Month: November 2016

Pharisee Territory

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 122; 149, Malachi 3:13-4:6, James 5:13-20, Luke 18:9-14

A Pharisee and a tax collector were praying in the temple. The Pharisee thanked God that he was not like immoral people such as the tax collector. He even boasted to God about his tithing and fasting. The tax collector prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Jesus told to this parable to some who were patting themselves on the back for their righteousness while condemning others, and he advised them, “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

We all like to think we are like the tax collector, but it’s tough. We can’t just not be the Pharisee. The tax collector – who would have been judged by his fellow Jews for working for the Roman empire – never compared himself to anyone. He simply admitted his sins before God and asked for mercy. True humility goes beyond not bragging, to embracing the idea that we could be completely wrong but still trusting in God’s mercy to forgive us and possibly set us right.

When we differ with people on matters of religion, politics, or anything else, it’s natural and easy to talk about why they are wrong. Mostly we talk about it with like-minded people who reinforce our opinions, but sometimes we gird ourselves for philosophical battle. If that happens, are we more concerned with convincing others we are right (which by definition insists they are wrong), or in finding common ground for mutual benefit? It feels good to puncture the balloons of the self-righteous, but when it is designed to shame or demonize rather than serve and love, we aren’t doing the work of the kingdom, because we’ve wandered into Pharisee territory.

Loving our enemies isn’t going to feel satisfying. At times it will feel downright humiliating. Yet that is what Christ calls us to do. If we are to be peacemakers, we need to let go of ego, and then to let go of the certainty that we’ve let go of ego. We are not justified by triumph in this world, but by faith in the realm of God.

Comfort: God doesn’t love you for being right, but for being faithful.

Challenge: In discussions or arguments about sensitive topics, try to understand the opposing point of view (rather than your preconceptions about it) before asserting your own.

Prayer: O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. Amen.

Discussion: Are there topics you can’t discuss without insisting on your way?

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Justice or Just Us?

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 88; 148, Malachi 3:1-12, James 5:7-12, Luke 18:1-8

Jesus told a parable about a widow who kept asking a judge for justice against her opponent. This judge neither feared God nor respected people. He refused her for a long time, but eventually relented so she would not wear him out with constant bother. Jesus said if such an unjust judge granted justice, God would surely be swift to grant justice to His children when they cried out to him.

Justice doesn’t always seem swift. Like the widow, we keep asking but it eludes us. Why would a God who acts swiftly make us wait? Danish philosopher and Christian theologian Søren Kierkegaard said “Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.” When justice seems slow, perhaps it is because we are slow to change. If our prayer for justice remains unanswered, could it be time to examine what we’re asking for, why we’re asking, and whether we need to change to make it happen? Or maybe we are changing, but don’t feel it. We don’t know how many times the widow approached the judge, or what she said, but in her persistence she one day became the person he didn’t want to be bothered by again. Even if her demand never changed, what she represented did and that could only happen over time.

When Pope Francis said: “You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. That’s how prayer works,” he was very much in line with Kierkegaard. If our only hope for justice is outside ourselves and our relationship with God, we will be forever disappointed. Despite what you’ve read on bumper stickers, Gandhi never actually said “Be the change you want to see in the world,” but it resonates with us because it is a universal truth. Justice begins on the inside. We can point fingers all day long, often with good reason, but ultimately that fixes nothing and persuades no one.

Prayer is what we say, but also what we do and how we live. If you feel like justice isn’t being served, maybe it’s waiting for you to whip up a batch.

Comfort: Prayer will change you if you let it.

Challenge: Be open to being changed.

Prayer: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, and your justice. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever realized you were the solution to a problem?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group or follow @comf_and_chall on Twitter. You’ll  have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

Kingdom Come

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 143; 147:12-20, Malachi 2:1-16, James 4:13-5:6, Luke 17:20-37

When it comes to the concept of “end times” Christians are all over the theological board, from people believing the Bible contains clues to the actual date, to believing it’s all a big metaphor, to countless subtle, overwrought positions between them. After two thousand years it’s hard to believe it’s just around the corner (as did many of his contemporaries), but Jesus talked about it too much to simply ignore it.

When the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was coming, he told them it was nothing that could be observed but “in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” So which is it – now or later?

He shared examples of what it would be like. Two in a bed, and one taken. Two grinding meal, one taken, the other left behind. Ordinary things. Things we’re not likely to be doing if we think the world is ending. Things we do every day, right now, even as the world ends for so many people caught in war, famine, and disaster.

When the kingdom arrives for you, maybe you’ll be in bed and startle awake with a gasp that feels like the first complete breath you’ve ever taken, a breath full of sorrow and hope that connects you to all the other breaths of the Kingdom. The person sleeping next to you, and their shallow breaths, will wake next to someone who understands why we do good to our enemies, and how forgiveness saves the world, and wonder why you can no longer share the same hate. The kingdoms you wander could suddenly not be more different.

Perhaps the kingdom will come in the middle of your daily grind, when a remembered verse about lilies in the field blooms large, and your fears are cast out. A new perspective, a focus on what’s eternally important rather than what’s mundanely urgent, now separates you from co-workers who look at you like you’re from another planet. Your sudden inability to share their worries confirms their suspicions.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. That is when earth is like heaven.

Comfort: The kingdom is right here.

Challenge: Pick a random page in the newspaper (or your regular online news source) and ask yourself how residents of the kingdom might see the stories differently.

Prayer: Thank you, merciful God, for inviting me into your realm. Amen.

Discussion: Do you feel like part of the present kingdom?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group or follow @comf_and_chall on Twitter. You’ll  have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

Jesus and Abraham

/ JJS / 6 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 65; 147:1-11, Malachi 1:1, 6-14, James 3:13-4:12, Luke 17:11-19

James wrote:

You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.

Few of us resort to murder, but unhealthy cravings drive us to acquire more than we need, and part with less than we should. When we lack necessities – food, water, safety – we may resort to emotional, political, or physical violence. If we have the basics, James advises to ask not for objects of personal enrichment, but things we can use toward the betterment of the Kingdom. It’s a win-win when we learn to crave things we can use to serve those in need.

Abraham Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs” –illustrated as a stratified pyramid – describes motivations for behavior and growth. According to Maslow, we must satisfy lower needs before we can aspire to higher ones. The lowest Physiological level includes food, water, etc. The next highest is Safety. The middle one is Love/belonging. Esteem and Self-actualization top the pyramid. The higher the level, the fewer people achieve it.

If we expect a need will never be met, we may be spiritually stunted. In a village between Samaria and Galilee, Jesus encountered ten people with leprosy, a lifelong sentence of rejection. Forbidden from drawing near, they called to Jesus from a distance: “Have mercy on us.” He told them to show themselves to the priests. On the way all were healed. Only one, a Samaritan man, returned to thank Jesus. Not only had Jesus restored this man’s health, he restored the possibility of love, belonging, and all that might follow.

That sense of love and belonging is the bridge between our base needs and our higher selves. Sometimes we need to offer someone ordinary bread from our own table before they can cross over to Christ’s table for the bread of life. If you’re not sure which to share when, ask God for both.

Comfort: Your needs are important to God.

Challenge: You may need to learn to distinguish needs from cravings.

Prayer: God of abundance, I ask only for what will equip me to serve you. Amen.

Discussion: What is something you really wanted but didn’t get? How did you handle it?

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First, do no harm.

/ JJS / 2 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 54; 146, Habakkuk 3:1-10 (11-15) 16-18, James 3:1-12, Luke 17:1-10

Primum non nocere – Latin for “first do no harm” – is a widely accepted principle of the medical community. It may seem obvious that the art of healing would be opposed to harm, but medicine is less cut-and-dried than we’d like. Physicians need a healthy ego. Especially in life-threatening situations, hesitation and self-doubt can have serious consequences for the patient. Yet decisive action needs to be tempered by humility, for the wrong treatment may make things worse and our intentions can’t prevent that.

James advised early Christians against becoming teachers, because teachers are held to higher standards of judgment and we all make plenty of mistakes. He explained many mistakes involve the tongue (our words) and the damage caused by its improper use. In matters of faith, it takes a certain amount of ego to claim to be a teacher, and even more humility to be a good one. Without the right balance, teachers can do more harm than good to a faith community. There’s a difference between sharing and discussing our faith, and establishing ourselves as authorities. Much caution is advised for the latter.

Acknowledging there are countless opportunities to make mistakes, Jesus warned his disciples: “It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.” How do we cause people to stumble? Well, the next thing he talked about was forgiving people who sin against us (note he didn’t mention forgiving those who sin against others, because neither the offense nor the forgiveness are ours). If they offend us seven times a day, we are to forgive them each time they repent. Think of it as a physician who tells her patient at every annual checkup to eat less and exercise more; the patient is contrite and promises to do better, and though it never happens, the physician retains the patient.

What is the connection between forgiveness and stumbling? That may be for a teacher to reveal. Until you find one, try to do no harm.

Comfort: Repentance is not a one-time offer.

Challenge: Find some spiritual exercises to build your forgiveness muscles.

Prayer: Loving and merciful God, grant me the strength, humility, and wisdom to share your love with others even when I don’t want to. Amen.

Discussion: Who do you have trouble forgiving? What impact does that have on your spiritual and emotional well-being?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group or follow @comf_and_chall on Twitter. You’ll  have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Saints)

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 57; 145, Habakkuk 2:1-4, 9-20, James 2:14-26, Luke 16:19-31

“Simplicity is the glory of expression.”
– Walt Whitman

Habakkuk was a prophet who demanded an accounting for the oppression of the Jewish people in Babylonian exile. He asked where God was in the midst of His people’s suffering. God answered in the vivid and poetic language of a vision for justice.

The Lord tells the author of Habakkuk: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it.” The runner is likely a messenger who would have been carrying stone tablets to share with others, and God wants them to be plain enough to be read while running. The message would have to be relatively short, or the tablets would be too numerous and heavy to carry, let alone run with. The print would probably have to be large; anything too small would be impossible to focus on. Though Habakkuk itself is only three chapters and thirty-nine verses long, the content of the tablets would have been shorter and simpler still.

It’s easy to over-complicate the vision God has for us. Christ summed it up simply and beautifully when he said:

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

That’s a message we can run with.

So why do we often feel the need to burden ourselves with the weight of theology and doctrine, and struggle so hard to balance and carry it that rather than run we plod – or stand still? Even standing still, the message is in language so cramped and difficult for passers-by to interpret that most squint and go on their way with no idea what we’re about.

Faith is not simplistic, but it should be simple. Sharing it should be easy. As our life in the Spirit matures, the less we need to know about it, and the more we are able to live it.

Comfort: Theology is fine, but faith is better.

Challenge: Pick one way to simplify your life, and do it before the end of the month.

Prayer: God of all creation, I humbly offer my simple faith. Amen.

Discussion: In what ways do you or have you unnecessarily complicated your beliefs?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group or follow @comf_and_chall on Twitter. You’ll  have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

Citizenship in Heaven

/ JJS / 2 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 67; 150, Habakkuk 1:1-4 (5-11) 12-2:1, Philippians 3:13-4:1, Matthew 23:13-24

Have you ever heard someone described as a “citizen of the world?” Such people are usually considered well-traveled, sophisticated, and fluent in diverse cultures. We perceive them as feeling at home in almost any setting. Though we may sense in them a bit of restlessness, we generally admire their ease and poise.

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he claims their citizenship is in heaven. What does it mean to be a citizen of a place you can’t physically visit? First, we must recognize that in Paul’s Roman Empire, where slaves outnumbered citizens, the term “citizen” carried significant meaning. When Paul told people – regardless of legal class – they were citizens of heaven, he was telling them they had full rights and protections bestowed by God. Today’s strife over illegal immigration gives us only a small taste of the feelings that must have arisen – in citizens and non-citizens alike – when Paul announced all people were on equal footing under God.

What are the implications of our heavenly citizenship? Certainly it should add an element of critique to any form of nationalism; the borders of heaven are limitless, after all. How will we conduct ourselves in non-native lands, among people of different or no belief? How can we avoid becoming the Christian equivalent of the “ugly American” who treats other cultures with (one hopes) unintentional disrespect? In many physical countries, we might rely on an ambassador or embassy to coach us in diplomacy and respect. Fortunately, we have Christ as our ambassador. His example of moving among all peoples with a strength born of peace and love is our example.

One last component of citizenship is responsibility. While citizens of the world have a responsibility to comply with local laws and customs, citizens of heaven are responsible to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly (Micah 6:8), even when doing so conflicts with expectations. Simultaneously loving and confounding is quite the balancing act. We can expect that not everyone will admire or even like us. We may even be outright rejected. But our true home and Lord will never abandon us.

Comfort: No one can revoke the citizenship God grants us.

Challenge: Try composing a Christian “Bill of Rights.”

Prayer: God of the journey, thank you for my rights and responsibilities.. Amen.

Discussion: What conflicts exist between your national and divine citizenships?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group or follow @comf_and_chall on Twitter. You’ll  have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

Invitation: Election

/ JJS / 2 Comments

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So that happened.

After what is possibly the most divisive election in modern American history, the Christian family finds itself in the same boat as many families around the country: an awkward gathering around the table for the Sunday meal.

Some of us feel like we lost. Some of us feel like we won. Some of us feel like nobody won.

If you feel like you lost, and are angry at the other side, keep in mind you’d probably feel differently if you’d won. You’d be less afraid, and therefore less angry, and therefore in a more forgiving mood even though your opponents did nothing differently. Also consider the possibility that had you won, the other side would be experiencing its own fears right now. It doesn’t matter whether you believe those fears are justified; fear is not always best addressed through reason, but through compassion. Remember this moment, so that when the pendulum swings and you are no longer afraid, you will understand your opponents’ fear, and be merciful in victory.

If you feel like you won, remember that Christ teaches us having the upper hand is a burden, not a privilege. Listen to the concerns of the losing side without dismissing or mocking them. Keep in mind that had you lost, your side honestly wouldn’t behave much differently. If you snorted at that last sentence, revisit history; you won’t have to go back far. For Christians, power is not a mandate to exercise control, but a call to service. If the first are last and the last are first, you are now walking a golden tightrope. Christ calls us to do good to our enemies; that includes the ones we’ve defeated.

If you feel like nobody won, consider that you may be called to the role of peacemaker. Perhaps rather than expressing disappointment all around, promote work in areas where all Christians should agree. Visiting the sick and homebound is not a political issue. Feeding the hungry is not a political issue. Comforting those who grieve is not a political issue. Where you can, encourage those who are – for the present time – emotionally estranged to find common ground.

Christ’s table is not a political issue. We meet here because we need him the most in times like these. Come to the table willingly, and break bread with all members of the family because Christ has invited them, too. If Jesus didn’t turn away Judas, we have no excuse to turn away from each other. Sharing a meal, especially this divine one, is the both the most holy and common ground we will find.

May the Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.