Daily Lesson for June 28, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from 1 Samuel chapter 9 verses 1 through 5:

There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish son of Abiel son of Zeror son of Becorath son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. 2He had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders above everyone else.

3 Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, had strayed. So Kish said to his son Saul, ‘Take one of the boys with you; go and look for the donkeys.’ 4He passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of Benjamin, but they did not find them.

5 When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the boy who was with him, ‘Let us turn back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and worry about us.’ 6But he said to him, ‘There is a man of God in this town; he is a man held in honour. Whatever he says always comes true. Let us go there now; perhaps he will tell us about the journey on which we have set out.’

There is an old Buddhist saying, “When the student is ready the teacher comes.”  It basically means that people and purposes reveal themselves not at the beginning, but as we go along.

Saul was about to be anointed king over Israel by the prophet or “seer” Samuel.  But Saul thought he was chasing a couple of donkeys!  Life is like that. What we are doing now may seem to be one thing, but then the path reveals itself and suddenly we discover we are actually doing quite another. 

So we trust the path.  We look for the donkeys. We remain faithful to where we are and what we are doing right now. Then suddenly a teacher appears to tell us about the journey we are on; and we discover its purpose is far greater than we thought.

When the student is ready the teacher appears; and when we can’t even keep up with a single lost donkey a calling comes to watch over an entire nation. 

O the inscrutable ways of God! And O the surprising places today’s frustrating path might bring us to tomorrow . . .

Daily Lesson for June 27, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 22 verses 24 through 27:

24 A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the least, and the leader like one who serves. 27For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”

In the Roman world of Jesus the social order was constructed in such a way as a very small number of wealthy and powerful patriarchs decided almost everything in the community. It was a patronage society and these “patrons” or “benefactors” wielded their social and economic force over the broader community by either yielding or withholding their beneficence. The patron determined the degree to which his (always his) slaves could have freedom and also the extent to which certain projects for the good of community could advance. They were called benefactors; but their regard was always tied to their social and monetary power. They were first in society; but they’re regard always came from whatever power they had over other people’s freedom and possibility. 

It was not altogether different from our own society, though the powers of coercion in our own context are more subtle and not as outrightly visible as in the first century. 

One of the primary reasons the Jesus movement gathered such force was its radical break from the Roman social construct of the time. With the Jesus community slaves were actually often considered first in the community while the most powerful “benefactors” in the broader social convention were asked to participate in the so-called “slave work” of the Jesus community — work like serving the table, washing the dishes, and burning the trash. One could become great in this new community; but one did so not by the power of coercion but rather through service and true self-giving. 

“The greatest among you must become like the least, and the leader like one who serves.”  This was the radical vision of the early Jesus movement. It is just as counter-culturally radical today. 

And the question always is, do we have the guts to put it into practice?

Daily Lesson for June 26, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Acts chapter 6 verses 1 through 7:

Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. 2And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait at tables. 3Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, 4while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.’5What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

7 The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Just a quick Google search and we find tons of Complaint Department memes that all send basically the same message: complaints are totally unwanted and to be punished. I’m thinking of particularly the meme that shows the Complaint Department help button which is attached to the lethal end of a mouse trap. The message is pretty straightforward.

But in today’s Lesson the early Church took the complaints of a segment of its community very seriously. The Church leaders listened to the complaints with openness and without defense and then set about a plan for addressing the problem. The result was a thriving community which continued to expand and grow numerically. No doubt it also grew more deeply in authentic relationship, as the minority Greeks felt heard and taken seriously. 

When we receive complaints we have to resist defensiveness. We have to allow our anxieties about our own imperfections to not stand in the way of hearing and receiving the truth in what others say. We have to learn to listen with open minds and open hearts and then seek to find solutions — sometimes altogether systemic — to better care for the needs of all in the community.

The early Church did just that. They put down their defenses, listened to one another — especially to the minority members, and made adjustments to help better care for the needs of the whole community. And they flourished. They absolutely flourished. 

But that could never have happened if the complaint button had been on the mousetrap. 

Daily Lesson for June 25, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from 1 Samuel chapter 6 verses 1 through 5:

The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines for seven months. 2Then the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, ‘What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us what we should send with it to its place.’3They said, ‘If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt-offering. Then you will be healed and will be ransomed; will not his hand then turn from you?’4And they said, ‘What is the guilt-offering that we should return to him?’ They answered, ‘Five gold tumours and five gold mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; for the same plague was upon all of you and upon your lords. 5So you must make images of your tumours and images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps he will lighten his hand on you and your gods and your land.’

In the 12 steps of recovery there is an important step called making amends, which requires a wrongdoer to go beyond a simple apology and truly take concrete action to amend for his or her actions which brought harm upon another person or community. Feeling or even saying, “I’m sorry,” is not good enough. Something tangible must be done to amend for the harm brought upon another. 

In today’s Lesson we see amends taking place. The Philistines stole the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites. It plagued them mightily, just as it always plagues us when we take from someone else what is not ours. They decided to return the Ark.  And they did so with amends — with gold offerings, cast in images of the tumors which had afflicted them since they had stolen the Ark, given to the LORD, the God of the Israelites. 

It is not enough to simply be sorry. True repentance requires that we make concrete amends to undo the harm we have done to others. It is a necessary step in recovery for individuals, and also groups, and even nations. And it is a necessary part in the path to restored relationship and even reconciliation with others. 

Daily Lesson in observance of the feast day of St John the Baptist

Today’s Daily Lesson is in observance of the feast day of the Nativity of St John the Baptist and comes from Malachi chapter 3 verses 1 through 5:

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; 3he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

5 Then I will draw near to you for judgement; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow, and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

It’s midsummer, the half-way point after Christmas and the traditional day for observing the birth of John the Baptist, who was born six months prior to his younger cousin Jesus. 

With the coming of John the Baptist we see a thoroughly moral reformation at work. John shows up with his wild-eyed social vision and suddenly all the cruel, malicious, and ungodly things the larger society had grown to tolerate and even accept were suddenly seen for what were. With John no more would liars, adulterers, those who exploit the poor and oppress the alien, and the religion which gave blessing to it all be stomached. With John the fullers’ soap would cleanse the moral conscience of the nation and a new code of ethics would be demanded. 

We are living now in an age of John the Baptist. In recent years our conscience been awakened to and deeply troubled by the economic disparities in our nation and world. We have been awakened to the sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse which have for so long been pervasive in the church and society. And we are now beginning to see how lies and false accusation in the public square have grown cancerous to the integrity of our most important social institutions. 

It is the age of John in which we are living; and John comes to us yet again with his refiner’s fire and fullers’ soap to cleanse and reform us once more. This is a sign which will be opposed by a strong minority — especially by the Herods of the world.  But it also be a sign which will be welcomed by the vast majority, and will eventually inaugurate a fundamental shift in the moral and ethical consciousness of the entire society. 

Like always, this current age of John will unsettle many things, leaving no person or institution untouched. This will terrify and exhilarate at the same time. And we will all ask with today’s Lesson from Malachi, “Who can endure the day of [John’s] coming, and who can stand when he appears?”  And the answer to that will be the ones who hear the prophet’s words at his coming and take them to heart: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.”  Or, as another translation might have them, “Change your consciousness, for the kin-dom of God’s vision for our world is knocking at the door.”

A Prayer in Observance of Juneteenth

A Prayer in observance of Juneteenth, written for the 2019 Juneteenth Breakfast of Prayer at Meadowbrook United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, Texas:

Dear Gracious God of all people, all times, all places, and all faithfulness,

We give you thanks for this day and for the gift of freedom we all enjoy to come and dwell together in unity as brothers and sisters, family and friends, fellow children and co-heirs in your beautiful and righteous House.

As we gather here to commemorate Juneteenth we are grateful for its important significance and principal reminder: That the war did not end until everyone heard the good news — that slavery was indeed the end cause of so much bloodshed and devastation in our land, that it had been abolished by the virtue of a “government of the people and by the people and for the people”, and that all people in these United States are now and are to ever hence be free.

We invoke your presence here today. We know, LORD, it is true what has often been said, “none of us are free until all are free.”  So stir us with your holy provocation that we might continue to seek liberty and justice for all in this nation, dedicating ourselves to the ongoing work of undoing slavery’s horrific legacy and the legacy of its ugly scions Jim Crow, segregation, mass incarceration, racism, and Sunday morning separation. Give us the strength, the courage, and the burden of spirit to continue the efforts of those who came and suffered before us, that we might truly be a land where all our family members may delight in the crystal fountain of freedom. Give us a spirit of justice, and equity and simple fairness that we, your children, might be free not only in part but in whole.  Not only in word but in fact. May we, all your beloved children, one day — soon — be free; and may we be free indeed. 

We ask these things in the name of the one who “loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword,” and whose “truth is still marching on”, Christ Jesus our Lord himself, our great emancipator. Amen.

Daily Lesson for June 14, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 19 verses 41 and 42:

41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

Last night I received a text from a former member of my youth group from 20 years ago. He told me that yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the death of another member of the the group named Tony, who died at age 19 by gunshot wound in a front yard fight. Yesterday some friends from the group all went out to the gravesite to pay their respects. 

I still remember the moment I heard about Tony’s death. A deep lament came over me and I cried like a baby. It was the first young person in the group whose life was lost to senseless gun violence. Unfortunately, it would not be the last. I remember Tony’s grandmother being quoted in the newspaper, “He wasn’t afraid to die; he was afraid to live.”

So many in this world are so afraid to live. They’re so scared to live vulnerably, to show even the slightest sign of weakness, to walk away. I was told the other kid — also 19 — had a gun pointed at Tony’s chest and Tony dared him to pull the trigger. Neither of them could back down. One life was ended. Another ruined. Tony was buried by the county a few days later. His killer was locked up by the state for the next decade.

And somebody made money off the gun, the bullet, the burial, and the lock up.

In today’s Lesson there is great lament. Jesus weeps over his city. He weeps over a city which knows not the things of peace, the way of vulnerability. He weeps over a city which is not afraid to die but afraid to live. He weeps over a city whose leaders are bent on repeating the same mistakes, drawing the same wrong conclusions, refusing to think about an end to violence and a beginning to the way of peace-making. We can still hear his sobbing today. 

Tony’s death was a sobering moment in my life. It was a moment of transformation.  Until his death, I had mostly thought about trying to get kids souls saved for heaven. But my tears told me I wasn’t really ready for Tony to go heaven. They told me heaven wasn’t ready either. I began to think differently about ministry that summer. I began to think hard about race and about poverty and about guns. It set me on a whole different course, one that would inevitably lead me to seminary, and to Irie, and to a whole new understanding of what it means to “present the Gospel”. 

I’m still so sorry about Tony. I’m so sorry his life was cut short — before he had a chance to grow up.  I’m so sorry his assailant’s was also. Mostly I’m sorry for those who read about the murder in the paper and just wrote them both off as thugs without ever knowing anything more. 

Why are kids afraid to live in these United States of America? Why are there so many guns on our streets and inmates in our prisons?  Why don’t we care enough to get involved? Why do we still think the Gospel is just about the kingdom in heaven rather than the kingdom on earth?

These are hard questions. They have no easy answers. I live in a city in the midst of racial turmoil this week.  There are no easy answers. 

But maybe what we need is a deep lament, sobbing and a wailing and a profound kind of knowledge of and encounter with the pain and fear so many in our country live with and die with day by day. In a word, it is what we call compassion, the place of feeling and sensing and even suffering with, and also the place of transformation, and of seeing. 

 “If you,” Jesus said, “even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

No; the answers are not easy. But, “Even you,” Jesus said. Even us. If only we could see again through the eyes of compassion then maybe we could know the way to peace. 

Daily Lesson for June 13, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verses 6 through 

Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. 8Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me,9but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

In the mystery of God it is our struggles and even our failures which have the most to teach us about God’s grace and mercy. It is in those times when we face our greatest hardships that God’s presence and power is most known. 

We sing it about Jesus from the youngest age as children, “they are weak, but He is strong.” Yet the song only truly begins to make sense as we move along into adulthood and realize just how weak we sometimes are. Our weakness drives us to prayer; it recalls the refrain. 

If we felt capable in and of our own selves then we would be arrogant and self-dependent and we would cease relying on the power of God. We would fail. So our weaknesses keep us humble, keep us dependent, keep us asking for our daily bread. 

I’ve always loved the story of Fr. Jean Vianney who in one of his early pastorates was presented with a letter from his congregation soon to be sent to the Bishop charging Vianney with gross incompetence and ineffectiveness. Vianney read the letter and the signatures of all the French village townspeople and then, surprisingly, added his own name as well. 

Jean Vianney later became pastron saint of pastors. 

In our weakness Jesus is strong. In our failures God’s mercy reigns. In our incompetence the Spirit shows up with supernatural power. 

Thanks be to God for this. 

Amen. 

Daily Lesson for June 12, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 21 through 29:

But whatever anyone dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. 22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.23Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labours, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death. 24Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea;26on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; 27in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked. 28And, besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches. 29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I am not indignant?

Paul has been through it all. He’s a sufferer.  He’s a survivor. He’s a legend. And he’s the most courageous person anybody in the early church knows. Everyone worries for him. 

Yet what Paul worries about is the church. He names all the things he’s made it through, but the thing he tops it off with is his worry over the church. 

I read this and think of my good friend Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili of the Evangelical Baptist Church of the Republic of Georgia.  Malkhaz is the most courageous person I know. He has ministered to enemy soldiers in the theatre of war.  He’s been detained multiple times trying to help Muslim refugees escape from Russia. Now he’s taken up the cause of the Yazidis in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.  Earlier this year I received a letter asking for prayer.  But the letter surprised me. It was a letter not about his dangerous work for human rights, but a letter about the church. A breakaway group was trying to wrest control of the Georgian Baptist church away from Malkhaz because of Malkhaz’s support of the LGBTQ community in Tbilisi. Malkhaz has risked his life many, many times.  But he was asking for prayer, not so much for himself but for his church. 

Know your pastors wrestle and pray and oftentimes even anguish over their churches. They endure many things. But most grueling of all is their worry over the church. They love and worry over the church like a mother or father over a child.

And I know many, many laypeople who love and worry also. 

Pray for them. Pray for each other. Pray for the church. Love and pray for your church. 

Daily Lesson for June 11, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 18 verses 35 through 43:

35 As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth* is passing by.’ 38Then he shouted, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 39Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet; but he shouted even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 40Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him,41‘What do you want me to do for you?’ He said, ‘Lord, let me see again.’ 42Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.’ 43Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.

There is a phrase in today’s Lesson we probably are hardly even aware of but need to pay very close attention to as it says so much about us and our society as a whole. The phrase is: “Those who were in front”.

Those who were in front wanted the blind man to shut up, to stop interrupting, to quiet down, and be happy with his lot. His begging was a nuisance and a perturbing disruption. It could hardly be seen to be anything else to those who were already up front. And that is because those up front enjoyed a privilege that the blind man and others on the side of the road did not. The blind man had to shout to be heard, to simply be seen. Those privileged to be up front called this inappropriate — a disturbance of the peace and an out of order impropriety. 

But Jesus saw it different. Jesus heard the blind man’s shouts. Jesus heard and saw him. He heard his complaint and saw his humanity.

It’s so easy for us who are up front in life to take it all for granted, to trick ourselves into thinking somehow we belong here, and that there must be something morally wrong with those who are not up front and walking tall with us. But Jesus shows us another way. Jesus shows us how to hear and how to see and how to hold the line so others may be included also. 

In other words, Jesus shows us how to simply be human. The world could stand for a lot more of than now — humanity. 

Daily Lesson for June 7, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Ezekiel chapter 34 verses 17 through 22:

17 As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats: 18Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture? When you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet? 19And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have fouled with your feet?

20 Therefore, thus says the Lord Godto them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.21Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, 22I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

The care and preservation of the earth are Biblical mandates which we have to  hear and obey. 

It is too easy to shrug our shoulders at all the damage we are doing and tell ourselves we can’t do much as one person or as a community or even as a single nation. The vastness and complexity of our environmental problems will not excuse our inaction. 

And the outright denials of global climate change and the ongoing attempts to actually roll back environmental protection are anathema to all our most basic Biblical and human values. A simple question: how could pumping extreme amounts of harmful pollutants into the air for over a century not have significant impact on the environment? 

Why do we continue to accept the lies of convenience which want to assure us this really isn’t a problem?  Do we really believe them or are we the primary polluters confident we will not suffer the most serious effects of our action and inaction?

In today’s Lesson the Prophet Ezekiel condemns the flock which in the midst of taking from the stream and soils and debases it at the same time, ruining it for the rest of the flocks which also need its water. What a parable for our time!  The Prophet still convicts!

Ezekiel says the LORD shall “judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats.” This means we shall all be held accountable — for our actions and also our inactions. And so we have to take steps — make better personal choices, make better policy choices, invest in cleaner sources of energy, and be more committed to protecting and caring for the millions of people who are being displaced because of now-dramatic and even tragic environmental change.

The LORD is watching. And so too are the flocks downstream. 

Daily Lesson for June 6, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 10 verses 30 through 35:

30Jesus said, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.33But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” 

“I will repay you.”

What a tremendous, yet little-recognized statement in this well-known parable. Those words, “I will repay you,” should give full shape to how we live and all that we do for one another.  They should shape our personal lives and also our public policy. 

No thing large or small — not even a single cup of cold water — will go unnoticed or unreimbursed. We will be repaid. He’s given us his promise. He has told us to take care of each other, to tend, and to house, and to watch over, and to accept his word as his bond. “I will repay you.”

And indeed, every time I’ve ever said yes to this call for care it’s been true. I’ve been repaid ten fold in friendships, and joys, and good feelings about what I’ve done or been a part of doing — and in the age to come, eternal life. 

He will repay us. He already has repaid us; and he will again. 

Daily Lesson for June 5, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke 10 verses 17 through 20:

17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ 18He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’

Reinhold Niebuhr once wrote on this Scripture that Jesus’ admonition to the disciples was a warning about being too taken by the joy of success.  Niebuhr said Jesus was telling his disciples not to rejoice in success, but to rejoice rather in faithfulness. 

The church has made a god of so-called success. And it’s measured usually by the “Three Bs — Baptisms, Budgets, and Buildings”. Sad. 

But this Lesson isn’t a warning against crass metrics. This is actually a warning against pinning too much hope to even more noble success. “Rejoice not that the spirits submit to you,” means do not be too sanguine about your ability change things for good, to drive out darkness, to cast out evil, and fell Satan. “Rejoice not in these things . . . but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

By all worldly measures on Good Friday the ministry and mission of Jesus was an utter failure. His friends and followers had all abandoned him, his calls to God were unanswered, Pontius Pilate was still governor, Caiaphas still high priest, and Caesar still emperor.  And yet it was also the day when the name before all names was written in the holy book of heaven. 

So maybe our understanding of success has to be altered. Or maybe we have to give up our love affair with success altogether. Maybe we aren’t called so much to be successful as we are to be faithful.

I am reminded of the protestor, standing alone on a street corner with a placard in his hands calling for the end to the madness of war. He was confronted by a scoffing driver, "Do you think you can really change the politicians and generals?" He replied, "I'm not doing this to change the politicians and generals; I’m doing this so they won’t change me."

That’s something to think real hard on today as we’re about the business of casting out demons and trying to bring the kingdom come . . .

Daily Lesson for June 4, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Hebrews chapter 6 verses 17 through 20:

17In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath, 18so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. 19We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, 20where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.

There is a legend that says when the High Priest would pass through the curtains and enter the Holy of Holies to offer blood and sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, they would tie a rope around his waist so they might pull him out should his sacrifice be found unworthy and he be struck dead inside.

Attached to Christ our rope does something else. Having been found worthy to enter into the oneness of eternal life with God, He has set down at the right hand of God in the heavens.  Tethered to Him, it is our hope which is affixed to Christ just like the rope affixed to the High Priest. But instead of using our rope to pull the High Priest out, it is our hope that pulls us inward, into the sacred mystery of the future. 

Our hope, tied to Christ, gives us courage to keep walking, to keep striving, to not grow faint, or weary, and to not be afraid. Tethered to Christ as our anchor, we walk with faith even amidst these dark times, “trembling not” for evil, but rather knowing our salvation is assured in Christ and our hope is tied to the one who is and was and will be again and who shall judge the nations in justice and righteousness and the people with grace and with mercy and the wisdom of the ages. 

So then, let us tie our rope of hope today. Let us keep walking, and fear nothing. For the High Priest has entered the holy throne room, and He bids us to follow in faith and with the courage of our deepest and most hopeful convictions.

Daily Lesson for June 3, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 9 verses 57 through 62:

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ 58And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ 59To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ 60But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ 61Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ 62Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

There comes a time when we have to put first things first. “Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness,” we sing. And the mistake these men who encountered Jesus on the road made was a mistake of priority.

There is nothing wrong with burying the dead or saying a goodbye to loved ones, but Jesus had come at a critical moment, his face was set to Jerusalem, and the time for his followers put first things first had come. He was on the march; and the people were either with him or they were not. 

There comes a time when we all have to fall in, stand up and be counted, decide to follow. There are certain moments in life where more delay or consideration or time is simply not an option. We have to say yes, or we have to say no. We have to give our answer — whether we think we’re ready or not.

Sometimes we may not be ready. But the time is at hand; and so is the plow. And in a moment of faith full of both fear and trembling we take hold and hold on tight . . .