-- Atticus Finch,
To Kill a Mockingbird
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Daily Lesson for June 30, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from 1 Samuel chapter 11 verses 12 and 13:
12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” 13 But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel.”
Yesterday I was listening to a podcast by University of Texas historian H.W. Brands on Reconstruction. Brands, who has written a great book on President Grant, said that one of the greatest contrasts and lessons we can take from Grant's life as general and then president is that it is easier to win a war than it is to win peace.
Waging peace among ourselves ought to be a top priority for us as a nation. The U.S. Supreme Court has just issued its ruling making same-sex marriage the law of the land. For some, this was a long and hard-fought battle which resulted in victory. For others, it was a long and hard-fought battle ending in defeat. A 5-4 decision means there were winners and there were losers all across the country.
I have long been a supporter of my gay and lesbian friends and am happy for those of them who have or wish to marry. However, I am also grieved about the further division such a ruling has the potential to create in our families, churches, communities, and nation. This division has the power to further rip us apart.
But we will allow ourselves to be ripped apart if we choose not to hang together.
It is my prayer that we as a people will now resolve ourselves to the bonds of unity and reconciliation and steadfastly refuse to allow this issue to separate us from either loved one or neighbor. Good and decent people see this issue differently and in many hues. The challenge before us is to commit ourselves to remaining in relationship with one another in spite of our respective and ongoing differences. This is the hard work of waging peace. May the people of goodwill on all sides of this issue wage it mightily.
As I listened to Brands's talk, I thought of Lincoln's words from his second inaugural speech and could see that they are a good and fitting word for us as a country today and for all time:
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” 13 But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel.”
Yesterday I was listening to a podcast by University of Texas historian H.W. Brands on Reconstruction. Brands, who has written a great book on President Grant, said that one of the greatest contrasts and lessons we can take from Grant's life as general and then president is that it is easier to win a war than it is to win peace.
Waging peace among ourselves ought to be a top priority for us as a nation. The U.S. Supreme Court has just issued its ruling making same-sex marriage the law of the land. For some, this was a long and hard-fought battle which resulted in victory. For others, it was a long and hard-fought battle ending in defeat. A 5-4 decision means there were winners and there were losers all across the country.
I have long been a supporter of my gay and lesbian friends and am happy for those of them who have or wish to marry. However, I am also grieved about the further division such a ruling has the potential to create in our families, churches, communities, and nation. This division has the power to further rip us apart.
But we will allow ourselves to be ripped apart if we choose not to hang together.
It is my prayer that we as a people will now resolve ourselves to the bonds of unity and reconciliation and steadfastly refuse to allow this issue to separate us from either loved one or neighbor. Good and decent people see this issue differently and in many hues. The challenge before us is to commit ourselves to remaining in relationship with one another in spite of our respective and ongoing differences. This is the hard work of waging peace. May the people of goodwill on all sides of this issue wage it mightily.
As I listened to Brands's talk, I thought of Lincoln's words from his second inaugural speech and could see that they are a good and fitting word for us as a country today and for all time:
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
Monday, June 29, 2015
Daily Lesson for June 29, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Matthew 9:20:
"Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe."
Yesterday's sermon was on the bleeding and marginalized woman who in desperation came and touched the tassel of Jesus' prayer shawl and was healed. I said she was a woman on the fringe who acted on the fringe of his shawl; and that she was holding on to life by only a thread -- the thread of prayer.
After church I went and visited a young man who was in a car accident two weeks ago and is still mostly unconscious. Completely unsolicited and without any knowledge of today's sermon, his mother pointed to the prayer shawl members of our church brought him. Then she told me that the one thing that seems to keep her boy calm is shawl -- especially the tassels which she said he plays with with his fingers.
Where I come from we call that a God-Thing.
Keep hanging on brother; your faith will save you.
"Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe."
Yesterday's sermon was on the bleeding and marginalized woman who in desperation came and touched the tassel of Jesus' prayer shawl and was healed. I said she was a woman on the fringe who acted on the fringe of his shawl; and that she was holding on to life by only a thread -- the thread of prayer.
After church I went and visited a young man who was in a car accident two weeks ago and is still mostly unconscious. Completely unsolicited and without any knowledge of today's sermon, his mother pointed to the prayer shawl members of our church brought him. Then she told me that the one thing that seems to keep her boy calm is shawl -- especially the tassels which she said he plays with with his fingers.
Where I come from we call that a God-Thing.
Keep hanging on brother; your faith will save you.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Daily Lesson for June 26, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Luke 10:29-37 and James 1:22:
Last night was the last night of summer camp and the last night of our camp theme God's Play. Our camp pastor Larry did an excellent job all week connecting with both the kids and the adults with his messages.
The whole idea was that God is putting on a drama and giving a casting call for everyone of us to play our role. The final night's theme was Action. After all the rehearsing -- going to church and practicing the script(ure), finally we've got to go out there and perform. Pastor Larry used Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan to guide the sermon. He talked about the priest and the Levite who each passed by the beaten man. Pastor Larry said they each probably felt sorry for the guy and thought something ought to be done to help him. "But feelings aren't actions," Pastor Larry said. "Thoughts aren't actions . . . Actions are actions." He then talked about the book of James where James says, "We are not to be just hearers of the word, but doers of the word." Pastor Larry then gave us the benediction: to go out from this camp and "Just do it."
We then went back to our individual church groups for some closing reflection. In our time together I asked the kids if they wanted to hear a second sermon. They weren't too thrilled with that idea -- not until I told them it wasn't going to be me but they who would preach it. I then asked everyone who wanted to share to tell about a time in the week when they had been a recipient of or a witness to someone else doing the word.
The kids took their parts in the second sermon very seriously. All but a couple spoke and they talked about other kids helping them after they fell, or seeing some help pick up trash around camp. They talked about the adult sponsors who gave up a week of summer to be with them. Especially heartwarming to me was when one of the girls who isn't a regular at church but one of our Kids Hope kids talked about the other girls in her cabin and how they had made her feel so welcome. The sermons they each preached were Godly and good.
We then circled up around the cross overlooking a beautiful spot Lake Travis and said a prayer. It was a beautiful night.
These children now go back home. It's my prayer that having been here at summer camp to listen to and learn from Pastor Larry and each other, they will go back home and find their role in the drama God is director. Having heard that there is a casting call, may they go out for the parts, receive their roles gladly, and play them exceedingly, exceedingly well.
Now, Lights, Cameras, and . . .
Last night was the last night of summer camp and the last night of our camp theme God's Play. Our camp pastor Larry did an excellent job all week connecting with both the kids and the adults with his messages.
The whole idea was that God is putting on a drama and giving a casting call for everyone of us to play our role. The final night's theme was Action. After all the rehearsing -- going to church and practicing the script(ure), finally we've got to go out there and perform. Pastor Larry used Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan to guide the sermon. He talked about the priest and the Levite who each passed by the beaten man. Pastor Larry said they each probably felt sorry for the guy and thought something ought to be done to help him. "But feelings aren't actions," Pastor Larry said. "Thoughts aren't actions . . . Actions are actions." He then talked about the book of James where James says, "We are not to be just hearers of the word, but doers of the word." Pastor Larry then gave us the benediction: to go out from this camp and "Just do it."
We then went back to our individual church groups for some closing reflection. In our time together I asked the kids if they wanted to hear a second sermon. They weren't too thrilled with that idea -- not until I told them it wasn't going to be me but they who would preach it. I then asked everyone who wanted to share to tell about a time in the week when they had been a recipient of or a witness to someone else doing the word.
The kids took their parts in the second sermon very seriously. All but a couple spoke and they talked about other kids helping them after they fell, or seeing some help pick up trash around camp. They talked about the adult sponsors who gave up a week of summer to be with them. Especially heartwarming to me was when one of the girls who isn't a regular at church but one of our Kids Hope kids talked about the other girls in her cabin and how they had made her feel so welcome. The sermons they each preached were Godly and good.
We then circled up around the cross overlooking a beautiful spot Lake Travis and said a prayer. It was a beautiful night.
These children now go back home. It's my prayer that having been here at summer camp to listen to and learn from Pastor Larry and each other, they will go back home and find their role in the drama God is director. Having heard that there is a casting call, may they go out for the parts, receive their roles gladly, and play them exceedingly, exceedingly well.
Now, Lights, Cameras, and . . .
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Daily Lesson for June 25, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 22 verses 24 through 26:
24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 And he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves."
Last week I took the whole family to a denomination meeting in Dallas. My boys, 4 and 2, were all excited to go to Dallas, except that they neither one quite get prepositions. They kept confusing "to Dallas" as the level "2 Dallas". From what I could make of it, there were numerous levels which each corresponded to the various floor levels in the hotel we were to stay at. For our oldest son, there was 2 Dallas -- where mom and dad were going. Then there was 3 Dallas where his brother was headed. Then there was 4 Dallas where his sister would be staying. And finally, there was 5 Dallas, where guess what, he would be penthousing it. This was all very cute in a four year old.
It's less cute in adults.
At some point, we come to the realization that life is not all about rising to the top floor. No matter how many steps we might climb and how many flights we might conquer, the wise realize life is not really about ascending to the penthouse. In fact, Jesus himself said true life is about descending -- what Henri Nouwen called "downward mobility".
A good practice for today would be to go down a floor. If you're at 5 Dallas, what would it mean to take the elevator down to 4?
And may we remember that the greatest among us is really the one who goes down and not up the most levels, and that no one can outdo the greatest among us went all the way from the great penthouse 7 heavens to level 0 earth.
24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 And he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves."
Last week I took the whole family to a denomination meeting in Dallas. My boys, 4 and 2, were all excited to go to Dallas, except that they neither one quite get prepositions. They kept confusing "to Dallas" as the level "2 Dallas". From what I could make of it, there were numerous levels which each corresponded to the various floor levels in the hotel we were to stay at. For our oldest son, there was 2 Dallas -- where mom and dad were going. Then there was 3 Dallas where his brother was headed. Then there was 4 Dallas where his sister would be staying. And finally, there was 5 Dallas, where guess what, he would be penthousing it. This was all very cute in a four year old.
It's less cute in adults.
At some point, we come to the realization that life is not all about rising to the top floor. No matter how many steps we might climb and how many flights we might conquer, the wise realize life is not really about ascending to the penthouse. In fact, Jesus himself said true life is about descending -- what Henri Nouwen called "downward mobility".
A good practice for today would be to go down a floor. If you're at 5 Dallas, what would it mean to take the elevator down to 4?
And may we remember that the greatest among us is really the one who goes down and not up the most levels, and that no one can outdo the greatest among us went all the way from the great penthouse 7 heavens to level 0 earth.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Daily Lesson for June 24, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 22 verses 19 and 20:
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."
This coming Sunday is communion Sunday in our church, and after a week where our divisions as a country have been laid bare, something in my soul is deeply longing to come together with my brothers and sisters to share together in the loaf and drink the wine -- Welch's wine that is.
Both the books of Ephesians and Colossians make astonishing claims about the reconciliation Christ has brought in his body broken and blood shed on the cross. In Christ, we are told, all division comes to an end and there is NOW reconciliation or atonement (at-one-meant) with God and with one another.
Read how the writer of Colossians put it and notice the tense, "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross," (Colossians 1:19 and 20).
The tense is past perfect and conveys the notion of something having been done something continuing to be done. God has reconciled us to Himself and one another and God is continuing to reconcile us.
In a world where our divisions are so apparent, coming forward to take communion and share in the bread and the cup is a powerful symbol -- and a defiant one. On Sunday we will say, in spite of all that we may see and hear in the news, we are a people of hope. We are the people of reconciliation -- and we believe that it's not only to come but that it's already coming and even here.
This is the meaning of the one loaf and the one shared cup, and my soul is hungry and my spirit thirsty to partake. In other words, I need it.
I think we all need it.
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."
This coming Sunday is communion Sunday in our church, and after a week where our divisions as a country have been laid bare, something in my soul is deeply longing to come together with my brothers and sisters to share together in the loaf and drink the wine -- Welch's wine that is.
Both the books of Ephesians and Colossians make astonishing claims about the reconciliation Christ has brought in his body broken and blood shed on the cross. In Christ, we are told, all division comes to an end and there is NOW reconciliation or atonement (at-one-meant) with God and with one another.
Read how the writer of Colossians put it and notice the tense, "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross," (Colossians 1:19 and 20).
The tense is past perfect and conveys the notion of something having been done something continuing to be done. God has reconciled us to Himself and one another and God is continuing to reconcile us.
In a world where our divisions are so apparent, coming forward to take communion and share in the bread and the cup is a powerful symbol -- and a defiant one. On Sunday we will say, in spite of all that we may see and hear in the news, we are a people of hope. We are the people of reconciliation -- and we believe that it's not only to come but that it's already coming and even here.
This is the meaning of the one loaf and the one shared cup, and my soul is hungry and my spirit thirsty to partake. In other words, I need it.
I think we all need it.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Daily Lesson for June 23, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 22 verses 3 through 6:
3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. 4 He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. 5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.
I have a friend who grew up in West Texas but now pastors in East Texas. He jokes that the difference between the two is that in East Texas the people will come and knock on your door, take you out and string you up in the middle of the night; but in West Texas they'll do it at high noon.
What was done to Jesus was done at night and done by a small group of people. Though, sadly, his death was blamed on a whole nation and race of people the reality was Jesus was a man of the people. He had many, many followers and masses came to hear him. That is why the small group of religious and political leaders considered him such a threat; and it's why they decided to have him killed. And so they hatched the plot and carried it out -- at midnight.
Our mothers all told us not to follow the crowd. We get what they were trying to tell us; but it wasn't the crowd which killed Jesus. It was a small group meeting in the shadows. Our mothers wouldn't want us in that group either.
3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. 4 He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. 5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.
I have a friend who grew up in West Texas but now pastors in East Texas. He jokes that the difference between the two is that in East Texas the people will come and knock on your door, take you out and string you up in the middle of the night; but in West Texas they'll do it at high noon.
What was done to Jesus was done at night and done by a small group of people. Though, sadly, his death was blamed on a whole nation and race of people the reality was Jesus was a man of the people. He had many, many followers and masses came to hear him. That is why the small group of religious and political leaders considered him such a threat; and it's why they decided to have him killed. And so they hatched the plot and carried it out -- at midnight.
Our mothers all told us not to follow the crowd. We get what they were trying to tell us; but it wasn't the crowd which killed Jesus. It was a small group meeting in the shadows. Our mothers wouldn't want us in that group either.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Daily lesson for June 22, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Mark chapter 4 verses 39 and 40:
"He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!' Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
"He said to his disciples, 'Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?'"
This was the text from yesterday's Gospel reading, the miracle of Jesus calming the storm and also what I said was the miracle of Jesus keeping calm in the storm.
I tried to say that in these tumultuous and chaotic times we live in there is a need for deep calm and peace within all of us, lest we just about loose ourselves in panic and fear as Jesus' disciples did.
But something more. In his astonishing book "Binding the Strong Man" Biblical scholar Ched Myers has shown that the Sea of Galilee is a dividing wall between peoples -- Jews and Gentiles. And that Jesus is always attempting to send his disciples across the sea to the other side for the purpose of inclusion and reconciliation but that powerful forces including a demonic storm keep pushing them back.
Christ continues to tell us to go to the other side I said; and surely we have made so much progress as a people. After so many long and hard-fought nights we can see reconciliation's shore.
But now the storm has struck -- a man possessed by a demon called racism and whose middle name is in fact Storm, attacked the boat called Mother Emanuel with the intent of pushing her back from her destination and seeking to drown her and her spirit in chaos and anarchy. And not just Emanuel. The story says that there were other boats with the one Jesus and the disciples were in. The Storm has struck all the boats sailing in the same direction and seeks to destroy us all.
And into the face of that chaos Jesus stands on the bow now and says, "Quiet, be calm," and our souls are calmed. And then he asks, "Why are you so afraid"
We know now that demonic storms are against us; and that where there is one there will be more also. And so now Jesus is speaking to us about fear and he is telling us that it fear that can turn us around -- but only if we let it.
"Do you still have no faith?" he asks, and by that I think He means do we still lack faith that we as a people can get there -- to the other side, where we as differing peoples will after 400 years of separation and segregation finally find reconciliation and finally be at one.
The story ends with this question; and I suppose it's because the answer is up to us. Do we have the faith to keep going across or in fear will we decide to turn back.
This is the calm after the storm, but there will be others to come; for the powers are persistent. And in the quiet, we have the question. Keep going or turn around? Now we must make our choice.
I know what I've decided . . .
"He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!' Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
"He said to his disciples, 'Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?'"
This was the text from yesterday's Gospel reading, the miracle of Jesus calming the storm and also what I said was the miracle of Jesus keeping calm in the storm.
I tried to say that in these tumultuous and chaotic times we live in there is a need for deep calm and peace within all of us, lest we just about loose ourselves in panic and fear as Jesus' disciples did.
But something more. In his astonishing book "Binding the Strong Man" Biblical scholar Ched Myers has shown that the Sea of Galilee is a dividing wall between peoples -- Jews and Gentiles. And that Jesus is always attempting to send his disciples across the sea to the other side for the purpose of inclusion and reconciliation but that powerful forces including a demonic storm keep pushing them back.
Christ continues to tell us to go to the other side I said; and surely we have made so much progress as a people. After so many long and hard-fought nights we can see reconciliation's shore.
But now the storm has struck -- a man possessed by a demon called racism and whose middle name is in fact Storm, attacked the boat called Mother Emanuel with the intent of pushing her back from her destination and seeking to drown her and her spirit in chaos and anarchy. And not just Emanuel. The story says that there were other boats with the one Jesus and the disciples were in. The Storm has struck all the boats sailing in the same direction and seeks to destroy us all.
And into the face of that chaos Jesus stands on the bow now and says, "Quiet, be calm," and our souls are calmed. And then he asks, "Why are you so afraid"
We know now that demonic storms are against us; and that where there is one there will be more also. And so now Jesus is speaking to us about fear and he is telling us that it fear that can turn us around -- but only if we let it.
"Do you still have no faith?" he asks, and by that I think He means do we still lack faith that we as a people can get there -- to the other side, where we as differing peoples will after 400 years of separation and segregation finally find reconciliation and finally be at one.
The story ends with this question; and I suppose it's because the answer is up to us. Do we have the faith to keep going across or in fear will we decide to turn back.
This is the calm after the storm, but there will be others to come; for the powers are persistent. And in the quiet, we have the question. Keep going or turn around? Now we must make our choice.
I know what I've decided . . .
Friday, June 19, 2015
Daily Lesson for June 19, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 21 verses 5 and 6:
5 And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
One thing we must all come to terms with in life is the impermanence of all human-made things. To accept this is to enjoy them, to work for their improvement and preservation as best we can -- and if we should. But to not be able to accept this leads us to the worship of idols and deep grief when things we thought would last forever end up not even lasting through our own lifetime.
This is a hard truth to accept. Case in point is Jesus, who after saying the Temple was not going to last forever was soon after killed. We just can't stand for someone to tell us our Temple won't last forever -- we have put too much into it to hear that.
And that is just the point. We must not put too much of ourselves into any Temple. For every Temple will ultimately disappoint us.
When the Temple was about to fall 30 years later, another truth teller the Apostle Paul came with a word of consolation to the people:
"For we know that surely this our bodily house that is in The Earth will be destroyed; but there is a building for us that is from God, a house which is not by the work of hands, in Heaven for eternity."
Surely we do know that all our earthly houses will be destroyed and that as Jesus said, "even heaven and earth will pass away" but God's eternal promises will remain; and when all is past they will be enough. More than enough.
5 And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
One thing we must all come to terms with in life is the impermanence of all human-made things. To accept this is to enjoy them, to work for their improvement and preservation as best we can -- and if we should. But to not be able to accept this leads us to the worship of idols and deep grief when things we thought would last forever end up not even lasting through our own lifetime.
This is a hard truth to accept. Case in point is Jesus, who after saying the Temple was not going to last forever was soon after killed. We just can't stand for someone to tell us our Temple won't last forever -- we have put too much into it to hear that.
And that is just the point. We must not put too much of ourselves into any Temple. For every Temple will ultimately disappoint us.
When the Temple was about to fall 30 years later, another truth teller the Apostle Paul came with a word of consolation to the people:
"For we know that surely this our bodily house that is in The Earth will be destroyed; but there is a building for us that is from God, a house which is not by the work of hands, in Heaven for eternity."
Surely we do know that all our earthly houses will be destroyed and that as Jesus said, "even heaven and earth will pass away" but God's eternal promises will remain; and when all is past they will be enough. More than enough.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Daily Leeon for July 18, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Psalm 34 verses 13 and 14:
"Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it."
The times we live in are so trying and the tensions in our society threaten to pull us apart, back into tribal enclaves of race and politics.
Yeats's swords come to mind:
"Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity"
Last night the worst of our humanity drowned a ceremony of innocence in bloodshed. Though we know very little about the culprit or his motivations at this time, we do know his reported race and the race of those murdered mean the murders are being investigated as crimes of hate. This in turn means these murders have larger, and perhaps more challenging meaning for us all in an already challenging time.
This is a time for the best of our humanity to rise up and be counted. Greater forces of division will continue to try to pull us apart from one another; in Yeats's imagery, they will try to break apart the center.
"Seek peace and pursue it," the Good Book says, meaning peace must be sought, tirelessly, and will not be found where we are, in the safety of our own homes, or ideologies, or people. It will only be found out there, in conversation and with compassion toward those who are different from us.
The worst are already there, wreaking havoc with passionate intensity, seeking to bring disharmony, disorder, and racialized anarchy; now is the time that the best of our humanity to come out also. For it will take the best of our humanity to pull against the forces of anarchy and division and hold us together as one nation indivisible.
May the best of us rise up today to seek peace -- and pursue it.
"Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it."
The times we live in are so trying and the tensions in our society threaten to pull us apart, back into tribal enclaves of race and politics.
Yeats's swords come to mind:
"Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity"
Last night the worst of our humanity drowned a ceremony of innocence in bloodshed. Though we know very little about the culprit or his motivations at this time, we do know his reported race and the race of those murdered mean the murders are being investigated as crimes of hate. This in turn means these murders have larger, and perhaps more challenging meaning for us all in an already challenging time.
This is a time for the best of our humanity to rise up and be counted. Greater forces of division will continue to try to pull us apart from one another; in Yeats's imagery, they will try to break apart the center.
"Seek peace and pursue it," the Good Book says, meaning peace must be sought, tirelessly, and will not be found where we are, in the safety of our own homes, or ideologies, or people. It will only be found out there, in conversation and with compassion toward those who are different from us.
The worst are already there, wreaking havoc with passionate intensity, seeking to bring disharmony, disorder, and racialized anarchy; now is the time that the best of our humanity to come out also. For it will take the best of our humanity to pull against the forces of anarchy and division and hold us together as one nation indivisible.
May the best of us rise up today to seek peace -- and pursue it.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Daily Lesson for July 17, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Psalm 82 verses 6 and 7:
6 I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”
I'm pretty sure if I stood up on Sunday and started telling the congregation they are gods there would be a lot of pushback, and in former times probably a heresy trial. It would be better received to stand up and tell people they are worms than it would be to tell them they're gods.
But there it is, nevertheless, right here in the psalm, "You are gods." And lest we think this is just an Old Testament throw away line that ought to be forgotten, we need to remember that Jesus himself quoted it. He too, apparently, thought we are gods.
So what to make of this?
Here what Richard Rohr calls "the non dualistic mind" is necessary. We are gods, sons and daughters of the most high, the psalm tells us. No higher anthropology can be conceived. And yet, we will also die, all of us -- prince and commoner alike.
We are gods; and we are also dust. The two must be held together -- one lest I think too lowly of myself and the other lest I think too highly.
A Richard Rohr story comes to mind to illustrate the point.
I am told that Rohr and several other Christian activists were once arrested after an act of civil disobedience. They were in jail for a few days, and after three days together in the slammer even these saints started stinking like fish. One was especially both irritable and agitating. At some point everyone including Rohr had had enough of their cell mate. Rohr approached him, grabbed him by the shoulder and said, "My brother, you are full of the love of God," he said, "and you are also full of shit."
I really don't know if that story is true or apocryphal and I don't really care because it helps me to remember that the people I will encounter today are both a hell of a lot better and a hell of a lot worse than I can imagine; and I am too.
And that helps me keep everything in perspective.
6 I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”
I'm pretty sure if I stood up on Sunday and started telling the congregation they are gods there would be a lot of pushback, and in former times probably a heresy trial. It would be better received to stand up and tell people they are worms than it would be to tell them they're gods.
But there it is, nevertheless, right here in the psalm, "You are gods." And lest we think this is just an Old Testament throw away line that ought to be forgotten, we need to remember that Jesus himself quoted it. He too, apparently, thought we are gods.
So what to make of this?
Here what Richard Rohr calls "the non dualistic mind" is necessary. We are gods, sons and daughters of the most high, the psalm tells us. No higher anthropology can be conceived. And yet, we will also die, all of us -- prince and commoner alike.
We are gods; and we are also dust. The two must be held together -- one lest I think too lowly of myself and the other lest I think too highly.
A Richard Rohr story comes to mind to illustrate the point.
I am told that Rohr and several other Christian activists were once arrested after an act of civil disobedience. They were in jail for a few days, and after three days together in the slammer even these saints started stinking like fish. One was especially both irritable and agitating. At some point everyone including Rohr had had enough of their cell mate. Rohr approached him, grabbed him by the shoulder and said, "My brother, you are full of the love of God," he said, "and you are also full of shit."
I really don't know if that story is true or apocryphal and I don't really care because it helps me to remember that the people I will encounter today are both a hell of a lot better and a hell of a lot worse than I can imagine; and I am too.
And that helps me keep everything in perspective.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Daily Lesson for July 16, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Psalm 78 verses 2 through 4:
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.
This summer has been one of dark discovery for our daughter Gabrielle. Last week as we drove through Arkansas for my great aunt's funeral, I gave her a long history of the South, the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, and a history of what I know about the Price family and their ownership of slaves in Pontotoc County, Mississippi. This was the first time I had ever said anything to Gabby about that darker part of that side of our family's history and she struggled to comprehend how it could be -- how her own relatives could take part in such a vile institution and how it is that she could have the blood of both slave and slaveholder running through her.
Last night, we continued the history lesson by beginning the first episode in PBS's great civil rights documentary "Eyes on the Prize". With forewarning we allowed Gabby to watch the segment on the murder of Emmett Till, including the part when they showed his mutilated face. She was horrified at the injustice of his killers being found innocent by an all white jury.
Sad eyed, she looked at me and asked, "Could this happen again?" she asked.
"Only if we let it," I told her, "and this is why we must always stand up for justice and for equality -- just like those with courage did before us.
She shook her head in resolved determination. With that, the next segment began and a picture of Rosa Parks flashed onto the screen. "We'll watch that part tomorrow," I said, "it's bed time now. Sleep tight and remember that people with courage can change things."
"Well, remember what Jesus prayed from the cross when those men were killing him? 'Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.' I don't think they knew what they were doing."
"I think they went to heaven to get a second chance," she said. "Everyone deserves a second chance."
"I don't know that we deserve a second chance;" I said looking down at her, "but God gives us one anyway."
There was quiet for a little while as her mind kept moving and then one more question. "What about that guy who we defeated, who was in both wars?"
"You mean Hitler?"
"Yeah, Hitler. Do you think he'll get a second chance in heaven."
I looked down again at her. "That is above my pay grade," I told her.
She shook her head. "You mean we'll find out when we get to heaven."
"That's right," I said, "when we get to heaven we will find out many, many things."
And this summer also . . .
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.
This summer has been one of dark discovery for our daughter Gabrielle. Last week as we drove through Arkansas for my great aunt's funeral, I gave her a long history of the South, the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, and a history of what I know about the Price family and their ownership of slaves in Pontotoc County, Mississippi. This was the first time I had ever said anything to Gabby about that darker part of that side of our family's history and she struggled to comprehend how it could be -- how her own relatives could take part in such a vile institution and how it is that she could have the blood of both slave and slaveholder running through her.
Last night, we continued the history lesson by beginning the first episode in PBS's great civil rights documentary "Eyes on the Prize". With forewarning we allowed Gabby to watch the segment on the murder of Emmett Till, including the part when they showed his mutilated face. She was horrified at the injustice of his killers being found innocent by an all white jury.
Sad eyed, she looked at me and asked, "Could this happen again?" she asked.
"Only if we let it," I told her, "and this is why we must always stand up for justice and for equality -- just like those with courage did before us.
She shook her head in resolved determination. With that, the next segment began and a picture of Rosa Parks flashed onto the screen. "We'll watch that part tomorrow," I said, "it's bed time now. Sleep tight and remember that people with courage can change things."
Just before Gabby made her way to her room she asked if any white people tried to help black people. "Yes," I said, "many whites did and they are heroes to me."
She shook her head again and then came another question. "Dad, do you think those people who killed Emmett Till went to heaven?"
"Well, remember what Jesus prayed from the cross when those men were killing him? 'Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.' I don't think they knew what they were doing."
"I think they went to heaven to get a second chance," she said. "Everyone deserves a second chance."
"I don't know that we deserve a second chance;" I said looking down at her, "but God gives us one anyway."
There was quiet for a little while as her mind kept moving and then one more question. "What about that guy who we defeated, who was in both wars?"
"You mean Hitler?"
"Yeah, Hitler. Do you think he'll get a second chance in heaven."
I looked down again at her. "That is above my pay grade," I told her.
She shook her head. "You mean we'll find out when we get to heaven."
"That's right," I said, "when we get to heaven we will find out many, many things."
And this summer also . . .
Monday, June 15, 2015
Daily Lesson for June 15, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Psalm 77 verse 19:
Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
Go down to just about any African American church in the south and stay long enough though the service and you'll finally hear the preacher begin and the congregation end in call and response fashion that great refrain of a people long-oppressed yet hopeful for and even sure of deliverance: "God will make a way . . . Out of no way."
Echoed throughout generations, the refrain captures the prevailing theme of the Exodus story -- that God will surely act to save His people, even if they cannot see how it might be possible, and even if the deliverance comes by such a seemingly impossible direction as the Red Sea. The preacher's call and the people's response is a statement of faith and rallying cry all in one. It heartens all, reminding the people that no matter how bad things get they must hold their hopes and trust that God can yet even still make a way.
There is an old Talmudic tradition that says that when the Israelites came to the edge of the Red Sea the waters did not immediately part. They had to wade in -- first ankle, then knee, then waist, and then neck deep. The story says that it wasn't until the waters had risen all the way up to the Israelites' noses and were about to drown them that finally the parting began.
At some point in life we all come to our own Red Sea. And though we can't know how, we know deep within us that God's path is through the great waters. And so we walk. And though we cannot see them at first, if we keep walking we discover that God's footprints go before us.
But we can only discover this by wading in -- deep in. For this is the only way God makes the way out of no way.
Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
Go down to just about any African American church in the south and stay long enough though the service and you'll finally hear the preacher begin and the congregation end in call and response fashion that great refrain of a people long-oppressed yet hopeful for and even sure of deliverance: "God will make a way . . . Out of no way."
Echoed throughout generations, the refrain captures the prevailing theme of the Exodus story -- that God will surely act to save His people, even if they cannot see how it might be possible, and even if the deliverance comes by such a seemingly impossible direction as the Red Sea. The preacher's call and the people's response is a statement of faith and rallying cry all in one. It heartens all, reminding the people that no matter how bad things get they must hold their hopes and trust that God can yet even still make a way.
There is an old Talmudic tradition that says that when the Israelites came to the edge of the Red Sea the waters did not immediately part. They had to wade in -- first ankle, then knee, then waist, and then neck deep. The story says that it wasn't until the waters had risen all the way up to the Israelites' noses and were about to drown them that finally the parting began.
At some point in life we all come to our own Red Sea. And though we can't know how, we know deep within us that God's path is through the great waters. And so we walk. And though we cannot see them at first, if we keep walking we discover that God's footprints go before us.
But we can only discover this by wading in -- deep in. For this is the only way God makes the way out of no way.
Friday, June 12, 2015
Daily Lesson for Friday, June 12
Today's daily lesson comes from Psalm 69 verse 9b:
"The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me."
A thing in life we all need to know is that sometimes people get mad at us because for whatever reason they can't get mad at the person or circumstance they're really mad at.
Therapists call this transference and it's a very real phenomenon in counseling; but it's also real just about everywhere else too.
Somebody is mad at their mother or their father or their work or lack of work or their husband or ex husband or at God. But either what they're mad at isn't reachable or they really can't afford to get mad at it, so instead they get mad at the church . . . or the teacher . . . or the doctor . . . or . . well, you get the point.
Recognizing the reality of transference can help us better understand when others respond with disproportionate anger and helps us not to take their anger so personally. It also helps us to respond with greater compassion and grace while at the same time taking the necessary steps to protect ourselves from being somebody's emotional punching bag.
Some wise person somewhere once said, "Be kind, because everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Somebody today will be fighting a battle in a war that has nothing to do with us. It's important that we be able to recognize when we're in a combat zone so we can act more compassionately toward the wounded warriors while at the same time protecting ourselves from being civilian casualties.
"The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me."
A thing in life we all need to know is that sometimes people get mad at us because for whatever reason they can't get mad at the person or circumstance they're really mad at.
Therapists call this transference and it's a very real phenomenon in counseling; but it's also real just about everywhere else too.
Somebody is mad at their mother or their father or their work or lack of work or their husband or ex husband or at God. But either what they're mad at isn't reachable or they really can't afford to get mad at it, so instead they get mad at the church . . . or the teacher . . . or the doctor . . . or . . well, you get the point.
Recognizing the reality of transference can help us better understand when others respond with disproportionate anger and helps us not to take their anger so personally. It also helps us to respond with greater compassion and grace while at the same time taking the necessary steps to protect ourselves from being somebody's emotional punching bag.
Some wise person somewhere once said, "Be kind, because everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Somebody today will be fighting a battle in a war that has nothing to do with us. It's important that we be able to recognize when we're in a combat zone so we can act more compassionately toward the wounded warriors while at the same time protecting ourselves from being civilian casualties.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Daily Lesson for June 11, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from 2 Corinthians 12:10:
"For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses . . ."
Most of us see the weaknesses we have as qualities or characteristics to be worked around, hidden, overcome, or altogether denied. For most of us, the last thing in the world we would want to do is show weakness because doing so makes us subject to vulnerability. Achilles's heel must be kept hidden lest our vulnerability be found out.
But in one of the ironies of the Gospel, God wants us vulnerable. God desires that our weaknesses be recognized for what they are -- the place of entry for God's grace, mercy, and power.
It was said by one of William Blake's friends that Blake was a cracked vessel of a man, but the cracks "were where the light shined through."
It is in our cracked and broken places that the glory of God's grace shines through. It is in the place of our weakness that God's power is most indisputably evident. Therefore, our vulnerabilities, weaknesses and places of insecurity are not points of liability but instead the places of God's greatest and deepest gift in our lives -- the places where we know we cannot save ourselves, but only be saved by God.
So, like the Apostle Paul before us, we may plead and plead that our weaknesses be taken away. But in the end God reminds us that His "power is made perfect in our weakness" and therefore we too, like Paul, choose to no longer fight our weaknesses but instead learn to be content with and even embrace them for what they are -- the places where our deepest flaws both discover and reveal God's greatest mercies.
"For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses . . ."
Most of us see the weaknesses we have as qualities or characteristics to be worked around, hidden, overcome, or altogether denied. For most of us, the last thing in the world we would want to do is show weakness because doing so makes us subject to vulnerability. Achilles's heel must be kept hidden lest our vulnerability be found out.
But in one of the ironies of the Gospel, God wants us vulnerable. God desires that our weaknesses be recognized for what they are -- the place of entry for God's grace, mercy, and power.
It was said by one of William Blake's friends that Blake was a cracked vessel of a man, but the cracks "were where the light shined through."
It is in our cracked and broken places that the glory of God's grace shines through. It is in the place of our weakness that God's power is most indisputably evident. Therefore, our vulnerabilities, weaknesses and places of insecurity are not points of liability but instead the places of God's greatest and deepest gift in our lives -- the places where we know we cannot save ourselves, but only be saved by God.
So, like the Apostle Paul before us, we may plead and plead that our weaknesses be taken away. But in the end God reminds us that His "power is made perfect in our weakness" and therefore we too, like Paul, choose to no longer fight our weaknesses but instead learn to be content with and even embrace them for what they are -- the places where our deepest flaws both discover and reveal God's greatest mercies.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Daily Lesson for June 10, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Philippians chapter 4 verse 8:
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
(Today's lesson is a personal reflection in honor of my great aunt.)
Yesterday I had the honor of bearing witness at the funeral of one of the great saints in my life -- my great aunt Mary Woodell in Arkansas.
In 1960 my grandfather brought my mother and her two siblings back home to Arkansas, where they were then raised by his aunt Mary. Those early days were difficult and at times tumultuous for both my grandfather and the children; but Aunt Mary was a strong rock of a lady whose deep and abiding faith in God was only equaled by her love for others. She did for my mother and her family what she would do for generations of kindred, loved ones, and strangers alike -- she took them in, embraced them, loved them, fed their faces full of the absolute best Southern food anybody ever tasted. That food, and a copious drowning of sweet tea, and a good talk with Aunt Mary in the kitchen was always enough to keep one going in life -- even in the most trying of times.
My wife Irie said it best, God knew what He was doing when He made her a Mary -- because like Jesus' own mother Mary, our Mary was always willing to accept whatever child of God came knocking at her door. And who knows where we would be now if she hadn't always been willing to open the door.
Her little Methodist church went all out in a family meal before the funeral and the sanctuary was packed at yesterday's funeral -- nice reminders of what Aunt Mary's 95 years of living so well meant for so many others. The service was Wesleyan through and through. I was asked to speak on behalf of the family during the time to bear witness and I shared Paul's final parting words to the church at Philippi. "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Surely, I said, if there were anything lovely in my family's life, we saw it first in our Aunt Mary.
I then closed my remarks by quoting Maya Angelou, another great Arkansas woman now departed, who said, "They won't remember what you said, and they won't even remember what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel."
Our Aunt Mary always made us feel good -- and loved; and love never ends.
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
(Today's lesson is a personal reflection in honor of my great aunt.)
Yesterday I had the honor of bearing witness at the funeral of one of the great saints in my life -- my great aunt Mary Woodell in Arkansas.
In 1960 my grandfather brought my mother and her two siblings back home to Arkansas, where they were then raised by his aunt Mary. Those early days were difficult and at times tumultuous for both my grandfather and the children; but Aunt Mary was a strong rock of a lady whose deep and abiding faith in God was only equaled by her love for others. She did for my mother and her family what she would do for generations of kindred, loved ones, and strangers alike -- she took them in, embraced them, loved them, fed their faces full of the absolute best Southern food anybody ever tasted. That food, and a copious drowning of sweet tea, and a good talk with Aunt Mary in the kitchen was always enough to keep one going in life -- even in the most trying of times.
My wife Irie said it best, God knew what He was doing when He made her a Mary -- because like Jesus' own mother Mary, our Mary was always willing to accept whatever child of God came knocking at her door. And who knows where we would be now if she hadn't always been willing to open the door.
Her little Methodist church went all out in a family meal before the funeral and the sanctuary was packed at yesterday's funeral -- nice reminders of what Aunt Mary's 95 years of living so well meant for so many others. The service was Wesleyan through and through. I was asked to speak on behalf of the family during the time to bear witness and I shared Paul's final parting words to the church at Philippi. "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Surely, I said, if there were anything lovely in my family's life, we saw it first in our Aunt Mary.
I then closed my remarks by quoting Maya Angelou, another great Arkansas woman now departed, who said, "They won't remember what you said, and they won't even remember what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel."
Our Aunt Mary always made us feel good -- and loved; and love never ends.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Daily Lesson for June 9, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Luke 19 verses 2 through 4:
And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.
One of my great aunts used to say that Jesus came not only to seek out and save the down and out but also the up and out as well.
Zacchaeus was one of the up and out -- literally. We all remember the song from childhood. Zacchaeus was such a wee little man that as Jesus passed through Jericho Zacchaeus had to climb a sycamore in order to see him.
But there was another reason why Zacchaeus was up in that tree I think. I think he wanted to see but not be seen. In other words, I think he was hiding. He was hiding because he was a tax collector -- a rich man, yes, but a rich man whose wealth was at best controversial amongst the people and at worst perhaps even villainous. In was in the tree I believe because he was not only small of physical stature but also, though powerful, also small in person. He was up in the community; but he was also out of it as well.
But Jesus went out on a limb for Zacchaeus -- or at least beneath one. And Jesus looked up at Zacchaeus in that tree, and though he knew many would not like it, he asked Zacchaeus to come down and in -- down the tree and back into community. And Zacchaeus was so humbled and moved by Jesus' invitation, that he agreed to make reparations for anything he had done to exploit anyone as a tax collector.
We all know someone who is up and out in or community. They may seem distant and perhaps even arrogant or haughty, but they probably feel smaller in stature than we might guess. The question today is in knowing who they are can we do what Jesus did -- can we risk in going to them, reaching out to, and inviting them to come down from their self-imposed isolation and into a redemptive relationship with us and the community.
As Jesus said of Zacchaeus, "He too is a son of Abraham." And he too needs a chance at sharing in the Gospel. For it is true -- Jesus came not only for the down and out but also for the up and out as well.
And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.
One of my great aunts used to say that Jesus came not only to seek out and save the down and out but also the up and out as well.
Zacchaeus was one of the up and out -- literally. We all remember the song from childhood. Zacchaeus was such a wee little man that as Jesus passed through Jericho Zacchaeus had to climb a sycamore in order to see him.
But there was another reason why Zacchaeus was up in that tree I think. I think he wanted to see but not be seen. In other words, I think he was hiding. He was hiding because he was a tax collector -- a rich man, yes, but a rich man whose wealth was at best controversial amongst the people and at worst perhaps even villainous. In was in the tree I believe because he was not only small of physical stature but also, though powerful, also small in person. He was up in the community; but he was also out of it as well.
But Jesus went out on a limb for Zacchaeus -- or at least beneath one. And Jesus looked up at Zacchaeus in that tree, and though he knew many would not like it, he asked Zacchaeus to come down and in -- down the tree and back into community. And Zacchaeus was so humbled and moved by Jesus' invitation, that he agreed to make reparations for anything he had done to exploit anyone as a tax collector.
We all know someone who is up and out in or community. They may seem distant and perhaps even arrogant or haughty, but they probably feel smaller in stature than we might guess. The question today is in knowing who they are can we do what Jesus did -- can we risk in going to them, reaching out to, and inviting them to come down from their self-imposed isolation and into a redemptive relationship with us and the community.
As Jesus said of Zacchaeus, "He too is a son of Abraham." And he too needs a chance at sharing in the Gospel. For it is true -- Jesus came not only for the down and out but also for the up and out as well.
Monday, June 8, 2015
Daily Lesson for June 8, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Deuteronomy chapter 30 verses 4 and 5:
"If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it."
This scripture is stunning as it is so contrary to the prevailing understanding of death and heaven in our time. Our pop-theology today about the end times, borrowed from Greek philosophy, is essentially escapist. It is what Brian McLaren calls a "spiritual evacuation plan." Heaven is the place of bliss we escape to when earth either destroys itself or is destroyed by God. Stretched to its ultimate logical conclusion this theology doesn't have much room for creation care, conservation of natural resources, peacemaking in the Middle East or really much else at all besides getting souls saved for heaven. The house is already on fire; our sole and soul purpose is to get out.
But the scripture today -- indeed the prevailing Biblical image, rooted in the Jewish understanding of Resurrection -- is not at all escapist. In fact, it's the very opposite of escapism. We are awaiting "a new heaven and a new earth" and the Son of Man will come from heaven back to earth. The earth then is not a place to be escaped but is in fact the ultimate destination of the Son of Man and all those he will bring with him in the resurrection.
But as the great Rabbi Gamaliel said, "So what?" Here's the so what. What we do on earth matters because we are the makers of the new earth -- the Kingdom -- which the Son of Man is to inhabit. Right now we are tilling soil and planting seed and building a city -- the city of God. And we do this by planting trees, and educating children, and creating a system of justice, and building infrastructure healthy for human flourishing and "seeking the peace of the city".
What we do here and now matters because, contrary to the pop culture idea of earth as a place to escape from and heaven as a place to escape to, but rather for heaven to come to earth and for John the Seers revelatory words to finally come true, "Look, the dwelling of the LORD is among mortals."
"If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it."
This scripture is stunning as it is so contrary to the prevailing understanding of death and heaven in our time. Our pop-theology today about the end times, borrowed from Greek philosophy, is essentially escapist. It is what Brian McLaren calls a "spiritual evacuation plan." Heaven is the place of bliss we escape to when earth either destroys itself or is destroyed by God. Stretched to its ultimate logical conclusion this theology doesn't have much room for creation care, conservation of natural resources, peacemaking in the Middle East or really much else at all besides getting souls saved for heaven. The house is already on fire; our sole and soul purpose is to get out.
But the scripture today -- indeed the prevailing Biblical image, rooted in the Jewish understanding of Resurrection -- is not at all escapist. In fact, it's the very opposite of escapism. We are awaiting "a new heaven and a new earth" and the Son of Man will come from heaven back to earth. The earth then is not a place to be escaped but is in fact the ultimate destination of the Son of Man and all those he will bring with him in the resurrection.
But as the great Rabbi Gamaliel said, "So what?" Here's the so what. What we do on earth matters because we are the makers of the new earth -- the Kingdom -- which the Son of Man is to inhabit. Right now we are tilling soil and planting seed and building a city -- the city of God. And we do this by planting trees, and educating children, and creating a system of justice, and building infrastructure healthy for human flourishing and "seeking the peace of the city".
What we do here and now matters because, contrary to the pop culture idea of earth as a place to escape from and heaven as a place to escape to, but rather for heaven to come to earth and for John the Seers revelatory words to finally come true, "Look, the dwelling of the LORD is among mortals."
Friday, June 5, 2015
Daily Lesson for June 5, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 21:
"For we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of others."
My cousin Mark, who is among many things an accountant, likes to tell a joke about the personalities within his profession. He says that when talking to you, a truly outgoing and extroverted accountant will stare at your shoes and not just his own.
Ok -- so now I've lost the readership of all the accountants and those who love them. Let me try to win it back.
Thank God for accountants! For accountants are the ones who keep everything on the up and up, and the non-accountant types like me (preachers are rarely accountant types) above reproach.
Paul was serious about the way he accounted for the money in the early church. He brought along accountant types to help him. He did so because he knew his credibility was always on the line -- and with it that of the Gospel's. So he strove to remain absolutely beyond reproach in the administration of money. As he said, "For we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of others."
How things are seen in the eyes of others can sometimes make or break us. That's why I give thanks for those who while staring down at their shoes can also take sight of any dropped coins.
"For we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of others."
My cousin Mark, who is among many things an accountant, likes to tell a joke about the personalities within his profession. He says that when talking to you, a truly outgoing and extroverted accountant will stare at your shoes and not just his own.
Ok -- so now I've lost the readership of all the accountants and those who love them. Let me try to win it back.
Thank God for accountants! For accountants are the ones who keep everything on the up and up, and the non-accountant types like me (preachers are rarely accountant types) above reproach.
Paul was serious about the way he accounted for the money in the early church. He brought along accountant types to help him. He did so because he knew his credibility was always on the line -- and with it that of the Gospel's. So he strove to remain absolutely beyond reproach in the administration of money. As he said, "For we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of others."
How things are seen in the eyes of others can sometimes make or break us. That's why I give thanks for those who while staring down at their shoes can also take sight of any dropped coins.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Daily Lesson for May 4, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verses 9 through 11:
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 10 And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. 11 So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.
I got hand it to the Apostle Paul -- the man knew how to talk about giving.
We preachers have inherited an Elmer Gantry reputation for being on the take; and that reputation has been solidified by what Will Campbell called the "electronic soul abusers" on TV. But the truth is most of us -- especially mainline Protestant preachers -- are actually averse to talking about giving. As somebody incisively commented, "They say, 'Money talks,' but in church it only whispers." Most of us preachers talk far less about money than did either Paul or Jesus. They neither one were apologetic at all when it came to putting their mouths where other people's money was.
But they were never coercive about it. They never abused the soul with manipulation. Giving for Paul and Jesus came freely -- a gracious response to God's grace. The natural outflow of a life poured into.
Take Paul's word today. He begins by speaking of Christ, who "though rich, yet became poor that we might become rich." The starting point is Christ -- his blessed poverty and in turn our blessed abundance. Then there is the desire, in small, germinal state when the Corinthians first accepted Christ, now a year later ready to blossom from desire to action. So giving, according to Paul, begins with Christ's own self-giving and moves us to the place of our own. Giving is the sure and gracious response to grace working in our lives.
So, here's something I'm reflecting upon now. Paul talks about some sort of desire to give germinating in the hearts of the Corinthians for a full year. It makes me think about something a year ago God laid on my heart to give to somebody. I don't feel bad about not having done it earlier; I wasn't ready. But I'm about ready now. I'm going to give it and I'm going to give it joyfully.
And I'm going to thank Paul for helping me do it.
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 10 And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. 11 So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.
I got hand it to the Apostle Paul -- the man knew how to talk about giving.
We preachers have inherited an Elmer Gantry reputation for being on the take; and that reputation has been solidified by what Will Campbell called the "electronic soul abusers" on TV. But the truth is most of us -- especially mainline Protestant preachers -- are actually averse to talking about giving. As somebody incisively commented, "They say, 'Money talks,' but in church it only whispers." Most of us preachers talk far less about money than did either Paul or Jesus. They neither one were apologetic at all when it came to putting their mouths where other people's money was.
But they were never coercive about it. They never abused the soul with manipulation. Giving for Paul and Jesus came freely -- a gracious response to God's grace. The natural outflow of a life poured into.
Take Paul's word today. He begins by speaking of Christ, who "though rich, yet became poor that we might become rich." The starting point is Christ -- his blessed poverty and in turn our blessed abundance. Then there is the desire, in small, germinal state when the Corinthians first accepted Christ, now a year later ready to blossom from desire to action. So giving, according to Paul, begins with Christ's own self-giving and moves us to the place of our own. Giving is the sure and gracious response to grace working in our lives.
So, here's something I'm reflecting upon now. Paul talks about some sort of desire to give germinating in the hearts of the Corinthians for a full year. It makes me think about something a year ago God laid on my heart to give to somebody. I don't feel bad about not having done it earlier; I wasn't ready. But I'm about ready now. I'm going to give it and I'm going to give it joyfully.
And I'm going to thank Paul for helping me do it.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Daily lesson for May 3, 2015
Today's daily lesson is from Psalm 49 verses 10 and 17 through 20:
10 For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again see light.
20 Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
Yesterday, I had the honor of speaking with my friend Betty about her late husband Ted for an upcoming radio program about his life. We began the show talking about Ted's last days, and Betty reminded me of something Ted would say about death -- that death strips us of the notion that anything can save us but God. In the end, neither our money, nor our political connection, nor even our health will save us; only God can save us.
To die then as Betty's husband Ted died -- with such serenity and trust -- is the ultimate act of faith. In the end, to die is to trust; and all our little acts of dying along the way are practice for the ultimate act of faith and trust we must all pass through when the time comes. Dying daily readies us to die finally.
At the funeral service of King Louis XIV of France the priest Jean-Baptiste Masillon began his sermon with a simple yet profoundly declarative sentence: "Only God is great." In the end, only God is great and nothing is going to save us except God. Death is the doorway into the truth of that ultimate reality, and the sooner we accept that there is nothing we can do to keep from having to walk through that doorway into the other side then the sooner we will learn to live with courage and generosity and peace on this side.
Only God can save us; and God will save us. And thank God we don't have to save ourselves.
10 For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again see light.
20 Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
Yesterday, I had the honor of speaking with my friend Betty about her late husband Ted for an upcoming radio program about his life. We began the show talking about Ted's last days, and Betty reminded me of something Ted would say about death -- that death strips us of the notion that anything can save us but God. In the end, neither our money, nor our political connection, nor even our health will save us; only God can save us.
To die then as Betty's husband Ted died -- with such serenity and trust -- is the ultimate act of faith. In the end, to die is to trust; and all our little acts of dying along the way are practice for the ultimate act of faith and trust we must all pass through when the time comes. Dying daily readies us to die finally.
At the funeral service of King Louis XIV of France the priest Jean-Baptiste Masillon began his sermon with a simple yet profoundly declarative sentence: "Only God is great." In the end, only God is great and nothing is going to save us except God. Death is the doorway into the truth of that ultimate reality, and the sooner we accept that there is nothing we can do to keep from having to walk through that doorway into the other side then the sooner we will learn to live with courage and generosity and peace on this side.
Only God can save us; and God will save us. And thank God we don't have to save ourselves.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Daily Lesson for May 2, 2015
Today's daily lesson comes from Luke chapter 17 verses 11 through 19:
11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
I have heard this text preached on many a Thanksgiving service; and indeed it is a good story to help us think on the importance of giving thanks. But there is an irony in preaching this text on a national holiday and the irony is that the only leper who can back to give thanks was in fact a foreigner. It's the kicker in the whole story: "Now he was a Samaritan."
So what to make of this? Is it about giving thanks? Yes, of course. Jesus extols the man for having come back to give thanks. But the question then is raised, why did the other nine choose not to do so? Where were they?
Well, here's just my thought -- it might not have happened like this, but it could have:
Note that Jesus is traveling in a borderland -- the no man's land between Jewish and Samaritan territory. Remember, Jews and Samaritans hated one another; they viewed one another as ethnic/racial and religious enemies. But this is a leper's colony -- a place or refuge and rejection, where both Jewish and Samaritan lepers have huddled together in desperation. It was the community of the banished -- the home for those without no home.
Jesus entered into that borderland community, and seeing the plight of the leprous he told them to go and show themselves to the priests. Here there was a split. The Jewish lepers, however many there were, went back to the Jewish priests in Galilee while the Samaritan lepers went toward Samaria. Along the way all were cleansed. They all kept walking except the one Samaritan who returned to Jesus to give thanks. And Jesus said to him, "Your faith has made you well."
And this is the moment of true salvation. The other nine were cleansed. But the tenth was made well. The other nine, their healing was only skin deep. When cleansed they returned to the racial/ethic/religious communities from which they came. That was all they really needed or wanted -- to be welcomed again amongst their own. But the tenth, he found a deeper wellness -- a wellness deeper than the skin. Returning again to the borderland, crossing back to where the Jew Jesus was in the home of the community-less, this Samaritan received wellness that brought healing to him in body, in mind, and in soul.
Full salvation is more than skin deep. It brings us more than inclusion amongst the "clean" (whether church or community or group). True salvation is to be found in the borderland, in the place where enemies meet and exiles community. This is the place of total salvation is found because this is the place where Jesus is found.
Now, where is that borderland for me today?
11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
I have heard this text preached on many a Thanksgiving service; and indeed it is a good story to help us think on the importance of giving thanks. But there is an irony in preaching this text on a national holiday and the irony is that the only leper who can back to give thanks was in fact a foreigner. It's the kicker in the whole story: "Now he was a Samaritan."
So what to make of this? Is it about giving thanks? Yes, of course. Jesus extols the man for having come back to give thanks. But the question then is raised, why did the other nine choose not to do so? Where were they?
Well, here's just my thought -- it might not have happened like this, but it could have:
Note that Jesus is traveling in a borderland -- the no man's land between Jewish and Samaritan territory. Remember, Jews and Samaritans hated one another; they viewed one another as ethnic/racial and religious enemies. But this is a leper's colony -- a place or refuge and rejection, where both Jewish and Samaritan lepers have huddled together in desperation. It was the community of the banished -- the home for those without no home.
Jesus entered into that borderland community, and seeing the plight of the leprous he told them to go and show themselves to the priests. Here there was a split. The Jewish lepers, however many there were, went back to the Jewish priests in Galilee while the Samaritan lepers went toward Samaria. Along the way all were cleansed. They all kept walking except the one Samaritan who returned to Jesus to give thanks. And Jesus said to him, "Your faith has made you well."
And this is the moment of true salvation. The other nine were cleansed. But the tenth was made well. The other nine, their healing was only skin deep. When cleansed they returned to the racial/ethic/religious communities from which they came. That was all they really needed or wanted -- to be welcomed again amongst their own. But the tenth, he found a deeper wellness -- a wellness deeper than the skin. Returning again to the borderland, crossing back to where the Jew Jesus was in the home of the community-less, this Samaritan received wellness that brought healing to him in body, in mind, and in soul.
Full salvation is more than skin deep. It brings us more than inclusion amongst the "clean" (whether church or community or group). True salvation is to be found in the borderland, in the place where enemies meet and exiles community. This is the place of total salvation is found because this is the place where Jesus is found.
Now, where is that borderland for me today?
Monday, June 1, 2015
Daily Lesson for May 1, 2015
Today's daily lesson is from Luke chapter 17 verses 7 through 10:
7 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”
I'm pretty sure God put this little story in the Bible just to end our pity parties.
The demands on a follower of Jesus can be great -- especially in the church. There's always something to be done, some committee to be on, and some event to help organize and man or woman. And the reward for the most successful at these things is being asked to chair the event next year. Some thanks!
I have watched this same cycle year in and year out in the church for 10 plus years. What I notice about those who endure and keep their a gracious spirit is two things. First, they've learned not to say yes to everything but only the work they actually believe Christ has called them to. Secondly, they keep a very humble attitude in doing the things they've been asked. They know their place in kingdom of God and that place is one of a servant; and what keeps all they do in perspective is their ever-present knowledge that the master they serve gave far more than they or anyone else could ever give.
We are servants -- "bought for a price" (1 Cor 7:3). The price was the master's own life. And so whatever he asks of us today can never be too much because it's his to ask and ours to do.
7 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”
I'm pretty sure God put this little story in the Bible just to end our pity parties.
The demands on a follower of Jesus can be great -- especially in the church. There's always something to be done, some committee to be on, and some event to help organize and man or woman. And the reward for the most successful at these things is being asked to chair the event next year. Some thanks!
I have watched this same cycle year in and year out in the church for 10 plus years. What I notice about those who endure and keep their a gracious spirit is two things. First, they've learned not to say yes to everything but only the work they actually believe Christ has called them to. Secondly, they keep a very humble attitude in doing the things they've been asked. They know their place in kingdom of God and that place is one of a servant; and what keeps all they do in perspective is their ever-present knowledge that the master they serve gave far more than they or anyone else could ever give.
We are servants -- "bought for a price" (1 Cor 7:3). The price was the master's own life. And so whatever he asks of us today can never be too much because it's his to ask and ours to do.