Marks of Resurrection

Lectionary Scripture: 1 John 3:16-24

"All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them."

This is the verse immediately preceding today's reading.  It refers to Cain murdering his brother Abel and makes the jump that hate equals murder.

This is a tough scripture and John juxtapositions it with the love that Jesus has for us.  Rather than taking life, Jesus lays down his life for us.  I'm reminded of Thomas asking to see the marks in his hands and side.  These places of wounding mark Jesus as authentic in his eyes.  Thomas may have even seen the wounds inflicted from a distance.  

They become marks of resurrection in the risen Lord.

Sometimes we have our own marks.   If we are in relationship, we usually gain scars along the way.  Most relationships require us to forgive somewhere or they would have already ended.  There are likely also places we can recall where others had to forgive us as well!

Some places are trickier
to move into than others.

In order to be sincere, our love must take some kind of action.  We can talk a good game but when push comes to shove, we've got to show up.  I can remember being newlyweds headed to graduate school together.  Sheryl and I arrived in Atlanta with our U-Haul full of all our belongings.  We had to park it on a hill and our apartment was then on the second floor - who doesn't want to help move furniture up stairs?

Our neighbors could have hidden in their apartment - but they helped us move our junk up the stairs.  Luckily we didn't have a couch with a hide-a-bed in it.  But it was still a lot of work.

Later, we tried to help others move when the opportunity arose.  I remember one neighbor in particular that we helped move (he had a lot of stuff) and when it came time to help us, he was nowhere to be found.  Sometimes this happens and we may even feel a little used.  

But if love becomes transactional, we may start looking for more gain than what we put into it.  This is a recipe for becoming a user in a relationship rather than a giver.

The example of Jesus is that we give and do not count the cost.  While we may end up giving more than receiving, I don't think this is really true.  If I try to take advantage of someone, I find myself diminished rather than enriched.  It's strange how life works that way!  It may be that we need to consider the people we have forgiven as our own marks of resurrection.

I hope you'll join us as we continue to explore this theme on Sunday.  We'll gather online as always although this will be our last preproduced Sunday before we go back to live-streaming.  We meet in the sanctuary at 8:30 and 11 am and have an outdoor service at 9:45 am (featuring our band).  This Sunday, we will be confirming (finally) our 2020 class of youth at the outdoor service if you would like to support them (but you'll need to bring a blanket or lawn chair).  I'm looking forward to a wonderful Sunday and this will be my first one fully vaccinated!

In Christ,

Sam

Photo by Jacob Wolman 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 2021 - Day 40

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 13

We conclude our time with Corinth today as Paul looks toward another visit.  The fact that we have these letters at all gives us an indication that perhaps this visit went well.  

For the church, we must continue
to ask ourselves, how do 
we make room for one more?

What is interesting is that Paul uses his opponents dependence on the Law to his advantage.  His quotation about charges being sustained by two or three witnesses in the first verse refers to Deuteronomy 19:15.  This is a reminder that many times those who stress that you are breaking this or that point in scripture are often not adhering to other parts of the Bible.

Paul, like any parent, hopes that his spiritual children will discipline themselves according to the faith that he has set out for them.  Paul's letter may be like the phone call from the parents letting the teenagers know that they are on the way home: "We expect the house to be in order when we get home and the chores we laid out to be finished."

Paul's advice is timeless: "Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith."

In case we miss what this should be, he sums it up in verse 11: "Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you."

In this day and age of going to our separate corners (so that we can come out fighting), Paul is reminding us that being in Christ is primary above our differences.  Christians like United Methodists who are ecumenical believe that ultimately, a great variety of denominations shall dwell together in Christ in the life eternal.  All of the differences - whether they be political or doctrinal - seem insignificant on the death bed.  Many times at this point, we see old grievances fall away and we want to die in peace.  The God of love and peace is truly in these moments with us.

I think what Paul is trying to accomplish is for us to live in peace.

That seems to be a worthy goal for us as we wrap up the Lenten season and await the Resurrection.  

How will we show Christ to be alive in us?

Prayer for the Day:

Loving God, we have journeyed with Paul during this Lenten season.  We have seen how he was a man of faith and a man of conviction.  But we also see how he was driven by love.  Help us to love you more fully - where trust comes more easily.  Allow this to drive our love for all your children in ways that let your peace reign.  We pray these things in the name of Jesus the Christ.  Amen.

Photo by Mike Cardus 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 2021 - Day 24

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 13

This may be Paul's manifesto.

This is often a chapter read at weddings.  It doesn't really reflect romantic love but it does emphasize the kind of love to which a marriage should strive if it is going to have any endurance.

Paul, of course, was writing this as a kind of checklist for the early church.  They were having difficulty with posturing.  Who is holier?  Who is more spiritual?  As we consider the spiritual gifts from the previous chapter, Paul is lining out that if these gifts are not improving our relationship with one another, we may not be as holy as we think we are.

Speaking in tongues without love?  Gibberish.

Prophecy?  Faith?  Acts of charity?  Martyrdom?

Are they done in love?

As we consider the greatest commandment of Jesus - to love God and to love neighbor - Paul's writings in this chapter align pretty well with what we should be about.

As we think about our everyday relationships, verses 4-7 indicate how this love is to take shape.  Reading these particular verses is a part of how I start each day.  Sometimes I try to include positive imagery with these by then saying:

I am patient.  I am kind.  I am not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.  I do not insist on my own way; I am not irritable or resentful; I do not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoice in the truth.  God help me to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things.  Amen.

After all, if we are not becoming more loving, what are we becoming?

It may be that we believe that there are gulfs between our neighbors or relatives that cannot be bridged.  There may be too many hurt feelings.  Furthermore, we may be afraid of further injury.

I would not ask someone in an unjust situation to bear or endure it without adding the line, "Let me overcome all things."  We remember that Jesus told us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  And so allowing abuse is not setting the proper boundaries we need to love ourselves.  

I do believe that relationships can be repaired and healthy boundaries can be set and observed.  But we must rejoice in the truth and the truth is that God does not wish for anyone to be abused.

The difficult question during Lent becomes, "Do I participate in the abuse of others unwittingly?"  This is a question that we may avoid because the discovery can be painful.  We may not intend any harm and yet, there it is.  I don't want to be as blind as the Christians in Corinth who showed many good gifts of the Spirit but neglected to show love.  They had good intentions, too!

Prayer for the day:

Eternal God, love is hard.  When we think about the many difficulties we may face in accomplishing love for all people, we give thanks for your unmerited love of us... and of them.  We often recognize your love for us through the love that others have bestowed upon us.  And we ask, "How will all the difficult people know you love them?"  And we may be afraid of the answer.  Help us to ask anyway.  We pray for Jesus' sake.  Amen.

Photo by Kevin Dooley 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 2021 - Day 4

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4 (NRSV)

Today's chapter seems to have a lot to do with relationship.

When Paul speaks of sanctification in verse three, Wesleyans should pick up on this right away.  Our understanding is that God calls us through sanctifying grace to become more Christlike in our lives.  Specifically, here, we are being called to be more Christlike in our relationships.

How do we love God?  And how do we love our neighbor?

We relate to both through our love of ourselves.  We must respect ourselves through the understanding that we have been created in the image of God.  While the church may have gone overboard in its past use of railing against fornication, for Paul's time, there was a wider availability of sexuality in Mediterranean culture.  Some pagan temple worship included orgies or temple prostitutes.  Psychologically, there can be a sense of trying to capture immortality through our sexual expression that is tied to procreation.  Paul's theology moves us beyond this animalistic understanding to place something permanent in who we are spiritually.

We see that when he speaks of the dead in Christ rising first.  We continue on in Christ even after death which speaks to a resurrection theology.  

Sometimes it is hard to love people.
Sometimes we are those people!

Paul bids us to love our brothers and sisters more and more.  This growth of love is a disciplined
approach to love.  Sometimes we speak of love as if we either have it or we don't.  We understand through our relationships with family members that love often takes work.  You might love your parents or spouse or children or siblings through long association but there also might be times when you find bearing with them hard.  We know that in these moments, a disciplined approach to love is needed.

Fortunately, we don't believe that God abandons us to this hard work.  Rather, as we pray to God for help in this area, we find that even dormant love may be renewed.  Sometimes we must pray that we might get to a place where we even want to love to begin with!

But this speaks to that resurrection faith, doesn't it?

Prayer for the day:

Loving God, we seek to follow Jesus.  We know he commanded us to love you and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  Help us with our work in all three of these areas.  May we find that our love of each of these spills over into the other.  We pray these things in the name of the One who First Loved Us.  Amen.

Photo by Jill Watson 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 2021 - Ash Wednesday

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1 (NRSV)

The Via Egnatia or Egatian Way
was the main east-west road
running through Thessalonica.
Paul likely trod these steps on 
his journey.  We seek to walk
where Paul walked this Lent.

As we begin our daily devotions for Lent this year, I have decided to read through some of the earliest letters we have in the New Testament by the apostle Paul.  While the letters are not dated, scholars have a strong consensus that Paul's first letter to Thessalonica was the earliest.  It was likely written in the 50's from Corinth.

My plan is to read 40 chapters (1 per day) while not posting on Sundays this year (which are technically not part of the 40 days).  This will take us through 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, and 1 and 2 Corinthians.  On Easter Sunday, I'll finish up with a final letter, Philemon, which is only one chapter long and has a nice resurrection theme to it.

So as we look at today's chapter, it is somewhat exciting to think about this being the earliest Christian correspondence that we have.  The Church is still in its infancy and reminds us that it didn't start without experiencing some major turbulence.

What stands out to me is Paul's use of his spiritual triumvirate, faith, love and hope in verse three.  We see him lift up "work of faith" which wording fits nicely in the theology of the later epistle of James.  If Paul were writing to us today, what would he describe as your "work of faith"?  How does our faith influence our actions?

The "labor of love" to which Paul referred may have been the hospitality they showed to Paul, Silvanus and Timothy when they brought to them the good news of Jesus Christ.  We see that even as they received this news, they began to share it with their neighbors and received persecution for their troubles.  Have you ever felt put upon for trying to help others among your friends and family?

Finally, Paul speaks of their "hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."  We revisit this as we wrap up the chapter with the notion that Jesus will return soon and rescue them "from the wrath that is coming."  They evidently had the spiritual belief that Jesus would be returning within the next few years - certainly within Paul's lifetime.  Of course, this would influence how you lived your life.

Our hope remains in Jesus Christ but I see the second coming differently from Paul.  Certainly, we have had generations of the faithful that have awaited his return.  But it may be that we need to re-interpret what his return means for us.  I have taken the return more in line with our help of the "least of these" from Matthew's Last Judgment.  As we give aid and comfort to the "least of these" we see the return of Christ.  Our spiritual sight may see Jesus in them and hopefully, they see Christ in us through our actions.  

As we seek to share the good news today, this becomes an important work of faith and labor of love.  And our hope remains in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer for the day:

God, as we begin another season of Lent, help us to keep our disciplines for our spiritual growth.  Let them shape us and make us more Christ-like.  In this way, may our witness be seen in a way that is helpful to the world.  We pray this in the name of Jesus the Christ.  Amen.

Photo by Carole Raddato 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.