Impersonation

I wonder if this isn't a pretty good image of what Christ pulls us onto the stage of the world to do for and with Him. For we are to "put on Christ," and "Christian" actually means "little Christ".

Daily Lesson for May 29, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke 16 verse 10:

"One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much."

The kingdom of God is more a matter of quality than it is quantity.  It is a mustard seed, a pinch of leaven, the doffing of a hat. No matter how seemingly small and insignificant an act is, it has all the power to build or destroy the kingdom. As Mother Teresa said, "We are not called to do great things, but small things with great love."  Small things matter.

One of Dr. King's more well-known sermons was his street sweeper sermon. In it he used the job of a street sweeper to talk about all of life's jobs being holy vocations.  

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry," Dr. King said.  "He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.'"

Today we may be asked to do something big and wonderful; but more likely we'll be asked to do something small and mundane. Regardless of how we or the world will see it in size, God will see it in substance. And in God's eyes we who are faithful in very little will also be faithful in very, very much. 

Daily Lesson for May 28, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 16 verses 1 through 9:

16 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ 5 So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘A hundred measures1 of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

This one's a bit of a head scratcher. Apparently Jesus saw this conniving, manipulative, and utterly shameless cheat as a perfect illustration for the way we ought to be in this world. Well, not the conniving, manipulative, and cheating part, but the part where when he realizes his time is running out and his future is dependent upon making friends with the poor.

That's really what Jesus taught -- that our time on earth is running out and so is our money, and that the friendships we make with whatever time and money we have left is going to have bearing when the kingdom comes. 

It's just a good reminder that the meek are going to inherit the earth; and kindness to the man on the street corner selling newspapers or grace to the tenants in the rent house or generosity to the young couple in your church matter more than we think. In fact, they're everything. 

Time is going to run out and the money is going to run dry; but the friendships we've made with them are going to last forever.

That should make us think a little different about our day and our dollar.

Clarence Jordan Tells The Koinonia Story (audio only)

One of the provocative proposals our 2020 Vision Team has put together says the following about discipleship:



"Second B cultivates deep wisdom and courageous faith.  Rooted in the Biblical story and inspired by saints, past and present, we are faithful followers of Christ."



Please take time to listen to this audio as Clarence Jordan is definitely one of those saints past whose discipleship was marked by wisdom and courage.  In the early fall, I am planning to use this recording as a part of a discipleship series for our youth.  My point will be to show just how relevant and transformative the way of Christ truly is.

Daily Lesson for May 27, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 15 verses 25 through 32:

25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might ecelebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

There are those who are at home with the Father in body but who make it known that there spirit is elsewhere and when given the chance their body will be also.  There are others who are in the far country -- a long way off from the Father's home in both body and spirit. These are what we think of as the Prodigal sons and daughters -- the truly lost.  Parents worry themselves sick over these. But there is another child, usually good and moral and often the first born, who though home in body and pretending to be home in heart is actually in spirit far far away from the Father.

Though I myself mostly masquerade as a Prodigal Son, I am actually much more an older brother. And so let me tell you from experience what an older brother has to come to terms with before he will enter the banquet -- his own shadow side. It's there in the story with the older brother's reference to the prostitutes he says his younger brother wasted all his money on. That sounds about right, until you go back and reread the story and realize the younger son lost his money on a lot of things but prostitutes were not one of them. The prostitutes weren't part of the prodigal son's story, they were figments in the older son's imagination -- his own shadow side seeping out. It's not until the older son can see that -- see his own distance from the Father in heart and need for grace -- that he will ever be willing to come into the banquet for his brother. 

I love Jesus' telling of the Prodigal Son story because the story is unfinished, the conclusion open-ended.  It's up to the older son whether or not he will come to the banquet. But I always imagine that he does; and I imagine that when he enters his own eyes are opened and he realizes that the banquet the Father has given is not only for his little brother but also for him. 

Daily Lesson for May 26, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 15 verses 1 through 7:

15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

I am trying to see a middle eastern shepherd leaving the flock to go after one lost sheep and then coming home with the runaway and calling his friends and neighbors over to celebrate with him in the sheep's finding and I just can't do it.  No shepherd leaves 99 to go after one; and no shepherd acts so effusively about anything -- especially not a single lost sheep.  No respectable shepherd anyway.

And that's just the point. 

It's not respectability that Jesus cares about. That's why he's willing to sit down and eat with tax collectors and sinners -- because he's really just not concerned with how things are going to look.  He is on a different plane and sees things from a totally different perspective -- from the angle of God, heaven, and the angels.  He is not confined to the dictates of earth and ego. He knows the truth and the truth has set him free to live for heaven's sake and for the sake of others. 

Flannery O'Connor once said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd."  Once we have come to know and see others as God sees them -- and to see ourselves as God sees us -- then we are no longer bound by what others see and say about us. It may mean we are seen as odd and perhaps even disreputable; but it also means we are free to receive whoever comes our way, to fellowship with them, and to be a part of the kingdom of God with them.

And while some may reject us, surely the angels will rejoice.

Daily Lesson for May 25, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Deuteronomy chapter 4 verses 9 and 10:

9 "Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children—10 how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, 'Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.'"

Yesterday I told a little story in church to encourage parents to observe Memorial Day.

The story goes that a young boy was in the narthex of one of America's great churches, staring up at a group of engraved plaques on the wall.  The minister at the church noticed the boy's fascination and asked the boy if he knew what the names on those plaques were all about. When the boy shook his head no, the minister told him those were the names of all the men from the church who died in the service. The boy then looked back at the minister with wide-eyes.  "Was it in the first service or the second service?" he asked.

Today is a day set aside for remembering.  While Memorial Day weekend traditionally marks the beginning of summer, and no doubt today will be full of cookouts and family time in the parks, we should never let the memorial part of Memorial Day go unobserved. Too great a price has been paid for us not to take time and remember.

The Bible tells us to make things known to our children and our children's children. Today is day set apart for remembering the men and the women who gave what Lincoln called, "the last full measure of devotion." May we take time today to tell our children and our grandchildren; and may they know and never forget what it means that so many names -- known and unknown -- lost their lives in the service.

Daily Lesson for May 22, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 10 verses 38 through 42:

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

There is a difference between a chore and a labor of love. 

Those who serve God in the church work hard. And when they do a really good job we reward them by giving them even more work. That's just an unwritten rule.  No good deed goes unpunished in the House of the LORD.

That really is fine for most people -- at least for a little while. They serve well and feel good about doing it.  That's a win win. It is truly a labor of love.

Except when it isn't. 

Sometimes what was a labor of love turns in the chore of more. Service feels like a burden, a have-to task, and the one who started out gracious and hospitable turns angry and resentful.

That's when it's time for a Martha to become a Mary.

Whenever we start comparing what we're doing with what others aren't doing then we have moved from grace to works and Gospel to law. There is only one thing we can do to save ourselves at this point and that is to quit doing and simply be.

"We are human beings", some wise person once said, "and not human doings."  We can be anxious and worried about many things, but the one thing that is necessary is for us to be near and not far from Christ -- which we can do sitting at Jesus' feet in the living room or serving him in the kitchen; for it is not so much a matter of location and action as it is heart and spirit.

I always imagine that after that dinner over at Martha's house was finished, Mary staid after and told her sister she would take care of the cleanup.  I also imagine Martha -- true to form -- refused.  "Let's do it together," she said; and they did. And nothing about the long hours after felt for either like a chore but indeed a labor of love -- for Jesus and for each other. 

That's how I imagine it anyway. 

Daily Lesson May 21, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Hebrews chapter 7 verses 18 and 19:

18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

"A former commandment is set aside."

It's astonishing to see that kind of statement in the Bible -- especially for us Baptists who were so long taught that the whole Bible was infallible and all its commandments were to be believed and obeyed. But if we're reflective and honest enough we will admit that nobody is following the whole letter of the law; nor should they!

I know saying these things opens us to accusations of "picking and choosing" what to obey and what not to obey. For me it's not really about picking and choosing. It's about discerning. The law, according to the author of Hebrews, was never supposed to be taken as an ultimate end in itself. There was, as he wrote, a "better hope" to come. That hope is the Gospel, of which the law could only be a shadow.

Jesus taught that he did not come to do away with the law but to perfect it (Matthew 5:17). By saying that he implied that though the law was necessary and even good, it was not perfect. He came to show us "a better hope" -- in other words, a better way of salvation beyond the law. He showed us how to live into that better hope -- taking from the law what was good and useful, but setting aside what was no longer necessary or appropriate. He went beyond the letter of the law and surpassed it with the spirit of his life. 

When a former commandment becomes obsolete because of "weakness" or "uselessness" it is no longer a crisis of faith. This is what it means to be set free from the law; otherwise we still slaves to it. Jesus came to teach us how to live free; and so now we are free indeed. 

The Apostle Paul said that "we are not under law, but under grace." The grace given to us is the spirit -- something which a law, though perhaps necessary, can never give. Those who live in this spirit go beyond the law's requirements. They live into "a better hope". And the hope is better because the life of the spirit gets us closer to the heart of God than the law ever could.

Daily Lesson for May 20, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 10 verses 17 through 20:

17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

We are not called to be successful, but faithful.

Jesus had sent his 72 followers out to preach the Gospel, heal, and cast out demons. They came back celebrated at what success they had -- even demons had listened to them. They rejoiced, and Jesus rejoiced with them; but then he used the occasion to teach them something they would need later -- when things weren't going to go so easily. "Nevertheless," he said, "do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

When we put all our emotional selves into whether we win or lose, whether others listen or not, whether we are received well or rejected, then our joy will always be subject to the vicissitudes of life and will turn to frustration and ultimately despair. Jesus was reminding them that their joy ought not be contingent on their "success"-- for success would not always come. 

He taught the disciples this lesson gain on the last night of his life, just before he was to undergo the ultimate rejection of his life and message. He knew they too would one day also undergo rejection.  He wanted them to be ready for that. He wanted them to keep their joy. "Nothing," he told them, "can take away your joy."

We do not rejoice in success or failure. Time and chance happen to all.  We seek not to be successful but to be faithful.  And we rejoice -- not in how well things go, but as Jesus said, we rejoice in our names having been written in heaven. In other words, we rejoice in having been true to God and in the end God's being true to us.  

This is enough; in fact it is everything because in the end it really is the only thing. 

Daily Lesson for May 19, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Psalm 95 verses 4 and 5:

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

The geography of the soul encompasses many different kinds of places, but every place belongs to God.

Those who stand on great mountaintops in life should enjoy the view. They should exult in whatever they see. They should rejoice in whatever it is they have accomplished. They will have to come down again, but they should enjoy the heck out of it while it lasts.

Some journey through dry places. There is a desolation to the time -- a loneliness in the soul. The journey has been long and will be longer still and survival is sometimes doubted. But again and again there is oasis -- a spring of hope which keeps us alive and going. For this wilderness belongs to God also, and his hands fashioned its sand atop the earth and its hidden water beneath.

And then there are the depths -- a place with no footing where gravity keeps pulling us down and the voice of hope is distant and distorted as it calls to us from beneath the waters.  Yet its feint sound can still be heard -- it tells us to let ourselves go, to not be afraid of plunging more deeply.  For God is there also.

All the soul's places belong to God. There is no place the soul can wander where God is not.  Mountain, desert, ocean depth -- to God belong all the places of the earth and all the souls who inhabit them. 

Daily Lesson for May 18, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 9 verses 

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them as Elijah did?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." And they went on to another village.

Not unlike many other holy books, the Bible can be misused to justify all manner of things -- including very violence, bloodshed, and great evil against others. If someone wants to do something, they can always find their legitimation in the pages of holy writ. Scary!

While not denying that the Bible has its share of violent stories, Jesus refused to allow his disciples to misuse those stories for their own misguided purposes.

For example, in today's lesson the disciples' message had been rejected and they felt hurt and wounded, and in their hurt they wanted to act in retaliation. They wanted to call fire down from heaven to consume the Samaritan village which had rejected them -- and they pointed to the prophet Elijah's having done it before as their justification.  But Jesus refused. "The son of man has come not to take life, but to give life," he said.

We live in a time when many destructive things are being justified by pointing to various stories and words in various holy books.  But we know things by their fruits. If their end is the up upbuilding of life and human community then they are of the Son of Man; but if their end is death and destruction and the tearing down of people then they are not. 

This is the litmus test. Many will try to contort things and confuse us and many will be deceived. But this is the litmus test. The son of man has come to give life and not take it away. 

Daily Lesson for May 15, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Hebrews chapter 4 verses 14 through 16:

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

God's throne is grace.

So many of us have an image of God sitting in a throne of judgement and wrath in some kind of heavenly courtroom. We would never ever in a million years enter that courtroom because to enter it would be to convict ourselves.  We would bring our sin with us and the charges would be laid out along with the evidence.  And our mortal sins -- murder, adultery, blasphemy against God -- we know would be too much to bear; but the venal sins -- lust, greed, gossip, jealousy, and maliciousness - would be even worse because they would show just how petty and mean-spirited and double-minded we are. We could never stand in such a courtroom and before such a throne. 

The Gospel tells us Jesus has gone to stand before and for us. He entered the heavenly courtroom on our behalf, stood before the judge, laid out the facts, and spoke in our defense. And the verdict was not innocent, and not even not guilty, but free of charge. And now he has come back out to get us and take us back in to meet the judge.  And the question will we trust him to come?

Any other word other is neither from God nor from Jesus. God's throne is grace.  And God wishes us to approach God's throne with boldness and confidence in our spirit.  That is difficult to do; but it is necessary that we might ourselves hear the words of grace and mercy and know what it means to be and to live absolutely free of charge.

This is the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ!

Thanks be to God!

Daily Lesson for May 14, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Psalm 8 verses 1 through5:

O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.

What a psalm and what a vivid picture!

There is the majesty of the heavens with moon and stars and galaxies upon galaxies. It is a wonder for us to behold; and yet in all that expansiveness there is then also a word uttered from the mouth of a child which God takes note of and which somehow has the power to still an enemy and change the world.

"What is man that you are mindful of him," the psalmist asks, "and the son of man that you care for him?"

In all the vastness and grandeur of the cosmos, God is paying attention to us; God is counting on us -- wee babes -- to play our part, to speak up, to do whatever small thing has been given us to do.  And it matters. 

There is an old poem whose author is unknown to me but which I first heard from the great black mystic Howard Thurman:

"Heir of the kingdom neath the skies,
Often he falls yet falls to rise,

Stunned, bleeding, beaten back,
Holding still to the upward track,

Playing his part in creation's plan,
God-like in image, this is man.

We are tiny -- minuscule in this vast cosmos. Yet God has sown eternity into each of our hearts. And we each have our parts to play; and all that is asked of us is that we play them well. 

Daily Lesson for May 13, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 12 verses 22 through 29:

22 And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!"

Our times are so filled with anxiety-producing news designed to keep us in a perpetual state of fear and insecurity it is actually an act of resistance to go out and look at a flower or the birds. 

Sure, it can seem a little naive not to worry about what we are to eat or wear. Only a child would take this literally, actually considering the lilies of the field and the birds of the air and worrying about nothing. The grownup reads this and goes, "Well, wait a minute, those lilies which bloomed back in late April have already died -- they didn't worry about things because they didn't have long to live."

And our grownup thoughts make sense -- until we stop and ask ourselves, "Do we really have that long to live either? And do we really want however long we live to be consumed by worry?"

Of course, we're going to act responsibly. We're going to feed and clothe ourselves and our children. But the lesson here is not to obsess ourselves with a sense of insecurity. In a time when the medical community says what we eat and drink is everything to a long life, Jesus says worrying about it won't add a single hour. In a time when the news says we need to stay tuned because the sky is falling, Jesus tells us to look up there into the sky and see the birds are still flying.  And in a time where a lot of us are working way overtime to be ready for retirement, Jesus tells us to look at a flower and see how she's enjoying what she's already got today and not obsessing about what she probably won't have tomorrow. 

So, go out and look and look at the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. It's an act of resistance against the insecurity of our time, and it's a necessary reminder that if we spend our whole lives working and worrying because of what might be tomorrow we will surely miss the joy of what is today. 

Daily Lesson for May 12, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 11 verses 5 through 13:

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above," James the brother of Jesus wrote, "coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

Speaking of God as a good Father without shadows, who desired to do good for his children was a radically different religious conception in the first century. 

In the pagan world, the gods of the pantheon were capricious and conniving and would as soon zap you with a thunderbolt or sleep with your daughter as do anything for you. You were always needing to do something for these Gods to pacify and appease them.  It was a conception ripe for exploitation by priests and soothsayers and any other huckster trying to make a buck or make it big. 

But Jesus and James and many other Jews in that age conceived and spoke of God in a different and very extraordinary way. For them, God was like a father -- seeking to do good for his children. God was a gift-giver; and His gifts were always, always for the good of His children and nothing else. As James said, God is the Father of lights in whom there isn't even a shadow of darkness.

Let us think on the stunning implication of that statement. God is wholly good and loving and therefore nothing should be said or thought of God which is anything other than good and loving.  As they say in the black church, "God is good -- All the time."

God is a tender and loving parent.  Approach God so. Ask God for what you desire and know God only desires what is best for you. And never, ever subject yourself again to preaching or prophecy which is exploitative and manipulative and based on the concept of God being out to get us. 

Daily Lesson for May 11, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from James chapter 1 verses 9 through 11:

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

Saturday I saw the roses on our rose bush were brilliant with color after all this past week's rain. It being the day before Mother's Day, I made a mental note to come back and cut some of those brilliant pinks and reds the next day. When I did come out yesterday after church I was saddened to discover most of roses -- and all of the most brilliant ones had wilted in the sun. 

The flower fades and the grass withers and 60 or 70 years of life pass by in a flash. This is reality -- a reality we must come to if we are not to dwell in the sadness and grief of it. The only thing which then can be done is for us to live in the moment -- to enjoy today's brilliance, beauty, and color today, before it fades. 

In today's daily lesson James warns the rich man about the flower's fall.  It is not because the rich man is rich that he needs warning. It is because he thinks he is not rich enough. He thinks that if he could just have a little more then he will be rich -- enough. He lives completely in tomorrow and misses today; but when today finally turns to tomorrow time runs out, the flower wilts, and the rich man falls. The rich man had been poor all along because he was never rich today, but only trying to get rich for tomorrow. 

So here's the lesson. Enjoy the flower's beauty while it lasts. Marvel and wonder at it. Enjoy today -- this "eternal now", realize how rich it is, and do not put off delighting in anything or anyone until tomorrow.  For today's delight is enough for today and only ever for today!

Daily Lesson for May 8, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 8 verses 40 through 48:

40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying.
As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased.

What a story.

Today's lesson has the two persons of highest and lowest station in the village both coming to Jesus for help. On one  hand there is a woman whose physical condition has left her unclean and destitute -- the poorest and most shameful woman in a village society based on shame/honor.  On the other hand there is Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue -- the position of highest honor in the village.

Twelve years ago, the woman fell ill and then began her descent to the outer fringes of community.  While Jairus enjoyed the privilege of station, she was on the edge -- with the rest of the unclean beggars, prostitutes, and social outcasts. But something else happened twelve years ago. Jairus had a daughter born to him, and now twelve years later that daughter is sick too -- sick unto death.

And now each -- the most honorable and the most shameful -- is driven to the healer; and he embraces both.  The woman touches Jesus' cloak fringe (there's that fringe word again) and power comes out of him and the bleeding is stopped.  But that is not all; after, Jesus then encourages her to speak. He not only heals her, but hears her also. In other words, he helps her find her voice. And then he moves on to Jairus' daughter.  Though she is said to now be dead, Jesus enters the space of death -- "Talitha cum," he says.  "Little girl, get up."

The healing of Jairus' daughter is even more astounding when we realize the synagogue for which Jairus is ruler is the same synagogue where Jesus was earlier in his ministry asked to leave. It was the same synagogue where devout people first began plotting to have Jesus' killed. Jairus was certainly privy, if not a part of the scheming. He set the ball rolling or at least did not try to stop it. It is still rolling. It will finally catch up with Jesus. But in Jesus there is no hatred or vengefulness. He heals Jairus's daughter anyways. He enters into her death. He gives his own life for hers.

In the end, there is absolutely equality before God. The most shameful and the most honorable all at one point come and kneel in desperation and prayer before God. 

And God heals all -- the most honored in the seat of power, and the most shameful on the fringe of society, and even the daughter of those who killed his son.

This story astounds me. And it makes true the words to the old hymn, "There's a Wideness in His Mercy".

Daily Lesson for May 7, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Romans chapter 14 verses 1 through 4:

"As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand."

It is astonishing how broadly diverse the early church was in both its beliefs and its practices. Early Christianity contextualized itself in local places and with local customs. It also accommodated a wide diversity of opinions on all manner of things including the place of women in the church, dietary and other "holiness" strictures, engagement with non-Christian and non-Jews, and mores about sex and marriage.   It really wasn't until the 4th century when demand for uniformity within the church took hold; the early church was far more fluid -- and tolerant of diversity.

So when you hear someone say, " The early church believed or did . . ." be sure the early church believed and did a lot of things -- including in certain places being intolerant and demanding conformity!  In other words, the early church was every bit as varied and diverse as we are.

Today's lesson is a good example of the early church's dialogue over toleration.  Apparently, there was some sort of conflict within the church over dietary custom.  St. Paul knows there is a diversity of opinion within the church and instead of demanding conformity he affirms the freedom for each individual within the congregation to hold fast to their own convictions.  Later, some Baptists would call this "soul freedom".  Every individual soul will stand before his or her master and judge -- who is God and (thank God) not us!

Paul brings this home when he writes, "Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand."

Paul and the best of the early church opened the church doors wide, allowed the freedom of individuals to have their own convictions -- whether conservative or liberal -- and decided in the end to let God be God.

There is an old latin phrase which first appeared in the 16th century amongst those dissenting against the demand for uniformity within the church. "In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas."  It means "In necessary things unity; in uncertain things freedom; in everything compassion."  That's a good word for the 16th century church, a good word for the first century, and a good word for our own as well. 

Daily Lesson for May 6, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Romans chapter 12 verses 1 through 3 and 7:

"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval . . .  7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed."

One thing that can be said be said about our current political climate is that across the board we really need to be a lot more civil. 

We're already in the presidential election season and it's apparently open season on our current president and will soon be open season on all the candidates in the running for office -- Republican and Democrat. 

And it's not just presidents and presidential candidates who are under attack. Public servants from top to bottom today bear the most mean-spirited and malicious of attacks upon their name and character. From the POTUS to the local dog catcher, they all get villainized; it's a wonder anybody would run for anything. 

St. Paul comes today with the reminder to render unto Caesar the honor and respect due.  Public officials are servants not only of the public, but also of God and they ought to be treated as such. 

On policy we can disagree -- even vehemently; but we need to stop doing so venomously. Personal attacks, the impugning of character, defamation and demonization -- it's all legal here in the United States; but none of it's good. There is a more excellent way; and that is the way of speaking truth to power and about power, with speaking it with love and kindness and always with respect. 

We try that for the next year and a half and we may just end up being Christians after all . . .

Daily Lesson for May 5, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Romans chapter 12 verses 19 through 21:

19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The concept of loving enemies and doing good to them goes against our natural impulse for revenge and desire to return insult with insult and blow with blow. Every natural part of ourselves wants to take revenge, meet out an eye for an eye, and take delight in our enemies getting what's coming to them. It's natural, it's impulsive, and in the end it is totally impractical and far short of the redemptive way Jesus taught. 

Dr. King once said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."  The nonviolence Dr. King and the early civil rights movement advocated was a strategy for winning back the soul of America.  The strategy was rooted in Christ's own teachings on how we are to treat our enemies. "Turn the other cheek", "Walk the second mile", "Bless and do not curse", "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also."  Choosing light over darkness, love over hate, and Jesus' way over the ways of this world saved the soul of our nation and the souls of its people. 

The Quakers have a saying, "If in confronting the beast you become a beast then bestiality has won."  The way of the beast is tooth and claw. This is the natural impulse of the animal within us. But we are not merely animals. We are human beings.  And in the face of hatred and enmity we must learn to hold fast to this humanity in ourselves and call it out in others. This is beyond the natural way.  It is the supernatural way. And it is the only hope for our redemption as individuals, as a nation, and as a world. 

Daily Lesson for May 4, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Luke 7 verses 41 through 43 and 47:

41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly. . . 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

If we were to understand the depths of God's mercy, compassion, love, and forgiveness then we could never say another does not belong.  We would know the fullness of God's own love for us and for others and then be in complete union with God and all others. The biblical word for this is reconciliation or atonement (at-one-ment).  Those who find this are at complete peace with themselves, God, and those around them -- even their enemies. 

But what keeps us from entering the fullness of this atonement with God and others is so often our own failure to comprehend the degree to which we have been forgiven and saved.  And how can we comprehend that degree of forgiveness and salvation if we do not yet comprehend the degree of our own perdition.  It is impossible to understand the potency of the medication a doctor prescribes, if you don't have a clue about the severity of the sickness. 

It's not really too great a wonder why we will often find more grace and compassion amongst those in the recovery community than we do those in the church. Those seeking sobriety know they are nothing more than sinners saved by grace. They know themselves -- their own sickness -- and the power of God's healing love; and they are willing to give this love to others. As Jesus said, "Those who are forgiven much love much."

I once pastored an elderly woman who was making plans for her funeral arrangements. She was the kind of woman who had everything in order -- right down to the flowers.  She also had a penchant for looking down on those who did not have everything together themselves. As a part of her funeral wishes, she wanted to make sure I had in my file that the hymn "Amazing Grace" was not be sung at her service.  Her problem was the stanza, "that saved a wretch like me."  "I," she said with a lift of her nose, "am not a wretch."

She has passed now and I bet she has finally learned to sing the hymn. And if not God is patient. For as the song says after 10,000 years she'll just be getting warmed up to sing God's praise for what God has done for her and all the other once blind but now blessed wretches who have finally come to understand just how amazing God's grace, love and forgiveness really are. P

Daily a lesson for May 1, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Colossians chapter 3 verse 11:

"Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all."

And Luke chapter 7 verse 9:

"When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, 'I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.'"

Yesterday I watched a video where a white man was commenting on race-related issues in America and said there is no such thing as African Americans, just as there is no such thing as Welsh Americans. The term African American is divisive he said; and we should all consider and refer to ourselves as simply Americans, without modifier.

But today's daily lessons reveal how much farther the Gospel pushes us beyond all modifying identities, including even our nationalistic ones. We are no longer to see each other in earthly ways, Paul says, but rather in heavenly ways. Therefore we are no longer to see each other through the lens of social class, gender, or even race and nationality, but now solely through the lens of what we all share which is Christ within us. And as Paul said elsewhere, "In Christ there is no Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female" (Galatians 3:28). What a radical concept -- far more radical even than the man's in the video.

Christians of another era used to talk about the "Universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man." Though the language was not inclusive, the vision was expansive. Anything short of the universal brother and sisterhood of humanity falls too short.  Any boundary of geography or nationality or any other identity is from earth and no of heaven. Christ is all and is in all; that is how we must learn to see and to speak of ourselves and our world.