Daily Lesson for November 2, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 35 through 42 and 50 through 58:

35 But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ 36Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for human beings, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another. 41There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory.

42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 43It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 

50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ 

55 ‘Where, O death, is your victory?

   Where, O death, is your sting?’ 

56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.

The teaching on resurrection has been woefully misleading for many centuries. We have turned the idea of resurrection into a spiritual evacuation plan for another world. This has led to all manner of misunderstandings and misappropriations — including the notion that we are saving only “souls” and that the body is essentially a shell to be “left behind” — just like the earth and all earthly things. The end result of all this is a disembodied understanding of resurrection, resulting in very careless approaches to the material world — including medicine, creation care, etc. 

But look at Paul’s actual teaching on the resurrection and you see he uses a deeply embodied and even very earthy metaphor to describe it. Resurrection is like a seed reborn into another form. It changes forms; but it does not evacuate or evaporate. What happens between the point of planting and the first sign of spring is hidden and mysterious, but it is not other-worldly. The seed is changed; but it is not lost or forgotten or at all left behind. The world is not left behind. 

“Therefore . . .” Paul says, “be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.”

Paul is in fact teaching the very opposite of what so many have come to think of resurrection. He is not saying that we are to disregard the earth or its concerns or all its labors for good. We are to remain in those. Excel in them even. For these plant the seeds which in God’s mystery and good time will be changed, taking off perishability and mortality and putting on immortality and imperishability. 

In other words, the labor done under heaven is not in vain. The work of clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, caring for the earth is not in vain. It is not in vain and it will not be left behind. It will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye — from one glory to another, from earth and under heaven as they are into a new heaven and a new earth as they shall be forever and ever. Amen. 

Daily Lesson for November 1, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Hebrews 11:32-40 and 12:1-2:

32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— 38of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40since God had provided something better so that they would not, without us, be made perfect.

12

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Today is All Saints Day and it is a day for remembering all those who have gone before us — that “Great Cloud of Witnesses” which according to our Lesson today surrounds us.

Usually in the Protestant Church, we think of the faithful who have passed on as “the Church at Rest” in contrast to we still on earth called “the Church Militant”.  The Church Militant meaning the Church still struggling, while the Church at Rest meaning those who have come to rest from their labors. 

But today’s Lesson gives us a slightly different image. The Great Cloud includes all the faithfully departed — Jews and Gentiles alike — and though they seem to have run their race and so rest in a sense, they also seem to be gathered around watching and hoping we who are still running our course, like the first legs of a relay team might step off the track but still cheer and perhaps even run beside the latter legs. 

The Church at Rest is not fully at rest just yet. Too much is still at stake. Too much of the race is still left. So they surround us.  The pray, they hope, they cheer us on. And they count on us. 

They are counting on us to keep our course, to not grow feint or weary, and to not give in to dismay. They are counting on us to keep running the race set before us.

They have run their leg. This is our leg now. So “let us run with perseverance”, not giving up or giving in.  For they did not give up or give in; and neither should we. Let us keep at it, staying the course, following Jesus, running our race for Him, for ourselves, and for all the saints who’ve run before and still in hope run beside.

Daily Lesson for October 31, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson commemorates All Hallows’ Eve and comes from the Book of Wisdom chapter 3 verses 1 through 9:

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,

and no torment will ever touch them. 

2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,

and their departure was thought to be a disaster, 

3 and their going from us to be their destruction;

but they are at peace. 

4 For though in the sight of others they were punished,

their hope is full of immortality. 

5 Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,

because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; 

6 like gold in the furnace he tried them,

and like a sacrificial burnt-offering he accepted them. 

7 In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,

and will run like sparks through the stubble. 

8 They will govern nations and rule over peoples,

and the Lord will reign over them for ever. 

9 Those who trust in him will understand truth,

and the faithful will abide with him in love,

because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,

and he watches over his elect.

Last week I watched the memorial service for Matthew Shepherd, the young gay man who was brutally killed in Wyoming 20 years ago and whose life and witness was now being honored with the internment of his ashes in the Washington National Cathedral. The Lesson for today was the first reading in that service and the first verse struck me deeply:

“But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,

and no torment will ever touch them.”

Those words took on additional meaning Saturday morning when I learned of the terrible mass murder which took place in the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pennsylvania. 

On this All Hallows’ Eve, we remember all the faithful departed and especially all those who have lost their lives to violence and hatred, Jew and Gentile alike. 

The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, no torment can now touch them.  Though they died brutally as victims of evil, we take comfort in God’s promise that they are at rest. 

In fact, that is the last thing Bishop Gene Robinson said at the memorial for Matt Shepherd. Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal Bishop and himself at times a target of the world’s hatred, closed his homily by saying to Matthew, “Gently rest in this place. You are safe now.”

Matthew is safe now. The eleven who were killed in the Tree of Life synagogue are safe. The nine murdered in the Mother Emanuel Church are safe. All the righteous are safe in the hand of God; and no torment can touch them now. 

Daily Lesson for October 30, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Revelation chapter 11 verses 14 through 19:

14 The second woe has passed. The third woe is coming very soon.

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,

‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord

   and of his Messiah,

and he will reign for ever and ever.’

16 Then the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshipped God, 17singing,

‘We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty,

   who are and who were,

for you have taken your great power

   and begun to reign. 

18 The nations raged,

   but your wrath has come,

   and the time for judging the dead,

for rewarding your servants,* the prophets

   and saints and all who fear your name,

   both small and great,

and for destroying those who destroy the earth.’

19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

The week before last I traveled back to Lubbock for a brief stay and spent the night with the great matriarch of our family, my Aunt Opal. One of what I am sure is very few remaining female World War II era veterans, she is still as strong in mind and spirit today at 96-years-old as she was when she signed up for the war against Fascism 75-plus-years ago. She is a survivor of many many things, and a source of wisdom and courage for us all. In the stay, she reminded me again what she always reminds me when I call or visit amidst times of distress — which seem to occur more and more often these days.  “God is still on the throne,” she says. “We know that.”

John the Revelator is channeling Aunt Opal this morning. 

The people are amidst great turmoil with woes befallen them and more woes to come. It is a distressing time for all indeed. And for some it is absolutely an terrifying and dangerous time.

It’s into that terrifying time that John speaks of his apocalyptic vision. He sees beyond the turmoil and terror.  He sees a vision behind all the madness. He sees the woes — never denying them. But he sees even more; he sees how all the woe and madness shall end. He sees resolution. He sees God on the throne.

John was probably an old man when he had this vision — maybe even nearing the age of Aunt Opal.  He had seen much. He had endured and survived much. And when he spoke, he spoke with courage and wisdom, that the saints on earth would not dismay, but stand strong and faithful until the end. 

So be it. Alpha and Omega. At the first and very last, God is on God’s throne. 

Daily Lesson for October 29, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 11 verses 24 through 26:

24 ‘When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting-place, but not finding any, it says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” 25When it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. 26Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first.’

Any landlord can tell you there is no worse thing in the world than an empty-sitting house. It attracts all manner of vandalism and problems; and before long no tenants can well be worse than merely bad ones.

This is a spiritual principle played out in all manner of realms. 

The open seat of a deposed dictator brings can bring the chaos of seven spirits all vying for power. 

A newly-sober person who has quit their substance of choice, but is not also in a recovery group has left the front door wide open.

Religion which is solely at war with others but never brings peace inside ends in doing far more harm than good. 

It is not enough to cast out the demon.  The void left by the demon must also be filled.  For an empty house is not a safe or peaceful house. And neither is an empty person. 

Daily Lesson for October 28, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 31 verse 21:

“Blessed be the Lord! 

for he has shown me the wonders of his love in a besieged city.”

A besieged city is the last place one would look to find the wonders of God’s love. When we think of a besieged city we think of its horrors — pestilence, hoarding, the fear of the walls falling. 

And yet, the Psalmist speaks of finding God’s love in this shut in city.  Where?  What might he have seen?

A young boy sharing a few loaves of bread. 

The birds coming to offer themselves as sacrifice for the sake of God’s people. 

Clothes on the back not wearing thin. 

A spring of water from beneath the ground.

A spring of joy at the Sabbath reading. 

Love and sex and a little girl picking flowers clothed like Solomon beneath the sun’s rays. 

Maybe these are the miracles — not deliverance this time, but the wonders of God’s love hidden inside a world of walls. 

Daily Lesson for October 25, 2018

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

30Jesus replied, ‘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.”

“When I come back, I will repay you . . .”

Here are the words of the Good Samaritan to the inn keeper; but they might also be the words of the Son of Man given to all of us called to take care of the poor, sick, and lame.  For the cost may be significant; but somehow in the mystery of God’s economy whatever we spend gets paid back. As Jesus said, “Your reward is in heaven.”

Caring for others is hard and demanding work. It often means changes of plans, out of pocket costs, less personal time, and all manner of other inconveniences large and small. Sometimes it even means risking something significant, personally, or institutionally.  None of this easy.

But the Good Samaritan promised he would return; and so too the Son of Man. And when they do, I imagine no trouble will seem too great compared to the reward of hearing these words: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”