progressive christianity

Double Vision

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 65; 147:1-11, Job 6:1, 7:1-21, Acts 10:1-16, John 7:1-13

Three-dimensional (stereoscopic) vision is pretty miraculous. In simple terms, each of your eyes sees the world from a slightly different perspective and your brain combines the two images to create a sense of depth and distance. When you wear 3-D movie glasses, two images are projected on the screen, and each lens is polarized so it can see only one. Without the lenses, the screen is a blurry mess. With one lens, it’s a clear but flat image. With both lenses, your brain sees amazing things.

Cornelius was a Gentile man who was devoted to the Lord. The Lord recognized his faithfulness and sent Cornelius a vision instructing him to send representatives to the city of Joppa, where they would find Simon Peter.

The next day, the Lord sent a vision to Peter, who was on the roof praying:

He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. Then he heard a voice saying, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.”

The vision made no sense to Peter, who faithfully clung to Jewish dietary restrictions. The Lord had to send the vision twice more before Peter accepted it.

Taken individually, neither of these visions made sense to the recipients. Soon though they would merge, Peter and Cornelius would meet, and a whole new picture of the Body of Christ – one encompassing both Jews and Gentiles – would be revealed.

Every believer brings a different perspective to the wholeness of the Body. We can settle for the two-dimensional faith of a single lens, but that leaves us thinking everyone who doesn’t line up with our viewpoint is an incomprehensible mess, and under the mistaken assumption that we are privy to the one true picture. Like Paul and Cornelius, until we form diverse community, our vision is incomplete. The less we insist on seeing the world through only our own personal, congregational, or denominational lens, the more complete is our vision of the Kingdom of God.

Comfort: You have a unique and valuable perspective to contribute.

Challenge: You have many unique and valuable perspectives to consider..

Prayer: Lord of all creation, teach me to approach the world with an open and humble mind. May I embrace the good and learn from the bad. Amen.

Discussion: When has someone else’s perspective really changed your own?

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Getting What We Deserve

/ JJS / 2 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 54; 146, Job 6:1-4, 8-15, 21, Acts 9:32-43, John 6:60-71

Our culture finds a certain satisfaction in seeing people get what they deserve. When we say “justice has been served” we are usually referring to the sentencing of a guilty person, or the acquittal of an innocent one. We romanticize the myth that anyone with a strong enough work ethic can “pull himself up by his bootstraps” and become a success. What we can’t quite wrap our heads around is when good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people.

Job’s insistence that his suffering is unjust by such standards makes his friend Eliphaz uncomfortable. Like many of us, Eliphaz wants to believe people get what they deserve. He so desperately clings to a worldview threatened by Job’s situation that he can’t admit the reality that would comfort his friend: suffering is not always deserved. Job archly observes: “you see my calamity, and are afraid.”

Maybe questions that ask why people don’t get what they deserve are the wrong kinds of questions. Paul hunted Christians up to the moment of his conversion. What did he deserve? Jesus asks us to love and forgive our enemies. What do they deserve? What do we deserve? While most of the world works on a merit system, Jesus works with grace. “Good” people don’t need success, but spiritual growth. “Bad” people don’t need punishment, but healing. Deep down, we know this. We describe our criminal justice system as rehabilitative, though the reality is very different. Our worldly form of justice too often trumps the justice of Christ and the prophets.

What if Christian justice isn’t a focus on what we personally deserve, but on the act of providing bread and love and wholeness where none of these things are found? What if we are to temper accountability with mercy? Fairness with charity? Law with love? Suffering can’t be explained away in one or a thousand daily devotionals, but if our highest value is a life based on faith in Christ, that value is neither increased by prosperity nor decreased by suffering. In both joy and hardship we can find God.

Comfort: Grace is not earned, but given freely.

Challenge: When you read, listen to or watch this week’s news, note when worldly and Christian justice are they same and when they differ.

Prayer: God of justice, teach me its meaning. Amen.

Discussion: When are you tempted to promote worldly justice over Christ-like justice?

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If Paul could do it…

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 57; 145, Job 4:1, 5:1-11, 17-21, 26-27, Acts 9:19b-31, John 6:52-59

Lasting change is difficult to make. After we’ve found the motivation to make a positive change, we must struggle with a world inclined to keep us as we were. If we leave behind bad habits, friends who shared those habits may try to drag us back to our old ways for their own purposes. If we’ve repeatedly promised change only to let down our friends and family, they may view new declarations of change with understandable suspicion. Real change can’t depend on how other people perceive us, but on how we perceive ourselves.

When Paul did a spiritual 180 and started preaching in Jesus’ name, people who knew him were amazed at his radical change. Those in Jerusalem who did not want to accept his change plotted to kill him. On the other hand, when he joined the disciples “they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.” Many of them had been evading him for some time, and only the testimony of Barnabas on Paul’s behalf swayed them.

Paul’s old associates were invested in keeping him the same, and the people he hoped to make his new associates weren’t ready to accept him. Despite these attitudes, Paul persevered because he was dedicated to God above all others. To a lesser degree, we may experience the same thing when we make a change. If we decide to give up gossip, for example, the friends we used to gossip with will undoubtedly feel snubbed when we decline to participate. Given our history, other people will find it difficult to trust us. The same would be true of addictions, lying, spitefulness, or any host of vices. A truly penitent heart will persevere in change whether other people accept the change or not; our relationship with God will sustain us.

We can’t change any mind but our own. When we know we need to make a positive change, we must be prepared to endure and overcome resistance, and not let that resistance discourage us. God doesn’t promise us ease, but to be with us through everything.

Comfort: When we change our hearts, God knows and accepts.

Challenge: Be supportive to someone who is trying to change.

Prayer: God of truth, in you I am made new every day. Thank you for second and third chances. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever made a change people chose not to accept or support?

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Expect the Unexpected

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 67; 150, Job 4:1-6, 12-21, Revelation 4:1-11, Mark 6:1-6a

No Bible stories are about God telling a prophet: “All is well. Carry on just as you have been.” Rather, He promises to make a childless, elderly couple the parents of a nation as numerous as the stars. He appoints an adopted Hebrew into the Egyptian royal house to free slaves. He transforms a persecutor of Christians into their greatest evangelist. These stories? There are plenty of them.

When Jesus preached to the residents of his hometown, “he was amazed at their unbelief.” They asked “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” This guy? They were actually offended by his teaching. Jesus as the messiah was doubly unexpected: both a hometown boy, and a preacher of peace.

Self-proclaimed messiahs before Jesus had led rebellions against Rome. The crucified bodies of these men and their followers literally lined the road to Jerusalem for miles. Another messiah promoting bloody rebellion was expected, but not needed.
We like preachers and teachers who comfort us. We are much more skeptical of radicals, of people who make us uncomfortable, of people challenging the status quo. But these are requirements for prophets. It’s their vocation to make us question our beliefs and behaviors. People in powerful or safe situations have little motivation to question a system that works for them. Instead, injustices are brought to light by those for whom the system is not working, or those who become willing to sacrifice the privileges the system affords them.

Is every outrageous character a prophet and every outlandish claim a prophecy? Of course not. But when God demands change, He demands it for the poor and oppressed, and their voices sound jarring, unsettling – even threatening – to those in power. They call us to recognize how our actions and beliefs negatively impact the lives of others. Sometimes the voice of God is still and small because it comes from those who have been silenced. Our modern prophets are not those who comfort us, but those who challenge us.

Comfort: God doesn’t challenge us to change because we have failed, but because we can succeed..

Challenge: This week, try to learn something from people who have made radical commitments to living out the gospel.

Prayer: God of growth, show me how I can change, and bless me with the courage to do so. Amen.

Discussion: Who has challenged you to change the way you understand the gospel?

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How dusty is your head?

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 56; 149, Job 3:1-26, Acts 9:10-19a, John 6:41-51

Job’s three friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, having heard of his tragedy, arrived at his home to console and comfort him. They did so by acknowledging Job’s grief: “They raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads.” Afterward, and more importantly, “They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.”

Then Job, who was faithful but not superhuman, cursed the day he was born. Anger, grief, and confusion poured out of him. He did not reject God, but he was not afraid to demand an accounting for the injustice of the world. After this his friends thought they could best help by trying to make sense of it for him. If they had been as smart as they thought they were and kept silent, Job would have been about thirty-seven chapters shorter.

When we have a friend whose suffering is great, what is our first instinct? Many of us try to make the person feel better as quickly as possible. Others want to offer advice on how to solve or get past the problem. A smaller number suffer in solidarity. And a gifted few are willing to be present but silent. A wonderful ecumenical organization called Stephen Ministries trains people to be present for other people in crisis. Stephen ministers do not fix, and do not counsel. They listen and love.

In the next chapter, Eliphaz will offer Job some unsolicited advice. Like we might, he does this as much to reassure himself as to comfort his friend. The other friends will follow suit. This helps move along the book’s exploration of the nature of suffering, but it does more harm than good for Job. Listening is a gift anyone can give, even without formal training. When someone shares their suffering with us, sometimes the best thing we can do for them is to sit in the road next to them, and let the dust settle on our heads.

Comfort: Each of us can listen, and be listened to.

Challenge: The next time you have the urge to fix someone’s problem or give them advice, spend time just listening to them instead.

Prayer: God of renewal, thank you for ears that help others heal. Amen.

Discussion: Are you a fixer? Are you frustrated by people who try to fix? Both?

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Staring at the Son

/ JJS / 3 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 130; 148, Job 2:1-13, Acts 9:1-9, John 6:27-40

Children instinctively avoid looking directly at the sun. In response to the painful brightness, they squint and close their eyes and turn their heads. Only during an eclipse do people need reminding how dangerous it can be to stare directly at it. The sun itself shines steadily. Our perception of its intensity is indirect, depending on atmospheric conditions. Out of self-preservation we respond accordingly.

Saul’s persecution of Christians was a response to the atmosphere around him. He was a faithful and (self-described) blameless Jew who sought to serve the Lord. To him, Christians were dark clouds threatening the safety and standing of the Jewish people within the Roman empire. He was not a poorly motivated cartoon villain like the Christian-haters often portrayed in Christian entertainment. He loved the Lord, and believed he was defending His faith and His people.

Then Saul saw the Son in all his glory.

On the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to him in a flash of light and spoke so all nearby could hear. Saul asked who was speaking, and Jesus identified himself and told Saul to go into the city to await further instructions. Saul was struck blind, and remained so for three days.

Saul had been instinctively avoiding the overwhelming truth of Jesus. Finally forced to accept it, his world turned upside down. Saul was committed to the truth, but it took a miracle to help him understand the truth was more than he already knew.

Most people are committed to what they believe is the truth. Normally we are disinclined to seek truth where we don’t want to find it, especially if it will upend our reality. Christ asked: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Those we seek to reach often feel persecuted by Christians. So as the body of Christ, how do we shine brightly enough to reach people on their own roads? First we let go of the shadow of a false division between “us and them.” Then we let Christ’s love shine through until the people we meet can’t help but draw their own conclusions about its truth.

Comfort: A life lived in pursuit of Christ is a light in the darkness.

Challenge: When fellow believers choose to vilify rather than love, speak up.

Prayer: God of Mercy, may Christ’s light shine through me so others may know your love. Amen.

Discussion: In your experience, what are the most and least effective forms of evangelism?

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Praising through Pain

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 36; 147:12-20, Job 1:1-22, Acts 8:26-40, John 6:16-27

The Book of Job is sad, scary, and difficult: forty-two chapters tackling the big questions of why bad things happen to good people and in summary it concludes (spoiler alert!) you don’t get to question God. Its “happy” epilogue, if one thinks on it for more than a moment, is as horrifying as the rest of the story (replacement children? really?). But it drives home an important lesson many Christians would rather rationalize away: no matter how good or faithful you are, bad stuff can happen to you and you may never find a satisfactory reason.

By the end of chapter one, because of a wager between God and Satan, Job loses his oxen, donkeys, sheep, servants, camels, and children. Devastated by grief, he shaves his head, tears up his robe, and … falls to the ground in worship?

Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.

Have you known anyone to respond to a great loss – or a minor one for that matter – with sin  cere worship? Imagine comforting a grieving mother at a funeral by saying: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” A more common response is anger toward God, perhaps even a period of turning away. Yet Job does not hesitate to worship. A friend once said she gave daily thanks for both the good and bad things in her life. What a faithful prayer!

In all times, in all places, and under all circumstances, God loves us. It’s so very human to want explanations for suffering: God is testing us; God is refining us; God is punishing us. Maybe all of these are true and maybe none are. If there are lessons to be learned from our suffering, we should be open to them. But if there are none … God still loves us.

Worship always. If we must ask “What did I do to deserve this?” let the “this” be God’s undying, praiseworthy love.

For further reading on today’s text from Acts see Run Don’t Walk

For further reading on today’s text from John see Healthy Fear

Comfort: God is with you in good times and bad.

Challenge: Think back to a time you were angry with God. Offer Him now the praise you didn’t feel then.

Prayer: Creator and Redeemer, thank you for the love you bestow on me at all times. I am sorry for the times I couldn’t return it. I will praise you always. Amen.

Discussion: Everyone copes differently with grief. How do you?

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Money for Nothing

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 15; 147:1-11, Judges 18:16-31, Acts 8:14-25, John 6:1-15

The “prosperity gospel” teaches that if we give our resources (usually money) to God, God will reward us several times over in kind. Some preachers sell this idea through a basic list of proof texts, usually neglecting the proper context. Worse, they reduce faith to a transaction or formula ($1 x God = $10), and when people who faithfully put up money don’t realize a material return, their faith is called into question. Think about it: with all the spiritual difficulties Jesus assures us attend wealth, wouldn’t bestowing wealth almost be a punishment? Fortunately, Acts and John teach us some real truths about the nature of giving and resources in God’s kingdom.

When Simon, a magician-turned-convert, saw the apostles’ power to impart the spirit by laying on hands, he offered them money for the same power. Peter’s reaction is unequivocal: “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money!” Maybe Simon mistook the disciples’ practice of pooling resources for a membership fee, but his understanding of the relationship between faith and giving was seriously flawed. No one can buy grace or power. We do not give because we expect a return of wealth or status; we give because a relationship with God prompts generosity.

The miracle of the loaves and fishes is told in all four gospels. Beyond a sign of Christ’s power, this event teaches us no resource is too small in God’s kingdom. Like Andrew – who asked “But what are they among so many people?” – our expectations of God can be surprisingly low. Faith is not about outcomes, but trust. We should first have faith that when we act in God’s name, our resources will be abundant. This differs from the prosperity gospel because we believe God will use resources given in good faith to increase the kingdom, not our personal bank accounts.

“Believe and receive” is a misleading simplification of our faith in a God who provides for our needs. We are not called to a faith that bribes God to action, but to actions confident in a faith God has already provided.

Comfort: Our generosity is a grateful response to God’s generosity.

Challenge: Meditate on whether your giving fully reflects your gratitude.

Prayer: God of renewal, I offer generosity in thanks for your many gifts.. Amen.

Discussion: Money isn’t the only way people try to by favor. What other ways have you seen?

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Written Off?

/ JJS / 13 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 123; 146, Judges 18:1-15, Acts 8:1-13, John 5:30-47

After St. Stephen was martyred by leaders of a temple in Jerusalem, the eighth chapter of Acts tells us Saul – who would later become Saint Paul – stood watching and “approved of their killing him.” In the next chapter Saul will experience an astounding conversion, but before that happens he is a Roman Jew who persecutes and imprisons Christians. Can any of us imagine the person who is our greatest persecutor becoming our most ardent champion? Yet Christ made it possible for Saul. When Christ tells us to pray for our enemies, it’s not just to change their hearts, but to change ours as well. Because you never know.

In business, when customer debt is deemed uncollectible, the business has a few options. One is to write it off as bad debt. When this happens, the business can no longer consider that receivable an asset, though the business may continue to try to collect it or sell it off to a collection agency. Generally the business reports this event to credit reporting agencies, and the customer’s debt clings to them for years. A second option is to forgive the debt. The customer must be notified and the business can no longer try to collect. When Christ died for us, all our debts were forgiven … including Saul’s. That is why his past, once he accepted the notice he’d been forgiven, could not be held against him. That is why the present circumstances of anyone, including our persecutors and ourselves, do not give us permission to write them off. Because we never know.

When we write someone off, we say: “You no longer drag me down, but I retain the right to remind you and everyone else how you’ve done me wrong.” If we forgive them, we say: “I don’t like what you did, but it does me no good to waste effort on this debt. Go in peace and I’ll do the same.” Because of the cross, the decision has been taken out of our hands. After all, Jesus taught us to pray: “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”

Comfort: You aren’t responsible for judging all the wrongs of the world.

Challenge: Meditate on what debts you have trouble forgiving. Pick one to work on forgiving before the year is out.

Prayer: Lord of Healing, forgive me as I forgive my debtors. Amen.

Discussion: When customer debt is forgiven, it may be considered a form of income and therefore create a tax obligation. Do you feel that God’s forgiveness of our debts creates any obligations for us?

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Sax and Violence

/ JJS / 4 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 135; 145, Judges 17:1-13, Acts 7:44-8:1a, John 5:19-29

Jazz musicians say the notes you don’t play are as important as the ones you do. In other words, a saxophone player improvising a riff is set apart by thoughtfully rejecting expectations and embracing alternative blank spaces.

The earliest Christians skipped a lot of notes.

Saint Stephen is widely recognized as Christianity’s first martyr. When he confronted the religious leaders of the Synagogue of the Freedmen in Jerusalem, Stephen reminded them how Israel had rejected the numerous prophets God had sent. He concluded by claiming Jesus was the latest, last, and worst example. The outraged leaders rushed him, dragged him out of the city, and stoned him. Stephen’s last words were: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

What notes did Stephen skip? The ones that might have soothed the ears of the temple leaders. Though the tales provided a familiar framework, the unfamiliar presentation turned the Jewish people from the heroes of their own story into the villains. Jazz can elicit many emotions, including anger, but its message is for those who have ears to hear.

He also skipped notes of violence. Neither Stephen nor any apostles responded to violence or threats with anything but prayer, forgiveness, and further conviction to spread the gospel. This absence of retaliation was undoubtedly as conspicuous as entire bars of musical silence. We don’t have to build an argument for general pacifism to see that when the first Christians were about the business of representing Christ, they did so without violence or even the implication of it.

We are a culture accustomed to violence. The more closely we associate the church with government, the more blurred the line between the business of the world and the business of Christ becomes. But defending a nation or a home is not the same as defending the faith. Violence was not an option Christ chose; at the very least it should not be our first. We always have the option to strike a violent chord, but when we claim to be about the Lord’s work, it matters which end of the spear we are on.

Comfort: We follow the Prince of Peace.

Challenge: This week seek out news and media about non-violent solutions to issues which have traditionally involved violence.

Prayer: Lord of Love, may there be peace in my mind, peace in my heart, peace in my hands, and peace on my lips. Amen.

Discussion: Do you have any personal experiences with the transformative power of preaching the Gospel through peaceful means?

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