Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 62 verse 9:
9 Those of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
The rule of the mighty and the rich and the privileged and the powerful of this world is but a fleeting moment and they too shall be gathered with their ancestors and left to the judgment of the God of history. They too wrinkle and wither and wear out. It is the same for the bold and beautiful as it is for the meek and the mild.
John Donne gave a vivid image in a sermon on mortality:
"When a whirlewind hath blown the dust of a churchyard into the Church, and the man sweeps out the dust of the Church into the Churchyard, who will undertake to sift those dusts again and to pronounce, This is the patrician, this is the noble flowre , and this the yeomanly, this the Plebeian bran? "
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust; in the end there shall be no blue-blooded dust. All go the same way. All will stand before the same judge. And as Bishop Massilon said after snuffing out the candle at the funeral of "the Great" King Louis XIV, "only God is great."
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Monday, January 30, 2017
Daily Lesson for January 30, 2017
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 7 verses 24 through 30:
24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
Today's Daily Lesson is a story from Jesus' day and time which mirrors our own.
There is a woman from Syrophoenicia -- modern day Syria -- who is desperate for the well-being of her child. She begs for help.
And there is in Jesus a response about the needs of his own people being a priority. "Let the children be fed first." This response has always bothered me coming out of Jesus' mouth. But today I am glad for it; it shows the honest concern Jesus had for his own people and gives us permission to be honest about our own.
And yet, the woman does not give up. She continues to beg and to plead on her child's behalf. The desperation in her voice and the tears in her eyes cannot be unheard or unseen. And seeing and hearing, Jesus is moved to an act of compassion.
Something about this woman moved Jesus in such a way that changed him not only in that moment but in fact changed his whole life and ministry. Before this encounter all his work was in Jewish territory, in and around the Galilean countryside. But after this encounter he would expand his mission field, he would move out beyond Galilee into the Decapolis in Gentile territory. As the writer Mark puts it Jesus would now cross over "to the other side".
This means I and the rest of the Gentile world have much to be thankful for in this woman. For in asking on behalf of her own son she also asked on behalf of ours and our children. And moved with compassion, Jesus grew in wisdom and in the knowledge that He had come not only for deliverance of His own people but for the healing of the whole world.
Thanks be to God!
And thanks be to this Syrophoenician woman!
Artwork:
Limbourg, Herman de, approximately 1385-approximately 1416; Limbourg, Jean de, approximately 1385-approximately 1416; Limbourg, Pol de, approximately 1385-approximately 1416. The Canaanite Woman asks for healing for her daughter, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55920 [retrieved January 31, 2017]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Folio_164r_-_The_Canaanite_Woman.jpg.
24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
Today's Daily Lesson is a story from Jesus' day and time which mirrors our own.
There is a woman from Syrophoenicia -- modern day Syria -- who is desperate for the well-being of her child. She begs for help.
And there is in Jesus a response about the needs of his own people being a priority. "Let the children be fed first." This response has always bothered me coming out of Jesus' mouth. But today I am glad for it; it shows the honest concern Jesus had for his own people and gives us permission to be honest about our own.
And yet, the woman does not give up. She continues to beg and to plead on her child's behalf. The desperation in her voice and the tears in her eyes cannot be unheard or unseen. And seeing and hearing, Jesus is moved to an act of compassion.
Something about this woman moved Jesus in such a way that changed him not only in that moment but in fact changed his whole life and ministry. Before this encounter all his work was in Jewish territory, in and around the Galilean countryside. But after this encounter he would expand his mission field, he would move out beyond Galilee into the Decapolis in Gentile territory. As the writer Mark puts it Jesus would now cross over "to the other side".
This means I and the rest of the Gentile world have much to be thankful for in this woman. For in asking on behalf of her own son she also asked on behalf of ours and our children. And moved with compassion, Jesus grew in wisdom and in the knowledge that He had come not only for deliverance of His own people but for the healing of the whole world.
Thanks be to God!
And thanks be to this Syrophoenician woman!
Artwork:
Limbourg, Herman de, approximately 1385-approximately 1416; Limbourg, Jean de, approximately 1385-approximately 1416; Limbourg, Pol de, approximately 1385-approximately 1416. The Canaanite Woman asks for healing for her daughter, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55920 [retrieved January 31, 2017]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Folio_164r_-_The_Canaanite_Woman.jpg.
Friday, January 27, 2017
Daily Lesson for January 27, 2017
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 6 verses 47 through 51:
47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased.
The Prophet and Teacher, Mystic Man and Messiah moves effortlessly across the water, within Him the Spirit of God which hovered over the face of the waters in Genesis 1. He has the boat in view but the other shoreline in mind. He is going there, to a new place in history, to reach the other side, to reach the Other.
But the boat drags against the current. It struggles at the oars. It fatigues and frightens in the fourth watch of the night. To the boat the Mystic Man is not Messiah or even man but ghost, apparition, phantasm, demon spirit. His passing by frightens them. Where he is going frightens them. They are frightened.
And He, Mystic Man and Messiah, intending first to leave them behind, can now see that they will never get to the other side and to the Other shore, and to the Other peoples, without Him. They will give up. They quit in fatigue. They will turn back in fear. And so, now He pauses, and even stops, and turns around. "Do not be afraid," He says. "Take heart; it is I."
And deigning now, the Mystic Man and Messiah climbs into the boat also. In other words, He joins the Church. He joins the Church because while he intends to get to the Other side, to another shore, and another place of expansion and inclusion and reaching out, and altogether another consciousness, He will not go alone. He wants them with Him. He will arrive in the boat, slower and harder going, but together.
"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
"For I have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now."
Artwork:
Tanner, Henry Ossawa, 1859-1937. Disciples See Christ Walking on the Water, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55904 [retrieved January 27, 2017]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Ossawa_Tanner,_The_Disciples_See_Christ_Walking_on_the_Water,_c._1907.jpg.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Daily Lesson for January 26, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Galatians chapter 3 verses 10 and 11:
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
The Law cannot save anyone because no one has ever been obedient to the whole Law. We sometimes act as though we have been obedient, using the Law to condemn others' shortcomings, flaws and differentness; but really if the whole weight of the Law were pressed upon us then who could stand?
It dismays me how blind we are sometimes to our own sins and shortcomings. We give ourselves a pass on all manner of things -- divorce, remarriage, enjoying bacon, washing the car on the Sabbath, wearing cotton and synthetic blend clothing.
Some profess to be fundamentalist, literalist people of faith who believe in and follow the whole Bible. But nobody follows the whole Bible. We all pick and choose. That is a condemnation I sometimes hear: "Well, can we just pick and choose what to believe and obey?" And my answer is that it's not a matter of whether or not we can or can't -- we do. And until we're honest about that then we'll always see the splinter in our neighbor's eye and miss the log in our own.
Jesus said, "In the same way you judge others you also shall be judged." I take that to mean that if we hold our neighbor up to the full measure of the Law then we subject ourselves to its weight also. "And cursed is he who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." On the other hand, if we measure out grace then grace will be measured out for us also.
"And the measure that we give shall be the measure that we get."
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
The Law cannot save anyone because no one has ever been obedient to the whole Law. We sometimes act as though we have been obedient, using the Law to condemn others' shortcomings, flaws and differentness; but really if the whole weight of the Law were pressed upon us then who could stand?
It dismays me how blind we are sometimes to our own sins and shortcomings. We give ourselves a pass on all manner of things -- divorce, remarriage, enjoying bacon, washing the car on the Sabbath, wearing cotton and synthetic blend clothing.
Some profess to be fundamentalist, literalist people of faith who believe in and follow the whole Bible. But nobody follows the whole Bible. We all pick and choose. That is a condemnation I sometimes hear: "Well, can we just pick and choose what to believe and obey?" And my answer is that it's not a matter of whether or not we can or can't -- we do. And until we're honest about that then we'll always see the splinter in our neighbor's eye and miss the log in our own.
Jesus said, "In the same way you judge others you also shall be judged." I take that to mean that if we hold our neighbor up to the full measure of the Law then we subject ourselves to its weight also. "And cursed is he who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." On the other hand, if we measure out grace then grace will be measured out for us also.
"And the measure that we give shall be the measure that we get."
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Daily Lesson for January 25, 2017
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 6 verses 14 through 16:
14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
John the Baptist came preaching, "Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand." And King Herod arrested John, then Jesus took the mantle with the same words, "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." And this shows how God has a way of raising up the next generation of prophets again and again.
In a very powerful sermon from his collected works Dr. Gardner C Taylor had just come back to his church in Brooklyn after attending the funeral for Alberta King, the mother of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She had been shot and killed while at the organ console during a Sunday service in the King's Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. In the sermon, Dr. Taylor, who was a close friend of and mentor to Dr. King, told of a special moment he had with King's father "Daddy King" during the memorial events. Amidst the grief of the week, Daddy King had shared with Dr. Taylor that he was proud because a grandson, one of Dr. King's young nephews, had just announced his intention to enter into the ministry. Reflecting on the meaning of this, Daddy King then told Dr. Taylor, "They can't kill us all."
Good shall never be completely killed off. God is always raising up another generation of preachers, and prophets, and truth tellers. They can't all be killed or shut up. No generation is left without any Word from the LORD.
As the old Battle Hymn says, "His truth is marching on."
14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
John the Baptist came preaching, "Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand." And King Herod arrested John, then Jesus took the mantle with the same words, "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." And this shows how God has a way of raising up the next generation of prophets again and again.
In a very powerful sermon from his collected works Dr. Gardner C Taylor had just come back to his church in Brooklyn after attending the funeral for Alberta King, the mother of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She had been shot and killed while at the organ console during a Sunday service in the King's Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. In the sermon, Dr. Taylor, who was a close friend of and mentor to Dr. King, told of a special moment he had with King's father "Daddy King" during the memorial events. Amidst the grief of the week, Daddy King had shared with Dr. Taylor that he was proud because a grandson, one of Dr. King's young nephews, had just announced his intention to enter into the ministry. Reflecting on the meaning of this, Daddy King then told Dr. Taylor, "They can't kill us all."
Good shall never be completely killed off. God is always raising up another generation of preachers, and prophets, and truth tellers. They can't all be killed or shut up. No generation is left without any Word from the LORD.
As the old Battle Hymn says, "His truth is marching on."
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Daily Lesson for January 24, 2017
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Isaiah chapter 48 verse 21:
21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
he made water flow for them from the rock;
he split the rock and the water gushed out.
My friend, and Lubbock song-writing legend Andy Wilkinson has a line in one of his poems which describes the Llano Estacado escarpment as a place "where wind is plentiful and rain must be dug up before a crop can grow."
I love that; rain is buried in the rock and so it must be dug up from deep inside the earth. We say, "Pray for rain." But most of the rain we need has already fallen. It is down deep within rock.
The Israelites sought their freedom from the Egyptians, and crossing the Red Sea they came into the wilderness where there was no water. They cried and complained to Moses and to God. "Have you brought us here to die of thirst!"
But there was water. It had rained. For what, millennia? For eons? Since the foundation of the earth? They waited and prayed for it to rain there in the desert. But it had rained; and the rain was waiting on them. But the rain had to be dug up. God had already provided; but the water was deep within.
For those of us who wish for freedom, those of us who seek deliverance from bondage of many kinds, and to those of us who dare to cross the Sea, escape our Egypt, and discover what it means to live no longer as a slave, God has already provided the water. The resources to survive whatever wilderness we will have to walk are already there. The rain is already there, within the rock -- within us. God already sent it -- from before the foundation of the earth.
And now it's waiting on us to discover it and dig it up.
21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
he made water flow for them from the rock;
he split the rock and the water gushed out.
My friend, and Lubbock song-writing legend Andy Wilkinson has a line in one of his poems which describes the Llano Estacado escarpment as a place "where wind is plentiful and rain must be dug up before a crop can grow."
I love that; rain is buried in the rock and so it must be dug up from deep inside the earth. We say, "Pray for rain." But most of the rain we need has already fallen. It is down deep within rock.
The Israelites sought their freedom from the Egyptians, and crossing the Red Sea they came into the wilderness where there was no water. They cried and complained to Moses and to God. "Have you brought us here to die of thirst!"
But there was water. It had rained. For what, millennia? For eons? Since the foundation of the earth? They waited and prayed for it to rain there in the desert. But it had rained; and the rain was waiting on them. But the rain had to be dug up. God had already provided; but the water was deep within.
For those of us who wish for freedom, those of us who seek deliverance from bondage of many kinds, and to those of us who dare to cross the Sea, escape our Egypt, and discover what it means to live no longer as a slave, God has already provided the water. The resources to survive whatever wilderness we will have to walk are already there. The rain is already there, within the rock -- within us. God already sent it -- from before the foundation of the earth.
And now it's waiting on us to discover it and dig it up.
Monday, January 23, 2017
Daily Lesson for January 23, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Galatians chapter 1 verse 10:
"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ."
To follow Christ means to cut away from the need for acceptance and approval of other people. A life driven by Christ cannot also be determined by the expectations, social conventions, politics, and prejudices of others.
In today's Lesson St. Paul is reflecting on all that he had to cut away from, give up, and go against in order to follow Christ. Following Christ meant rejection for Paul. Learning to speak his own truth meant risking hostile stares and hostile words. He learned to speak anyways.
An old, and very wise mentor and minister of the Gospel once asked me, "What is your history with disapproval?"
That was not so much a question about my past as it was my future.
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