Preparing to Climb

The Lenten season is upon us.

Ash Wednesday is February 26 this year and we'll be considering our own mortality with the emphasis on how we are living our lives while we are on this earth.

I thought it would be helpful to continue with the Sermon on the Mount through the first five Sundays of Lent before moving back to the lectionary with Palm Sunday.

So for Ash Wednesday, we will examine the Gospel reading in Matthew but we won't take out verses 7-15 which contain Matthew's version of the Lord's Prayer.  Of course, prayer is something we encourage during Lent, so I think it appropriate to include this in our meditation for Ash Wednesday.

As we continue with the Sermon on the Mount, we'll be using climbing imagery for our themes and Wednesday's is "Preparing to Climb".

For the first Sunday in Lent, we will finish out chapter six with Matthew 6:22-34.  Our theme will be "Finding our Footholds" as we think about anxiety and examine where we place our trust.

This year, for my own Lenten discipline, I will once again be writing daily devotions leading up to Easter.  I post these through this blog daily and would invite you to join in the discipline.  We'll be exploring the Book of Acts this year.  As we think about the beginnings of the church, this helps us to examine our own ideas about where the church is headed in the 21st century as well as what part we might play in shaping it.

I'll post each day on Twitter and Facebook.  They'll be shared on the Guthrie and Edmond church FB pages as well.  The blogs will be set to publish in the wee morning hours so that if you are an early riser, you can come directly to this site.  You are welcome to share them, comment on them, disagree with them or add your own insight.  I will respond to any questions posted.

My hope is that you'll have a season of introspection that will allow you to grow in your faith.

In Christ,

Sam


Image by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications.  Used with permission.

Called to Light

Transfiguration Sunday

Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:38-48 (NRSV)

I must admit that while we will observe Transfiguration Sunday, I will utilize chapter 17 of Matthew liturgically within the beginning of the worship service and we will continue to examine the Sermon on the Mount.

In fact, as I began to research it, I rediscovered that the lectionary doesn't actually include a place for us to examine the entire Sermon on the Mount.  If you strictly followed the lectionary, you would never read Matthew's version of the Lord's Prayer from the sixth chapter in public worship.

So for Ash Wednesday (Feb 26), rather than omit the verses which include this prayer, we'll be examining how the prayer of Jesus can shape our Lenten reflections.

This Sunday's portion of the Sermon on the Mount deals with loving enemies and praying for those who persecute us.  This is not an easy task and we often flub our attempts.

I don't want someone else invading my space.

I've seen more Christians attempt to love their enemies through assimilation rather than acceptance.  What I mean by this is that we will love them by showing them how they can be like us.  We certainly give an open invitation to be like us.

When we pray for our enemies, we are more likely to pray for them to see the error of their ways.  We are not praying for God to bless them but to change them!

I struggle with this and I think most people do.

We certainly have expectations for behavior.  My love for another does not mean that I look the other way when this person is acting inappropriately.

I expect people not to harm other people.

I expect people to have respect for other people.

When these two things are not happening, this will often be the end of any sense of love I have for that person.  Have you ever been quick to write someone off?

I've found myself saying, "Well, I don't have time for that kind of behavior.  Life's too short."

So in this way, I do want them to be like me.  Well, maybe not like me but like the version of me I like to project publicly.  I'm trying to align the private and public me more and more.  I'm closer than I used to be but I'm not there yet.

I can only do this with God's help.  And if you try to do it too, maybe we can help each other.  We'll do so not out of a judgmental self-righteousness but rather a reminder of what it means to live in the light.

We'll continue the journey as we worship on Sunday.  After all, perfect love is transfiguring.

In Christ,

Sam


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

Called to Humility

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

Lectionary Reading: Matthew 5:21-37 (NRSV)

What does it mean to grow in faith?

As our confirmation class seeks to do just this, we often lay out information for them.  We talk about rules to follow and lists to learn.  I had to memorize the Apostles' Creed for my confirmation Sunday.

We understand that in order to grow in the faith, one must have a working knowledge of the basics of our belief.  Then we can begin to expound on them.

This is what Jesus does in Sunday's piece of the Sermon on the Mount.  If you remember in last Sunday's lesson, Jesus tells us in verse 17 that he has not come to abolish but to fulfill the law.  And so we see a formula for this passage where Jesus begins, "You have heard it said," where he reminds us of the general information and then goes on to say, "But I say to you,"  and he lays upon us a further consideration.

Three of the four instances here could deal with the Ten Commandments.  The saying on divorce comes from Deuteronomy 24:1-4.

It seems that Jesus is moving our faith beyond our actions and into our intent.  There might be days when you say to yourself, "Well, at least I didn't kill anyone today!"  Jesus takes this idea and moves us to consider, "What if you didn't even allow yourself to become angry with someone?"

We might respond with, "Well, how can I keep from getting angry?"

There's an old Cherokee proverb about two wolves
warring inside us.  One contains negative emotions like anger
and jealousy.  The other represents joy and mercy.  The
one that wins is the one you feed.

Sometimes anger does flare up.  But whether or not I let it burn hot sometimes depends on if I feed it or not.

The passage on adultery increases the degree of difficulty for faithfulness.  Notice that Jesus doesn't berate women for what they are wearing.  He instead asks men to have respect for women as people rather than see them as objects.  This would have been shocking when you consider that women were seen as property owned by men in that culture.

This attitude is continued when he speaks of divorce.  Only a man could divorce a woman.  Her options if her husband let her go were few.  Most of the possibilities for her would not be pleasant.

Finally, we see Jesus moving us toward an integrity that would keep us from swearing oaths or vows.  An oath under God could be seen as misusing God's name (which we are commanded not to do).  Rather than use God's name as a kind of bargaining chip with others, we should exhibit the kind of righteousness that allows people to trust our word.

If we see how the Beatitudes move throughout the Sermon on the Mount, we could easily identify the following admonitions with a corresponding blessing:

Do not be angry or Blessed are the meek.

Do not commit adultery even in your heart or Blessed are the pure in spirit.

Do not divorce or Blessed are the peacemakers.

Do not swear an oath or Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

While some could argue that these sayings are impractical, I would argue the opposite.  They are a means to an end with the end being the reign of heaven.

We'll continue to explore these on Sunday!

In Christ,

Sam


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

Called to Extraordinary Righteousness

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Lectionary reading: Matthew 5:13-20 (NRSV)

Salt is not only flavorful but really
pretty if we stop to look.

As we see this week's reading, I think we often do it an injustice if we don't read the Beatitudes prior.  What does it mean to be salt - to season and preserve - without the previous passage?  You could argue for all kinds of interpretations but Jesus has already laid it out for us.

In the same sense, what does it mean for us to be light?  Should we even attempt to define it outside of being merciful, pure in heart and peacemaking?

Finally, we get to the argument over inerrancy  of scripture in the last portion of this reading.  There have been many Christians who claim to take the Bible literally that point toward the words of Jesus stating that he hasn't come to abolish the law and the prophets.  But it is important to understand that Jesus is speaking from his own rabbinic school of thought.  It was quite common in that day for rabbis to argue points of scripture with one another.  Some scriptures were seen as taking priority over others.

So when Jesus claims that whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, he is not speaking of the entirety of the law and the prophets, but rather he is talking about the Beatitudes.

If we don't follow them all, it doesn't mean that we'll be kicked out of the kingdom of heaven but rather that we'll not hold a place of priority there (and we must also see that we are talking about a kingdom or empire that is an earthly alternative to that of Rome).  We won't understand it as well because we haven't lived it.  These blessings that Jesus gives are much more of a journey to faith than simple commandments of what to do and not do.

So when Jesus states that our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees, it would be clearly known in that time that the scribes and Pharisees would be much more interested in a kind of literalism - keeping every iota of the law - regardless of who gets left aside.  The Beatitudes are much more interested in bringing others along with us.  Jesus calls us to behavior of the blessed.  In this way, we salt the earth and light the world.  It is difficult work to bring others along with us.  We must be meek in our approach and willing to give others the benefit of the doubt.  But this may be the true righteousness that Jesus asks of his disciples.

We'll continue to explore this on Sunday in Edmond and Guthrie as well as online!

In Christ,

Sam

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

Called to Relationship

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A

Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:1-12 (NRSV)

When Moses shared the Ten Commandments with the people of God, it was a way to establish covenant with a people who were trying to figure out how to govern themselves for the first time in centuries.

The rules were to establish how they should love God and how they should love one another.  For the former, we see that they should forsake idols and other gods which they would encounter in abundance.  For the latter, we see concrete rules against murder, theft and adultery which give easily identifiable guidelines to follow.

Probably the last commandment is the one that is the most difficult to define.  What does it mean to covet?  Does it require action or just deep pondering.  Do stray thoughts count?  This requires us to think about our faith and who we are as God's people.

Within Matthew's Gospel, we have arrived at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.  In writing to a Christian community steeped in Judaism, Matthew seems to portray Jesus as the successor to Moses.  It is in Matthew's Gospel that we have the baby Jesus taken by his parents to Egypt to save his life from the orders of a corrupt king.  Moses is saved in Egypt by his mother and sister from similar orders from the Pharaoh.

Moses presents his covenant with God from on high.  Jesus presents this new covenant on a mountain.  The Beatitudes are given as a way to think about how we are in relationship with one another.  But these are not presented to a free people but rather a captive people who are living under a Gentile nation that have other gods as first in line for worship and do so with idols as the obvious substitute for their adoration.  By the time Matthew records this Gospel, Jerusalem has been destroyed along with the Temple (again).  The rules that Jesus invites us to live by are not nearly as concrete at the Ten Commandments.  They are more in line with the admonishment not to covet.

Whereas the Ten Commandments are largely what to avoid, the Beatitudes are a map toward blessing.  But as any journey, we often learn as much on the way as we do in arriving at the destination.  This may be helpful for us in looking at them because at first glance, mourning and meekness don't sound like things we would normally identify with blessing.

I doubt if many Christian prayers start with "Lord, make me a meeker person in all that I do today."

Is there more blessing in accomplishments achieved alone
or in helping someone else reach their potential?

But if we think about the Beatitudes as a covenant, how do they help us to more fully love God and love our neighbors?  How are these a call to relationship for a people without the power of self-governance?  For those in the United States today, we have much more freedom in how we live our lives than those in Matthew's community.  But I think that sometimes this freedom is illusory and we find that our captivity comes to things that are less obvious.

We still need the concrete rules found in the Ten Commandments.  But we also need to explore our faith through the Beatitudes.  Americans have more options for entertainment at their fingertips than ever in the history of the world.  While these can provide hours of enjoyment, they can also pacify our need for deeper thinking.  Fortunately, we have a time when we gather for worship and the deepening of our faith through thoughtful reflection.  I hope you'll join us if you are available in person in Edmond or Guthrie.  But if not, please join us online at a time of your choosing.  We'll be exploring the Beatitudes this Sunday and hope that we find blessing during our time together.

In Christ,

Sam

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