I'm Not Tired!

Lectionary Reading: Romans 6:12-23 (NRSV)

Our emotions may hold us hostage when we
don't get enough rest.  Adults like to
pretend that we grow out of this!

The battle cry of every small child told to go to bed is “but I’m not tired!”  It is usually said with great distress as if the bedtime is the cruelest punishment a parent could inflict upon a hapless child.  

If the parent persists with the set time, sometimes the child throws a fit.  This is ironic in that it shows the parent that the child actually is tired and needs to go to sleep.

This is easier to see in one’s child than it is when looking into a mirror.

Sometimes I find myself staying up late for no good reason.  I might be reading articles online, playing a mindless game, watching a television show or movie or reading a book. I can blow past my bedtime because I am an adult.  I am in charge of my own schedule.

Unfortunately, all of the rationale that I tell my children still applies:

     I, too, need my sleep.

     I am more likely to get sick if I don’t get adequate rest.

     I will be crankier the next day if I stay up too late.

     I am more productive when I get adequate sack time.

So why would anyone choose otherwise?

There is not a good reason other than we may have convinced ourselves that we need more “me” time than we are getting.  We have more free time than any previous generation in history and yet we may feel that we are owed more.

Paul is talking about this very thing in this week’s epistle reading as he speaks of slavery to sin. Our slavery is to the self.  We believe that our will is law and heaven help anything that would disrupt this belief!

As we approach another national holiday, you'll hear a lot of words like “independence” and “freedom.” I’m not sure we instill the same meanings into these words that our predecessors from the 18th century did.  But I do know that we have a culture that needs to understand grace.  Maybe more than that, we need to understand a proper response to grace.  I have the freedom to decide how I will respond.  I hope that I’ll rest when I’m really tired!

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

I'm Done with Sin!

Lectionary Reading: Romans 6:1-11 (NRSV)

Okay, I would like to be finished with sin but it seems to creep back into my life at just the wrong times!  Paul addresses this issue with the fledgling church in Rome within this week's epistle reading.  He indicates that our "old self" is crucified with Christ so that we may not be "enslaved to sin."

What does it mean to be "dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus"?

The first vow that United Methodists ask when a person makes a profession of faith is "Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?"

We acknowledge that it is important for an individual to realize that there are forces at work beyond our control.  However, we can control our own actions and we choose to live a different life.

Overindulgence in the self does not lead to life.

Our expectation is not that a person will never sin again.  We understand that temptation will overcome us.  Our goal is perfection in love but it will take a lot of trial and error to get there.

If we overcome sin when we put on Christ, how come it is still so pervasive in our lives?  

What kind of victory is it if we fall prey to temptation at the drop of a hat?

I think that Paul's use of the words "old self" is key for us.  We must recognize a new direction in which we are to walk.  When the self is my idol, God has difficulty gaining a toehold in my life. If I am able to set aside the self and see the world through a different lens, I begin to make headway in my faith journey.

I do not take this to mean that I can never enjoy myself.  It does mean that I shouldn't enjoy myself if it comes at another's expense.

I remember one of the twelve-year-olds I baptized at his confirmation telling his friends that he could no longer participate in their mischief because he was now baptized!  It made a difference in his life and should make a difference in ours.  In the Coen brothers movie, O Brother Where Art Thou, when Delmar is baptized it changes him.  As his cohorts steal a pie from a window, he leaves a dollar in its place to pay for their transgression.  

Delmar is not immune to sin but he recognizes its danger and seeks to overcome it.

As we remain in Christ, this overcoming of sin becomes more and more possible.  It allows us to embrace the life that we are meant to enjoy in the here and now.  If it has been a while since you have worshiped somewhere, I invite you to join with me this Sunday if you are in the Edmond area.  It might just help with a multitude of things!



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

Being a Worthy Host

Lectionary Scripture Reading: Matthew 9:35-10:15 (NRSV)

The part of this passage that used to disturb me was where Jesus told his disciples to "Go nowhere among the Gentiles" as he sent them out.

If the mission of Jesus was only to the Jews, then we, as Gentiles, seem to be second-class citizens in the Kingdom of God.  For me, this lacks congruence with the overall message of "God so loved the world..."  Of course, the latter is from John rather than Matthew.  However, Matthew also has more universal appeal with the parable of the sower who scatters seeds indiscriminately.

Matthew's is the only gospel that includes the curtain of the temple being torn when Jesus dies which indicates that which had separated us from God is now gone.  The separation of the sheep and the goats in Matthew seems to point more toward morals than it does nationality when looking at righteousness.

And so, it is a little confusing to see the distinction Jesus makes here between Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles.

I believe that this has to do with training.

My grandmother always used to have
a piece of pie or cobbler waiting for us
when we came to visit.  I think she
would have understood how to receive
the disciples.

Out of these three groups, which one would have received the proper example of Abraham and Sarah? When Jesus mentions Sodom and Gomorrah, it becomes apparent that this era is being referenced.  The story of Sodom and Gomorrah follows the story of the hospitality of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis as two contrasting examples of how human beings should interact with strangers.

The lost sheep of the house of Israel should know the correct way to treat his disciples who are coming with nothing on them but the shirts on their backs.  So this stipulation seems to be for the benefit of his followers rather than a hierarchy of the worthy.

If this is the case, what does it say about the expectations of Jesus for the church today regarding hospitality?

I'm looking forward to unpacking this passage in more detail during Sunday's sermon which is entitled, "You Know What You Are Supposed to Do."
 

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

We Know Only in Part

Lectionary Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 (NRSV)

Paul's second letter to the Church at Corinth includes the benediction from Sunday's reading that features the Trinity in verse thirteen.  The Sunday after Pentecost is Trinity Sunday and many churches look at the doctrine of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Trinity is the Christian understanding of how God continues to reveal God's self to the world.

We come to know God in this way but it is difficult.  Human beings are finite and God is infinite.  Can we truly grasp the infinite?  Not yet.

Paul's own reflection in his first letter to Corinth declares in 13:12b, "Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known."  He speaks of when we move from this life to the next gaining insight even as God already understands us completely.

I remember being on a young adult retreat at Canyon in the late 1980's (I was probably about 5) and Reverend Guy Langston was our leader at the time.  He was speaking to us on intimacy with God.  As human beings seek true intimacy with one another, there is never a way for us to truly and completely know one another.  Guy was vulnerable in sharing that even in the most intimate moments between spouses, there is never a way for them to become truly one in that we can never know another's mind completely.

The three-leafed clover is sometimes used to describe
the Trinity with three in one.  If using this example,
one must be clear that this is one plant (like one God)
and not three separate plants (like three separate gods).
This easily slips into heresy if you claim that
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each a third
of the Godhead rather than each fully God.  

We can't do Vulcan mind melds with people.

At the same time, we have this deep desire to be known by others.  We seek to be loved for who we really are. Christianity claims that God does know us and love us for who we really are.

God, in God's infinite capacity is able to do this. We, in our limited capacity, seek to grasp who God really is.

The Trinity is our way of knowing.  It can be somewhat confusing and contains more than a bit of mystery to it.  This is not to be a cop-out but rather an admission to our limits.  And so, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the sharing in the Holy Spirit be with all of you.


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