Daily Devotion for Lent 2021 - Day 7

Scripture Reading: Galatians 2 (NRSV)

We see the drama accelerate as the story unfolds.  Earlier Titus as a Greek (and thus, a Gentile) was not circumcised.  Furthermore, he was not compelled in the faith in Jesus Christ to submit to the knife.  

And so, we see the controversy within the first twenty-five years of our faith.  

In order to be a Christian, do you need to be circumcised?

Certainly if you were originally Jewish, the matter was decided for you prior to your awareness.  But if you were an adult Gentile, like Titus, there were some claiming your illegitimacy before God.  They would have pressured any men to be circumcised - especially if they wanted to pursue any leadership opportunities.

Paul is struggling against this faction and according to his letter, even Peter (Cephas) is wavering on his commitment to inclusion.  This shows us how difficult change would have been.  Circumcision was the original sign of the covenant, commanded by God.  In fact, in Genesis 17:4, we hear God's direct teaching on the subject:

"Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

How does Paul disregard this obvious teaching?

He has prioritized the faith of Christ as what justifies us before God even over circumcision.  This is consistent with the prophetic tradition from Jeremiah 4:4 which reads:

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, remove the foreskin of your hearts, O people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else my wrath will go forth like fire, and burn with no one to quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

Do you think God ever mistakes us for ducks?

An outward sign is not as meaningful to God as changed behavior.  So Gentiles or Jews could move forward in this faith.  But it was enough to make many of the faithful sick.  Paul could sympathize in a way because he used to be one of them!

Maybe this is why he gets so worked up - he sees himself in his opponents.

Sometimes we get angry with others because we may feel guilty about the fact that we remember how we used to believe or behave.  It may not even be that the act itself was so bad, but because we have moved away from that position, it seems anathema to us.

We may ask them, "Why can't you see like I see now?"

Prayer for the day:

Blessed God, we give thanks that you measure our lives along a continuum rather than a specific moment of weakness.  We give thanks for this faith of Christ that justifies us.  Yet, we still find ourselves casting a wary eye on others - they may be lacking in some way.  Give us patience as we listen to one another.  Have patience with us as we grow in maturity.  We pray these things in Christ's holy name.  Amen.

Photo by Veit via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2020 - Day 29

Scripture Reading: Acts 21:17-36 (NRSV)

Paul may be in trouble.  He's stirred up trouble among Jews all across the Mediterranean because of his liberal views concerning Gentiles.  When he comes back, he visits with James, the brother of Jesus who was the leader of the church in Jerusalem.  James was known for his preservation of Judaism within Christianity and so the critique of Paul's message to the Gentiles may have been closer than Luke indicates in this passage.

Did Paul tell Gentiles to forsake Moses? 

Not exactly.  The preservation of Judaic law was not Paul's mission.  His mission was to introduce people to the living Lord be they Jew or Gentile.

Paul does state in 1 Corinthians 10:23-26:

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience, for “the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s.”

So in this instance, he allows the eating of meat offered to idols and not slaughtered with kosher methods.  He later adds that if you are with someone who has difficulty with this, then you are to refrain from eating.   So technically, while his mission is not to forsake Moses, someone who is committed to the dietary laws could certainly phrase it this way.

Paul has a different mindset.  Earlier in 1 Corinthians (9:19-23), he explains this explicitly:

For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.  I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings. 

Paul begins to live out, "To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews" in following the Jerusalem leadership's instructions to join in the purification rites.  Unfortunately, this was not enough.  When those zealous for the law are stirred up, they seize Paul and begin to beat him.  The violence is contagious as they contend that he has violated the temple by bringing in a Gentile.  Archaeologists have actually discovered an engraving from the time of Herod that forbids the entry of Gentiles to the temple which was punishable by death.

Fortunately for Paul, Roman soldiers intervene.  While they were the executioners of his Lord, they would ironically be his lifeline on this day.

What feelings does this photo engender?

This is a blatant reminder that our views can be misconstrued.  Paul was not interested in tearing down the law for the Jewish population.  He was actually exposing the wider world to quite a bit of it.  But his main reason for doing this was to share the resurrected Christ with all that he could.  If the law got in the way, he was not opposed to laying it aside for his main purpose.  But others saw him as an enemy to God.  This is a great irony because the very people who were beating him were simply a version of his younger self.

How do we come across with our words?  In such a diverse setting as today, would Paul have said, "To the Republicans, I became as a Republican, in order to win Republicans.  To the Democrats, I became as a Democrat, in order to win Democrats"?  While this sounds rather wishy-washy, for Paul, it was about getting his message across effectively. 

When you hear the words of someone and you disagree with their position, do you give the benefit of the doubt or are you more likely to stir the pot?  We must be careful not to misconstrue people's positions or we join in the mob mentality that is unfortunately a part of the human condition.  Sometimes it is good for us to review, "What is my main objective as a follower of Jesus?

Prayer for the day:

Lord, since you exist, we exist.
Since you are beautiful, we are beautiful.
Since you are good, we are good.
By our existence we honor you.
By our beauty we glorify you.
By our goodness we love you.
Lord, through your power all things were made.
Through your wisdom all things are governed.
Through your grace all things are sustained.
Give us power to serve you, wisdom to discern your laws,
and grace to obey those at all times.
Amen.

Prayer by Edmund of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury, 13th century

Photo by Pete Souza, Official White House photo, November 10, 2016. 

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2020 - Fourth Sunday in Lent

Scripture Reading: Acts 16:1-15 (NRSV)

Here we have the first appearance in Acts of Timothy who accompanies Paul on his journeys.  It may seem a bit like a double-standard when Luke mentions that Paul had Timothy circumcised.  This comes right after the Council of Jerusalem stated that Gentiles need not be circumcised.  Paul writes a pretty clear statement about it to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 7:17-20:

However that may be, let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you. This is my rule in all the churches. Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision.  Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but obeying the commandments of God is everything.  Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called.

It could be that because Timothy's mother was Jewish, other Jewish people they encountered would not be able to hear the message because of their preoccupation with Timothy's status.  Paul does later state in the same letter in 1 Corinthians 9:20:

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 

This reminds us of how contextual the gospel message can be.  We have already seen James the son of Zebedee and Stephen killed and so we also recognize that this is a dangerous business.   This is likely why Luke records in verse six that the Holy Spirit forbid them to speak the word in Asia.

They cross into Europe coming to Philippi.  We have Paul's letter to the Philippians in which he includes Timothy in his by-line in the first verse.  While they are there to find a man from a vision, they encounter women down by the river on the sabbath.  Paul seems ready to preach the word as opportunity provides.  Lydia is a business woman who is the head of her household.  Paul and Timothy indulge in her hospitality.

Luke reminds us that women play an important role in the church leadership including financial assistance beginning in the ministry of Jesus.  Luke 8:1-3 records:

Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

Brooke Williams and Jana Green at church camp
when in high school in 2002.  They led Bible study
together in their youth group.  Both are in ministry today -
Brooke in lay ministry in Kingfisher and Jana in
ordained ministry in Little Rock.

The fact that Luke lifts up women in multiple places may have been needed at the time for while it would have been more acceptable in some of the Gentile cultures the church was moving into, the Jewish patriarchy would still have been resistant.  Today women in ministry within United Methodism serve in all areas of leadership.  We don't differentiate how the Spirit calls us by gender.  But there are also encounters that our clergy and lay female leaders still have today that are hostile.  We are not yet where we need to be as far as our overall acceptance within our local churches but we have made great strides toward this. 

As you think about your own attitudes concerning female spiritual leadership, do you ever find yourself hesitant or dismissive of women in ministry?  If so, does this align with how the Holy Spirit was moving in the beginnings of the church in tearing down barriers?  And if you don't have issues around God and gender, what female pastor has shaped you that might appreciate a cheerful word of encouragement as she ministers today?

For today's prayer, I really liked this poem by Teresa of Avila and thought we could meditate on it in prayer.

Prayer for the day:

Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.

Prayer by Teresa of Avila, 16th Century

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2020 - Day 22

Scripture Reading: Acts 15:1-41 (NRSV)

We see in this chapter the council of Jerusalem that formally develops a doctrine surrounding circumcision.  Were Christianity only to remain a sect of Judaism, this would never come up as the circumcision of males would be assumed.

The covenant that God makes with Abraham is very clear in Genesis 17:9-14:

God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

This seems pretty direct.  Even foreign slaves should submit to this covenant which would speak in favor of Gentiles being circumcised if they want to be a part of the people of God.

But the more Christianity moves into the Mediterranean, the more push back we see regarding this issue.  The Greeks thought that circumcision was barbaric and there was prejudice in this culture against males who were circumcised.  The inter-Testamental book of 1 Maccabees 1:11-15 shows that there was even Jewish resistance to circumcision:

In those days certain renegades came out from Israel and misled many, saying, “Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles around us, for since we separated from them many disasters have come upon us.” This proposal pleased them, and some of the people eagerly went to the king, who authorized them to observe the ordinances of the Gentiles.  So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom, and removed the marks of circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant. They joined with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil.

So there is precedent in Jewish tradition in how they were to deal with this incursion of Greek culture: resist and continue to be faithful to God's covenant!

The difference here seems to be that the Gentile converts to Christianity have received the Holy Spirit just as Jewish believers, showing that God "has made no distinction between them and us." (Acts 15.9).  If the Holy Spirit is a gift from God, then God seems to declare that circumcision is inconsequential with regards to this new covenant in Jesus Christ. 

What is fascinating is that in Acts, Peter is shown as the early adopter of sharing faith with Gentiles while in Galatians, Paul states that he is now the authority of Gentile evangelism:

On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me in sending me to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.      (Galatians 2:7-9)

Many scholars seem to think that Galatians 2:1-10 is Paul's version of the Council of Jerusalem but others dispute this because it disagrees with much of Acts 15. 

Within Acts, this council seems to end peacefully enough with allowances to the uncircumcised as long as they continue to observe some purity laws around diet and sexuality.  Paul does seem to ignore the dietary laws while observing those concerning immorality in 1 Corinthians 10.

I'm not sure this shirt is accomplishing its intent!

While we may think they escaped without much contention, Luke does acknowledge that Paul and Barnabas split ways here.  Should Paul have been more forgiving of John Mark who he saw as a deserter?  It just goes to show us that the Christian fruit of the Spirit that Paul lifts up such as patience, kindness and generosity are sometimes easier to display in theory rather than in practice.

As Christians looking back on this ancient history, we may appreciate both Paul and Barnabas and wonder why they couldn't have worked things out.  In the moment, things can burn so hot!  In situations that may cause a split or arguments so sharp that we part company, how can we fast forward to a time of peace where we can look back and find greater love for one another?

It may be that we allow each other to go in ministry each to our own context.  But might we go with one another's blessing rather than a curse?

Prayer for the day:

God, let us mean it when we sing together,
When we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
we'll sing and shout the victory!
Help us to live out this assumption more each day.
Amen.

Prayer based on lyrics by Eliza E. Hewitt, 1898.

Photo by greyloch via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2020 - Third Sunday in Lent

Scripture Reading: Acts 11:1-18 (NRSV)

Is this little outsider how Peter saw
Cornelius and the other Gentiles?

Peter has some explaining to do.

Notice that his fellow apostles aren't immediately enthused about the success Peter has had in spreading the faith.  Rather, they criticized him for interacting and eating with Gentiles.

The fact that Luke retells the story that he just shared in the previous chapter should give us a clue as to how controversial this remained in Luke's church.

Leviticus 11 gives a long outline on which animals are considered clean and unclean.  It summarizes the discourse by ending with this idea in verses 46-47:

This is the law pertaining to land animal and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms upon the earth, to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.

In other words, basic to their cultural identity was to be discriminating.  In fact, you had stories such as Daniel who lived in the royal palace in Babylon but refused to eat anything but vegetables so that he wouldn't defile himself. 

Is it any wonder that Peter would receive some hostile feedback on his missionary journey?

After Peter relates everything that happened, I like how Luke records that "they were silenced."  Then they praised God but I wonder if "praised" fully encompassed all that they felt in that moment.

Experience reminds us that it is one thing to be transformed by the people we encounter but it is distancing to hear about it from someone else.  Doubts are more likely to creep in, especially when something fundamental to our identity is being dismissed.

Within my lifetime, one cultural change that seems minor today (in comparison to what Peter was trying to do) is eating and drinking in the sanctuary.  It was considered at one time the height of disrespect to even bring any drinking cup or glass into the sanctuary.  This still bothers some Christians and there seems a direct correlation between the age of the person to the amount of irritation it causes.  When I was appointed at Piedmont, we built the sanctuary to also double as a fellowship hall.  Chairs could be rearranged and tables brought in to provide meals for the congregation and community.  Many older members were disturbed by this multipurpose use of the sanctuary.

While no one came to blows over this, it wasn't near as ingrained as the dietary laws were in Peter's time.  His story today reminds us to reassess our own resistance to change.  Where is the next generation of Christians moving us that seems uncomfortable?  What do we hear that silences us?

Prayer for the Day:

Psalm 67

May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face to shine upon us,
that your way may be known upon earth,
    your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
    let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    for you judge the peoples with equity
    and guide the nations upon earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
    let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has yielded its increase;
    God, our God, has blessed us.
May God continue to bless us;
    let all the ends of the earth revere him.


Photo by charamelody via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2020 - Day 10

Scripture Reading: Acts 7:1-34 (NRSV)

In the last chapter, we are introduced to Stephen as one of the seven who were devoted to the care of the Christian community.  He was listed as "a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit."  Stephen performed signs and wonders and he argued in the synagogue.  He was arrested and brought before the council and they charged him with blasphemy.

This is no small charge.  Leviticus 24:16 states:

One who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death; the whole congregation shall stone the blasphemer.

Stephen is left to defend himself.  And so he begins to remind the council of their shared history.

While they would already know all of this by heart (and may be thinking, "Get on with it, Stephen"), Luke may recount this here for the sake of his Gentile readers who would need a reminder in Jewish history.  Interestingly enough, Luke does not omit the covenant of circumcision that God makes with Abraham.  He could easily have left this part out as it was controversial among Gentile converts as we shall see unfold in future chapters of Acts.

Luke also specifically refers to the circumcision of John the Baptist and Jesus in his gospel.  This may be to show that Christianity has not broken so far from this covenant with God.

Stephen reminds them of the betrayal of Joseph by his brothers as well as the lack of appreciation of Moses by his fellow Jews.  We see that in spite of how his brothers treated him, Joseph is a forgiving man and brings salvation to the people that enslaved him.  We then see that God will send Moses to rescue the very people that tried to throw him under the bus when he was trying to help them.

Justice should be blind to our wealth, power and status.
Jealousy and envy should not influence it.

Stephen is beginning to craft the story to remind the council that their people have not always got it right.  In fact, the righteous have often been misunderstood and abused.  We'll see how this works out for Stephen as we finish out the chapter tomorrow.

All people have a common history or ancestry if we go back far enough.  There are commonalities among all humanity such as jealousies and envies as well as the striving for security and the love of family.  The preservation of one's community may be one of the strongest drives that we have.  We are social beings and we have formal and informal laws that help us to be able to live together.

When someone breaks these rules, we attempt to pull them back into community.  Sometimes we punish them and sometimes we exile them through either imprisonment or banishment.  If the threat seems great enough, we sometimes exercise a lethal sentence. 

How do we preserve our Christian community today?  What things do we tolerate and what do we find intolerable?   How do we examine ourselves to make sure that we are not ignoring or persecuting the prophets God is sending today? 

Prayer for the day:

Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to your quiet harbor, where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict. Show me the course I should take. Renew in me the gift of discernment, so that I can always see the right direction in which I should go. And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course, even when the sea is rough and the waves are high, knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in your name we shall find comfort and peace.  Amen.


Prayer by Basil of Caesarea, 4th Century

Photo by Tim Evanson via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.