Daily Lesson for October 31, 2018

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

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

and no torment will ever touch them. 

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

and their departure was thought to be a disaster, 

3 and their going from us to be their destruction;

but they are at peace. 

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

their hope is full of immortality. 

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

because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; 

6 like gold in the furnace he tried them,

and like a sacrificial burnt-offering he accepted them. 

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

and will run like sparks through the stubble. 

8 They will govern nations and rule over peoples,

and the Lord will reign over them for ever. 

9 Those who trust in him will understand truth,

and the faithful will abide with him in love,

because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,

and he watches over his elect.

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

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

and no torment will ever touch them.”

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

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

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

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

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

Daily Lesson for October 30, 2018

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

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

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

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

   and of his Messiah,

and he will reign for ever and ever.’

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

‘We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty,

   who are and who were,

for you have taken your great power

   and begun to reign. 

18 The nations raged,

   but your wrath has come,

   and the time for judging the dead,

for rewarding your servants,* the prophets

   and saints and all who fear your name,

   both small and great,

and for destroying those who destroy the earth.’

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

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

John the Revelator is channeling Aunt Opal this morning. 

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

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

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

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

Daily Lesson for October 29, 2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Daily Lesson for October 28, 2018

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

“Blessed be the Lord! 

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

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

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

A young boy sharing a few loaves of bread. 

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

Clothes on the back not wearing thin. 

A spring of water from beneath the ground.

A spring of joy at the Sabbath reading. 

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

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

Daily Lesson for October 25, 2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

Daily Lesson for October 24, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Revelation chapter 8 verses 10 and 11:

10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many died from the water, because it was made bitter.

We live in a bitter time. The wormwood has been poured out upon the world; and many drink from its bitter waters, its poison killing the soul and destroying the community.

The wormwood is death. It’s bitterness consumes. But the bitterness of the times cannot destroy us. Only the bitterness we take into ourselves can destroy the soul. The wormwood and the fall destroy, but only from within — not out. You have to drink the water to die from the poison. 

It’s a mark of resistance in these difficult days to not drink the water. We have to refuse to take the cup of wormwood and gall unto our lips. We have to hold out against bitterness. We have to keep hoping all things, believing all things, enduring all things. We have to keep loving. For love is the antidote to bitterness. 

These are bitter times indeed. But the bitter times can only embitters us if we let them. The poison can only kill us if we drink it.

But if we refuse the poison, we live. And only the living can still change things. 

Daily Lesson for October 23, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 10 verses 8 through 11:

8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” 10But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11“Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.”

Rejection is an inevitable part of life. It happens to everyone. If you are being authentically you, someone isn’t going to like it. Though we would wish to spare ourselves the pain of rejection, we can’t.  “The servants are not greater than the master.” If even Jesus was rejected, we will at times have to suffer the scorn of rejection also. 

Jesus’ instruction to the disciples about what to do with rejection is helpful. Rejection would take place. But they were not to take it with them. They were not to internalize it. They could not allow it to immobilize them. They had to move on. They had to shake it off and move on.

The scorn and shame of rejection can define us if we let it. It can keep us from moving forward. It can us paralyze us. How many have missed their full potential for fear of the sting of rejection?

Jesus tells his disciples that rejection is simply a part of it. Its thorn hurts. It hurts a thousand times over. But it cannot keep us from continuing in who we are and what we are called to. “Shake off the dust. Don’t carry it with you.  Don’t let rejection convince you that you aren’t enough.”

Daily Lesson for October 22, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 25 verses 7 through 14:

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.

14 My eyes are ever looking to the Lord, 

for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

God is faithful in all things and in all God’s word. God’s word is God’s bond. And God’s covenant knows no end. So God redeems the sinner and brings back the wanderer.  God is faithful even when we are not. 

So the humble find guidance in the LORD. The meek find restoration. The truly penitent find redemption.

“We ask these things in your name and for your name’s sake.”  These are the words we use to close our prayer of confession.  We ask for forgiveness and restoration in the name of God. We ask not for our own name’s sake. We ask for God’s namesake.

And God, hearing our words and knowing our hearts, remembers God’s covenant with us, and turns in mercy and restores us once again.

By grace we are saved. By grace God saves us. Morning by morning God’s mercies come to those who are humble enough to ask in need and to receive in pure mercy. 

  

Daily Lesson for October 19, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 16 verses 8 through 10:

8 I have set the Lord always before me; 

because he is at my right hand I shall not fall.

9 My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; 

my body also shall rest in hope.

10 For you will not abandon me to the grave, 

nor let your holy one see the Pit.

Psalm 16 is known by its Latin name “Conserva me, Domine”, taken from the first words of the psalm — “Protect me, LORD”.

The LORD protects us, conserves us, and saves us. These are the LORD’s great promises; and because of them our souls rest even amidst all the great turmoil and uncertainties of our lives and times. The LORD protects and watches over us; the LORD is at our right hand and will not let us fall. 

So then our spirits and also our bodies are at rest. We rest and we sleep. For we know the world is in the LORD’s hands. We die knowing the earth is in the LORD’s hands. We live and die in the LORD’s hands.

The Lesson says, our bodies “rest in hope”.  So we surrender ourselves to hope. As the prophet Zechariah says, we become “prisoners of hope”, giving ourselves up and over to it completely, allowing ourselves to be buried in it, and hoping to be raised up into also.

“Conserva me, LORD”.  Protect and deliver me, dear God. Let me be buried in hope — tonight in my bed, and tomorrow in my grave, and always in Thy peace. 

Daily Lesson for October 18, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Jonah chapters 3 verses 1 through 10 and chapter 4 verses 1 through 11:

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2‘Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’ 3So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ 5And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. 8Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. 9Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.’

10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. 2He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. 3And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ 4And the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ 5Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.

6 The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. 7But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. 8When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’

9 But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?’ And he said, ‘Yes, angry enough to die.’ 10Then the Lord said, ‘You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labour and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?’

Jonah’s pettiness knows no end. 

He’s mad at God because God wants to save what he thinks are the wrong people. He’s mad at God because he has to go and preach the revival — which he does, very passive aggressively.  And then he’s mad that when he sits down hoping to watch Nineveh’s destruction, the only thing that falls is the little shady treat he’s sitting under. 

Maybe this is a good reminder today to check ourselves. Do we delight in the prospect of others’ misfortune or ruin?  Is our eye evil when God is good?  Is our anger about problems with our little creature comforts a sign of a deeper anger with something in life?

Then maybe we need to check ourselves. Maybe, as a friend of mine says, we need a “petty cure”.

And maybe the one in the story who needs the most converting is not the Ninevites, but the preacher. 

Daily Lesson for October 17, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Jonah chapter 1 verse 17 and chapter 2 verses 1 and 2:

But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.

2

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2saying,

‘I called to the Lord out of my distress,

   and he answered me;

out of the belly of Sheol I cried,

   and you heard my voice.

Jesus said, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

There come times in life when we feel trapped, buried, swallowed up in a sea of darkness from whence we can neither find nor see any escape. We find ourselves in the belly of the whale, wondering if we can or even want to survive. It is a time of terror and crisis and we feel very much like we are dying. 

Do not dismay.

We are in the belly of the whale; and though it is a kind of death, it is also a birth. For we have gone again into a kind of metaphorical womb, where we are to be reshaped and refashioned and re-birthed again. This is not the end. Or if it is the end, then it is also the beginning. For if it is death, it is surely also resurrection.

Eventually life brings us into the belly of the whale. It is scary, terrifying even. It is dark, and topsy-turvy, and we are ourselves powerless to know how to get out of it. 

So this means it is only by the power of God that we can be rescued. It’s by the power and grace of God that we are swallowed up and also by the power and grace of God that we’ll be preserved and eventually delivered. 

So trust God; and trust the whale. For the whale knows where it is that it’s taking you, and upon which shore it will deliver you. The whale knows these things — even if we don’t. 

Daily Lesson for October 16, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Jonah chapter 1 verses 1 through 10:

“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2‘Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.’ 3But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.”

I’m preaching later this morning at Robert Carr Chapel at TCU. Today’s Lesson is a snippet I’m sharing from the sermon:

“But, of course, instead of going east towards Nineveh, Jonah goes west instead, boarding a ship and setting sail for a place called Tarshish, somewhere across the sea, about as far away from Nineveh as Lubbock is from Brooklyn.

And why is that? Why does he hop a ship and run? The answer isn’t really revealed until the end of the story; and it isn’t the usual answer. The usual answer for the prophets’ reluctance is that they’re afraid. They’re afraid of rejection or repudiation or even afraid they’re gonna get killed. That’s a pretty good reason to run . . .

But that’s not the reason Jonah runs. Jonah runs, we are told at the end of the book, not because he thinks they won’t have ears to hear, but because he thinks they might. They might just might have ears to hear, and eyes to see, and hearts to change. AND, he’s scared he might also have a God willing to change them.”

What if our enemies are actually better than we wish?  What if what we relish in their vileness says a lot more about us than it is them?  What if we are the persons who really need to change? What if the call to Nineveh is actually the call to our own conversion?

Those’ll be something of the main questions/point of today’s sermon.

I would appreciate your prayers. 

Daily Lesson for October 15, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 1 verses 1 through 3:

1 Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of

the wicked, 

nor lingered in the way of sinners,

nor sat in the seats of the scornful!

2 Their delight is in the law of the Lord, 

and they meditate on his law day and night.

3 They are like trees planted by streams of water,

bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; 

everything they do shall prosper.

Today’s Lesson is the same text we have taken for our Children’s Sunday theme in two weeks. It is a reminder to us of the good and moral life  and what it means to be rooted in a faith which sustains us through all life’s seasons. 

Yesterday, I saw a photo on Facebook of a friend whose infant grandchild was being dedicated in church. It was a lovely picture with parents holding the white-gowned baby, and all the grandparents and aunts and uncles surrounding. The caption was a quote from Deuteronomy 6 — probably the commission to the child’s parents:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

What we teach our children today are the things which will make them who they are later in life. They are like trees, planted in good soil, not far from the river of life. Their most significant growth is all hidden now, beneath the ground. They stretch out their roots to draw deep from the river. These roots will sustain them when the hard times come. These roots beneath the surface will be the source of their resilience and life even in the harshest of seasons.

We want to raise good and moral children. We want their lives to be full of the fruits of God’s spirit — peace, love, kindness, goodness, self-control.  But our lives do not start with fruits; they always start with roots. They begin with parent and child lying in the bed together having conversations about God and Jesus, they just before lights out.  They begin with conversations with grandma about her dad and what he did to stand up when the black church in town was threatened by violence. They begin with a Sunday school Lesson like the one I walked in on yesterday, when the teacher tells the students about Boaz and the honorable way he treated the vulnerable Ruth.

These are the roots of our faith. They’re the roots of our humanity.

And they are what make us who we are. 

Daily Lesson for October 12, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 142

1 I cry to the Lord with my voice; 

to the Lord I make loud supplication.

2 I pour out my complaint before him 

and tell him all my trouble.

3 When my spirit languishes within me, you know my path.

Inevitably, times come when our spirits fall within us and we forebode about what is to come. Fear and uncertainty grip us. We have a mountain to climb, a valley to walk, a desert to wander through. The path ahead terrifies us. We do not know if we will make it.

But the LORD already knows our path; it’s been seen from beginning to end. The way ahead does not frighten God. God has entrusted our path to us. God believes we can walk it. 

We do not have all the we will need for the days that are to come; for if we did that would allow for self-reliance. The spiritual path is never one of self-reliance. It’s one of reliance on God. 

God knows what we need. God knows what we need today, and tomorrow, and the next. And God shall give us the grace necessary for taking each step and making each leg of the journey.

You do not know the path ahead. Accept this. Accept that even though you don’t know where you’re going, you are indeed on the right path. Follow it. Be not afraid. Be anxious for nothing. Trust God and keep walking ahead. 

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths,” (Proverbs 3:5,6).

Daily Lesson for October 11, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke 7 verses 36 through 47:

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus* to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. 37And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. 38She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. 39Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.’ 40Jesus spoke up and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Teacher,’ he replied, ‘speak.’ 41‘A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?’ 43Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ 44Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’ 

There is an old saying in the Talmud: “Do not torture another with the bleach you drank.”

That’s not a crystal clear proverb; but I think it’s a warning against our human tendency to project onto others the vileness we try to mask and deny within ourselves.

Projection is a human phenomenon not really observed and named until the advent of modern psychology in the late-19th century. The things we hate about our own selves we “project” onto or magnify in others. 

Though it took almost another 2,000 years for this phenomenon to really begin to be observed and studied in psychology, Jesus observed it at this dinner party in today’s story. The Pharisee was up in arms about this lifestyle of this woman who had slipped into his house. But Jesus said the Pharisee’s anger wasn’t really at the woman. It was something in his own lifestyle — something shameful or unreconciled — that was the true source of his indignation.  Jesus told the Pharisee he wasn’t so much angered with the woman and her sin; he was angry with himself and his own sin. “He who is forgiven little, loves little,” Jesus said.

The next time we are unduly angered by another’s lifestyle or choices or “sin”, we would  do well to check ourselves, to see if our feelings might not actually be signs of our own inner-tensions and inconsistencies, and to see if we might not be able to come to a place of deeper confession and forgiveness for our own selves. For just as “the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little,” so too does the one who is forgiven much love much. 

And that should mean that there’s the possibility of a lot more love and a lot less hate going around. 

Daily Lesson for October 10, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 7 verses 24 through 28:

24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 25What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces. 26What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27This is the one about whom it is written,

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

   who will prepare your way before you.” 

28I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.’

John was the greatest of all the prophets. His moral message was profound. His call for social and religious reform was necessary. His own personal and communal ethics were absolute. No one ever called John hypocritical. 

And yet, Jesus said, “even the least in the kingdom of God is greater” than John.

What was meant by so striking a statement?

Perhaps Jesus was recognizing that there is always a limit to moral reform — both personal and social. There is a point where moral perfection always falls short. There is a point where good works must be let go, and grace must be grabbed hold of. 

The world John described — where everyone gave in as much as they had extra to all those who in as much had need, where privilege of blood or caste did not make one greater than another, where no strong wine would ever be the ruin of a house or a family — sounds very utopian and idyllic.  The only thing is this: I’m not sure I would want to live there with John.

No one born of women was greater than John the Baptist. And yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.  And maybe this is because in John’s community everyone has to work and work and work to live up, while the least in the kingdom of God knows he or she could never, ever work enough.

Daily Lesson for October 9, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 7 verses 11 through 17:

11 Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. 12As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. 13When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ 14Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ 15The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’ 17This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.

Though all around the whole crowd is involved in the ritual of death, Jesus steps forward to stop its procession. No one else could see anything but death lying in the coffin; Jesus, however, saw something else. Jesus could still see the potential for life lying in the young man’s coffin.

So often we can write young people off as hopeless cases, people who will never change or be changed, and whose destiny we imagine is the graveyard — whether literally or figuratively.  But all it takes is one who sees something else, who sees the potential for life and is willing to step forward, reach out a hand, and intervene and the whole funeral procession can be stopped and turned around.

May we have eyes to see life where others only see death.  And may we find it within ourselves the strength and courage to step forward, reach out our hands, and say to those said to be dead, “Rise!”

Daily Lesson for October 8, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 6 verses 47 through 49:

47”I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. 48That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.”

One of the most terrifying reports I read from this most recent tsunami which hit Indonesia was the fact that it was not only the overwhelming water which swamped the island villages, but actually the ground itself which shifted beneath the weight of the water and then too began to flow like a river. Nothing could stand amidst the moving earth.

Jesus said, the house fell  because it was built upon faulty and fragile earth. It fell victim to the flood because it was ultimately only as steady as the earth beneath it. Jesus said the only way to avoid the collapse is for the house to be built on foundation deeper than even the earth. The builders would have to dig deeper into ground, beneath layers and layers of dirt and find the rock beneath. 

Digging is hard work. It’s easier to build a faith on simple answers to complex problems, name it and claim it promises, and us versus them world views. But eventually the flood comes, and the ground shifts; and only the ones who have done the hard work of digging deep remain.

The rest have to start again; but this time with the wisdom of experience which tells them they need to bring not only a shovel, but perhaps even a backhoe.

Daily Lesson for October 5, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 6 verses 20 through 26:

20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 “Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.

22 “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

24 “But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation.

25 “Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger.

“Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

26 “Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

Today’s Lesson reminds us that those who lose out shall not lose forever — for God is on the side of righteousness.  And it is a warning to those who win — for the terms which may make them winners in this world today now may well be reversed and make them losers tomorrow.

Such is life. 

“For the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor riches to men of understanding; but time and chance happen to them all.”

So what is left then in all the blowing of the wind, here one day and gone the next?

To be people of decent character and integrity.

To keep humble and Lord nothing over anyone. 

To not take vengeance into our own hands, but to wait on the justice of the LORD.

To remember that we are to treat our neighbors the way we would wish to be treated, and give the measure unto them which we would wish to be given. 

To do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. 

To rejoice not in success — for such a thing is fleeting and contingent and given to the wind — but to rejoice rather to rejoice only in that we’ve done what was asked, acted in good faith and conscience, and that our names are written in the Book of Life. 

Daily Lesson for October 4, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 6 verses 6 through 11:

6 On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. 7The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. 8Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come and stand here.’ He got up and stood there. 9Then Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?’ 10After looking around at all of them, he said to him, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was restored. 11But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

I was in a diner for breakfast a while back and there was a guy to my right talking about his tenants. I couldn’t help hearing because his voice was loud and tone obnoxious.  He was talking about his renters. Apparently he couldn’t stand them. According to him they were stupid and lazy and very, very selfish. They were also Muslim, or Sikhs, or Armenians, or something. As he was telling his story he kept calling them Muslims, or Mohameds, but he would say the words loud like in all caps — MUSLIMS and MOHAMEDS. Whatever they were, apparently they weren’t Christians.  The landlord was; he was Catholic and apparently very serious about that. So serious in fact that he was absolutely incensed these people would call on a Sunday morning asking to get something fixed at the house. “It’s Sunday morning for God’s sake,” he said.  “Don’t you know some people go to church?”  It was a question; but really it was an accusation and the word church was said in all caps too. “Don’t you know some people go to CHURCH?”

Some people do. Some people go to church, while others go to CHURCH. Some keep the sabbath; and some keep the sabbath and also the spirit of the sabbath. 

They’re not exactly the same.