Daily Lesson for July 31, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Acts chapter 16 verses 16 through 19:

16 One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. 17While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, ‘These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.’ 18She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And it came out that very hour.

19 But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market-place before the authorities.

In Philippi Paul and Silas were staying in the home of Lydia, a wealthy convert. Things were I would guess comfortable there and the young church was growing.

So when a slave-girl with a spirit of divinization in her began to ask Paul and Silas for help they were reluctant to get involved. They were there to preach the Gospel, I imagine them thinking, not get caught up trying to set a slave free.  That would be a distraction and would risk the spiritual mission of the church.

But the slave-girl wasn’t going to give up that easy. She kept at them.  She just would not give up, prophesying that Paul and Silas were themselves slaves of a much greater master than the one who had enslaved her. This greater master was “The Most High God” in whose name “the way of salvation” would be proclaimed. 

Worn out by this young slave’s persistence, and with his conscience finally pricked, Paul cast put the spirit of divinization which the slave-girl’s owners had been exploiting for their own gain. The spirit of divinization meant to keep her possessed — a possession of itself and her exploitative owners. But the Spirit of the Most High meant to bring her back into her own possession, and her own control. And she in fact took it upon herself by the Spirit of the God of the Most High within her to find her own voice and to demand her own freedom, even when Paul and Silas were reluctant to get involved. She found her own voice and demanded that they get involved. 

The church is too often too late to the causes of justice. Like Paul and Silas, we get comfortable enjoying the niceties of Lydia’s guest house. We get seduced into thinking we’re doing our mission, proclaiming God’s gospel. But the cry for justice can only be ignored so long. There’s a world in chains out there, millions exploited and oppressed in all our modern Philippis. And what the Spirit of the God of the Most High said there is the same thing the Spirit says now:

“These are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.”

And the Spirit just won’t shut up until we do . . .

Daily Lesson for July 30, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 61 verses 1 through 5:

1 Hear my cry, O God, 

and listen to my prayer.

2 I call upon you from the ends of the earth

with heaviness in my heart; 

set me upon the rock that is higher than I.

3 For you have been my refuge, 

a strong tower against the enemy.

4 I will dwell in your house for ever; 

I will take refuge under the cover of your wings.

5 For you, O God, have heard my vows; 

you have granted me the heritage of those who fear your Name.

Paul Tillich called God the “Ground of Being” and anyone who has ever been through something — something terrifying or uncertain or anxiety-inducing, something that leaves us shaken and afraid — knows what he meant.

God is our higher ground and also our lower ground. God is the higher rock that the Psalmist prays to stand upon, and also the rock upon which he makes his plea. God is our rock of ages, our firm foundation, our terra firma in a time of great and even grave tectonic shift.

“There will be earthquakes and wars and rumors of wars” and “many shall faint from foreboding over what is coming upon the earth for the heavens will be shaken.”

But, behold, even if the heavens and the earth are shaken to their very core, we remain steadfast. We are unmoved. For our lives have been built upon a rock, with the words of the apostles and prophets about God as foundation and “Christ Jesus as our cornerstone”.

And as the old Negro spiritual says:

We shall not, We shall not be moved

We shall not, We shall not be moved

Just like a tree that's planted by the water

We shall not be moved

For God is our rock, our strength, our fortress, and the ground on which we stand, into which we die, and from which I believe we shall one day rise again . . .

Daily Lesson for July 29, 2019

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

6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ 10When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

Richard Rohr says God comes to us “disguised as our lives”.

In today’s Lesson Paul and his companions desire to travel east into the Roman province of Bithynia, the doorway to Asia. They are confident of their direction and set to go. But something prevents them from making the move. The door is shut. Instead they turn west. And as it ends up, the whole history of the church turns on that small yet fateful hinge.

Life’s roadblocks may be God’s plans in disguise. Where we think we are going and should go get changed. The door right in front of us closes tight; suddenly we have to look around and see what other doors might be open. Sometimes this means small changes. Sometimes everything changes. Sometimes, like Paul and his companions, we end up going west rather than east. 

Paul was “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia”.  Forbidden. Wow. That’s strong. Who knew that was in the Bible? 

Asia was forbidden. Shut tighter than a clam with lockjaw, as I’ve heard it said. But Europe was open; it was inviting.

And they decided to give it a try . . .

Daily Lesson for July 26, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 5 verses 24 through 34:

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years.26She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ 29Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’31And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ 32He looked all round to see who had done it. 33But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’

For years I was in a small group which deeply changed me as a person and minister. Every week we gather and each of us shared and then each of us responded to the others’ sharing with a feeling and a question. It was astounding how hard it was at first get in touch with our feelings and not thoughts, and how difficult it was to limit ourselves to a single question rather than a lot of advice. A feeling and a question were the rules. As we learned to practice them the group was transformed and so was I as a person. 

In the Lesson today there is a feeling and a question. Even amidst all the other things going on in the scene, Jesus feels the woman’s touch.  He was in touch with his senses, in touch with others. And then there’s a question. “Who touched me?” he asks. The question then begins the woman’s full journey to restoration. At the touch she is healed of her disease. But only after the question, and then her own response does she find peace. 

A feeling and a question. The next time you’re with someone in a serious or therapeutic conversation try it. Practice it. Be disciplined about it. For it has the power to transform our whole encounter in the presence of the one across from us. 

Daily Lesson for July 25, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from 1 Samuel chapter 28 verses 3 through 12:

3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. Saul had expelled the mediums and the wizards from the land. 4The Philistines assembled, and came and encamped at Shunem. Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, not by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. 7Then Saul said to his servants, ‘Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go to her and inquire of her.’ His servants said to him, ‘There is a medium at Endor.’

8 So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes and went there, he and two men with him. They came to the woman by night. And he said, ‘Consult a spirit for me, and bring up for me the one whom I name to you.’ 9The woman said to him, ‘Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the wizards from the land. Why then are you laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?’ 10But Saul swore to her by the Lord, ‘As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.’ 11Then the woman said, ‘Whom shall I bring up for you?’ He answered, ‘Bring up Samuel for me.’12When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman said to Saul, ‘Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!’

Saul feels the kingdom slipping from his hands. It is a time of great anxiety, which for Saul then slips into desperation. He will do anything to hold onto the seat of his power. He is even willing to break his own laws. And so in a moment of desperation, Saul visits the witch of Endor and asks her — no forces her — to conjure up the old priest Samuel from death’s slumber. The abuse of power is complete. 

Samuel is conjured; but what is he reveals dismays. Saul is revealed; he is found out. And the end of his kingdom is sealed. He shudders in fear. 

Power and the will to power can delude us into all manner of actions, deceptions, and evils. The desire to hold onto the throne or whatever its equivalent is can bring us to a place of deep, deep betrayal. As the old saying goes, “Power corrupts; and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

But as for Saul, our own deceptions are always revealed. As is said in the Bible “[our] sins will find [us] out.

In the end, Saul loses the throne. The witch of Endor is powerless to help. For she conjures the dead, but then it is revealed that the LORD is God of both the living and the dead. And so in the end there is revelation and also judgment. 

Let us with ears to hear also understand. 

Daily Lesson for July 24, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 4 verses 35 through 41:

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ 36And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.37A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ 39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ 41And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

There can be no crossing over, no going over to “the other side” without chaos and fear and the uncertainty of our surviving the voyage. This is a necessary part of life’s journey. We must be  taken to a place beyond our comfort through waters beyond our control.

Of course, this is where the blaming happens. We are in chaos and out of our chaos comes yelling, finger pointing, confusion, and anger. This is the point at which sailors of long ago would have thrown a man overboard to appease the sea gods. We are not so different from those ancient mariners. How many junior VPs have been cast over the deck because the ship was not making its sales goals?  Note: it’s always the junior VPs or the assistant coaches or the youth minister who is the first to be tossed. 

In today’s Lesson we have perhaps the cruelest of all the accusations made against Jesus. It is worse than all the Sanhedrine’s lies or Pilates charges.  It is worse because it came from his friends, his own disciples.  “Do you not care?” they charged. 

Of course he cared. Of course he did not want this boat to split apart. He was in the ship with them!  He had no death wish. He was not ambivalent.  He was in this with them. He cared for them, for the boat, for the mission of the church. 

He did care. He does care. And yet even with the chaos and storm, wind and waves, and the terrifying uncertainty of drowning, he also knows there is no other way. The boat must cross over. It must reach a new place. It cannot go back. 

And then the words echoing from Jesus in that little first-century fishing boat through all eternity and landing in whatever sea-tossed vessel we find ourselves today:

“Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”

And then for a time there is stillness and there is calm, and then the dawning certainty of even greater storms to come. And then the sudden realization of what it will take from us if we try to cross this water once more. 

And the word for what it will take is called: Courage. 

Daily Lesson for July 23, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 4 verses 30 through 32:

30 He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;32yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’

In Jesus’ day the mustard tree was an invasive and persistent plant species.  It was unwanted, yet doggedly determined, and impossible to eradicate. I think it was Barbara Brown Taylor who said the mustard bush in Israel was like kudzu in the South. 

What an interesting metaphor for the kingdom come — something pesty and troublesome and absolutely impossible to control.  No wonder the Empire wanted it stopped!

Authentic Christianity looks a lot like a mustard seed. It begins in a very tiny, and even invisible way.  Once it’s seen, it’s unwanted and unwelcome and the powers that be always try to halt it. They do everything they can to end it. Yet in the end, it cannot be stopped. It continues to grow and grow from a single person to a group of people to a movement of the masses. Finally, it puts off branches into other parts of the country and world. 

And before too long the birds of the air travel long distances and from far away places to come and make nests in its shade. 

May those with ears to hear let them understand. 

Daily Lesson for July 22, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 52:

1 You tyrant, why do you boast of wickedness 

against the godly all day long?

2 You plot ruin;

your tongue is like a sharpened razor, 

O worker of deception.

3 You love evil more than good 

and lying more than speaking the truth.

4 You love all words that hurt, 

O you deceitful tongue.

5 Oh, that God would demolish you utterly, 

topple you, and snatch you from your dwelling,

and root you out of the land of the living!

6 The righteous shall see and tremble, 

and they shall laugh at him, saying,

7 "This is the one who did not take God for a refuge, 

but trusted in great wealth

and relied upon wickedness."

8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; 

I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

9 I will give you thanks for what you have done 

and declare the goodness of your Name in the presence of the godly.

“I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.”

This is a strong statement of resilience and even defiance amidst a time of great, great evil. 

An olive tree can endure almost any harsh and prolonged weather condition. It can withstand the hot sun and sudden freezes of Israel’s high desert climate. 

And, significantly, it was the branch of an olive tree that the dove brought back to Noah in its beak after the flood. The olive tree had endured. The covenant of God with humanity was still valid.

So, in claiming to be an olive tree in the house of God even all the wickedness of his present age, the Psalmist was steadfastly holding on to life amidst death, hope amidst a time of despair. 

We can survive this. We can survive this time. We can survive this day. We are resilient. We will endure. And in the end, we will be a sign of the everlasting promises of the LORD.  

We are like green olive trees in the house of God.

Daily Lesson for July 12, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 1 verses 12 and 13:

12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

The Spirit drove him there. That’s an interesting statement, and really a quite stunning one when you pause to think on it. But the text is very clear: it was the Spirit that brought him into the wilderness where his faith was put to the test. 

And so it may very well be with us in our wilderness. We may think we did this to ourselves or somebody else did it to us. And that may oftentimes, maybe even most of the time, be true. But sometimes, and maybe the most important of times, it’s the spirit that brings us out into the wilderness where we can be tested, and tempered, and made strong.

We may wonder, “What is the difference between testing and tempting?”  Satan tempts, and his desire is that we falter in weakness. But God tests, and God’s desire is that we persist in strength. The Spirit sent Jesus into the wilderness that he might grown strong, endure, and in the words of the prophet learn to “run and not grow weary, walk and not faint.”

We are in the wilderness now.  It is hard, and scary, and dry as caked West Texas dirt, and there’s rattlesnakes all over the place. And about every 15 minutes we may wonder if there is any way out. We wonder if we can really survive all 40 days. We wonder if we want to survive even another hour. 

And the Gospel says, it may well be that just like Jesus’ time in the wilderness, it’s the God’s Spirit who put us here and God’s angels who will see us through. 

Daily Lesson for July 11, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from 1 Samuel chapter 16 verses 1 through 11:

Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2Saul and the Israelites gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah, and formed ranks against the Philistines. 3The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armoured with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him. 8He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, ‘Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.’ 10And the Philistine said, ‘Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together.’ 11When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

In his book “David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants” cultural critic and former New York Times writer Malcolm Gladwell explores how oftentimes the seemingly unlikely event of an underdog defeating an apparently much stronger force actually happens and how so. The basic thesis is that strength can become liability and coercive force can backfire. Or, someone I know vividly put it, “Heavy-handedness is never good for swatting flies.”

Goliath was mighty and strong. But his sheer size and strength, unmatchable in hand to hand combat, became liabilities at a distance. As Gladwell says, out in the open before David’s rocks, Goliath “didn’t stand a chance”.

Our strengths can easily become weaknesses. Our superior weaponry for one battle may be our end in another. This is a warning.

Beware our weaknesses. And beware even more our strengths; for in the end they may be our greatest weaknesses. 

Daily Lesson for July 10, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Acts chapter 10 verses 9 through 16:

9 About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. 12In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. 13Then he heard a voice saying, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ 14But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.’ 15The voice said to him again, a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ 16This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven.

Peter’s dream must have been absolutely abhorrent to him. The last time I preached this text I said that with all these unclean animals being brought down — four-footed creatures, reptiles, birds of many kinds — it must have looked like lower Louisiana was coming at him. Is it any wonder he said, “By no means!”

Actually, he said something else too. He said, “By no means, Lord.”   Which means on some certain level within himself he understood that the dream came from a place of authority.  

Yet still, he still resisted. It was too much.  Too different. Too radical a split from his understanding of the given categories of his world — “clean” and “unclean”.

So the dream had to happen three times. Even though it came directly from the Lord, it still didn’t happen suddenly. He had to be told thrice.

Our old prejudices die hard. Our old categories for ordering the word — Jew/gentile, slave/free, male/female, white/“colored” — are trenchant.  Even when we know what is right, our process of acceptance is usually long and stubbornly resisted. 

Yet, the Lord does not give up. The dream persists. Lower Louisiana keeps coming down. It keeps knocking on our door, disturbing us in our sleep.

And, finally, our “By no means,” becomes, “Here I am, Lord; send me.”

Daily Lesson for June 9, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Acts chapter 9 verses 36 through 43:

36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity.37At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs.38Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, ‘Please come to us without delay.’ 39So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. 40Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. 41He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. 42This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.43Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.

Here is a story of a woman whose small acts of love and care ended up having a huge impact on her community and, eventually, all of Christianity. 

Dorcas, also called Tabitha (not a bad idea if your name is Dorcas), was a faithful servant who cared for her community through simple gifts of kindness, compassion, and presence. When she died, all the community of widows spoke of her love and care for them. 

Peter was called to Joppa because Tabitha was ill. When he raised her from the dead her room was filled with all the tunics these widows had brought to bear witness to all she had done for them.

But that was not all that happened in Joppa. Afterward, Peter stayed with a man from the village named Simon, a tanner. And it was in Simon’s home that Peter had his dream about accepting unclean foods and also received an invitation to come and share the Gospel with gentiles. 

That encounter changed the course of Christianity. It was a dramatic and life-altering moment for Peter and for all the Christian faith. But it happened because Tabitha had been quietly knitting all those tunics for the widows for all those years. 

And to me, that is what heaven will be like.  One day, we too will be awakened from the dead. And our room will be decorated with all the good works we have done on earth and we’ll get to sit back and watch how our small acts of care and compassion turn out to have a huge impact in the whole kingdom of God. 

And I don’t know about you, but that inspires me to go out and do something kind and loving for somebody today. 

Daily Lesson for July 8, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Acts chapter 9 verses 26 through 30:

26 When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. 28So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29He spoke and argued with the Hellenists; but they were attempting to kill him. 30When the believers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

People can change. The gospel can change them. Christ can change them. 

This may well be one of the most important points to keep in mind in this present age. We live in an age of such polarization and demonization and everybody seems to want to get the goods on their political or religious opponent. It has become a winner takes all world; and the saddest thing is that a whole mass of Christianity on both left and right has joined in a thirst for vanquish and retribution. 

But the Gospel is not about vengeance. It’s not about retribution. It is about accountability.  It’s about truth. But truth and accountability are never supposed to be separate from grace and the invitation to change.

A question: have you prayed for your enemies in a while?  Have you prayed for the politicians whose policies you can’t stand?  An even harder question: have you prayed for those who have done harm to your community?

Saul persecuted the church vehemently. He was even complicit in the stoning of the early followers. But Saul was changed. By the mystery of God’s grace he was changed. And the early church had also to change its opinion of him. I’m sure that was a very hard thing to do. 

“Vengeance is mine,” says the LORD. And,

“it is not the will that any should perish.”  God’s hope for this world is redemption. May God keep working on us until that’s our hope also. 

A Poem for Independence Day

O, Say Can You See?

This morning my little girl asked me

Why does the National Anthem end in a question?

I had to hum it in my head to bring it to mind:

“O, say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave . . . ?”

I was surprised

It does end in a question

I had never noticed that before

And then it dawned on me

There’s probably a lot more I never noticed also

But today my little girl is teaching me to notice

To pay more attention

To ask questions — Hard, but good questions

About a song

About a flag

And the Republic for which it stands

Daily Lesson for July 3, 2019

Yesterday evening our family was driving to pick up something for dinner and the discussion turned to theology and the latest brouhaha in Fort Worth. An atheist group has made use of a city policy which allows private-paid advertising banners to be set up all over downtown to promote upcoming Fort Worth events. Since discrimination with respect to religion is explicitly outlawed by the Constitution now downtown Fort Worth is festooned with a regiment of matching banners declaring boldly, “In No God We Trust”.  And apparently nobody thought to tell the Mayor that this was coming down the pike. 

We talked about all the shocked Facebook posts. I shook my head at the kerfuffle. A tempest in a teapot. Irie, however, took the time to talk to the children about freedom of religion and the freedom we enjoy as Americans to practice religion or not. I thought that was pretty good two days before the Fourth of July. 

We parked the car; and when we were getting out our youngest Bo asked, “But is God real?”  

“Well, what do you think I think?” I asked. 

“Yes,” he said. 

“Yes,” I said, “I think God is real.”  

“But how do you know?” he asked. 

“Well,” I said, “I guess I believe in God because others believe. 

“ you know, Jesus believed in God,” I added. 

He shook his head. 

“And Desmond Tutu thinks God is real.”

“Who is Desmond Tutu,” he asked. 

“Somebody I admire,” I said. “And somebody else was Maya Angelou’s. She believed in God. And so does Aunt Opal. And Grandma Eva. And Malkhaz Songulashvili.”

“Bishop Malkhaz?” 

“Yes; Bishop Malkhaz.

“And also Amy Butler.”

I knew he wouldn’t know who Amy either, but for my own reasons I wanted to add her name. And I think my point was clear. We believe because of others. We believe because the church believes. We believe because those who’ve gone before us believed. We believe in the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Maya, Opal, Amy, and . . . 

And you add your own names . . .

In the God of our fathers and our mothers and our brothers and our sisters and our mentors we believe. And their witness is far, far more powerful than some sign somewhere downtown that either says or doesn’t say something about the existence of God.

Yes, we believe in God. And we believe because those we believe in believe. We believe and trust in them; and in their God we trust also. 

Daily Lesson for July 2, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 122

1 I was glad when they said to me, *

"Let us go to the house of the Lord."

2 Now our feet are standing *

within your gates, O Jerusalem.

3 Jerusalem is built as a city *

that is at unity with itself;

4 To which the tribes go up,

the tribes of the Lord, *

the assembly of Israel,

to praise the Name of the Lord.

5 For there are the thrones of judgment, *

the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: *

"May they prosper who love you.

7 Peace be within your walls *

and quietness within your towers.

8 For my brethren and companions' sake, *

I pray for your prosperity.

9 Because of the house of the Lord our God, *

I will seek to do you good."

Today’s Lesson is a word about our cities and our need to pray for them. 

We know so many of our cities are so plagued by violence and crime. They are plagued by generational poverty, lack of quality education, insufficient resources, systemic injustice, and deep mistrust. The summertime sees tensions rise. 

The Psalmist this morning prays for his city. He inspires us all to pray for our own cities also— to pray for peace, for prosperity, for unity, for justice, for all neighborhoods, and all residents. 

I pray this morning for my own City of Fort Worth. I ask that you pray for you own city.  And this July 4 week I ask that we all pray for the National City, Washington, DC. 

“Jerusalem is built as a city that is at unity with itself,” the Psalmist wrote. So, too, may our cities be built and rebuilt also. 

Daily Lesson for July 1, 2019

Today is the Feast Day of Pauli Murray (1910-1985) who was one an American civil rights lawyer and one of the first females ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church. Murray was also the very first African American woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest. Thurgood Marshall called Murray’s book States' Laws on Race and Color the "bible" of the civil rights movement. Her book was an essential resource in the argument which overturned segregation. 

Murray was feisty and determined. In an age when there were few female and zero other black female lawyers, she had to fight for her place in society. She fought for herself when no one else would fight for her. One of my favorite quotes comes from her determination as a fighter.  “One person plus one typewriter constitutes a movement,” she said. 

Murray also was one of the early pioneers in regards to our understanding of gender as a non-binary biological and social concept.  As a gay woman who sometimes dressed in men’s clothes — slacks! — Murray helped knock the door down to the men’s only world she was born into and opened the hole for millions of others. 

Pauli Murray plus a typewriter began a movement. And now that she is gone the question for us is who is willing to put their fingers on the keyboard next?