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 29

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 2

Here we see the maturity of Paul even in the midst of his insecurity.  Whenever we have conflict with others, it may be that we want to cut off emotionally from them.  It is easier to write them off and justify our (possibly hostile) responses to them as deserved.

This comes out of a "there's plenty of fish in the sea" mentality.  Another way of thinking about this is, "life's too short to spend time with jerks."  

But as we come from a resurrection faith that prides itself on reconciliation, Paul understands this as key to his mission.  And so, he doesn't cover over the "painful visit" and the damage done.  He recognizes it and bids those who were damaged by the conflict to forgive the perpetrator.  This is not necessarily easy for them to do because, unlike Paul, they were living with this person.  What if he does it again?

But as we see a different kind of community in Christ where sins do not disqualify one from participation, Paul writes in verse eight, "So I urge you to reaffirm your love for him."

For the Christian, it is important for us to see forgiveness as a tool of resurrection faith.  Practical mercy is in fact the epitome of resurrection.  The relationship under conflict may have indeed died.  As I forgive, the relationship may spring up into new life.

This idea of giving wings to our faith has been lifted up for centuries prior to Paul by the prophets and he continues in this important tradition.  He concludes the chapter by reminding us "we are not peddlers of God's word" but "in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence."

We bring the presence of God when we offer forgiveness.  This idea reminds me of Jacob's words to his brother Esau after Esau graciously received Jacob in Genesis 33:10, "for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God—since you have received me with such favor."

How can we embody the presence of God?  How do we overcome the pain of conflict and offer forgiveness?

Prayer for the day:

Gracious God, we have been wounded by strangers and friends alike.  Help us not to see ourselves as weak and put upon but tough and hardy.   It is in Christ that we can find strength to offer forgiveness.  Let the healing that comes from this forgiveness touch us and touch the offender.  May it be transforming so that we experience resurrection here and now.  In the name of Jesus, who forgave those who harmed him, we pray.  Amen. 

Photo by Olivia Steele 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.

Recovering God in the Old Testament

Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Year B

Lectionary Reading: Jonah 3:1-10 (NRSV)

As a pastor, I am attuned to how people talk about God.  Sometimes, I hear people say that they prefer the God of the New Testament.  They characterize God as being very vengeful in the Hebrew Bible but forgiving and merciful in the New Testament.  This is pretty reductionist and doesn't allow for the grace in the Old Testament that is clearly evident (it also washes over the judgment we see in the New Testament but that is another blog).  

Jesus doesn't just invent the forgiveness and grace that he espouses but he emphasizes it from the teaching present in so much of the Bible of his day.  

This week's reading from Jonah is a perfect example.

If you thought Jonah was only a story about being swallowed by a whale that emphasizes why we should be obedient, then you haven't read it as an adult.  It's only four chapters.  You could easily read it right now.

But to summarize, the first chapter is about Jonah running.

The second chapter is about Jonah praying.

The third chapter (our subject for today) is about Jonah preaching.

The fourth chapter is about Jonah sulking.

What?  

Is this how God saw Jonah at the end
of chapter four?

It really is an odd way to end a book of the Bible.  Jonah is angry because God does what Jonah is afraid that God would do in the first place.  God forgives the people of Nineveh.

It turns out that this is why he ran in the first place.  He had no interest in the success of his preaching.  In fact, Jonah had a very New Testament understanding of God.  I write this very facetiously and as a way for us to realize how people had varying ideas about God prior to the first century of the common era.  

This brings us to the idea of the grace of God.  Specifically, who wouldn't God forgive?  The Assyrians (of which Nineveh was the capitol) were not very nice people.  They had already invaded and done some pretty awful things to the northern kingdom of Israel.  Jonah wouldn't have been interested in any mercy for them.  

Is there anyone you would sulk about if they got away with murder?  

I'm sure we all have our lists.

Which is what makes this such a challenging book.  Jonah may be my favorite book of the Hebrew Bible.  I find it raises my own bar higher than I think I can jump.

It's so high.  I can't possibly get over that, can I?

Not without some help.

I hope you'll join us for online worship on Sunday as we pursue this scripture together!

In Christ,

Sam

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

Generosity

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A 

Lectionary Reading: Matthew 18:21-35 (NRSV)

How quick are we to forgive today?  I think when we have stress in our lives (such is the norm today), then we may be more likely to take a slight from someone than to imagine they are on our side or at least give them the benefit of the doubt.

We may be more likely to build a case against a person than to imagine all of the things we hold in common.  When we start to make the list of the things we like about this person, it is harder to hold that grudge!  It is much more satisfying in the short-term to list their short-comings.  But this is not the Christian example that we have in today's lectionary scripture.

Peter thinks he's going the extra mile by asking Jesus if we should forgive seven times.  He's beginning to get it.  He thinks this will earn him a "Well, done, Peter!  You got this straight from God."

But Jesus surprises him by declaring he's off by a magnitude of at least ten!

It may be that Jesus is giving us a reversal of Lamech's vengeance from Genesis 4:23-24:  

Lamech said to his wives:  

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

    you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:

I have killed a man for wounding me,

    a young man for striking me.

If Cain is avenged sevenfold,

    truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

Between Jesus and Lamech, which one do we find ourselves following more often?  We name ourselves Christian rather than Lamechian so how do develop this generosity of spirit that we see on display in Matthew's reading?   

This may be a popular justification
but it doesn't help us follow Jesus.

If we are more likely to show generosity when we are in connection with God (as a Fruit of the Holy Spirit), does this mean that when we are working against someone that we are disconnected with God?

I find that if I am outside of the Holy Spirit - or at least not paying attention to it - I am more likely to be a follower of Lamech.  I want to lean into my wrath (and dole it out) rather than to find understanding and common ground.  When we follow the way of vengeance, we begin to draw our circle smaller and smaller - excluding this person and that person.  Pretty soon it is just you and me and I'm not so sure about you!  

This Sunday, we'll be continuing to explore the Fruit of the Spirit as seen through the lens of this particular scripture.  If you find yourself plagued by a lack of generosity of spirit lately, you are not alone.  But as we join together in worship, we may just re-discover it.  That's my prayer for us this week!  I hope to see you in person or online!

In Christ,

Sam

Photo by brett jordan 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.

Helping God Out

Sometimes the weeds are so obvious!

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Year A

Lectionary Reading: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 (NRSV)

The parable of the weeds and the wheat causes us to stumble sometimes.  We want a clean field.  We don't want weeds taking any precious moisture needed by the growing wheat.  If things are orderly in the field, the rest of our universe becomes more orderly.  It is easier to deal with.

Yet, Jesus tells us to leave the weeds alone.

Don't bother them.

Well, why not?  We can easily identify them at an early stage - when they are easy to root out!

Jesus says to leave them.  We might uproot the wheat in our zeal to take out the weeds.

I think what it really means is that when we find an eye for the weeds in life, we may become more interested in pulling weeds than in nurturing wheat.  And the more we look for weeds, the more weeds we seem to see.  

Is that wheat or a weed?  It could be wheat.  Hmm.  Better not take a chance.  Pull it up.

Of course, Jesus is talking about people.  We don't really know the hearts and minds of people.  We don't know what God thinks about them.  But we think we do.  We're just helping God out a little.  God, we'll pull these weeds now and you won't have to worry about them later.  Oh, don't bother thanking us, we're glad to do it!

This also assumes that people are fixed - that they can never change.  Once they head down the wrong path, they are lost forever.  This kind of thinking would take out most of the disciples of Jesus!

How can we apply this parable of Jesus to our lives together today?  I'm sure you've never written anyone off as hopeless, have you?  No, of course I haven't either.  Maybe if we nurture a weed, it will begin to look like the wheat.  Of course, that's foolish thinking.  Weeds can't become wheat.  That would take a miracle.

Hmm.

Join us as we continue to explore this parable in worship on Sunday!

In Christ,

Sam

Photo by alh1 via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

We're All in the Same Boat

Second Sunday after Pentecost, Year A

Lectionary text: Romans 5:1-8 (NRSV)

I’m not privileged.

I have no special status.

No one has helped me.

I don’t owe anything to anyone.

I have pulled myself up from my own bootstraps.

I haven’t had an advantage that others didn’t have – in fact, I can name several ways that I was disadvantaged growing up and have overcome it.

When I was getting ready to attend college, my parents were going to help me with the cost of tuition.  We had a family business dealing with software for the oil and gas industry.  When I was starting college in the fall of 1986, oil had fallen from $27 a barrel to less than $10 a barrel.  Sound familiar?

I remember my parents coming to me and telling me that while they would help as much as they could, paying for college was going to be up to me as our business was barely hanging on.  So I managed to graduate in four years and came out with only a few student loans that I paid off before going on to get my master’s degree (which I also paid for).

I could easily have folded and said it was too hard.  I pressed on.  

I could have easily blamed the economy and quit.  I endured.  

I could have gone into deep debt but I lived frugally in order to have a brighter future.

Let’s all give it up to me!

Well, the details of this story are all factual but they only tell part of the story.  I was privileged to have two parents in the home that supported me throughout my childhood.  It was a stable home and I was never mistreated nor did I worry about my parents splitting up.  I was privileged to have parents that instilled in me a sense of hard work.  I was able to creatively work my way through school to lessen the debt load because I had parents who modeled a can-do attitude.  I was privileged to even want to pursue education because I was born to parents with college degrees (dad also had a master's) who set an expectation for higher learning.

     

Beyond these privileges, I have always been in the racial majority.  This is an advantage that is difficult for those who haven’t experienced otherwise to understand or comprehend.  What does it mean to be the only one of your race in a social setting?  What if there were historic social inequalities that remain hidden just beneath the surface?  What if I had to second-guess my relationships with those of the majority race because of past slights I had experienced?

I don't even want to
get started on this sign!

This week’s epistle reminds us that we are all sinners.   Yet, we all receive the grace of God in Christ Jesus.  We are privileged to stand before God blameless – not because of anything we earned but because what we’ve received in the love of God.  If I can stand on this privilege, I must do so with humility, recognizing that we are all in this together.

This may be a crucial step for Christians to take in order to recognize our brothers and sisters who may be hurting because of injustices built into a system where people have not received the same treatment under the law.   It may be a matter of gratitude.  I am grateful for the blessings – earned and unearned – that I have received.  If we can’t develop a sense of thankfulness, we will end up entitled – maybe like I portrayed myself in the first part of the blog.  I think the apostle Paul would say that a sense of entitlement is deadly spiritually.  

I don’t think it will help us as a society either.

Join us for worship on Sunday as we continue to unpack this text together.  I'll try to bring more humility and less entitlement!

In Christ,

Sam

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

Daily Devotion for Lent 2020 - Day 36

Scripture Reading: Acts 26:1-18 (NRSV)

Paul begins his testimony before King Agrippa who was the ruler of parts of Palestine.  This is the third time in the Book of Acts that Luke relates his conversion (the first being 9:1-8; the second being 22:4-16).  We see Paul stand upon his Jewish credentials.  This was likely something he did throughout his career as he went from place to place, sharing faith in the synagogues.  We see this in his own words from Philippians 3:4b-6 as he writes:

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

In today's reading, he expounds upon his persecution of the church.  He was certainly a bulldog in his pursuit of those he felt were wrong.  In this third account, when Jesus speaks to Paul, we hear him add the phrase, "It hurts you to kick against the goads."  A goad was a sharp stick used to prod a donkey or an ox.  We see even Jesus acknowledging Paul's tiresome doggedness in pursuing what he thought was right.

We have all known people with this personality trait.  You may wonder why God would choose Paul to be such an emissary to the faith.  It may have been because he was so relentless in his pursuit of his ideals.  With his new understanding of faith, Paul will work toward this witness with the same sense of zeal.  When we began chapter one of Acts and we heard in verse eight, "you will be my witnesses...to the ends of the earth" we were thinking that it would be the original twelve (minus Judas) disciples.

Paul's transformation and elevation reminds us that God works in ways we would not foresee.  I don't think God inspired Paul to persecute the early church so that later Paul would have the appropriate cred to reach future persecutors.  But I do think that God uses misspent free will to create something new.

What places in your life were difficult to overcome or endure?  Which things would bring you shame if you trotted them out in the light of day?  Have they given you mettle?  Made you more compassionate?  Because of the sins of our past, are we more willing to forgive people who commit sins in the present?

Prayer for the day:

Gracious God, raise us from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness.  Do not let us forget our past but rather heal us from what still hurts.  As it scabs over and becomes a scar, let us bear it wisely.  Give us empathy with others who may be so currently afflicted.  May your Holy Spirit use our entire selves for the witness of the evangel that pervades the earth.  Amen.

Photo by judyboo 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 35

Scripture Reading: Acts 25:13-27 (NRSV)

Which kind of headwear do you think God prefers?

This is a good reminder of how outsiders perceive us when we have disagreements with those who are within the faith.  The Jews accusing Paul saw their differences as blasphemous and felt justified in wanting Paul's death for his work in sharing the gospel.  Paul understood his allegiance to Jesus Christ as fitting within the scope of Judaism as he saw it pointing to his Messiah.  But Festus and Felix only saw it as "they had certain points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, but whom Paul asserted to be alive."

After two years of imprisonment, Paul is receiving an audience before the King.  In 60 CE, this would have been King Herod Agrippa II and Bernice was sister to the king.  This rising of Paul from prison to stand before the king is reminiscent of Joseph going from prison to stand before Pharaoh although Paul will not be elevated to an adviser. Interestingly, Joseph also waits in prison for two years before he receives an audience.

This also fulfills what Jesus declares in Luke 21:12-15:

“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify.  So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict."

As I have read about all of the disagreements within Christianity through the centuries, they don't ever seem as urgent from the pages of history as they must have seemed at the time.  This should remind us to step back from our religious disagreements if they are getting too heated.  Why are we getting so upset?  What is it about the disagreement that makes us so angry?  What is happening in your opponent's life that would make this upsetting for them?  Why are they getting hot under the collar?

To reduce our own heat and to understand ourselves is important in any conflict.  Then we can take the next step and seek understanding of our neighbor.  To really love our neighbors is to listen to them and seek clarification on why they think the way they do.  But I think it is always difficult to understand them if we don't understand ourselves.  If Christians can begin to disagree respectfully, those on the outside looking in might take notice about The Way.

Prayer for the day:

Father, we pray for your Church throughout the world, that it may share to the full in the work of your Son, revealing you to all and reconciling all to you and one another; that Christians may learn to love one another and their neighbors, as you have loved us; that your Church may more and more reflect the unity which is your will and your gift; we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.


Prayer from Coventry Cathedral, Chapel of Unity, Church of England.

Photo by Finizio 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 - Palm Sunday

Scripture Reading: Acts 25:1-12 (NRSV)

Porcius Festus was the new procurator of Judea and was appointed by Nero in 60 CE.  Since the previous procurator Felix was unwilling to do anything about Paul except to keep him imprisoned, the Jews Paul had enraged thought they might have better luck with the new leader.  They would like to get Paul out of Caesarea and back to Jerusalem.

Who was really imprisoned?  Paul or those
who would seek his death?

Festus invites them to come with him to Caesarea to accuse Paul there while Festus is present.  He asks Paul if he wishes to be tried in Jerusalem and Paul appeals to his right to trial as a Roman citizen.  This was his right if he was being accused of treason.   It must have been one of the charges they brought as he states that he has committed no offense "against the emperor."

This is a textbook case in letting your anger get the best of you.  If those who hated Paul for his teachings had left him to rot in jail, he may have been forgotten and unrecognized by the new procurator.  Would Festus have even been aware of Paul?  But by seeking greater vengeance against him, this gives him a greater stage.

Luke references Jesus from his gospel when he states in Luke 6:37-38:

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

This is not easy to do when we have an enemy.  When you have been slighted in your mind, the offender will often remain in our thoughts long after the slight has occurred.  But the power of forgiveness is that it limits an enemy's hold over your mindfulness.  We can move on to better things.

Is there someone negative in your life that dominates your thoughts?  Do they take up a disproportionate amount of your awareness?  If you considered forgiveness for this person, you might be able to limit the larger stage he or she is occupying. 

Prayer for the day:

Lord, you remind us that you will give us rest for our heavy burdens.  We do not need the burden of enmity but we have become used to carrying it.  We have forgotten what it is like to be light.  Aid us in our forgiveness of others.  May we remember that you will help us to be merciful when we are unable to begin the work ourselves.  Amen.

Photo by Jeffrey 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.