Daily Lesson for April 30, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Leviticus chapter 16 verses 6 through 10:

6 Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin-offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. 7He shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting;8and Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. 9Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer it as a sin-offering; 10but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, so that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

In Second Temple Judaism the Priest used two goats for the making of atonement for the people. One was sacrificed as a sin offering in the Temple. The other was sent away into the wilderness. The one sent away was known as the Azazel goat, sometimes translated the “scapegoat”.

For the most part Western culture has given up animal sacrifice. Yet we continue to scapegoat over and over again. We still scapegoat, though we don’t use goats to do it; we use people. 

One person is made to bear all the unsettled anxiety and weight of all the collective sins of the group.  All the moral, ethical, and institutional failures of the group fall on this one person. They are inevitably judged guilty or culpable and then sent away from the group. This act of expiation then leads to the group’s reformed consciousness.

Scapegoating is a primary reason why serving on the White House staff is such a revolving door in modern America. All the blame is cast on lower, expendable surrogates for the leader. 

Of course, the leader doesn’t always escape. Oftentimes he or she is the scapegoat. Amidst a tremendous moment of anxiety and crisis in the life of the group, the leader is often dismissed or resigns. The institutional anxiety is diminished and the group then moves forward collectively. 

We need to watch out for scapegoating. It’s in our churches, our denominations, our businesses, and our government. We need to watch out for it, lest we continue the victimizing ritual of casting the sins of many upon the one. 

Daily Lesson for April 27, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 5 verses 33 through 37:

33 ‘Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.” 34But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37Let your word be “Yes, Yes” or “No, No”; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

Dan Ariely is a psychologist at Duke University who studies the habits of deception and has written a really interesting book titled  “The Honest Truth About Dishonesty”.  Ariely says that as a society we are mostly truthful people, but that we tend to lie in small ways. Small lies we seem to be able to live with. It’s when these small lies pile up that we begin to actually see ourselves or others as liars. 

Ariely says evidence shows one of the ways we can actually become more truthful as a community is by reminding one another to be truthful more often and more up front. He cited a study of insurance adjustment rate reports which asked people how many miles in a year they put on their vehicles — rates being tied to the number of miles an owner drives in a given year. When asked to solemnly affirm the self-reported numbers as truthful, owners reported significantly more miles driven when if asked for their solemn affirmation at the beginning rather than the end of the questionnaire.  Ariely’s conclusion was that if they were asked to tell the truth up front then they were much less likely to fudge the numbers then if asked if what they had already stated was truthful.

We are a mostly truthful people. But truth is at risk these days. There are lots of “alternative facts” out there.  There are also a lot of out-right lies. We’re now in danger of normalizing lies.

We are a truthful people; and we need to expect the truth from one another. And we need to tell each other up front that we absolutely expect truth telling.  As a community we value and expect the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth from one another — so help us God. 

Daily Lesson for April 25, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson is in recognition of the Feast of St Mark:

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, bringing with them John whose other name was Mark. (Acts 12:25)

And Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp contention, so that they separated from each other; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. (Acts 15:37-40)

9 Do your best to come to me soon,10for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.11Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry. (2 Timothy 4:9-11)

Today is the Feast Day of St Mark in the life of the church. Mark, also called John, accompanied Paul and Barnabas during a very important season of mission in the early church. Controversy surrounded Mark as he apparently deserted the mission at a critical time. This later led to conflict between Paul and Barnabas over Mark’s role. Barnabas, who by some early Christian accounts may have been related to Mark, wanted to welcome him to accompany Barnabas and Paul on yet another missionary journey. Paul refused, resulting in a split between the two early Christian leaders. Interestingly, however, in one of the later his letters, dated far after the missionary journeys, Paul wrote requesting Mark be sent to come to assist Paul in his latter days. “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry,” (2Timothy 4:11)

Mark indeed became very useful. In his own later life, Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark — the narrative from which most scholars believe the other synoptic Gospel books — Matthew and Luke — got the bones of their stories about Jesus’ ministry. 

An intriguing episode is found in the pages of the book of Mark. In the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane a young, unnamed man is with Jesus and the disciples. When the soldiers come to arrest Jesus they try to apprehend the young man also, taking hold of his linen cloth. The young man leaves the linen cloth behind, running away from the Garden entirely naked. Speculation persists that this was a creative device Mark used in his Gospel to refer to himself. Mark was alluding to his own actions in the face of danger. By including himself in the story with the other disciples who fled after the Garden incident Mark was admitting his own fear and perhaps the reason why he left Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journey.

Mark is a testament to God’s redemptive ways. Though he apparently deserted the mission at a very critical moment, his later work became one of the central early biographies of Jesus.  The Gospel of Mark became perhaps the most influential New Testament book.

“Send for Mark, for he is useful to me,” Paul said. And so did Jesus. 

And how good it is to know that even after our own Gethsemanes Christ can still find us useful. 

Daily Lesson for April 24, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew 5 verses 11 through 16:

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden.15No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

We cannot shrink back from our call to be salt and light. The earth needs our saltiness. The night needs our lamplight.

Yes, opposition comes. This is not what we would wish for. We do not see ourselves as people to be opposed. In our minds, we are not controversial; for love and justice do not seem controversial. But darkness hates light.  Darkness reviles light. We have to accept this. The prophets who came before us were reviled also. We do not see ourselves as prophets, nor sons and daughters of prophets. We are not interested in being called prophets. What we are interested in is being true to ourselves. 

Salt must be salt; it’s job is to preserve the earth. Light must be light; and it’s purpose is to enable the world to see.

We are salt. We are light. And blessed are we when we are what we are — even when others oppose it.

Daily Lesson for April 23, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 5 verse 3:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Augustine once said, “God desires to give us so much but our hands are already full of so little.”

Our hearts can be full of little also. We can be full of all manner of things which matter not. Popcorn can fill a room; but it’s still mostly air. 

The poor in spirit are blessed because they do not pretend to be full. They are under no pretense or illusion. They know their own poverty. They know their own loneliness.

They know their own emptiness. 

And they know nothing can fill the emptiness in their lives but God.

Poverty of spirit opens us to the grace of God’s comfort and friendship. It opens us to receive what cannot be earned. It opens us to the kingdom of heaven which can only open to us when we realize the kingdoms of earth can never truly satisfy.

Emptiness is the door through which the Christ presence enters. Christ enters through loneliness and brokenness and through poverty of spirit and death. This is what Sheldon Vanauken called “a severe mercy”.  And it is the only way to heaven.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit; for to such as these the kingdom belongs.”

Daily Lesson for April 20, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 106 verses 4 through 8:

4 Remember me, O Lord, with the favor you have for your people, 

and visit me with your saving help;

5 That I may see the prosperity of your elect

and be glad with the gladness of your people, 

that I may glory with your inheritance.

6 We have sinned as our forebears did; 

we have done wrong and dealt wickedly.

7 In Egypt they did not consider your marvelous works,

nor remember the abundance of your love; 

they defied the Most High at the Red Sea.

8 But he saved them for his Name's sake, 

to make his power known.

We do not deserve salvation. We did not earn it. God doesn’t owe it to us.  God doesn’t owe us anything. We’ve each and everyone of us been too rebellious to stand before God and argue our case on our own merits.  This is true for us as individuals and also true for us collectively as a nation. No single person or nation is entirely righteous — no not one. 

So salvation comes as grace. It comes because we have been chosen for salvation. It comes because of God’s righteousness and not our own. We are saved by grace. We are saved by God.

The Israelites were faithless and rebelled against God. They saw the waters ahead and their hearts failed them. They could not see this so-called Promised Land. They could not imagine a land of freedom. In fear they wished to turn back. They didn’t like Pharaoh, but they had more faith in him than they did in the LORD. They cursed Moses for telling them of the LORD. 

That could have been the end of the story. That could have been the end of the Exodus. But God rescued them. God delivered them. Even when they were faithless, God was faithful. God saved them. For God’s own Name’s sake God saved them.

God save us. Though we too have rebelled. Though we too are faithless. Though we too would rather choose a Pharaoh. God save us in spite of ourselves. God save for the sake of own mercy. God save us for the sake of your own name. God save us because you are good even when we are not. 

Daily Lesson for April 19, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 37 verses 36 through 39:

36 Wait upon the Lord and keep his way; 

he will raise you up to possess the land,

and when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

37 I have seen the wicked in their arrogance, 

flourishing like a tree in full leaf.

38 I went by, and behold, they were not there; 

I searched for them, but they could not be found.

39 Mark those who are honest;

observe the upright; 

for there is a future for the peaceable.

The future belongs to the peaceable.

The psalmist’s words are a promise of hope and deliverance amidst a time of great exploitation and machination. The psalmist has seen God’s vindication.  It is coming. 

This is not just pie in the sky in the sweet by and by. As Desmond Tutu used to say, “A post-mortem pie isn’t very appetizing.” No, the LORD will raise the righteous up to possess the land. The meek shall inherit the earth. 

In the meantime they are to bless and not curse. They are to love and not hate. They are not to give themselves over to anger or rage or hatred or despair. They are to wait on and trust in the LORD. They are to maintain their integrity and their dignity and guard their humanity. Their hearts are to be at peace and not at war.  

There is a future for the peaceable. It is coming. The LORD’s righteousness is coming upon the earth. With it will come vindication for the upright and honest. Truth and justice will win out. The future belongs to such as these.

The faithful are those who trust in the future. They trust and they do not despair. They trust and they hope and they teach others to do the same. 

Daily Lesson for April 18, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Colossians chapter 1 verse 15:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

There is an old story of little Johnny who was at Sunday School drawing during free time. “What are you drawing, Johnny,” his teacher asked. “I’m drawing God.”  “Oh, she said, we don’t do that. Nobody has ever seen God.”  “I know,” Johnny said, “that’s why I’m drawing you this picture.”

God gave us a self-portrait in Jesus. In Jesus we see what God looks like. There are many conceptions of God in this world. In Jesus we come to understand God in a particular kind of way. By looking to Jesus we see that God is kind, and merciful, and forgiving. By looking to Jesus we see that God is Love. 

Elton Trueblood used to say that the truly radical Christian claim is not so much that Jesus is like God, but that God is like Jesus. Many things have been said and done in the name of God. God’s name has been invoked for all manner of evil. This is called blasphemy. God sent Jesus to show us what should really be done in God’s name.

There are others who are like God. There are other expressions of the divine in the world — Moses, Elijah, Paul, Mohammad, the Dalai Lama, Mother Theresa. For Christians, the ultimate expression of God in this world is Jesus, himself. 

Jesus is God’s self-portrait in the world. When we look at Jesus we see the face of God. That’s why God gave us Jesus — so that we would have something to look at and try to look like. 

Daily Lesson for April 17, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Colossians chapter 1 verses 9 through 12:

9 For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints of light. 

There is power in our intercessory prayer for others. We believe in this prayer and we lift others to God, asking God’s supernatural power to work in their lives. 

God’s power is enabling and permissive in its “Yes!” for those who believe. Look at the Lesson and see how many times the word “May” — a permissive yes word — shows up. 

We that others may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will for their lives. 

We pray they may grow in God’s knowledge, bearing fruit and pleasing God with Thor lives. 

We pray they may be made strong with a strength that comes not from their own. 

We pray they may be prepared to endure all things that come their way with patience and also with an abiding joy.

God is a permissive God when it comes to empowering people. God says, “Yes!” to growth and to maturity in the things of God. As the Lesson God enables God’s people to receive their full “inheritance” with the “saints of light”.

God does these things. And God uses our prayers to make them happen. 

Now, let us pray . . .

Daily Lesson for April 16, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 25 verses 3 through 13:

3 Show me your ways, O Lord, 

and teach me your paths.

4 Lead me in your truth and teach me, 

for you are the God of my salvation;

in you have I trusted all the day long.

5 Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love, 

for they are from everlasting.

6 Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; 

remember me according to your love

and for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.

7 Gracious and upright is the Lord; 

therefore he teaches sinners in his way.

8 He guides the humble in doing right 

and teaches his way to the lowly.

9 All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness 

to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

10 For your Name's sake, O Lord, 

forgive my sin, for it is great.

11 Who are they who fear the Lord? 

he will teach them the way that they should choose.

12 They shall dwell in prosperity, 

and their offspring shall inherit the land.

13 The Lord is a friend to those who fear him 

and will show them his covenant.

The LORD is a friend to those who fear Him.

What a wonderful promise. What a sustaining hope. 

If the LORD were not for us, who could stand?

But the LORD is for us. The LORD is our friend. The LORD remembers His covenant with us. He shows it to us. He remembers. And He reminds us. The LORD reminds us that His goodness and His mercy follow us all the days of our lives. 

So condemnation is no more. Regret is no more. Fear is no more. For God’s love casts out all fear. And love never ends. 

Nearing the end of his life, the old slave trader turned Anglican priest and writer of the hymn “Amazing Grace” said, “Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.”

We remember these things. We remember; and even if we were to forget, God remembers. In God’s great and steadfast love God remembers us.