Where are you offering healing to the torn?
How do you bring divided groups together?
What walls of hostility have you built in your heart?
Reconciling God,
Give us the power to trust in you enough to forego building walls and setting rules. Help us to live in the here and now – seeing the light of Christ and the good news in our midst and participating in the healing and building up of the body of Christ. Amen.
So let me just start off by saying that one of the reasons I really enjoy writing these devotionals/reflections is that it gets me looking at scripture differently. Sifting through the text line after line for small nuggets that might illuminate a conversation on discipleship has helped me to see things I have previously just read over and never noticed. This particular verse just jumped out at me as all kinds of craziness – I swear that somehow I have never read it before… though I’m sure I have several times.
Paul… circumcises????
This is Paul we are talking about… Paul who spends a significant amount of time saying that Gentiles do not need to be circumcised and that circumcision is nothing. Spend some time in Galatians and you will see just how clear he is about his stance on not doing circumcision. You will also see that he promotes another case where such was pointedly not required:
But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. (Gal 2:3)
Many scholars will tell you that a point is made two verses earlier from where we began in Acts today to note that Timothy is half Jew (through his mother) and half Gentile (through his Greek father) and so he is of Jewish descent but not a Jew because he is uncircumcised. The conjecture on this strange inconsistency from Paul is that he circumcises Timothy to ease tension with Jewish Christians and make Timothy more acceptable to them.
This doesn’t hold water with me at all. (By the way I spent over an hour researching this little inconsistency… I even dragged Tom in on the fun!) Again look to Galatians where Paul not only holds Peter (referred to as Cephas by Paul) to account for hypocrisy but does so in very accusing and public language. His problem with Peter was doing something that was wrong in order (get this), to please the concerns of Jewish Christians.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. (Gal 2:11-12)
Paul has no patience with doing anything for the wrong reasons – and he seems to think placating people and crowds is a wrong reason. Paul’s faith and trust in God and reliance that only the Gospel is important is unyielding in his life. And while I’m quite willing to think that Paul has some serious faults (and perhaps a fair bit of competitive bias against Peter) I just can’t imagine a person this sure of his convictions would waffle in randomness…. something else must be going on, and something important.
And this got me to two things. The first is a potential answer. Scholar Walter Kaiser reminds us that there is a difference between forcing a gentile to adopt Jewish ways and saying she/he needs to be circumcised to be saved, and healing the torn identity of a half-Jew.
Titus (in Galatians) was a Gentile = do not circumcise.
Timothy (in Acts) was a half-Jew living as unaccepted by either tradition of his lineage = circumcise.
To force Titus to be circumsized was to say he and his faith was incomplete without it (which is radically not true for Paul). But to offer the same to Timothy is to offering healing and wholeness to a person who has never full lived his own identity. The circumsicion here is not about Chrsitian faith but Timothy's own particular identity.
This approach to the inconsistency seems like it’s on to something… and what it’s on to makes my day complete! Don’t you just love when God seems to have arranged your day (little known to you) to have the same subject come up over and over again in different guises?
Yesterday’s subject (this is when I was doing all that thinking) the subject was essential tenets; call them fundamentals of faith. What do we name as things everyone has to believe or has to do? And the traditional answer in our reformed/Presbyterian tradition is not to name them. That we just can’t offer unconditional answers to that question. It would be nice… but they just aren’t there.
Jesus doesn’t come close to saying here is what are orthodox beliefs (right beliefs) and you have to believe them or else! The closest you come is probably the Sermon on the Mount and the beatitudes… and perhaps the one I’m most likely to choose:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength… and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31)
Neither of these however makes all our decisions clear. Neither of these are answers, as much as they provoke questions. How do we love? Who is our neighbor? What does all your strength look like in my daily life?
And this is discipleship… living the questions. Paul is certain circumcision is unnecessary for Christian faith – but even he recognizes that context matters. One rule does not rule over all people in all times. And so Paul does something that appears radically inconsistent… and yet for Paul – who has problems with everything – it wasn’t a problem at all. Because in that place and at that time it is what makes senses to the Gospel message Paul carries. And Paul won’t be governed by rules… but by the Gospel that is Jesus Christ and the freedom that faith in Christ offers the world. It offers healing to those whose identity is torn; it offers reconciliation that brings divided groups (Jews and Gentiles, woman and men, poor and rich) together, it tears down dividing walls of hostility.
And how do we do that? …by discipleship that seeks to live in the questions!
Where are you offering healing to the torn?
How do you bring divided groups together?
What walls of hostility have you built in your heart?
Reconciling God,
Give us the power to trust in you enough to forego building walls and setting rules. Help us to live in the here and now – seeing the light of Christ and the good news in our midst and participating in the healing and building up of the body of Christ. Amen.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
October 7: Two or Three are Gathered
After some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Come, let us return and visit the believers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. (Acts 15:36-40)
We all realize that disagreements happen. And if you think churches (or missionary efforts in this case) splitting apart is new… well, its not! But what really grabs the focus of my attention in this passage is the how it ends. Conflict splits the two of them… and Barnabas grabs Mark and goes one way while Paul grabs Silas and goes another direction. (Of interesting side note… say good-bye to Barnabas because they never reunite and he does not appear again in the Book of Acts.)
What doesn’t happen in this ending?
Neither one goes off alone.
They part ways and even distance themselves from each other, but they do not go alone… which continues a trend of discipleship – it’s a group activity.
In this day and age I will hardly be the first to tell you that many of us think we can go it alone. We all have reasons – rationalizations - but whatever they are, it adds up to my own sense of spirituality (and maybe even study and prayer) apart from anyone other than God.
“I’m not religious, I’m spiritual.”
“It’s between me and God.”
Here is the problem… its not. Paul is as close to a lone wolf as we get in the New Testament and yet he always has someone with him and despite numerous disagreements and differences with the “main church” in Jerusalem he always maintains connection with them. (See Galatians 1 and 2 for examples.) Discipleship just isn’t done alone. Jesus called 12 and sent 70… but even then he sent them in pairs. And of course there is much quoted, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." (Mat 18:20)
We just can’t do this alone. We need people to hold us accountable, to affirm and support us, to give us companionship. I recently watched a great video from ted.com on where good ideas come from. (Here is a shorter, slightly more fun, version of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU) by Steven Johnson. His research suggests that the idea of the lone genius having a Eureka moment (like Isaac Newton being hit on the head with an apple and grasping the idea of gravity) is mostly a false notion. In fact he tells us, good ideas come from people networking together in ways that their individual hunches can collide together and create good ideas. Discipleship is no different.
We need to collide with one another… theologically, spiritually, socially, fiscally, emotionally… and just about any other –ally besides physically! Discipleship just isn’t between you and God, and its only spiritual. It’s a group project!
What are you trying to keep between only you and God?
Who are you pairing with in your journey?
In what ways are you networking your hunches with others?
Gathering God,
You call us out of individuality to a corporate journey. Help us network and collide with one another that our shared energy and thought may witness good ideas - and good news - to the world. Amen.
We all realize that disagreements happen. And if you think churches (or missionary efforts in this case) splitting apart is new… well, its not! But what really grabs the focus of my attention in this passage is the how it ends. Conflict splits the two of them… and Barnabas grabs Mark and goes one way while Paul grabs Silas and goes another direction. (Of interesting side note… say good-bye to Barnabas because they never reunite and he does not appear again in the Book of Acts.)
What doesn’t happen in this ending?
Neither one goes off alone.
They part ways and even distance themselves from each other, but they do not go alone… which continues a trend of discipleship – it’s a group activity.
In this day and age I will hardly be the first to tell you that many of us think we can go it alone. We all have reasons – rationalizations - but whatever they are, it adds up to my own sense of spirituality (and maybe even study and prayer) apart from anyone other than God.
“I’m not religious, I’m spiritual.”
“It’s between me and God.”
Here is the problem… its not. Paul is as close to a lone wolf as we get in the New Testament and yet he always has someone with him and despite numerous disagreements and differences with the “main church” in Jerusalem he always maintains connection with them. (See Galatians 1 and 2 for examples.) Discipleship just isn’t done alone. Jesus called 12 and sent 70… but even then he sent them in pairs. And of course there is much quoted, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." (Mat 18:20)
We just can’t do this alone. We need people to hold us accountable, to affirm and support us, to give us companionship. I recently watched a great video from ted.com on where good ideas come from. (Here is a shorter, slightly more fun, version of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU) by Steven Johnson. His research suggests that the idea of the lone genius having a Eureka moment (like Isaac Newton being hit on the head with an apple and grasping the idea of gravity) is mostly a false notion. In fact he tells us, good ideas come from people networking together in ways that their individual hunches can collide together and create good ideas. Discipleship is no different.
We need to collide with one another… theologically, spiritually, socially, fiscally, emotionally… and just about any other –ally besides physically! Discipleship just isn’t between you and God, and its only spiritual. It’s a group project!
What are you trying to keep between only you and God?
Who are you pairing with in your journey?
In what ways are you networking your hunches with others?
Gathering God,
You call us out of individuality to a corporate journey. Help us network and collide with one another that our shared energy and thought may witness good ideas - and good news - to the world. Amen.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
September 30: Saved and Called
But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, "It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses." The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter… Peter stood up and said to them, "…God, who knows the human heart, testified to them (the Gentiles/uncircumcised) by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us… we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will." (Acts 15:5-11)
WARNING: IF YOU WANT CLEAR CUT ANSWERS AND MONOLITHIC UNDERSTANDINGS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH DO NOT PROCEED ANY FURTHER.
Okay now that I have that warning out of the way… welcome to my whirling and twirling world. The more time I spend with the Bible the more questions I have… and the fewer answers. Today we are told that we are saved by grace and there is nothing for us to do but avoid a couple of particularly problematic practices as part of our salvation. But just a few days ago we read: "It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22)
So which is it?
Do we have stuff to do for our faith… or not? Because I’m getting confuzzled here and I sure wouldn’t mind if the Book of Acts would be a bit more consistent!! (Okay actually I’m reveling in it because I have a love of ambiguity and paradox and believe it to be the heart of our walk with God… but I can certainly see how such inconsistency would make many of us quite frustrated!)
So what is going on here?
Well, once again, I’m lacking in the book of God’s authoritative interpretations of Holy Scripture… so I’m just going to have to tell you what I think might be going on.
It might just be that there is, in fact, a difference between being saved and being a disciple.
We all are called to be disciples, I firmly believe that. But we aren’t all ready to act on that calling… many of us – like many of those in Biblical story – are still weighted down with other concerns be they lifestyle, family, or trust. And truth be told those concerns never go away, disciple or not. But many of us still follow in the footsteps of the rich young ruler, and the various would-be followers of Luke 9, and the crowds of disciples in John 6 (the list goes on) who choose to walk away from Christ because discipleship just asked too much for them at that time. (I would remind you that Nicodemus walked away in John 3 as well… and yet at the cross it is Nicodemus who is ready to claim Jesus body when the disciples are conspicuously absent.) So discipleship is hard – and we aren’t all ready or able at all times in our lives. However… just because we aren’t ready to answer the call of discipleship doesn’t mean we aren’t saved.
That we are saved by Grace just is… it isn’t a fact because I can’t give you observable evidence – but it is a faith claim that is just true, regardless of whether I choose to acknowledge it or not, believe it or not, live into or not. If God is sovereign (and I believe that God is) and God has, in Jesus Christ, died and risen to save all of God’s creation (which I believe God has done) then we are saved: like it or not, accept it or not!
We do not need to be circumcised… we don’t need to earn it; we do not even need to live into it. God loves us BEFORE we can even do any of that… and in love God has named, claimed, saved and redeemed us… still BEFORE we can do any of that. This is what the disciples are discerning and claiming in our text today.
However…
The story doesn’t end there. Salvation isn’t simply for salvation’s sake.
Salvation is ultimately about entering in, living in, and witnessing to, the Kingdom of God.
This is where discipleship and apostleship comes into play. This is where the discomforting and transformative power of God comes into play. This is where our “right” becomes our responsibility.
That we are saved and inheritors of the Kingdom of God is a done deal. But actually living into the joy of that Kingdom here and now – seeing the Kingdom of God as tangible reality (fact) and living in that Kingdom even as we walk the highways and byways of this world is a matter for our journey of discipleship. Anyone, everyone, is saved. Being a disciple requires answering the call and embarking on the journey… and yes… it does require “doing” things.
Do you feel the blessing of God’s salvation that claims you as one in whom Christ dwells and delights?
Are you seeking to see, live and show others the Kingdom of God?
What helps you know when you are walking in the Kingdom and living kingdom ways, and when you are not?
Almighty Savior God,
You have saved us. It is a done deal: signed and witnessed. Help us to feel the joy of your love in our life, and to answer the call of truly living into that joy in all that we do and all that we say and all that we are. Let us be a window to you for the world. Amen.
WARNING: IF YOU WANT CLEAR CUT ANSWERS AND MONOLITHIC UNDERSTANDINGS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH DO NOT PROCEED ANY FURTHER.
Okay now that I have that warning out of the way… welcome to my whirling and twirling world. The more time I spend with the Bible the more questions I have… and the fewer answers. Today we are told that we are saved by grace and there is nothing for us to do but avoid a couple of particularly problematic practices as part of our salvation. But just a few days ago we read: "It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22)
So which is it?
Do we have stuff to do for our faith… or not? Because I’m getting confuzzled here and I sure wouldn’t mind if the Book of Acts would be a bit more consistent!! (Okay actually I’m reveling in it because I have a love of ambiguity and paradox and believe it to be the heart of our walk with God… but I can certainly see how such inconsistency would make many of us quite frustrated!)
So what is going on here?
Well, once again, I’m lacking in the book of God’s authoritative interpretations of Holy Scripture… so I’m just going to have to tell you what I think might be going on.
It might just be that there is, in fact, a difference between being saved and being a disciple.
We all are called to be disciples, I firmly believe that. But we aren’t all ready to act on that calling… many of us – like many of those in Biblical story – are still weighted down with other concerns be they lifestyle, family, or trust. And truth be told those concerns never go away, disciple or not. But many of us still follow in the footsteps of the rich young ruler, and the various would-be followers of Luke 9, and the crowds of disciples in John 6 (the list goes on) who choose to walk away from Christ because discipleship just asked too much for them at that time. (I would remind you that Nicodemus walked away in John 3 as well… and yet at the cross it is Nicodemus who is ready to claim Jesus body when the disciples are conspicuously absent.) So discipleship is hard – and we aren’t all ready or able at all times in our lives. However… just because we aren’t ready to answer the call of discipleship doesn’t mean we aren’t saved.
That we are saved by Grace just is… it isn’t a fact because I can’t give you observable evidence – but it is a faith claim that is just true, regardless of whether I choose to acknowledge it or not, believe it or not, live into or not. If God is sovereign (and I believe that God is) and God has, in Jesus Christ, died and risen to save all of God’s creation (which I believe God has done) then we are saved: like it or not, accept it or not!
We do not need to be circumcised… we don’t need to earn it; we do not even need to live into it. God loves us BEFORE we can even do any of that… and in love God has named, claimed, saved and redeemed us… still BEFORE we can do any of that. This is what the disciples are discerning and claiming in our text today.
However…
The story doesn’t end there. Salvation isn’t simply for salvation’s sake.
Salvation is ultimately about entering in, living in, and witnessing to, the Kingdom of God.
This is where discipleship and apostleship comes into play. This is where the discomforting and transformative power of God comes into play. This is where our “right” becomes our responsibility.
That we are saved and inheritors of the Kingdom of God is a done deal. But actually living into the joy of that Kingdom here and now – seeing the Kingdom of God as tangible reality (fact) and living in that Kingdom even as we walk the highways and byways of this world is a matter for our journey of discipleship. Anyone, everyone, is saved. Being a disciple requires answering the call and embarking on the journey… and yes… it does require “doing” things.
Do you feel the blessing of God’s salvation that claims you as one in whom Christ dwells and delights?
Are you seeking to see, live and show others the Kingdom of God?
What helps you know when you are walking in the Kingdom and living kingdom ways, and when you are not?
Almighty Savior God,
You have saved us. It is a done deal: signed and witnessed. Help us to feel the joy of your love in our life, and to answer the call of truly living into that joy in all that we do and all that we say and all that we are. Let us be a window to you for the world. Amen.
Monday, September 27, 2010
September 27: Suffering Discipleship
There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, "It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22)
Before I put a word (or two) in on this let me offer you a series of favorite quotations… it’s a list that is hard to edit, but it could be longer!
The first quotation comes from Jurgen Moltmann in the beginning of his book, The Crucified God. It is the follow up to his book A Theology of Hope.
“As far as I am concerned, the Christian church and Christian theology become relevant to the problems of the modern world only when they revel the ‘hard core’ of their identity in the crucified Christ and through it are called into question, together with the society in which they live.”
The second quotation comes from popular Southern Gothic writer Flannery O’Connor who was known for stories that embraced the darkness of the world around her. She was also very thoughtful about her strong Catholic faith. This particular comment comes from a letter written to a friend.
“I think that the Church is the only thing that is going to make the terrible world we are coming to endurable; the only thing that makes the Church endurable is that it is somehow the body of Christ and that on this we are fed. It seems to be a fact that you have to suffer as much from the Church as for it, but if you believe in the divinity of Christ, you have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.”
The final quotation comes from theologian H. Richard Neibuhr as he characterizes the God of Liberal Theology (the belief that human society is getting better and better and will bring in the Kingdom of God). Despite great critique liberal theology lives on in American society and this particular critique is also easily aimed at the popular sense of God as benign moralistic deity (God is up in heaven and basically wants good things to happen to me but otherwise isn’t very involved in my life).
“A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministry of a Christ without a cross.”
So why do I give you these three quotations? Well… back to the text.
There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, "It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22)
It have always (as far as I know… perhaps there was a time in childhood I felt different) felt that Christian faith requires that you be moved out of out of your comfort zone. To pull another Neibuhr quotation it, “comforts the afflicted, and afflicts the comforted.”
I believe that self-sacrifice and yes – even suffering – is inherent to Christian faith and discipleship. I do not believe such suffering is good. I do believe that it is the necessary byproduct of living in the Kingdom of God that chooses to not play by the rules of society – in fact it even chooses to turn them upside down. It is the necessary byproduct of a life lived loving God, neighbor and self.
A way to understand the cross (not the only way, but certainly a way) is that the price of living a life in the way of Jesus Christ is the world will attempt to kill you because it cannot abide people who choose to live so “foolishly”.
Our world understands and condones hate and fear… it just cannot abide love.
I’m biased on the subject.
I understand discipleship is joyful… but maybe not fun.
I understand it is fulfilling… but often lonely.
I understand it is desirable… but not because of what I get out of it, as if by signing up I pay to receive services and entertainment.
Discipleship is desirable because “here we find the words of eternal life” – even when that eternal life comes at the cost of our earthly life (or comfort) as it did for so many of the early disciples.
I’m biased… and so I leave you with these quotations – because I am not alone.
I’m biased… and so I leave you with these questions – because I want to be with you too.
How do you see the cross present in your life?
What do you love most, and hate most, about the Church – the body of Christ in the world?
Who is God for you?
Loving God,
Your love is radical. Your love stirs and pushes, pulls and embraces. Your love puts a call on our life that is hard to live as it invites us to live so differently from the world of self-interest, competition, and fear. Help us to love, as you have loved us. Amen.
Before I put a word (or two) in on this let me offer you a series of favorite quotations… it’s a list that is hard to edit, but it could be longer!
The first quotation comes from Jurgen Moltmann in the beginning of his book, The Crucified God. It is the follow up to his book A Theology of Hope.
“As far as I am concerned, the Christian church and Christian theology become relevant to the problems of the modern world only when they revel the ‘hard core’ of their identity in the crucified Christ and through it are called into question, together with the society in which they live.”
The second quotation comes from popular Southern Gothic writer Flannery O’Connor who was known for stories that embraced the darkness of the world around her. She was also very thoughtful about her strong Catholic faith. This particular comment comes from a letter written to a friend.
“I think that the Church is the only thing that is going to make the terrible world we are coming to endurable; the only thing that makes the Church endurable is that it is somehow the body of Christ and that on this we are fed. It seems to be a fact that you have to suffer as much from the Church as for it, but if you believe in the divinity of Christ, you have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.”
The final quotation comes from theologian H. Richard Neibuhr as he characterizes the God of Liberal Theology (the belief that human society is getting better and better and will bring in the Kingdom of God). Despite great critique liberal theology lives on in American society and this particular critique is also easily aimed at the popular sense of God as benign moralistic deity (God is up in heaven and basically wants good things to happen to me but otherwise isn’t very involved in my life).
“A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministry of a Christ without a cross.”
So why do I give you these three quotations? Well… back to the text.
There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, "It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22)
It have always (as far as I know… perhaps there was a time in childhood I felt different) felt that Christian faith requires that you be moved out of out of your comfort zone. To pull another Neibuhr quotation it, “comforts the afflicted, and afflicts the comforted.”
I believe that self-sacrifice and yes – even suffering – is inherent to Christian faith and discipleship. I do not believe such suffering is good. I do believe that it is the necessary byproduct of living in the Kingdom of God that chooses to not play by the rules of society – in fact it even chooses to turn them upside down. It is the necessary byproduct of a life lived loving God, neighbor and self.
A way to understand the cross (not the only way, but certainly a way) is that the price of living a life in the way of Jesus Christ is the world will attempt to kill you because it cannot abide people who choose to live so “foolishly”.
Our world understands and condones hate and fear… it just cannot abide love.
I’m biased on the subject.
I understand discipleship is joyful… but maybe not fun.
I understand it is fulfilling… but often lonely.
I understand it is desirable… but not because of what I get out of it, as if by signing up I pay to receive services and entertainment.
Discipleship is desirable because “here we find the words of eternal life” – even when that eternal life comes at the cost of our earthly life (or comfort) as it did for so many of the early disciples.
I’m biased… and so I leave you with these quotations – because I am not alone.
I’m biased… and so I leave you with these questions – because I want to be with you too.
How do you see the cross present in your life?
What do you love most, and hate most, about the Church – the body of Christ in the world?
Who is God for you?
Loving God,
Your love is radical. Your love stirs and pushes, pulls and embraces. Your love puts a call on our life that is hard to live as it invites us to live so differently from the world of self-interest, competition, and fear. Help us to love, as you have loved us. Amen.
Monday, September 20, 2010
September 20: Personal God
When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" …When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, "Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them… " Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them. (Acts 14:11-18)
Commodities abound in our world and economics makes the world turn.
We are each in the business of buying and selling commodities – and even more important our culture is in the business of turning people and ideas into commodities to be sold. There is probably no place that it is easier to see this than with entertainment and sports stars.
We aren’t really interested in the person of Michael Jordan… we just want to wear his shoes. We do not care about the hopes and dreams of LeBron James, we just want to drink Sprite just like he does… because maybe if we do we can have as many “commodities” as he does. Our fashion designers are selling a lifestyle as much as individual clothing, and movies and television shows turn people into “types” that we want to emulate.
I do not think I have to convince you that the American dream has become a way of turning people and ideas into commodities to be bought and sold… if I do – I’ll have to do it in another space. Because what I want to get at, and what I think we are invited to question from our text today… is that we struggle not to do this same thing to the each other, to the church, and even to God.
Go back to the text for me for a minute… what is it that the crowds want to do to Paul and Barnabas?
They want to claim that Paul and Barnabas are “the gods” in human form.
They are ready to name Paul the Greek god Hermes, and Barnabas is Zeus. Even the priest of Zeus is ready to play the game. Before we get to the reaction of Paul and Barnabas let us spend a bit more time with the crowds.
Why name Paul and Barnabas as Hermes and Zeus? Well I have already tipped my hand. I think it’s about making them into commodities. It isn’t really a way to compliment Paul and Barnabas… it’s a way to profit from them.
Let me back up… when Nike created the “Air Jordan” brand it wasn’t to laud Michael Jordan. And the fact that he profited from it is only secondary… the point to it all was to allow a group of others to profit from him. Nike profits from his name, the wearer of the shoe profits from feeling like they can “be like Mike”, and shareholders profit from everyone wanting that commodity to the tune of a hundred dollars for each pair of shoes.
So how do we profit from turning Paul and Barnabas into Greek commodities (aka gods)? We tame them. We control them. We make them at our beck and call – answering our needs. I don’t know what do with a radical, political and theological revolutionary prophet walking around in the name of the alleged son of the alleged Jewish God. But I do know what to do with Hermes. He has a known character and mission… he is, after all, our creation. And so we name Paul as Hermes and then he’s no mystery after all. He won’t meddle in our lives – in fact we will meddle with his as we redefine his message through the lens of “Hermes” to fit our lives… for our profit. We put their healing power to use for our own gain.
Thus is it that Paul and Barnabas have to rend their clothing and lament to the commodifying crowds… “Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things (commodities… gods…) to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them… "
Do we make church to fit our lives? Do we make God to fit our lives? Do we find voices and put them into categories that are easier to deal with? Do we figure out how people and ideas will profit us… either monetarily or in some other tangible (emphasis on tangible… we don’t want elusive rewards after all) way? Do we make people and ideas into commodities in our life?
You bet. Only God won’t let us. God won’t hang with such settled answers, and such easy boxes. And God’s disciples following in the way of Christ won’t either… even though the temptation is large and the struggle to resist doing so is nearly impossible to navigate. We are to rend our clothes and remember/witness that we are just mortals… the church is just a mortal institution… but the message we carry is so much more. The God we point to in the way we live our lives is so much more – God is everything.
When we meet someone we do not ask: what does this profit me? We engage in mutual sharing and learning and growing. This is the way of Jesus Christ.
How have you sought to turn others into commodities in your life?
Are there ways you have tried to do the same with God and/or the church – engage the community to find personal profit?
How are you living your life to help others turn from worthless things to the living God?
Personal God, you came this world that we might know you face to face in a living relationship. Help us to care enough about one another to do for each other as you have done for us. Amen.
Commodities abound in our world and economics makes the world turn.
We are each in the business of buying and selling commodities – and even more important our culture is in the business of turning people and ideas into commodities to be sold. There is probably no place that it is easier to see this than with entertainment and sports stars.
We aren’t really interested in the person of Michael Jordan… we just want to wear his shoes. We do not care about the hopes and dreams of LeBron James, we just want to drink Sprite just like he does… because maybe if we do we can have as many “commodities” as he does. Our fashion designers are selling a lifestyle as much as individual clothing, and movies and television shows turn people into “types” that we want to emulate.
I do not think I have to convince you that the American dream has become a way of turning people and ideas into commodities to be bought and sold… if I do – I’ll have to do it in another space. Because what I want to get at, and what I think we are invited to question from our text today… is that we struggle not to do this same thing to the each other, to the church, and even to God.
Go back to the text for me for a minute… what is it that the crowds want to do to Paul and Barnabas?
They want to claim that Paul and Barnabas are “the gods” in human form.
They are ready to name Paul the Greek god Hermes, and Barnabas is Zeus. Even the priest of Zeus is ready to play the game. Before we get to the reaction of Paul and Barnabas let us spend a bit more time with the crowds.
Why name Paul and Barnabas as Hermes and Zeus? Well I have already tipped my hand. I think it’s about making them into commodities. It isn’t really a way to compliment Paul and Barnabas… it’s a way to profit from them.
Let me back up… when Nike created the “Air Jordan” brand it wasn’t to laud Michael Jordan. And the fact that he profited from it is only secondary… the point to it all was to allow a group of others to profit from him. Nike profits from his name, the wearer of the shoe profits from feeling like they can “be like Mike”, and shareholders profit from everyone wanting that commodity to the tune of a hundred dollars for each pair of shoes.
So how do we profit from turning Paul and Barnabas into Greek commodities (aka gods)? We tame them. We control them. We make them at our beck and call – answering our needs. I don’t know what do with a radical, political and theological revolutionary prophet walking around in the name of the alleged son of the alleged Jewish God. But I do know what to do with Hermes. He has a known character and mission… he is, after all, our creation. And so we name Paul as Hermes and then he’s no mystery after all. He won’t meddle in our lives – in fact we will meddle with his as we redefine his message through the lens of “Hermes” to fit our lives… for our profit. We put their healing power to use for our own gain.
Thus is it that Paul and Barnabas have to rend their clothing and lament to the commodifying crowds… “Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things (commodities… gods…) to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them… "
Do we make church to fit our lives? Do we make God to fit our lives? Do we find voices and put them into categories that are easier to deal with? Do we figure out how people and ideas will profit us… either monetarily or in some other tangible (emphasis on tangible… we don’t want elusive rewards after all) way? Do we make people and ideas into commodities in our life?
You bet. Only God won’t let us. God won’t hang with such settled answers, and such easy boxes. And God’s disciples following in the way of Christ won’t either… even though the temptation is large and the struggle to resist doing so is nearly impossible to navigate. We are to rend our clothes and remember/witness that we are just mortals… the church is just a mortal institution… but the message we carry is so much more. The God we point to in the way we live our lives is so much more – God is everything.
When we meet someone we do not ask: what does this profit me? We engage in mutual sharing and learning and growing. This is the way of Jesus Christ.
How have you sought to turn others into commodities in your life?
Are there ways you have tried to do the same with God and/or the church – engage the community to find personal profit?
How are you living your life to help others turn from worthless things to the living God?
Personal God, you came this world that we might know you face to face in a living relationship. Help us to care enough about one another to do for each other as you have done for us. Amen.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
September 16: Being Anti-Venom
“…and poisoned their minds against the brothers.” Act 14:2b
I am risking pulling this text REALLY out of context. I’m not just focusing on one verse but on half a verse. (If you have ever wondered about why you might occasionally see an “a” or “b” in a biblical citation it means that the first half or second half of the verse is being referenced. A great tool for those of us who only like half of what the Bible says!)
I want to focus on this particular piece of the verse however because in keeping with our last devotion I think it points out something about the nature of those who follow in the way of Christ. Disciples and apostles are absolutely filled to the brim with anti-venom. That’s right… the waters of baptism, the wine and juice of the table, the spirit of God is anti-venom in our blood and it just won’t allow us to get poisoned…
Okay so don’t go try and get bitten by any snakes to disprove me – I’d rather not have to make a whole rash of hospital visits over the next few days!! Clearly I don’t actually mean to think “good Christians” (whatever that is) are immune to poison (that particular passage in Mark just isn’t in “my” canon: “they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them.” Mark 16:18). What I do mean to say is that in this text those that heard and put trust in the good news of Christ, those who followed in the way of Christ, are those who didn’t allow their minds to get poisoned “against the brothers”.
I think this is a very important message today because I think we live in an age rampant with poison. Our minds are poisoned daily.
Politics poisons us… “against the brothers.”
Religion poisons us… “against the brothers.”
Competition in sports, marketplace poisons us…
“against the brothers.”
Institutional pride and nationalism poisons us…
“against the brothers.”
Classicism, racism, sexism poisons us…
“against the brothers (and sisters!!).”
Cliques, gossip and whose in and whose out mentality poisons us…
“against the brothers.”
Jesus is inoculation against poison.
Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners.
Jesus lifted up Centurions and Samaritans as role models.
Jesus died for all. Jesus rose for all.
Jesus frees us from being poisoned… “against the brothers.”
And here the brothers is no longer simply Paul and Barnabas but all our brothers and sisters and the people around us who we would like to think are not part of “our” community.
Following in the way of Jesus means allowing yourself to be inoculated against such poisons. And I think this may be one of the hardest things we can do because we have to give up A LOT to do that. We have to give up the right to stand at the water cooler and get snarky about “those other people”. We have to give up the right to carry on to hurts and vengeance and self-righteousness. We have to give up the rage and frustration and drive and need that fuels us to be first… and to be right, because it is a poison that is anathema to the heart of Christ who reminds us that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
We have to give up so much… and then we have to actually practice “turning the other cheek” and living in service to the “other” – washing the feet of our neighbor… even when our neighbor’s action don’t warrant it, because the whole idea of “warrant” and “worth” are wrapped up in poison.
“Do you want to be made well?”
Jesus asks this in the John 5.
Jesus wants to rid us of our poisons.
Jesus invites us to be live a life freed from poisons… and freeing others from them as well. Jesus requires us not to poison or be poisoned… “against the brothers” - whomever they may be.
What poisons are you carrying around with you?
Do you want to be made well?
How are you helping others to let the poisons go?
Inoculating God,
Help us to want to be healed. Give us the strength to let go of the poisons that destroy us but also define us in ways we find sadly comforting. Healing us, help us to go forth into your world helping to free others from their poisons as you have freed us from ours.
Amen.
I am risking pulling this text REALLY out of context. I’m not just focusing on one verse but on half a verse. (If you have ever wondered about why you might occasionally see an “a” or “b” in a biblical citation it means that the first half or second half of the verse is being referenced. A great tool for those of us who only like half of what the Bible says!)
I want to focus on this particular piece of the verse however because in keeping with our last devotion I think it points out something about the nature of those who follow in the way of Christ. Disciples and apostles are absolutely filled to the brim with anti-venom. That’s right… the waters of baptism, the wine and juice of the table, the spirit of God is anti-venom in our blood and it just won’t allow us to get poisoned…
Okay so don’t go try and get bitten by any snakes to disprove me – I’d rather not have to make a whole rash of hospital visits over the next few days!! Clearly I don’t actually mean to think “good Christians” (whatever that is) are immune to poison (that particular passage in Mark just isn’t in “my” canon: “they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them.” Mark 16:18). What I do mean to say is that in this text those that heard and put trust in the good news of Christ, those who followed in the way of Christ, are those who didn’t allow their minds to get poisoned “against the brothers”.
I think this is a very important message today because I think we live in an age rampant with poison. Our minds are poisoned daily.
Politics poisons us… “against the brothers.”
Religion poisons us… “against the brothers.”
Competition in sports, marketplace poisons us…
“against the brothers.”
Institutional pride and nationalism poisons us…
“against the brothers.”
Classicism, racism, sexism poisons us…
“against the brothers (and sisters!!).”
Cliques, gossip and whose in and whose out mentality poisons us…
“against the brothers.”
Jesus is inoculation against poison.
Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners.
Jesus lifted up Centurions and Samaritans as role models.
Jesus died for all. Jesus rose for all.
Jesus frees us from being poisoned… “against the brothers.”
And here the brothers is no longer simply Paul and Barnabas but all our brothers and sisters and the people around us who we would like to think are not part of “our” community.
Following in the way of Jesus means allowing yourself to be inoculated against such poisons. And I think this may be one of the hardest things we can do because we have to give up A LOT to do that. We have to give up the right to stand at the water cooler and get snarky about “those other people”. We have to give up the right to carry on to hurts and vengeance and self-righteousness. We have to give up the rage and frustration and drive and need that fuels us to be first… and to be right, because it is a poison that is anathema to the heart of Christ who reminds us that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
We have to give up so much… and then we have to actually practice “turning the other cheek” and living in service to the “other” – washing the feet of our neighbor… even when our neighbor’s action don’t warrant it, because the whole idea of “warrant” and “worth” are wrapped up in poison.
“Do you want to be made well?”
Jesus asks this in the John 5.
Jesus wants to rid us of our poisons.
Jesus invites us to be live a life freed from poisons… and freeing others from them as well. Jesus requires us not to poison or be poisoned… “against the brothers” - whomever they may be.
What poisons are you carrying around with you?
Do you want to be made well?
How are you helping others to let the poisons go?
Inoculating God,
Help us to want to be healed. Give us the strength to let go of the poisons that destroy us but also define us in ways we find sadly comforting. Healing us, help us to go forth into your world helping to free others from their poisons as you have freed us from ours.
Amen.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
September 8: Bringing Salvation
But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy; and blaspheming, they contradicted what was spoken by Paul. Then both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, 'I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'" When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers. (Acts 13:45-48)
If you haven’t noticed I’ve gone backward a bit. Just a few verses mind you – but backward all the same. Its not that I didn’t see these verses last week, its just that maybe on some level I was avoiding them… that’s right, I love difficult and challenging scripture lessons but I’m as prone as the next person to want to skip or gloss over some texts.
This text is like a gold mine (silver, diamonds and maybe even some oil too) of phrases for a theology of salvation. Whatever you are prone to want to understand about how salvation works, what it is, and why it matters – you’ll find what you want to see here! Step right up… salvation theologies are on a sale: 2 for dollar!
There is rejection, judgment, eternal life… light and salvation (and of course the ends of the earth… wherever those may be). There is jealousy and praise, Jews and Gentiles… and of course there is even the word of all words: “destined”. (It’s just asking for the prefix “pre” to be added.)
So what is it that I don’t like about this text… well I don’t like the free for all we might make of these “gold mine texts” that might just as well be a mine field of conceit. As soon as we think we understand salvation (that’s the conceit part) we are bound to start profaning the gospel. So I’m hesitant to even touch the word “destined” and turn it into any kind of support for the doctrine of predestination. I wish to take care of what we think it means to “bring salvation” as if it is ours to parcel out. For that we ought to recall how the author (Luke) and subject (Paul and Barnabas) go about their ministry.
And in keeping with that thought I’ll tell you what I do think is important to take from this text. When Paul “brings salvation” it isn’t to his glory (he doesn’t stick around to feed his ego… but moves on – apparently to the ends of the earth). Paul “brings salvation” boasting only of the cross of Christ and only to the glory of God. Paul doesn’t pick and choose who he gives his message to, it’s for all people. In fact that is the foundation of Paul’s calling, to take the gospel to those who had been deemed “outsiders”. Paul also doesn’t spend time telling people whether they really received salvation or not. In fact, one of the most interesting comments this text makes is, “Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life.”
The only judgment about worthiness for salvation is self-judgment. Whether or not we are saved (it appears from this text) is a matter of whether or not we allow ourselves to receive the gift (freely given by God and pointed out to us by the people around us… fellow disciples and apostles on their journey).
So the Jews (in this particular time and place) choose jealousy… and the Gentiles choose joy and praise. And the responsibility of those who have chosen joy and praise is go forth as light shining in the world that is too often darkened by jealousy and spite. The light we shine in the life of the world is to reveal to all around us one thing: the gospel… the good news that salvation is theirs as well – if they are willing to allow themselves to receive it!
Salvation is a gift – God’s gift.
Salvation is for all – all those who allow themselves to accept it in joy.
Salvation is revealed throughout the world (to the ends of the earth) and it is our responsibility to help people see it by making our lives be light in the darkness, pointing to Christ and the gift of salvation.
Have you allowed yourself to receive the gift of salvation?
Do you choose joy and praise?
Are you a living as light in the world helping others find God’s gift?
Saving God,
Help us to want to be healed by your gift of salvation. Lead us to joy and praise and enable us to bear your light into the world helping each other to live into the gifts you have given us. Amen.
If you haven’t noticed I’ve gone backward a bit. Just a few verses mind you – but backward all the same. Its not that I didn’t see these verses last week, its just that maybe on some level I was avoiding them… that’s right, I love difficult and challenging scripture lessons but I’m as prone as the next person to want to skip or gloss over some texts.
This text is like a gold mine (silver, diamonds and maybe even some oil too) of phrases for a theology of salvation. Whatever you are prone to want to understand about how salvation works, what it is, and why it matters – you’ll find what you want to see here! Step right up… salvation theologies are on a sale: 2 for dollar!
There is rejection, judgment, eternal life… light and salvation (and of course the ends of the earth… wherever those may be). There is jealousy and praise, Jews and Gentiles… and of course there is even the word of all words: “destined”. (It’s just asking for the prefix “pre” to be added.)
So what is it that I don’t like about this text… well I don’t like the free for all we might make of these “gold mine texts” that might just as well be a mine field of conceit. As soon as we think we understand salvation (that’s the conceit part) we are bound to start profaning the gospel. So I’m hesitant to even touch the word “destined” and turn it into any kind of support for the doctrine of predestination. I wish to take care of what we think it means to “bring salvation” as if it is ours to parcel out. For that we ought to recall how the author (Luke) and subject (Paul and Barnabas) go about their ministry.
And in keeping with that thought I’ll tell you what I do think is important to take from this text. When Paul “brings salvation” it isn’t to his glory (he doesn’t stick around to feed his ego… but moves on – apparently to the ends of the earth). Paul “brings salvation” boasting only of the cross of Christ and only to the glory of God. Paul doesn’t pick and choose who he gives his message to, it’s for all people. In fact that is the foundation of Paul’s calling, to take the gospel to those who had been deemed “outsiders”. Paul also doesn’t spend time telling people whether they really received salvation or not. In fact, one of the most interesting comments this text makes is, “Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life.”
The only judgment about worthiness for salvation is self-judgment. Whether or not we are saved (it appears from this text) is a matter of whether or not we allow ourselves to receive the gift (freely given by God and pointed out to us by the people around us… fellow disciples and apostles on their journey).
So the Jews (in this particular time and place) choose jealousy… and the Gentiles choose joy and praise. And the responsibility of those who have chosen joy and praise is go forth as light shining in the world that is too often darkened by jealousy and spite. The light we shine in the life of the world is to reveal to all around us one thing: the gospel… the good news that salvation is theirs as well – if they are willing to allow themselves to receive it!
Salvation is a gift – God’s gift.
Salvation is for all – all those who allow themselves to accept it in joy.
Salvation is revealed throughout the world (to the ends of the earth) and it is our responsibility to help people see it by making our lives be light in the darkness, pointing to Christ and the gift of salvation.
Have you allowed yourself to receive the gift of salvation?
Do you choose joy and praise?
Are you a living as light in the world helping others find God’s gift?
Saving God,
Help us to want to be healed by your gift of salvation. Lead us to joy and praise and enable us to bear your light into the world helping each other to live into the gifts you have given us. Amen.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
September 2: Moving On
But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region. So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them, and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. (Acts13:50-52)
This is not the first time that we have come to a text about shaking dust of our feet. Luke recounts Jesus telling the 70 who are sent out to spread the gospel that they should shake the dust off their feet from every village that didn’t receive them and the good news they bore.
There are two ways of looking at this act (actually I’m sure there are more, but two ways strike me as important at the moment). The first is to view this as an act of defiance and indictment as if to say to the Jews that stirred up the persecution that they have missed out on the good news. In modern times we might substitute it with an obscene gesture… or in a more comical mode it’s reminds me of the moment in Romeo and Juliet when the character Samson says, “I will bite my thumb at them; which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it.”
I suppose this is a viable interpretation – except that it makes this response an act of spite, and I don’t really see Jesus spending a lot of energy on spite. Rather I think what this gesture meant to Jesus and now to Paul and Barnabas was a reminder to themselves… a reminder not to get caught up in this encounter and bear the weight of its disappointment with them. There is a world of opportunity out there – people who need and want to hear good news… so there is absolutely no reason to keep banging our heads against the ones that don’t want to.
Wow… what a message this might be to all of us disciples – and the church as a body – in this day. Just how many places are we beating are heads against a wall? Just how much dust are we carrying around?
One of my favorite Buddhist wisdom sayings is a story that illustrates this same point. This is my version of that story.
Two monks are walking together down the road. An older monk and his young student. When they come to a river there is no ferry to get to the other side. There is also a young woman who wishes to cross. The older monk offers to carry her across the river and when she accepts, he does so. After the three cross over the older monk sets her down and he and his companion continue down the road. After they walk for a while the older monk sees that his companion is becoming more and more visibly upset. He stops and asks the young man what is wrong. The young student explains that carrying this woman was a breach of their monastic vows and he cannot believe the old man has done it. The older monk looked at his student and said, “The difference between you and I is that I set her down at the river, and you are still carrying her.”
This story also illustrates the ways we can get caught up in the right and wrong – and we just won’t “put it down” or “knock it off”. We allow a disturbing event to affect us far longer than it should. We carry burdens that just aren’t worth carrying.
Jesus invites us not to carry them any longer. Paul and Barnabas witness this way of life for us as a living incarnational testimony. When these Jews become inhospitable Paul and Barnabas do not “hunker down” and wage war… they move on. They “set the women down” and continue the journey to spread good news to a world that doesn’t always want to hear it – making sure they spend energy finding those who do!
What dust are you carrying around?
How might anger, spite, and frustration be poisoning your relationships with God, friends, family and neighbors?
Are you ready to move along and spread good news?
Journeying God,
You invite us to be on the move with your word. Help us not to fortify ourselves in our arguments and stay locked in on singular objectives. In place of that invite us to be free to move along in our journey spreading good news, hope and love in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
This is not the first time that we have come to a text about shaking dust of our feet. Luke recounts Jesus telling the 70 who are sent out to spread the gospel that they should shake the dust off their feet from every village that didn’t receive them and the good news they bore.
There are two ways of looking at this act (actually I’m sure there are more, but two ways strike me as important at the moment). The first is to view this as an act of defiance and indictment as if to say to the Jews that stirred up the persecution that they have missed out on the good news. In modern times we might substitute it with an obscene gesture… or in a more comical mode it’s reminds me of the moment in Romeo and Juliet when the character Samson says, “I will bite my thumb at them; which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it.”
I suppose this is a viable interpretation – except that it makes this response an act of spite, and I don’t really see Jesus spending a lot of energy on spite. Rather I think what this gesture meant to Jesus and now to Paul and Barnabas was a reminder to themselves… a reminder not to get caught up in this encounter and bear the weight of its disappointment with them. There is a world of opportunity out there – people who need and want to hear good news… so there is absolutely no reason to keep banging our heads against the ones that don’t want to.
Wow… what a message this might be to all of us disciples – and the church as a body – in this day. Just how many places are we beating are heads against a wall? Just how much dust are we carrying around?
One of my favorite Buddhist wisdom sayings is a story that illustrates this same point. This is my version of that story.
Two monks are walking together down the road. An older monk and his young student. When they come to a river there is no ferry to get to the other side. There is also a young woman who wishes to cross. The older monk offers to carry her across the river and when she accepts, he does so. After the three cross over the older monk sets her down and he and his companion continue down the road. After they walk for a while the older monk sees that his companion is becoming more and more visibly upset. He stops and asks the young man what is wrong. The young student explains that carrying this woman was a breach of their monastic vows and he cannot believe the old man has done it. The older monk looked at his student and said, “The difference between you and I is that I set her down at the river, and you are still carrying her.”
This story also illustrates the ways we can get caught up in the right and wrong – and we just won’t “put it down” or “knock it off”. We allow a disturbing event to affect us far longer than it should. We carry burdens that just aren’t worth carrying.
Jesus invites us not to carry them any longer. Paul and Barnabas witness this way of life for us as a living incarnational testimony. When these Jews become inhospitable Paul and Barnabas do not “hunker down” and wage war… they move on. They “set the women down” and continue the journey to spread good news to a world that doesn’t always want to hear it – making sure they spend energy finding those who do!
What dust are you carrying around?
How might anger, spite, and frustration be poisoning your relationships with God, friends, family and neighbors?
Are you ready to move along and spread good news?
Journeying God,
You invite us to be on the move with your word. Help us not to fortify ourselves in our arguments and stay locked in on singular objectives. In place of that invite us to be free to move along in our journey spreading good news, hope and love in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
August 31: Tell us the old, old story
…the officials of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, "Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it." 16 So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak: "You Israelites, and others who fear God, listen. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 For about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 19 After… (Acts 13:14-19)
Rather than a specific phrase what grabbed my attention today was the overall answer Paul gives as a “word” of exhortation. His response continues from where I left off with a recounting of the general events in Israel from the Exodus through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
When asked for a word of exhortation Paul doesn’t offer a rousing sermon about how to live your life, or a charismatic encouragement to make it through the day. What Paul does is tell a story – the story – of God and God’s people. It is a story they all presumably know already. Yet this is what he wants to share as his word of exhortation: to recount the ways that God has provided for God’s people and most particularly the final provision of God’s son in Jesus Christ.
This drives home to me how much Jews are a storytelling people, and as descendants of the Jews we inherit that tradition. As much as we love doctrine, and belief statements like creeds and confessions, at the heart we are a people who know God in story. As you flip through Acts you can see several times where early Christians like Stephen and Peter and Paul engage in retelling the old and well known stories to talk about God. Not a system of beliefs – but a living, breathing, unfolding faith. It is in the unfolding story of God and creation that the people ground their faith, identity, and hope. So when they need a word of exhortation Paul tells them the story – the old, old story.
I just received an email the other day that said the Bible meant: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth (B-I-B-L-E)… however cute this may be, it just doesn’t strike me as what the Bible is about (never mind that there is much in it that isn’t anything close to basic). Foundationally what the Bible offers us is just what Paul tells these gathered Jews and God-fearers, that as we look through the stories of our ancestors we can see God at work for justice, peace, and love – offering wholeness to the people. As we see God at work in history than it reminds us that God is similarly at work in our lives – even when we cannot see it. We trust because generations before us have trusted. We hope, and in doing so we offer hope to the generations that come after us.
God is our story and we are God’s story, thanks be to God.
Have you spent time immersing yourself in the story of God?
Do you see yourself in the stories of the Bible… your struggles, hopes, brokenness and dreams?
Are you offering hope to the world by letting your life be a witness to God’s ongoing story?
Speaking God,
From the beginning you have spoken creation into being as a story. You walk through the chapters of our life and seek to make our stories sing of love and grace. Give us eyes to see you at work in our lives, and the strength of heart to offer hope to the world in the living of our lives. Amen.
Rather than a specific phrase what grabbed my attention today was the overall answer Paul gives as a “word” of exhortation. His response continues from where I left off with a recounting of the general events in Israel from the Exodus through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
When asked for a word of exhortation Paul doesn’t offer a rousing sermon about how to live your life, or a charismatic encouragement to make it through the day. What Paul does is tell a story – the story – of God and God’s people. It is a story they all presumably know already. Yet this is what he wants to share as his word of exhortation: to recount the ways that God has provided for God’s people and most particularly the final provision of God’s son in Jesus Christ.
This drives home to me how much Jews are a storytelling people, and as descendants of the Jews we inherit that tradition. As much as we love doctrine, and belief statements like creeds and confessions, at the heart we are a people who know God in story. As you flip through Acts you can see several times where early Christians like Stephen and Peter and Paul engage in retelling the old and well known stories to talk about God. Not a system of beliefs – but a living, breathing, unfolding faith. It is in the unfolding story of God and creation that the people ground their faith, identity, and hope. So when they need a word of exhortation Paul tells them the story – the old, old story.
I just received an email the other day that said the Bible meant: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth (B-I-B-L-E)… however cute this may be, it just doesn’t strike me as what the Bible is about (never mind that there is much in it that isn’t anything close to basic). Foundationally what the Bible offers us is just what Paul tells these gathered Jews and God-fearers, that as we look through the stories of our ancestors we can see God at work for justice, peace, and love – offering wholeness to the people. As we see God at work in history than it reminds us that God is similarly at work in our lives – even when we cannot see it. We trust because generations before us have trusted. We hope, and in doing so we offer hope to the generations that come after us.
God is our story and we are God’s story, thanks be to God.
Have you spent time immersing yourself in the story of God?
Do you see yourself in the stories of the Bible… your struggles, hopes, brokenness and dreams?
Are you offering hope to the world by letting your life be a witness to God’s ongoing story?
Speaking God,
From the beginning you have spoken creation into being as a story. You walk through the chapters of our life and seek to make our stories sing of love and grace. Give us eyes to see you at work in our lives, and the strength of heart to offer hope to the world in the living of our lives. Amen.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
August 19: God-fearers
After the reading of the law and the prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, "Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it." So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak: "You Israelites, and others who fear God, listen. (Acts 13:15-16)
I left more of the text than I really needed to – so that there is some context for where my attention is drawn. Five words stand out to me… “and others who fear God.”
Who are these others?
I have heard some scholar’s reports about the “god-fearers” and their place in the synagogue. They are the people who were drawn to the worship of God of the Jews but never came fully into the community… fearers of God, with a place in the synagogue – but not Jews. They stopped short of that identity transforming commitment.
Who are these others? More importantly… are we these others?
The question of discipleship asks this very question – are we those who fear God… who are drawn to God… who recognize that there is truth and life here… and yet we find ourselves unable to make the full commitment. We find ourselves unable to “cast aside our nets” and follow Christ.
The god-fearers in this text are to the Jews, and the followers of the way (early Christians) the direct equivalent of the crowds that followed Jesus around listening and watching… but never committing to discipleship. They are there… and that is something – and something good. But it is only a first step, and not meant to be the destination of our journey to, and with, God.
Today? Today the god-fearers are the cultural Christians… the god-fearers are those who identify as Christian but don’t really make that a priority in their life. They may or may not attend church, and may or may not intentionally practice the way of Christ in their life, and may or may not profess that a relationship with God is of primary importance in their life… but however they (we?) engage a life of faith they are holding something back. They aren’t “all in”!
Fearing – but not committing.
Drawn – but not taking on the name of Christ.
A part of the community – but without ties, and it isn’t their primary hearth and home.
God-fearers are those who hedge their bets. There is truth here – and so we attach ourselves in a periphery way to it, but we don’t want to make any kind of full leap into a way that meddles too much with our lives.
Are you fully a part of the discipleship community… or living the life of a god-fearer?
What is your primary community… and does it witness to the love of Christ in life giving ways?
Are you willing and open to God’s Spirit meddling in your life?
Transforming God,
It is so easy to fall into a routine faith and worship. Stir us up God to trust our relationship with you enough to dive into a life of faith – fully committing ourselves to service and growth in the name of your son Jesus Christ.
Amen.
I left more of the text than I really needed to – so that there is some context for where my attention is drawn. Five words stand out to me… “and others who fear God.”
Who are these others?
I have heard some scholar’s reports about the “god-fearers” and their place in the synagogue. They are the people who were drawn to the worship of God of the Jews but never came fully into the community… fearers of God, with a place in the synagogue – but not Jews. They stopped short of that identity transforming commitment.
Who are these others? More importantly… are we these others?
The question of discipleship asks this very question – are we those who fear God… who are drawn to God… who recognize that there is truth and life here… and yet we find ourselves unable to make the full commitment. We find ourselves unable to “cast aside our nets” and follow Christ.
The god-fearers in this text are to the Jews, and the followers of the way (early Christians) the direct equivalent of the crowds that followed Jesus around listening and watching… but never committing to discipleship. They are there… and that is something – and something good. But it is only a first step, and not meant to be the destination of our journey to, and with, God.
Today? Today the god-fearers are the cultural Christians… the god-fearers are those who identify as Christian but don’t really make that a priority in their life. They may or may not attend church, and may or may not intentionally practice the way of Christ in their life, and may or may not profess that a relationship with God is of primary importance in their life… but however they (we?) engage a life of faith they are holding something back. They aren’t “all in”!
Fearing – but not committing.
Drawn – but not taking on the name of Christ.
A part of the community – but without ties, and it isn’t their primary hearth and home.
God-fearers are those who hedge their bets. There is truth here – and so we attach ourselves in a periphery way to it, but we don’t want to make any kind of full leap into a way that meddles too much with our lives.
Are you fully a part of the discipleship community… or living the life of a god-fearer?
What is your primary community… and does it witness to the love of Christ in life giving ways?
Are you willing and open to God’s Spirit meddling in your life?
Transforming God,
It is so easy to fall into a routine faith and worship. Stir us up God to trust our relationship with you enough to dive into a life of faith – fully committing ourselves to service and growth in the name of your son Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
August 12: What's in a name?
“But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit” (Act 13:9 NRS)
So I’m staying with the whole two name thing today, but with a different focus. I can’t move beyond this text without spending some time reflection on this pivotal moment. We talk a lot about Paul’s Damascus road experience of being blinded by Christ and turned from zealot Jewish persecutor of Christians to the greatest Christian missionary in the Bible. But it is here in this text, several chapters later, that we find the consummation of that transition, for when this text says, “Saul, also known as Paul” he forever changes identities. Paul is never again called Saul, just as he has never (in scripture) been called Paul before this text. For accuracy sake I will say that the name Saul is used three more times in Acts, but it always used by Paul when talking about being blinded by the light on the road to Damascus.
Clearly:
Saul is who Paul used to be – before Christ.
Paul is who Saul becomes – through Christ.
So, what is in a name?
In what is probably one of the best known scenes of Shakespeare we come across this same conversation. Juliet wants Romeo to leave behind his identity as a Montague in order that they can be together in their forbidden love for one another. Here is but a part of that great interplay:
JULIET
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
ROMEO
[Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
JULIET
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.
ROMEO
I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.
Romeo and Juliet (II, ii)
What is in a name? Surely more than Romeo and Juliet understand. There is a great power in names. And “changing” one’s name is no easy task – it is rewriting the unfolding story of our lives.
This is why figures like Peter and Paul stand out so much in the biblical tradition - like Abram (to Abraham) before them – they have their names changed. Their lives are rewritten – transformed – by God at work in them.
This is discipleship that leads to apostleship: opening ourselves to God’s transformation, naming our reality and our identity in and through God.
When we take up the child to be baptized and ask the parents, “What is this child’s name?” It is as if we say, everything is in our names… and this child’s name is about to change – God’s transformative Spirit is dwelling in your child and naming this child, and that name is of critical importance, because from this point on this child carries the name of God: Christian – follower of Christ.
To play with Romeo and Juliet a bit – and slightly unfair to them and their love… the struggle we have in our lives as disciples and apostles is that there are many things that ask us to deny our name. Peter and Paul – as we see them in the second half of their lives after being transformed by God’s Spirit - stand as great mentors and witnesses of faith because they stayed true to their name.
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name…
Where do you find yourself tempted to deny your name?
What places and people create a struggle to live always as one who bears Christ’s name?
How is God inviting you to join in rewriting the unfolding story of your life?
Naming God,
You have named and claimed us in baptism for the glory and revelation of your kingdom. Help us bear your name with grace and love in all that we do and in all that we are and in all that we say. Amen.
So I’m staying with the whole two name thing today, but with a different focus. I can’t move beyond this text without spending some time reflection on this pivotal moment. We talk a lot about Paul’s Damascus road experience of being blinded by Christ and turned from zealot Jewish persecutor of Christians to the greatest Christian missionary in the Bible. But it is here in this text, several chapters later, that we find the consummation of that transition, for when this text says, “Saul, also known as Paul” he forever changes identities. Paul is never again called Saul, just as he has never (in scripture) been called Paul before this text. For accuracy sake I will say that the name Saul is used three more times in Acts, but it always used by Paul when talking about being blinded by the light on the road to Damascus.
Clearly:
Saul is who Paul used to be – before Christ.
Paul is who Saul becomes – through Christ.
So, what is in a name?
In what is probably one of the best known scenes of Shakespeare we come across this same conversation. Juliet wants Romeo to leave behind his identity as a Montague in order that they can be together in their forbidden love for one another. Here is but a part of that great interplay:
JULIET
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
ROMEO
[Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
JULIET
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.
ROMEO
I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.
Romeo and Juliet (II, ii)
What is in a name? Surely more than Romeo and Juliet understand. There is a great power in names. And “changing” one’s name is no easy task – it is rewriting the unfolding story of our lives.
This is why figures like Peter and Paul stand out so much in the biblical tradition - like Abram (to Abraham) before them – they have their names changed. Their lives are rewritten – transformed – by God at work in them.
This is discipleship that leads to apostleship: opening ourselves to God’s transformation, naming our reality and our identity in and through God.
When we take up the child to be baptized and ask the parents, “What is this child’s name?” It is as if we say, everything is in our names… and this child’s name is about to change – God’s transformative Spirit is dwelling in your child and naming this child, and that name is of critical importance, because from this point on this child carries the name of God: Christian – follower of Christ.
To play with Romeo and Juliet a bit – and slightly unfair to them and their love… the struggle we have in our lives as disciples and apostles is that there are many things that ask us to deny our name. Peter and Paul – as we see them in the second half of their lives after being transformed by God’s Spirit - stand as great mentors and witnesses of faith because they stayed true to their name.
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name…
Where do you find yourself tempted to deny your name?
What places and people create a struggle to live always as one who bears Christ’s name?
How is God inviting you to join in rewriting the unfolding story of your life?
Naming God,
You have named and claimed us in baptism for the glory and revelation of your kingdom. Help us bear your name with grace and love in all that we do and in all that we are and in all that we say. Amen.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
August 5: Blind Faith
But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him (Bar-Jesus the magician) and said, "You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now listen-- the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun." Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand. (Act 13:9-11)
This is an intriguing text to me because of what it doesn’t say and yet… speaks loudly. Paul tells this magician, another guy with two names, that he will blind for awhile and the when it happens Bar-Jesus (the magician) gropes about for someone to lead him. Does this sound familiar? Paul – once Saul – is another man with two names. He too went blind for awhile. He too needed others to lead him by the hand.
The text seems to tie Paul’s story to Bar-Jesus and what happens to him here, and yet the story has nothing else to say about this magician… groping for someone to lead him he exits stage left and never returns to our story. On another day I might have been interested in talking about what is different in their stories in the exit of Bar-Jesus and the missionary journeys of Saul/Paul. However today I think I’d like to focus on what is similar. And this comes even more into focus when we look at Bar-Jesus’ other name given to him in the text, Elymas. In Arabic the name means wise.
Elymas is wise in the ways of magic, just as Saul the zealous Pharisee was wise in the ways of the law. But both of them are struck blind.
Why blindness? Why not mute, or deaf, or lame? Nebuchadnezzar the great Babylonian king in a moment of great hubris and pride was struck down by the God of Israel and became and animal for seven years foraging for food. Seems to me that might have worked with Saul and Elymas as well.
So why blindness?
Well Nebuchadnezzar need a lesson in humility… and there isn’t much more humbling than foraging as an animal for seven years. So perhaps the blindness is that Saul/Paul and Bar-Jesus/Elymas needs a lesson in seeing. They were both wise… and yet God reveals to them that they cannot see at all – they are wise in all the wrong things. They seek after knowledge and power and wisdom that is not of God, it doesn’t make a straight path to God. God has to reveal truth to them, make straight their pathway to God, by showing them just how little they see. Only when they realize that they have been looking the wrong way – seeking after the wrong things… can they see the truth.
Ananias laid his hands on Saul and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized. (Act 9:17-18)
There is much that we label wise that doesn’t really deserve the name. Elymas isn’t wise – he is deceitful and misleading. Saul wasn’t wise – he was filled with hatred and bound up in rules that had becomes far less than the God they once point to.
Like Saul and Elymas we too need to go blind from time to time. We too need to grope for someone to lead us… lead us back to that which is truly wise, rather than that which simple bears the name but doesn’t actually lead us into relationship with God.
Are you seeing what God wants you to see?
What is clouding your vision from making straight a pathway to God?
Have you held the hand of someone else who needs to find that path?
Healing God,
You are a God of healing… whose methods are often mysterious. Guide us back to you and your ways, O Lord. And enable us to lead others towards your truth and love.
Amen.
This is an intriguing text to me because of what it doesn’t say and yet… speaks loudly. Paul tells this magician, another guy with two names, that he will blind for awhile and the when it happens Bar-Jesus (the magician) gropes about for someone to lead him. Does this sound familiar? Paul – once Saul – is another man with two names. He too went blind for awhile. He too needed others to lead him by the hand.
The text seems to tie Paul’s story to Bar-Jesus and what happens to him here, and yet the story has nothing else to say about this magician… groping for someone to lead him he exits stage left and never returns to our story. On another day I might have been interested in talking about what is different in their stories in the exit of Bar-Jesus and the missionary journeys of Saul/Paul. However today I think I’d like to focus on what is similar. And this comes even more into focus when we look at Bar-Jesus’ other name given to him in the text, Elymas. In Arabic the name means wise.
Elymas is wise in the ways of magic, just as Saul the zealous Pharisee was wise in the ways of the law. But both of them are struck blind.
Why blindness? Why not mute, or deaf, or lame? Nebuchadnezzar the great Babylonian king in a moment of great hubris and pride was struck down by the God of Israel and became and animal for seven years foraging for food. Seems to me that might have worked with Saul and Elymas as well.
So why blindness?
Well Nebuchadnezzar need a lesson in humility… and there isn’t much more humbling than foraging as an animal for seven years. So perhaps the blindness is that Saul/Paul and Bar-Jesus/Elymas needs a lesson in seeing. They were both wise… and yet God reveals to them that they cannot see at all – they are wise in all the wrong things. They seek after knowledge and power and wisdom that is not of God, it doesn’t make a straight path to God. God has to reveal truth to them, make straight their pathway to God, by showing them just how little they see. Only when they realize that they have been looking the wrong way – seeking after the wrong things… can they see the truth.
Ananias laid his hands on Saul and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized. (Act 9:17-18)
There is much that we label wise that doesn’t really deserve the name. Elymas isn’t wise – he is deceitful and misleading. Saul wasn’t wise – he was filled with hatred and bound up in rules that had becomes far less than the God they once point to.
Like Saul and Elymas we too need to go blind from time to time. We too need to grope for someone to lead us… lead us back to that which is truly wise, rather than that which simple bears the name but doesn’t actually lead us into relationship with God.
Are you seeing what God wants you to see?
What is clouding your vision from making straight a pathway to God?
Have you held the hand of someone else who needs to find that path?
Healing God,
You are a God of healing… whose methods are often mysterious. Guide us back to you and your ways, O Lord. And enable us to lead others towards your truth and love.
Amen.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
August 3: Rabbit Trials R Us
I'm taking off down a rabbit trail from the Book of Acts to continue a thought from my sermon this last Sunday. (Bonus to anyone who can track how this flows out of my sermon... but I assure you in some convoluted way it does.) So for today simply a thought to think about and share:
I've always heard about a protestant work ethic... but actually what we all have is a Roman Catholic work ethic. We are bound up in the idea that what we do and achieve makes us valuable and good. God's grace will always be a empty sentiment in such a world... and an impossible reality for us to live into until we give up such a totalitarian work ethic.
God loves you, and I love you - simply because you are you!
How can you (we) re-orient our lives such that our self-worth is not measured in success... achievement... and stuff? (that last is a very theologically deep word!)
I've always heard about a protestant work ethic... but actually what we all have is a Roman Catholic work ethic. We are bound up in the idea that what we do and achieve makes us valuable and good. God's grace will always be a empty sentiment in such a world... and an impossible reality for us to live into until we give up such a totalitarian work ethic.
God loves you, and I love you - simply because you are you!
How can you (we) re-orient our lives such that our self-worth is not measured in success... achievement... and stuff? (that last is a very theologically deep word!)
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
July 28: Fervent Prayer
All my good intentions of maintaining the devotional on some level during vacation did not pan out. I am back now – I think… and here we go taking up where we left off at the beginning of the month. It’s good to back!
While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him. (Act 12:5)
When I read this line the first question that comes to my mind is, how often do I find myself praying fervently? How often do we as a church find ourselves praying fervently together?
Praying fervently wouldn’t be a ritual and practiced prayer. It isn’t quite (I imagine) the prayer you give when you hear a bump in the night and offer up a fearful prayer for God’s protection – though I think that is getting closer. What I picture when I hear praying fervently is a community that stopped everything else to put all their energy and passion into a deeply felt prayer. I remember David praying for his first child by Bathsheba as the child lay dying… lying all night for seven nights with the child refusing to eat or rise. (2 Samuel 12:16) This is fervent prayer.
What is lacking when we lose this sense of prayer? What is removed from the life of faith when our prayer becomes tame or timid? What is wrong with the picture when prayer becomes a stumbling block or a hurdle we have to cross (and don’t feel able to)? Even worse what happens when we make prayer a tool rather than an outpouring of emotion and deeply felt conversation with God? Because when I look in my own life, too often I find that prayer is just that – a tool. Prayer gets used as a way to start and end a visit, or something to say when I’m not sure what else to do and want to avoid the awkwardness. It is a tool when it’s done because we think we ought to, or think it’s expected, and not as a real desire to converse with God. It’s a tool when we find ourselves praying about things to people, and not mutual talking and listening to God with and on behalf of people.
What would it mean to recapture a life with fervent prayer… and a community that prays fervently together for justice, for love, for the safe keeping of one another and the world?
Another thing that amazes me even more about this text is that the story goes on and when the prayer has been answered and Peter is freed from jail by an angel of the Lord this is what happens when he returns to the disciples:
On recognizing Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, "You are out of your mind!" But she insisted that it was so. They said, "It is his angel." Meanwhile Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. (Act 12:14-16)
What is really striking and important to me is that its not that they had any stronger notion that all prayer was answered, and answered exactly as they asked it to be. It isn’t that they had greater trust and faith. They can’t believe that Peter is freed! They no more expect Peter to be freed than we would.
The difference between this community and our own isn’t belief in the power of prayer… and certainty in its success. The difference is that regardless of success or power this community we read about is willing to pour their whole being into prayer as a radical statement that it is God alone in whom we put our trust. And I imagine as well the belief that regardless of whether or not the prayer is answered in the way they would like… there is something good and right about pouring out our deepest thoughts and emotions and feelings and passions to God… if not unceasingly – certainly fervently!
How often would describe your prayer life as fervent?
What keeps you from pouring out your emotions to God with all your energy and focus?
How might our lives look and feel differently if we practiced fervent prayer together?
Listening God,
Help us to move beyond a safe, tame or timid practice of our faith. Guide us to radical and life transforming practices and fervent prayer and trust that you alone are our Lord and savior.
Amen.
While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him. (Act 12:5)
When I read this line the first question that comes to my mind is, how often do I find myself praying fervently? How often do we as a church find ourselves praying fervently together?
Praying fervently wouldn’t be a ritual and practiced prayer. It isn’t quite (I imagine) the prayer you give when you hear a bump in the night and offer up a fearful prayer for God’s protection – though I think that is getting closer. What I picture when I hear praying fervently is a community that stopped everything else to put all their energy and passion into a deeply felt prayer. I remember David praying for his first child by Bathsheba as the child lay dying… lying all night for seven nights with the child refusing to eat or rise. (2 Samuel 12:16) This is fervent prayer.
What is lacking when we lose this sense of prayer? What is removed from the life of faith when our prayer becomes tame or timid? What is wrong with the picture when prayer becomes a stumbling block or a hurdle we have to cross (and don’t feel able to)? Even worse what happens when we make prayer a tool rather than an outpouring of emotion and deeply felt conversation with God? Because when I look in my own life, too often I find that prayer is just that – a tool. Prayer gets used as a way to start and end a visit, or something to say when I’m not sure what else to do and want to avoid the awkwardness. It is a tool when it’s done because we think we ought to, or think it’s expected, and not as a real desire to converse with God. It’s a tool when we find ourselves praying about things to people, and not mutual talking and listening to God with and on behalf of people.
What would it mean to recapture a life with fervent prayer… and a community that prays fervently together for justice, for love, for the safe keeping of one another and the world?
Another thing that amazes me even more about this text is that the story goes on and when the prayer has been answered and Peter is freed from jail by an angel of the Lord this is what happens when he returns to the disciples:
On recognizing Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, "You are out of your mind!" But she insisted that it was so. They said, "It is his angel." Meanwhile Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. (Act 12:14-16)
What is really striking and important to me is that its not that they had any stronger notion that all prayer was answered, and answered exactly as they asked it to be. It isn’t that they had greater trust and faith. They can’t believe that Peter is freed! They no more expect Peter to be freed than we would.
The difference between this community and our own isn’t belief in the power of prayer… and certainty in its success. The difference is that regardless of success or power this community we read about is willing to pour their whole being into prayer as a radical statement that it is God alone in whom we put our trust. And I imagine as well the belief that regardless of whether or not the prayer is answered in the way they would like… there is something good and right about pouring out our deepest thoughts and emotions and feelings and passions to God… if not unceasingly – certainly fervently!
How often would describe your prayer life as fervent?
What keeps you from pouring out your emotions to God with all your energy and focus?
How might our lives look and feel differently if we practiced fervent prayer together?
Listening God,
Help us to move beyond a safe, tame or timid practice of our faith. Guide us to radical and life transforming practices and fervent prayer and trust that you alone are our Lord and savior.
Amen.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
July 7: Called Christians
My apologies that I have been sporadic with the devotional the past week. I have been away at school, and now I'm in the office for four days before going off on vacation for two weeks - which is to say I'm trying to check off a lot of to-do lists. I will try to still have a devotional entry or two over the next couple weeks but will not probably resume the normal 2 entries a week until end of July. So without any more excuses, our thoughts for the day! :)
“So it was that for an entire year they met with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’” (Acts 11:26)
First of all this verse is one of those bible trivia verses. It’s a popular question to ask, “Where were the disciples first called Christians?” So remember Antioch – if you plan to play some rousing games of bible trivia!
And while that really was the reason I chose this particular verse what is intriguing to me now is that while the new testament prefers language of disciples, apostles, followers of the way, and other similar language to talk about those who believe in Jesus Christ it is the word Christians that we latch onto to describe those whose faith is in Jesus Christ.
So there is something significant about this word and identity for us.
And as I reflect on that in light of this verse I wonder, just how significant it is that the word Christian is used for this particular community? What we know about them is that they are a mix of Jews and gentiles; they are interested in learning and taking seriously their faith as they spend an entire year being taught by Paul and Barnabas, and they were both communal and missional in outlook. They, “determined that according to their ability, each would send relief to the believers living in Judea.” (Acts 11:29)
We never quite get an insider look into the life the Jerusalem church, but here in Antioch we see the forming of a church for the first time in the New Testament. Diverse community gathered together; faith that seeks understanding; and the movement beyond their walls to serve their neighbors.
Fellowship and education, stewardship and outreach.
Add in the preaching of the Apostles and the praising of God in the community and we have worship – we have a church!
Do you gather in diversity, and commit to long term learning about faith?
Are you giving according to your ability?
Are you called Christian, at home, work, and play?
Naming God,
You have given us many names. You have called us each individual by name in baptism but you have also called us: child, disciple, friend, apostle and Christian! Help us God to live into the reality you have named for us.
Amen.
“So it was that for an entire year they met with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’” (Acts 11:26)
First of all this verse is one of those bible trivia verses. It’s a popular question to ask, “Where were the disciples first called Christians?” So remember Antioch – if you plan to play some rousing games of bible trivia!
And while that really was the reason I chose this particular verse what is intriguing to me now is that while the new testament prefers language of disciples, apostles, followers of the way, and other similar language to talk about those who believe in Jesus Christ it is the word Christians that we latch onto to describe those whose faith is in Jesus Christ.
So there is something significant about this word and identity for us.
And as I reflect on that in light of this verse I wonder, just how significant it is that the word Christian is used for this particular community? What we know about them is that they are a mix of Jews and gentiles; they are interested in learning and taking seriously their faith as they spend an entire year being taught by Paul and Barnabas, and they were both communal and missional in outlook. They, “determined that according to their ability, each would send relief to the believers living in Judea.” (Acts 11:29)
We never quite get an insider look into the life the Jerusalem church, but here in Antioch we see the forming of a church for the first time in the New Testament. Diverse community gathered together; faith that seeks understanding; and the movement beyond their walls to serve their neighbors.
Fellowship and education, stewardship and outreach.
Add in the preaching of the Apostles and the praising of God in the community and we have worship – we have a church!
Do you gather in diversity, and commit to long term learning about faith?
Are you giving according to your ability?
Are you called Christian, at home, work, and play?
Naming God,
You have given us many names. You have called us each individual by name in baptism but you have also called us: child, disciple, friend, apostle and Christian! Help us God to live into the reality you have named for us.
Amen.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
June 24: Chance Encounters
One afternoon at about three o'clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, "Cornelius…"
He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners…
While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Look, three men are searching for you. Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation; for I have sent them…”
The following day they came to Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends…
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word…
"Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"
(Act 10:3, 11, 19-20, 24, 44, 47)
Okay so this is a little different than my normal procedure for scripture texts (if I come off as normal at all in these devotional-like reflections). But I got caught up with a theme that seems to run throughout this chapter of Acts. So I have cut out verses that run through the whole story of Peter’s call to go to Cornelius.
Look back through the texts – what is it that you notice that binds these particular verses together?
The Holy Spirit… God at work before, during, and beyond the text – at least that is what drew my attention. This story could be told as Peter visiting an important Roman leader and, by the power of his charisma and preaching, converting him and his household.
Instead…
Instead it’s the story of God tilling the soil, weeding the ground and watering the seed, and watching over and nurturing it as it comes to fruition (bears fruit). Look at just how much the Holy Spirit has done to prepare for and nurture this moment of witness and transformation. This is exactly what we mean when we say that we go out to join God at work in the world.
I have never been a fan of the idea of a prayer of invocation where we invoke God’s presence as if God needs us to call God to be present. I do however think such prayers – or candle lighting – may serve to invoke our attention to the God who is already present and at work.
Cornelius and Peter are to be commended… they are attentive to the movement and calling of the Spirit – and many of us hardly take the time to listen and hear God speaking and moving in our life. But more importantly I feel deep in my heart the reassurance of this text that tells us that we aren’t doing any of the work of discipleship and apostleship alone.
What may seem like a chance encounter to us may well have been one that is the result of much work of the Holy Spirit in a multitude of ways we may never even know about. God really and truly is there with us and before us!
It reminds me some of my favorite words in the Bible. When Moses tries to get out of going to Egypt because he claims he is a poor speaker and God says to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak." (Exodus 4:11-12)
Are you open to Holy Spirit calling you to respond to God’s work in the world?
Do you trust God to teach you what you are to speak and do?
Will you go into your life helping others to also live attending to God’s Spirit?
Ever present God,
Help us to attend to your Spirit that is constantly at work preparing the world to hear our witness… to nurture our lives to be that witness… to permeate the encounters of our life – intentional and random – with your life-giving care.
Amen.
He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners…
While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Look, three men are searching for you. Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation; for I have sent them…”
The following day they came to Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends…
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word…
"Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"
(Act 10:3, 11, 19-20, 24, 44, 47)
Okay so this is a little different than my normal procedure for scripture texts (if I come off as normal at all in these devotional-like reflections). But I got caught up with a theme that seems to run throughout this chapter of Acts. So I have cut out verses that run through the whole story of Peter’s call to go to Cornelius.
Look back through the texts – what is it that you notice that binds these particular verses together?
The Holy Spirit… God at work before, during, and beyond the text – at least that is what drew my attention. This story could be told as Peter visiting an important Roman leader and, by the power of his charisma and preaching, converting him and his household.
Instead…
Instead it’s the story of God tilling the soil, weeding the ground and watering the seed, and watching over and nurturing it as it comes to fruition (bears fruit). Look at just how much the Holy Spirit has done to prepare for and nurture this moment of witness and transformation. This is exactly what we mean when we say that we go out to join God at work in the world.
I have never been a fan of the idea of a prayer of invocation where we invoke God’s presence as if God needs us to call God to be present. I do however think such prayers – or candle lighting – may serve to invoke our attention to the God who is already present and at work.
Cornelius and Peter are to be commended… they are attentive to the movement and calling of the Spirit – and many of us hardly take the time to listen and hear God speaking and moving in our life. But more importantly I feel deep in my heart the reassurance of this text that tells us that we aren’t doing any of the work of discipleship and apostleship alone.
What may seem like a chance encounter to us may well have been one that is the result of much work of the Holy Spirit in a multitude of ways we may never even know about. God really and truly is there with us and before us!
It reminds me some of my favorite words in the Bible. When Moses tries to get out of going to Egypt because he claims he is a poor speaker and God says to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak." (Exodus 4:11-12)
Are you open to Holy Spirit calling you to respond to God’s work in the world?
Do you trust God to teach you what you are to speak and do?
Will you go into your life helping others to also live attending to God’s Spirit?
Ever present God,
Help us to attend to your Spirit that is constantly at work preparing the world to hear our witness… to nurture our lives to be that witness… to permeate the encounters of our life – intentional and random – with your life-giving care.
Amen.
Monday, June 21, 2010
June 21: Universal God
The voice said to Peter again, a second time, "What God has made clean, you must not call profane." (Act 10:15)
For whatever reason of human nature we just love categories. You could make the case that this tendency is exacerbated by Western individualism and Enlightenment thinking - well you would make that case in some circles anyway! But it seems to me on some level it’s just a part of how we engage life as humans… we try to make categories that help make sense of the world.
Peter’s vision that prompts this verse challenges his categories of clean and unclean food. His vision challenges it by way of also challenging the categories of Jew and gentile in advance of Peter’s call to visit Cornelius, a non-Jew.
Ultimately however the comment the voice tells Peter has far larger ramifications than simply household codes or who fits in the categories of acceptable visitors and hosts.
“What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”
It invites the question – what has God made clean? And that invites to my mind all sorts of next level questions:
If God is the creator of the universe is not all the world made clean by God? Does it then make sense to divide the world into secular and sacred – as if some of the world is less God-created than other parts… or people? What does it mean that God made it clean… and why do we tend to only think its clean if it looks and feels the way we like things to look and feel? What does it mean to walk in a world in which we do not get to label things as profane? And then at some point as all these questions role over me I get to one that is particularly challenging to me right now – in a world in which God has made creation clean what does it say to us that we have a way of making the world dirty?
Let me back up and give a moment of context from which I am writing this at the moment. Two particular things stand out in my mind:
The first is that I’m up in Atlanta for a class for my Doctor of Ministry. The class is: Ethicist as Social and Cultural Critic. Today we were talking about a continuum of moral agency in which we always start at complicity, but hope to move towards accountability and then responsibility.
The second thing that stands out in my mind was from the Sunday school class Tom and I are hosting over the summer in which we are engaging the questions that people have as our topic (in other words there is no pre-arranged topic.. we just open up for questions on whatever). A question was raised about the image of the Gulf of Mexico on fire and if this was an apocalyptic sign.
It was a wonderful question. It is not – I believe – a sign to tell us we are on some Revelation-esque timeline to the end of the world. However, I do believe it is capable of being a revelatory sign (apocalypse means to unveil… to reveal). It serves – or should – as a wake up call that there is a fundamental problem with how we are living in the world. As oil rushes into the ocean poisoning countless aspects of God’s “made-clean” creation the ramifications will take a long time to figure out. But one thing is clear to me: I’m complicit in this.
My way of being in this world pollutes the world – makes is unclean, breaks it down, leaves it less capable of nurturing life. I have no good answers to how to change that, it isn’t an easy conflict. But I have a growing awareness that simply admitting my complicity and not trying to change it will no longer work.
If we separate the world into categories than we set ourselves off from other people and things. We aren’t as challenged (or sometimes concerned at all) by how our actions effect them as they aren’t “us”. It doesn’t matter if my way hurts the profane – because it is… well, profane.
But what if the category doesn’t make sense or is artificial… or even if it’s a legitimate category but doesn’t mean that it’s profane at all - simply a different kind of clean. Now I have moral… and God given responsibility to it, we are connected and inter-related and accountable to one another, and I hear the voice again – “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”
What are you naming profane… and on what – and whose – authority?
Are you nurturing awareness of our fundamental relatedness – and responsibility - to all of God’s creation?
Where are you stuck and unable to move from complicity to accountability?
Universal God,
We have a tendency to separate ourselves by that which differentiates us from others. Let us hear again your voice telling us that you have made the world and all that is in it. Help us to live our life in light of our shared common heritage with the entire created universe. Amen.
For whatever reason of human nature we just love categories. You could make the case that this tendency is exacerbated by Western individualism and Enlightenment thinking - well you would make that case in some circles anyway! But it seems to me on some level it’s just a part of how we engage life as humans… we try to make categories that help make sense of the world.
Peter’s vision that prompts this verse challenges his categories of clean and unclean food. His vision challenges it by way of also challenging the categories of Jew and gentile in advance of Peter’s call to visit Cornelius, a non-Jew.
Ultimately however the comment the voice tells Peter has far larger ramifications than simply household codes or who fits in the categories of acceptable visitors and hosts.
“What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”
It invites the question – what has God made clean? And that invites to my mind all sorts of next level questions:
If God is the creator of the universe is not all the world made clean by God? Does it then make sense to divide the world into secular and sacred – as if some of the world is less God-created than other parts… or people? What does it mean that God made it clean… and why do we tend to only think its clean if it looks and feels the way we like things to look and feel? What does it mean to walk in a world in which we do not get to label things as profane? And then at some point as all these questions role over me I get to one that is particularly challenging to me right now – in a world in which God has made creation clean what does it say to us that we have a way of making the world dirty?
Let me back up and give a moment of context from which I am writing this at the moment. Two particular things stand out in my mind:
The first is that I’m up in Atlanta for a class for my Doctor of Ministry. The class is: Ethicist as Social and Cultural Critic. Today we were talking about a continuum of moral agency in which we always start at complicity, but hope to move towards accountability and then responsibility.
The second thing that stands out in my mind was from the Sunday school class Tom and I are hosting over the summer in which we are engaging the questions that people have as our topic (in other words there is no pre-arranged topic.. we just open up for questions on whatever). A question was raised about the image of the Gulf of Mexico on fire and if this was an apocalyptic sign.
It was a wonderful question. It is not – I believe – a sign to tell us we are on some Revelation-esque timeline to the end of the world. However, I do believe it is capable of being a revelatory sign (apocalypse means to unveil… to reveal). It serves – or should – as a wake up call that there is a fundamental problem with how we are living in the world. As oil rushes into the ocean poisoning countless aspects of God’s “made-clean” creation the ramifications will take a long time to figure out. But one thing is clear to me: I’m complicit in this.
My way of being in this world pollutes the world – makes is unclean, breaks it down, leaves it less capable of nurturing life. I have no good answers to how to change that, it isn’t an easy conflict. But I have a growing awareness that simply admitting my complicity and not trying to change it will no longer work.
If we separate the world into categories than we set ourselves off from other people and things. We aren’t as challenged (or sometimes concerned at all) by how our actions effect them as they aren’t “us”. It doesn’t matter if my way hurts the profane – because it is… well, profane.
But what if the category doesn’t make sense or is artificial… or even if it’s a legitimate category but doesn’t mean that it’s profane at all - simply a different kind of clean. Now I have moral… and God given responsibility to it, we are connected and inter-related and accountable to one another, and I hear the voice again – “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”
What are you naming profane… and on what – and whose – authority?
Are you nurturing awareness of our fundamental relatedness – and responsibility - to all of God’s creation?
Where are you stuck and unable to move from complicity to accountability?
Universal God,
We have a tendency to separate ourselves by that which differentiates us from others. Let us hear again your voice telling us that you have made the world and all that is in it. Help us to live our life in light of our shared common heritage with the entire created universe. Amen.
Monday, June 14, 2010
June 14: Resurrecting God
Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, "Please come to us without delay." So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. (Act 9:36-42)
There are many little tidbits that are interesting about this text:
With the story of the healing the lame man right before it we have two more healing events done by Peter. And it appears that Peter’s charisma, reputation and apostolic calling continues to grow even beyond Jerusalem.
The word disciple here is the only female use of the word in the New Testament which grants a great deal of respect to Tabitha and the work she is doing – especially important given her community of widows would have normally been a group without status.
This story makes notable mention of Joppa which takes us back to Jonah. Just as it is from Joppa that Jonah will be given a mission to the gentiles (Assyrians in Nineveh) so too does this story mark a transition of a mission to the Jews being opened up to a mission of spreading the good news to the gentiles – to the whole world!
All of these are interesting points – they are what you will find interests commentators about this passage. But my attention is drawn elsewhere… mainly it was to the name Tabitha. Why? Why is that what interests me, a single name – especially since she has two of them? I think it’s interesting because as soon as Peter says, “Tabitha, get up” I have déjà vu!
Compare these two stories:
“Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up.”
“Then Jesus put them all outside, and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!" And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.” (Mar 5:39-43)
Tabitha, get up - - Talitha, cum (Little girl, get up!)
Discipleship is about walking in the way of Jesus. When Jesus calls us as disciples it is with the intention that we are formed by Jesus to the point that we live, breath, eat and sleep in the same way Jesus does. There is no division between what Jesus does, and what those who followed him do. Jesus ministry continues without a hiccup after his ascension into heaven because his disciples do the very things that they saw him doing. Everything that he had done – they now do. Surely they do it in his name – and clearly they recognize that they do these things through Jesus power and not by their own. But to stress that much at all seems to miss the point. What Acts continually reminds us is that there is nothing to Jesus ministry that is beyond our ability. Jesus life is to show us what our lives are meant to be. We too are to heal the world.
What are we to make about the lack of miracles in our world today? I’ve heard some say it is that there was an age of miracles – and Acts sits squarely in it, but it ended and now we cannot do those kinds of things.
I think that sounds horrible to my ears and kills my heart.
I wonder if maybe it isn’t that we have passed beyond an age of miracles – but that we have passed beyond an age of imagination and hope. It isn’t that the miraculous isn’t possible – but that can’t imagine it – and so we cannot see it. Our hope has passed beyond the work of Christ in the world and become placed in science and economics and engineering… as if these things have nothing to do with Christ.
I wonder if now what lies in the bed dressed and anointed in death is our trust in the creative and imaginative power of Christ to transform the world. And if so then what God is doing now is standing over it – over us – and saying: Talitha, cum! God is resurrecting our imagination. Tabitha get up! God’s healing power is restoring hope to the world. My child, my disciple – trust and live the gospel!
Who has called to you for help?
Do you see with hope and imagination God’s wonders at work in the world?
Are you a part of – or apart from – that work?
Resurrecting God,
You have called us to get up! Let us see with your eyes a world filled with hope, opportunity, imagination and abundant grace. Work through us to help others to rise from death to life.
Amen.
There are many little tidbits that are interesting about this text:
With the story of the healing the lame man right before it we have two more healing events done by Peter. And it appears that Peter’s charisma, reputation and apostolic calling continues to grow even beyond Jerusalem.
The word disciple here is the only female use of the word in the New Testament which grants a great deal of respect to Tabitha and the work she is doing – especially important given her community of widows would have normally been a group without status.
This story makes notable mention of Joppa which takes us back to Jonah. Just as it is from Joppa that Jonah will be given a mission to the gentiles (Assyrians in Nineveh) so too does this story mark a transition of a mission to the Jews being opened up to a mission of spreading the good news to the gentiles – to the whole world!
All of these are interesting points – they are what you will find interests commentators about this passage. But my attention is drawn elsewhere… mainly it was to the name Tabitha. Why? Why is that what interests me, a single name – especially since she has two of them? I think it’s interesting because as soon as Peter says, “Tabitha, get up” I have déjà vu!
Compare these two stories:
“Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up.”
“Then Jesus put them all outside, and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!" And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.” (Mar 5:39-43)
Tabitha, get up - - Talitha, cum (Little girl, get up!)
Discipleship is about walking in the way of Jesus. When Jesus calls us as disciples it is with the intention that we are formed by Jesus to the point that we live, breath, eat and sleep in the same way Jesus does. There is no division between what Jesus does, and what those who followed him do. Jesus ministry continues without a hiccup after his ascension into heaven because his disciples do the very things that they saw him doing. Everything that he had done – they now do. Surely they do it in his name – and clearly they recognize that they do these things through Jesus power and not by their own. But to stress that much at all seems to miss the point. What Acts continually reminds us is that there is nothing to Jesus ministry that is beyond our ability. Jesus life is to show us what our lives are meant to be. We too are to heal the world.
What are we to make about the lack of miracles in our world today? I’ve heard some say it is that there was an age of miracles – and Acts sits squarely in it, but it ended and now we cannot do those kinds of things.
I think that sounds horrible to my ears and kills my heart.
I wonder if maybe it isn’t that we have passed beyond an age of miracles – but that we have passed beyond an age of imagination and hope. It isn’t that the miraculous isn’t possible – but that can’t imagine it – and so we cannot see it. Our hope has passed beyond the work of Christ in the world and become placed in science and economics and engineering… as if these things have nothing to do with Christ.
I wonder if now what lies in the bed dressed and anointed in death is our trust in the creative and imaginative power of Christ to transform the world. And if so then what God is doing now is standing over it – over us – and saying: Talitha, cum! God is resurrecting our imagination. Tabitha get up! God’s healing power is restoring hope to the world. My child, my disciple – trust and live the gospel!
Who has called to you for help?
Do you see with hope and imagination God’s wonders at work in the world?
Are you a part of – or apart from – that work?
Resurrecting God,
You have called us to get up! Let us see with your eyes a world filled with hope, opportunity, imagination and abundant grace. Work through us to help others to rise from death to life.
Amen.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
June 10: Discipling God
After some time had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night so that they might kill him; but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. (Act 9:23-25)
A lot of people have a lot of problems with Paul (here he is still being called Saul). He can come off as egotistical… passive aggressive… outright aggressive. He uses big words and heady theology… he can be hard to read or listen to. And with the difficulty of knowing what he wrote and what others wrote in his name there is quite a bit he’s credited with writing that are messages we don’t like to hear or repeat.
Let’s say Paul has some issues.
But there are some things you just have to admire and this text points out one of those if you see it. It’s a little phrase easily passed over in the midst of a story that is about Paul being in pursued. But read for all the wealth of good news that is in the text there is an whole different untold story.
“…but his disciples took him by night…”
Do you see what I see… what is so amazing about this line?
Paul has disciples.
I don’t know who these disciples are. We never learn any more of about them. Maybe they are the people he traveled to Damascus with – though that seems hard to believe as they were all companions for rounding up and persecuting Christians. Who knows – maybe they all converted as well. Whatever the case is… in a time when he was stopped cold in his hatred of Christianity, blinded and humbled by his encounter with Jesus, and had to have the men he was traveling with lead him into the city (and intriguing bookend to his Damascus stay that people had to help him into and out of the city) Paul has clearly not been idle.
He spends a few days with the disciples there in Damascus (apparently learning from them a bit more about Jesus I would guess) and then starts preaching and teaching about Jesus… and making disciples of his own.
It is of course something we are commanded to do. “Go therefore, and make disciples.” (Mathew 28:19) But did anyone ever do it with such passion and proficiency as Paul? New to the faith (though with deep knowledge of the Jewish faith from which it is born) Paul moves right along with making disciples. He takes the same passion he brought to binding up Christians to making new ones.
Christianity isn’t – by intention – a faith that flourished and grew by mass conversions. Sure they exist – from early Acts to our own day… but at its heart it is a single teacher calling twelve disciples and teaching and shaping them until they are ready to go and do the same… each with twelve new disciples.
Paul takes that model to heart as he travels the Roman Empire. He plants a church by forming disciples – equipping them for ministry and then leaving them to keep sending that growth outward while he travels onward to a new place far away.
We aren’t all headed for missionary journeys like Paul’s. But that doesn’t mean our lives aren’t mission fields... that we don’t have plenty of opportunity to make disciples. What that looks like may be hard to figure out. It doesn’t necessarily mean converting people, or getting new members at our churches. I think in the end it means being good news in their life. It means making your relationship help nurture a love of God, a love of community, and a love for the work of Christ in the world.
And we do that with our children… our neighbors… our co-workers… we do that in all the mission fields of our life.
Does your faith include a passion for God and God’s good news?
What are your mission fields?
Does your life witness to God’s love and nurture discipleship in others?
Discipling God,
You have drawn us in and called us to live kingdom lives. You send us out to make our lives a testimony of your grace and love. Help us God to make our lives invitational to others to join you in the wonderful journey of discipleship. Amen.
A lot of people have a lot of problems with Paul (here he is still being called Saul). He can come off as egotistical… passive aggressive… outright aggressive. He uses big words and heady theology… he can be hard to read or listen to. And with the difficulty of knowing what he wrote and what others wrote in his name there is quite a bit he’s credited with writing that are messages we don’t like to hear or repeat.
Let’s say Paul has some issues.
But there are some things you just have to admire and this text points out one of those if you see it. It’s a little phrase easily passed over in the midst of a story that is about Paul being in pursued. But read for all the wealth of good news that is in the text there is an whole different untold story.
“…but his disciples took him by night…”
Do you see what I see… what is so amazing about this line?
Paul has disciples.
I don’t know who these disciples are. We never learn any more of about them. Maybe they are the people he traveled to Damascus with – though that seems hard to believe as they were all companions for rounding up and persecuting Christians. Who knows – maybe they all converted as well. Whatever the case is… in a time when he was stopped cold in his hatred of Christianity, blinded and humbled by his encounter with Jesus, and had to have the men he was traveling with lead him into the city (and intriguing bookend to his Damascus stay that people had to help him into and out of the city) Paul has clearly not been idle.
He spends a few days with the disciples there in Damascus (apparently learning from them a bit more about Jesus I would guess) and then starts preaching and teaching about Jesus… and making disciples of his own.
It is of course something we are commanded to do. “Go therefore, and make disciples.” (Mathew 28:19) But did anyone ever do it with such passion and proficiency as Paul? New to the faith (though with deep knowledge of the Jewish faith from which it is born) Paul moves right along with making disciples. He takes the same passion he brought to binding up Christians to making new ones.
Christianity isn’t – by intention – a faith that flourished and grew by mass conversions. Sure they exist – from early Acts to our own day… but at its heart it is a single teacher calling twelve disciples and teaching and shaping them until they are ready to go and do the same… each with twelve new disciples.
Paul takes that model to heart as he travels the Roman Empire. He plants a church by forming disciples – equipping them for ministry and then leaving them to keep sending that growth outward while he travels onward to a new place far away.
We aren’t all headed for missionary journeys like Paul’s. But that doesn’t mean our lives aren’t mission fields... that we don’t have plenty of opportunity to make disciples. What that looks like may be hard to figure out. It doesn’t necessarily mean converting people, or getting new members at our churches. I think in the end it means being good news in their life. It means making your relationship help nurture a love of God, a love of community, and a love for the work of Christ in the world.
And we do that with our children… our neighbors… our co-workers… we do that in all the mission fields of our life.
Does your faith include a passion for God and God’s good news?
What are your mission fields?
Does your life witness to God’s love and nurture discipleship in others?
Discipling God,
You have drawn us in and called us to live kingdom lives. You send us out to make our lives a testimony of your grace and love. Help us God to make our lives invitational to others to join you in the wonderful journey of discipleship. Amen.
Monday, June 7, 2010
June 7: Freeing Christ
Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him…Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. (Act 9:1-9)
Okay clearly I’m off my rocker now – I’ve just cut Jesus out of the text!! I’ll own it, I did it – trying to cut this text down to a more manageable size I cut Jesus out of the center of this text… it’s really left a gapping hole in the story… the same kind of hole that is missing from our lives when we forget we are centered in Christ. But I didn’t really do that to make this point. What I want to draw attention to is the juxtaposition of Saul and the followers of “the Way”.
There is no word “Christians” yet. For now the disciples, those who identify with Christ are referred to as those who “belonged to the Way”. And Saul is going to bind them up.
Only the light flashes, Jesus speaks, transformation begins. Saul – eyes open – can see nothing… and is led by hand to Damascus.
Saul is “bound up”.
This text is an apocalyptic moment in the book of Acts. A heavenly visitor mediates a heavenly vision that reveals a hidden reality. Saul’s way of being is uncovered and revealed as being a way of hate and death. Saul is revealed as being one who “cannot see” even though his eyes are open.
And the people of the Way? They are revealed as being those who are led, those who follow, those who are transformed, those who cannot journey alone – but travel “led by the hand”… maybe we could call that “hand in hand”. The followers of the Way are those who give up their way for the Way. They have chosen to see differently, live differently, speak differently… love differently.
We will see that even more as this story continues to unfold. Kicking and screaming at times, the followers of the Way seek to transform the world with love and obedience – trust in the one they follow, Jesus Christ.
Saul seeks to bind up those who follow Jesus. And what Saul learns is that he has it all backward. Jesus is in the business of freeing those who have been bound. Jesus comes to give life – to make us free – free to pursue the good in our lives. Saul will learn that in an incredible experience of transforming Grace… and his life will never be the same! Saul will become Paul, and every moment to come after this will look different, feel different… be different! This is what it means to center our life in Jesus Christ.
How is your life different because of Jesus?
Where are you walking blind and where are your eyes being opened?
How is your way of following the Way inviting others to the freedom of Christ?
Freeing Christ, You have set us free from the bondage to sin and death. You have revealed to us the Truth of your words, your grace, and your love. Let our lives speak the truth we have seen in you. Amen.
Okay clearly I’m off my rocker now – I’ve just cut Jesus out of the text!! I’ll own it, I did it – trying to cut this text down to a more manageable size I cut Jesus out of the center of this text… it’s really left a gapping hole in the story… the same kind of hole that is missing from our lives when we forget we are centered in Christ. But I didn’t really do that to make this point. What I want to draw attention to is the juxtaposition of Saul and the followers of “the Way”.
There is no word “Christians” yet. For now the disciples, those who identify with Christ are referred to as those who “belonged to the Way”. And Saul is going to bind them up.
Only the light flashes, Jesus speaks, transformation begins. Saul – eyes open – can see nothing… and is led by hand to Damascus.
Saul is “bound up”.
This text is an apocalyptic moment in the book of Acts. A heavenly visitor mediates a heavenly vision that reveals a hidden reality. Saul’s way of being is uncovered and revealed as being a way of hate and death. Saul is revealed as being one who “cannot see” even though his eyes are open.
And the people of the Way? They are revealed as being those who are led, those who follow, those who are transformed, those who cannot journey alone – but travel “led by the hand”… maybe we could call that “hand in hand”. The followers of the Way are those who give up their way for the Way. They have chosen to see differently, live differently, speak differently… love differently.
We will see that even more as this story continues to unfold. Kicking and screaming at times, the followers of the Way seek to transform the world with love and obedience – trust in the one they follow, Jesus Christ.
Saul seeks to bind up those who follow Jesus. And what Saul learns is that he has it all backward. Jesus is in the business of freeing those who have been bound. Jesus comes to give life – to make us free – free to pursue the good in our lives. Saul will learn that in an incredible experience of transforming Grace… and his life will never be the same! Saul will become Paul, and every moment to come after this will look different, feel different… be different! This is what it means to center our life in Jesus Christ.
How is your life different because of Jesus?
Where are you walking blind and where are your eyes being opened?
How is your way of following the Way inviting others to the freedom of Christ?
Freeing Christ, You have set us free from the bondage to sin and death. You have revealed to us the Truth of your words, your grace, and your love. Let our lives speak the truth we have seen in you. Amen.
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