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.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
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.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
June 3: Provoking God
Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him (Ethiopian eunuch) the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?" He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. (Act 8:35-38)
What grabbed my attention in this text as I was reading today was the line:
“What is to prevent me from being baptized?”
Wow… powerful words and an important question. Powerful and important because we have a way of making lots of things prevent a life of faith. We have a way of creating hoops to jump through, hurdles to get over, and tests to pass. And clearly that isn’t new because the Ethiopian eunuch asks the question – he expects that there might be things preventing him. What do I need in order to get this grace… this love… to be a part of this community… this faith… this way of life?
What is Phillip’s answer?
“He commanded the chariot to stop, and… baptized him.”
Nothing is to prevent it. The whole point to witness – to living our faith, to preaching our faith, to teaching our faith – is to bring people to relationship with God and God’s people. Why would we want to put something in the way of that? Yet so very often we do.
For close on to two thousand years the church operated in such a way that one came to believe in Jesus, one learned what that meant for your life, and then one became a member – belonged to the community. Today that has all shifted… the nature of the church in culture today says that now people seek to belong and only later do they believe and understand that which they belong to.
The Ethiopian eunuch models the former way because he had a sense of belief – he learns more about it from Phillip – and then he seeks the ritual of belonging in baptism. However he also opens us up to the richness of the reversing that trend – what is to keep me from being baptized?
Certainly not doubt – for we all have doubts.
Certainly not questions – for we all have questions.
Certainly not lack of understanding – for none of us has perfect understanding.
Presbyterians are really good at forming study groups, committees, and classes. We are some of the smartest Christians around! We have some great theology – and we understanding our theology better than most… we should – all this education has a purpose after all.
But sometimes that all can get in the way… it can become something that prevents the seemingly random, strange bubbling up of the Holy Spirit. It makes it hard for us – in the space of an inspired moment – to simply stop the chariot and act. And that is a loss that is unacceptable, untenable, and ultimately unforgivable. The Holy Spirit moves… in our lives, around our lives, and through our lives… and good planning and good learning aside – we need to be open and ready to partner with the Spirit free of hoops, hurdles, and tests!
We need to be ready to stop our chariot and live unscripted lives of faith!
Do you see opportunities in your life to teach, preach, and invite others into relationship?
Have you risked responding to the Holy Spirit to reach out even when you aren’t prepared with “right” answers?
Are you participating in removing stumbling blocks to faith, or are you sustaining them?
Provoking God,
Your Spirit bubbles around us daily full of potential and opportunity to be good news in the lives of our neighbors. Open us to the Spirits nudges and prodding to help others find good news by building bridges rather than gates and walls. Amen.
What grabbed my attention in this text as I was reading today was the line:
“What is to prevent me from being baptized?”
Wow… powerful words and an important question. Powerful and important because we have a way of making lots of things prevent a life of faith. We have a way of creating hoops to jump through, hurdles to get over, and tests to pass. And clearly that isn’t new because the Ethiopian eunuch asks the question – he expects that there might be things preventing him. What do I need in order to get this grace… this love… to be a part of this community… this faith… this way of life?
What is Phillip’s answer?
“He commanded the chariot to stop, and… baptized him.”
Nothing is to prevent it. The whole point to witness – to living our faith, to preaching our faith, to teaching our faith – is to bring people to relationship with God and God’s people. Why would we want to put something in the way of that? Yet so very often we do.
For close on to two thousand years the church operated in such a way that one came to believe in Jesus, one learned what that meant for your life, and then one became a member – belonged to the community. Today that has all shifted… the nature of the church in culture today says that now people seek to belong and only later do they believe and understand that which they belong to.
The Ethiopian eunuch models the former way because he had a sense of belief – he learns more about it from Phillip – and then he seeks the ritual of belonging in baptism. However he also opens us up to the richness of the reversing that trend – what is to keep me from being baptized?
Certainly not doubt – for we all have doubts.
Certainly not questions – for we all have questions.
Certainly not lack of understanding – for none of us has perfect understanding.
Presbyterians are really good at forming study groups, committees, and classes. We are some of the smartest Christians around! We have some great theology – and we understanding our theology better than most… we should – all this education has a purpose after all.
But sometimes that all can get in the way… it can become something that prevents the seemingly random, strange bubbling up of the Holy Spirit. It makes it hard for us – in the space of an inspired moment – to simply stop the chariot and act. And that is a loss that is unacceptable, untenable, and ultimately unforgivable. The Holy Spirit moves… in our lives, around our lives, and through our lives… and good planning and good learning aside – we need to be open and ready to partner with the Spirit free of hoops, hurdles, and tests!
We need to be ready to stop our chariot and live unscripted lives of faith!
Do you see opportunities in your life to teach, preach, and invite others into relationship?
Have you risked responding to the Holy Spirit to reach out even when you aren’t prepared with “right” answers?
Are you participating in removing stumbling blocks to faith, or are you sustaining them?
Provoking God,
Your Spirit bubbles around us daily full of potential and opportunity to be good news in the lives of our neighbors. Open us to the Spirits nudges and prodding to help others find good news by building bridges rather than gates and walls. Amen.
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