Daily Lesson for December 9, 2020

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Acts chapter 23 verses 23 through 30:

23 Then he summoned two of the centurions and said, “Get ready to leave by nine o’clock tonight for Caesarea with two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen. 24 Also provide mounts for Paul to ride, and take him safely to Felix the governor.” 25 He wrote a letter to this effect:

26 “Claudius Lysias to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings. 27 This man was seized . . . and was about to be killed . . . but when I had learned that he was a Roman citizen, I came with the guard and rescued him. 28 Since I wanted to know the charge for which they accused him, I had him brought to their council. 29 I found that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but was charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. 30 When I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”

Dr. King once said, "It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me but it can keep him from lynching me and I think that is pretty important also."

The role of the civil authorities is to uphold the rule of law and protect the civil and human rights of all people. No, it cannot make someone love someone else; but that is not its purpose. It's purpose is to protect the someone else from the someone's abuse.

Paul was a citizen of Rome. He said he was a "a citizen of heaven," but when he got in trouble he let it be known he had Roman citizenship also. And it was his Roman citizenship that spared his life on one or more occasions. It was his Roman citizenship that he relied upon to protect and guard him when he otherwise would have been stoned.

Again, the law can't make anybody love us; and it doesn't have to love us either. But it does have to keep our churches from being burned, our services from being interrupted, and our protests from being stopped. And Dr. King was right, that's all "pretty important also."

NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible through this year. Tomorrow we will read Acts chapters 24 through 26.

Daily Lesson for December 8, 2020

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Romans chapter 16 verses 1 and 2:

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon[a] of the church at Cenchreae, 2 so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well.

Phoebe was a deacon.

And Phoebe was also a woman.

That was hard for a lot of people to accept, so translators like those of the King James Version chose to replace "deacon" with the word "servant" instead. Now, in fairness, deacon does also mean servant; but it's telling how and where that was done. When the translators for KJV and most other translations are referring to men they use the term 'deacon', but when they refer to women they use the term "servant".

And it makes a big difference in the interpretation. With this in mind, go back and read the verses above using both terms. In the servant sense it implies Phoebe being a helper -- nice and necessary, but not having her own authority. But then go back and read it as deacon and combine it with the word "require" in verse 2. Now we see that Phoebe is a deacon with authority -- even authority over men.

Like I said, that was hard for a lot of people to accept. And it still is for many. But apparently it wasn't for Paul. Paul recognized Phoebe's gifts, her authority, and he called upon others to recognize them also.

And he still does. Paul's words in Romans are still calling us to recognize Phoebe's call as a deacon, and all the other women who have been called with her . . .

NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible through this year. Tomorrow we will go back to Acts, chapters 20-23.

Daily Lesson for December 7, 2020

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Romans chapter 12 verses 9 through 21:

9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Shane Claiborne once said it's easier to say what Christians believe than how they live.

Today Paul gives us the basics in Christian living -- how Christians are to live at all times, everywhere. He gives us the basic practices which we are called to live out in faith, hope, and love.

It is hard to overstake how difficult it must have been for some of those who were first reading Paul's letter to accept what he was saying. Persecuted severely and tempted towards all kinds of hate and vengeance, Paul's words admonished them to "not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Perhaps, if it had come from anyone else, the letter would have been rejected, but it came from Paul -- no stranger himself to being spitefully abused. The had to take it seriously.

We are called to love all, and hate only evil. We are called to hope, not surrendering to despair. We are called to the harmony which comes by humility, not trying to be more clever than we ought. We are called to nobility. We are called to service. We are called to the tending to the needs of the saints, and the welcoming of strangers, and the love of even enemies. Above all, we are called to goodness. For goodness is the Spirit's weapon against all evil.

As Christians this is how we are to live. And we live this way because this is the way our Lord lived. It's the way he died. And it's the way he rose again.

This is the way the good of this earth shall rise again.

And the world will call us blessed.

NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible through this year. Tomorrow we will finish the book of Romans, chapters 14-16.

Daily Lesson for December 4, 2020

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Romans chapter 1 verses 28 through 32 and chapter 2 verses 1 through 4:

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. 29 They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.

Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. 2 You say, “We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.” 3 Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

During the height of the protest against America's war in Vietnam William Sloane Coffin said that God is more interested in holiness than innocence.

Coffin said it was too late for innocence. He quoted Graham Greene's book "The Quiet American" in which it is said that innocence should be made to walk around with "a leper's bell". The point: innocence is deadly. For it was the idea of innocence that got us into the mess in the first place.

By holiness Coffin meant integrity or, literally, "wholeness". The one with integrity is the one who acts without self-deception.

The irony of the human condition is that the one who has integrity is the one who also knows himself or herself to be a sinner. It is the one who knows "no one is good but God alone". And that knowledge becomes then a kind of goodness, an acceptance of an unmerited righteousness given by God through faith and then expected to be given also to others in turn. It's the sinner's righteousness.

Jesus said, "He who is forgiven little loves little."

But woe unto him for whom there is nothing to repent. And woe even more to the nation he represents.

To err is human. To be conscious of our err is a step towards the divine. It is progress towards holiness -- true integrity.

But it's not innocence. For as Coffin said, "It's too late for innocence."

It is too late for innocence; yet thank God it's not too late for mercy.

"And unto whom much is given, much will be required."

NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible through this year. Over the weekend we will stay in Romans, reading through chapter 13.

Daily Lesson for December 3, 2020

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 30 through 33:

30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus (blessed be he forever!) knows that I do not lie. 32 In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to seize me, 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.

There is an old saying, "If you can't find a door, look for a window." And my, how a small window can be found at just the right time and place.

Rahab, the sex worker, let the spies out of Jericho through a small window in the wall. And it does make me wonder whose window Paul had to swing his legs through in order to get out of Damascus.

Embarrassing, undignified, humbling -- almost as humbling as the eye of the needle the rich must stoop through in order to get into heaven.

"If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness," Paul said.

The wall is strong and we are weak. But there is a window, and a basket, and sometimes some of the most unlikely and even unsavory of friends who can help us make a way out of no way.

And the greatest friend of all is God . . .

NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible through this year. Tomorrow we will start with Romans chapters 1 through 3.

Daily Lesson for December 2, 2020

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 14 through 21:

14 For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. 15 And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

"We regard no one from a human point of view."

What a radical worldview -- to see people not as they are but as they could be, to see them not with the the eyes of the head but those of the heart, to see them not as humans see but as God sees.

How might that change us all if we were to put such a thing into practice? How might it change the world if Christians started putting this Christianity into practice? What if we became "ambassadors" of God's reconciliation?

Surely, it would make us more compassionate. It would make us more empathetic. We would not -- could not -- hate and loathe and wish ill. We would see that everyone we know is lugging around a bag of rocks. We would remember that everyone has a story. And our hearts would be open to event the "vilest offender" as the old hymn says. It would open us also to even the vilest of politicians, and neighbors, and brothers, and sisters, and kindred, and nations.

It would change our hearts and it would change our world. It might not change our politics -- but it would change us.

At the end of the book of Acts Paul is standing in chains before King Agrippa, a crooked half-Jew and scoundrel who had the power to either save Paul or send him to his sure death -- which Paul knows he is morally incapable to do.

Paul asks the king, "Do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe."

Agrippa responds by asking, "Are you so quickly persuading me to become a Christian?"

Paul then replies, "Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today might become such as I am -- except for these chains."

It makes me wonder, which one was the really free man? Clearly it was Paul.

And would that we could be free also.

And when the Son sets us free -- we are free indeed.

NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible through this year. Tomorrow's Lesson comes from 2 Corinthians chapters 10-13.

Daily Lesson for December 1, 2020

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 8 through 11:

8 We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, 11 as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

Today is December 1, the 65th anniversary of the day Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus, marking the beginning of the modern civil rights movement.

In a book Mrs. Parks released when she was age 82 she wrote, "I felt the Lord would give me the strength to endure whatever I had to face. God did away with all my fear."

In times of trouble we find that there is a power in God in us which can cast out all our fears. There is a strength in God in us that keep us walking like the Montgomery bus boycotters -- one foot at a time, one day at a time.

And that is how the strength comes. It comes one day and one step at a time. If we had all the strength and courage we needed for the whole journey now already, then we wouldn't have to depend on God but would depend solely on ourselves.

But as it happens, God gives us just enough strength and courage for today. This keeps us on our knees, praying for our manna, and drawing again and again, day by day, from the well God's spiritual sustenance.

"I felt the Lord would give me the strength," Mrs. Parks said. That's subjunctive mood in grammatical terms, meaning wish, possibility, and action that has not yet occurred. In other words, it's the grammatical mood for Hope.

We may not yet have all the strength we will need to face what we have to face. But we hope to God it will happen. We hope and we pray and we keep on praying, day by day.

NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible through this year. Tomorrow's Lesson comes from 2 Corinthians chapters 5 through 9.