progressive christianity

Maybe next time…

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 54; 146, Judges 2:1–5, 11–23, Romans 16:17–27, Matthew 27:32–44

The book of Judges recounts the history of Israel between the time of Joshua’s death and the reign of Saul, Israel’s first king. The second chapter begins a cycle that repeats several times: Israel prospers, then grows lax and disobedient and God withdraws his favor; eventually the plight of the Israelites softens his heart and he sends a judge to set them back on the right track. Over a dozen times. We may or may not experience our fortunes and misfortunes proportional to God’s favor, but we can all find lessons in these stories.

One simple, yet important lesson: learn from your mistakes. For two centuries, the Israelites teetered on the brink of ruin multiple times, always for the same reason. It is easy to shake our heads at their stubborn foolishness, but we’ve all been there. Maybe relationship after relationship sours because we can’t change our ways. Maybe our weight boomerangs in a cycle of diet and despair. Maybe we repeatedly sabotage our job or education or finances because we cling to a particular mindset. Everyone has some story of an attitude or habit they had difficulty changing (or still need to). Most of us have more than one. Not everyone needs a twelve step program, but sometimes we all need to surrender to the higher power integral to success.

Another related lesson: neglecting our relationship with God has consequences. Perhaps not direct punishment, but consequences intrinsic to our behavior – a sort of “built-in” system of moral checks and balances. Christ and the prophets teach us to put God and our neighbor above materialistic concerns, yet advertising and other influential aspects of our culture tell us exactly the opposite. However, our novels and films abound with morality tales about the dangers of prioritizing wealth, popularity, vanity, etc. In these tales, people nearly always either arrive at a bad end or save themselves by repenting. Could these stories be popular because they strike a chord of truth within us? By nurturing our relationship with God, we can focus on priorities that deliver a true abundance, an abundance of the spirit.

Comfort: Like the north star, God helps our path stay true if we follow him.

Challenge: Change one part of your routine today and observe the effects.

Prayer: Merciful and loving God, my heart is set on you. Amen.

Discussion: What habits have you found hard to break?

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Flavor of the Weak

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 56, 57, 58; 145, Joshua 24:16-33, Romans 16:1-16, Matthew 27:24-31

What is it about humiliating others that appeals to so many? Words that should be bitter on the tongue are savored like sweets. We see or hear examples every day: children (and adults) bullying each other, politicians launching personal attacks, reality television, petty vindictiveness as couples separate, and on and on. On the world stage, terrorism aims not simply to overcome the enemy, but to demoralize and spiritually destroy it. In Matthew’s gospel, after Jesus is sentenced, soldiers make sport of him by dressing him in a mockery of royal attire, including a bloody crown of thorns. Yet at no point does Jesus so much as belittle those who persecute him. To the end of his life, he prays for them and asks God to forgive them (Luke 23:34). People truly working for justice and righteousness do not stoop to humiliation as a tactic. Without oversimplifying the psychology of such behavior, can we see a correlation between the need to humiliate an enemy, and an awareness on some level that one’s cause is unjust?

People of faith are not immune to desires for humiliation or vengeance. The author of Psalm 58 uses such vicious imagery it has been dropped from most recent lectionaries. The psalmist wants God, among other things, to: break the enemies teeth in their mouths, let them be trodden down like grass, and let them dissolve into slime. He yearns for the righteous to bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked. These examples are specific and extreme, but modern equivalents exist. Fortunately God is not obligated to grant everything we – or the psalmists – wish for.

A desire to see one’s enemies humiliated may be part of the human experience, but Christians are called to a higher path of resisting such temptation, and following the example set by Jesus. Owning up to our own vindictive tendencies can be enough to give us pause before we act on them. Perhaps such temptation may indicate our own motives are less than noble. While humiliation is a tool of the weak and immoral, love and justice are always positions of strength.

Comfort: Humiliation is rendered powerless in the light of God’s love.

Challenge: As you go through the week, watch for examples of humiliation or vindictiveness. When you see or hear them, reflect on what these tools say about the cause or person using them.

Prayer: Merciful and loving God, may my words and actions be worthy of you. Amen.

Discussion: Has anyone humiliated you? Have you humiliated anyone else? What were the effects?

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Hear to Understand

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 67; 150, Joshua 24:1-15, Acts 28:23-31, Mark 2:23-28

We all like to think we are open-minded – that our beliefs and attitudes are the result of well-informed reasoning and thoughtful consideration. Unfortunately there are at least a dozen types of cognitive bias to which we are prone, and another three dozen types of logical fallacy which our biases urge us to ignore. Since human beings are largely irrational creatures, being an expert in bias and logic is no guarantee of solid reasoning; actually the smarter we are, the more easily we can justify our own biases by manipulating those very laws of logic.

When Paul went to Rome, many Jewish leaders there were willing to hear him out regarding the teachings of Jesus. He talked with them an entire day, into the evening, and when he was finished some believed and some did not. For those who did not, he shared these words from the Holy Spirit:

“You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”

These leaders were not evil, or – like the ones in Jerusalem who had driven him to seek sanctuary in Rome – even hostile. They simply felt no compelling reason to change their minds. What was the difference between those who believed Paul and those who didn’t? One possibility: they couldn’t imagine being wrong about the faith they had been taught and known all their lives.

Flash forward two thousand years, and people are basically the same. We believe God is moving among us, but in ways tradition has taught us to expect. When the Holy Spirit inspires prophets to declare Christians must grow to be more inclusive and just … some people believe and some do not. Few people today justify racial, gender, or ethnic discrimination on religious grounds, but once it was more common than not. Forces seeking justice and inclusion endure, and those that focus on condemnation and exclusion are judged unfavorably by history. When we consider such divisions in the church today, we must prayerfully consider whether we are biased toward merely hearing and seeing, or whether we are truly open to understanding and perceiving.

Comfort: The Spirit is still moving us toward justice.

Challenge: Follow the links in the first paragraph of today’s post – they may just teach you to be a better thinker.

Prayer: Lord of Truth and Light, teach me to be humble and bold enough to hear your word anew, even when I think I already understand it. Amen.

Discussion: When is the last time you changed you mind about something important to you? What prompted the change?

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Sons of the Father

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 56; 149, Joshua 23:1-16, Romans 15:25-33, Matthew 27:11-23

The character Barabbas is found in all four Gospels. During the Passover, Pilate had a tradition of pardoning one Jewish prisoner condemned to death. He gives the crowd a choice: they can free either Jesus the Messiah or a notorious prisoner. The crowd infamously chooses the prisoner.

Do you know the translation of the Greek name Barabbas is “son of the father?” The crowd literally chose between one Son and another. Because it seems we should condemn their choice, this story has been wrongly used to blame the Jewish people for Christ’s crucifixion. Had they chosen to free Jesus, the whole salvation story of the cross might never have happened. Whatever one’s theology regarding the cross and atonement, the story of Barabbas illustrates how God’s plan for salvation does not depend on the goodness of people, but unfolds despite our flawed nature.

Jesus (or more accurately, the Hebrew “Yeshua”) was not an uncommon name at the time, and some of the earliest versions of Matthew give the notorious prisoner’s full name as Jesus Barabbas. This makes the choice sound even more poignant. How many times, rather than choosing to let Jesus freely roam our minds and hearts, have we settled for a less-perfect substitute? In the 1961 film, Barabbas commits arson because he mistakenly believes it’s the end of the world and someone tells him Christians set Rome ablaze. How often do we mistakenly embrace a Christianity that would rather burn the world than die for it? We do it when we rationalize choosing the Jesus who allows us to value comfort over mercy, common sense over charity, or fear over faith, instead of the Jesus who sacrificed himself on a cross.

Yet these choices do not cause God to abandon us. We follow a risen Christ who seeks us; a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to redeem a lost one. The gospels don’t tell us the fate of the Biblical Barabbas, but Christ’s sacrifice was for him as much as for any of us. Like Barabbas, we live because Christ loved us unto death. May our choices reflect that love.

Comfort: Salvation unfolds regardless of our mistakes.

Challenge: Watch and discuss either the 1961 or 2012 version of Barabbas with friends.

Prayer: Merciful and Loving God, I will seek you above all things. Amen.

Discussion: The crowd thought it was making the right choice. When have you had to break from the crowd – especially a Christian crowd – to do the right thing?

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Forgoing Forgiving

/ JJS / Leave a comment

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 130; 148, Joshua 9:22-10:15, Romans 15:14-24, Matthew 27:1-10

“Woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born!” Jesus spoke these words about the impending betrayal by Judas. When someone says, “So-and-so will wish he’d never been born!” they are usually referring to a desire for revenge. Should we assume the same about Jesus? If we do, we are declaring Judas the one person Jesus refused to forgive. As our ultimate example of compassion and mercy, does it seem more likely Jesus spoke words of vengeance, or of profound sadness over his friend’s fate?

Other than the betrayal itself, perhaps Judas’ biggest mistake was seeking forgiveness from no one but the same religious leaders who funded his wicked purpose. Not knowing Jesus would rise in three days, he saw no opportunity to ask Jesus directly. Though he flirted with repentance, Judas ultimately decided he was beyond redemption, and set his sights on the hanging tree. In the most immediate possible sense, he was unable to know the forgiveness of Christ.

How do we imagine the Christ of the gospels would have responded if Judas had survived to ask forgiveness of him? We’ll never know, because Judas settled for the verdict of the chief priests. Sometimes when we do terrible things, our guilt convinces us we have committed the one unforgivable sin in all the world. We accept the verdict of our own religious leaders, families, or hearts. We decide we are beyond redemption, and follow a path validating that decision. We believe we are unworthy to even ask for redemption. We go through the motions of church and life, all the while feeling filthy and hollow. But what if we dared to ask Christ for forgiveness? More unthinkable, what if he forgave us? Then we might have no choice but to forgive ourselves.

What an overblown opinion of ourselves to say to Christ, “My sin is greater than your grace.” It is our understanding of mercy that is too small, never Christ’s. The only thing really standing between Christ and us… is us.

Comfort: It is never too late to experience God’s forgiveness.

Challenge: On one side of a sheet of paper, write down things you have trouble forgiving yourself for. On the other side write “God forgives me.” Burn the paper while offering a prayer of thanks.

Prayer: God of all Creation, thank you for your endless mercy. Amen.

Discussion: How difficult do you find it to forgive yourself?

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The Peter Principle

/ JJS / 4 Comments

1469066900563.jpgToday’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):

Psalms 36; 147:12-20, Joshua 9:3-21, Romans 15:1-13, Matthew 26:69-75

Have you ever been asked to provide an employment reference? One of the most common questions is: “Would you hire this person again?” Based on today’s reading from Matthew, if you were Jesus, would you hire Peter again? After all, he fell asleep on the job several times, and when the pressure was high he denied even knowing his boss. Yet Jesus named Peter the rock solid enough to found his church.

How do we feel about Peter denying Christ three times? We might like to think we would have been stronger, but we have the advantage of hindsight. More humbly, we might be grateful our performance hasn’t been similarly tested. We might find relief that, rather than place his trust in the perfect, Jesus placed it in those who loved him and whom he loved.

This was not the first or last time Peter would stumble. When an authority figure fails (or merely fails to please us), our reaction can be disproportionate. We expect them to know more, do better, and be stronger than we ourselves are. If they have purposely projected such an image, their failings invite that much more criticism. Maybe we become silently resentful of a minister who hasn’t provided as much attention as we feel we deserve. Maybe we gossip to our co-workers when our boss makes a mistake we could just as easily have made. Maybe we resent our parents because we simply know we could have done a better job.

No one is above honest criticism, but our standards should be fair to everyone. If today Jesus appointed any one of us to lead his church, that person would be a fool not to be more intimidated than honored. Positions of authority, handled responsibly, are enormous burdens. Yet the people who hold them are only people. Let us be at least as forgiving of them as we would like them to be of us. Our minister has overwhelming priorities. Our boss needs support more than criticism. Our parents are still growing as people. Peter needed a lifetime to grow into his job too.

Comfort: Jesus never expects perfection, only love.

Challenge: Ask a minister, employer, parent or other authority figure to describe their responsibilities to you.

Prayer: God of all Creation, thank you for the gift of forgiveness. Amen.

Discussion: Are you more, less, or equally critical of authority figures as you are of others?

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The Art of (Non) Persuasion

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 15; 147:1-11, Joshua 8:30-35, Romans 14:13-23, Matthew 26:57-68

Almost all of us have engaged in a dispute – friendly or heated – which ended with: “Let’s agree to disagree.” It sounds like a civil way to exit an impasse, but is it at all satisfying for either party?  Rarely is it as short and simple as “I believe X” and “I believe Not X” so “Let’s A2D.” By the time it becomes necessary to drop this conversational guillotine, both parties have probably been building a case for a position that matters to them – no one “agrees to disagree” chocolate ice cream is better than vanilla. The unspoken message is: “I believe you’re wrong, but it seems impossible to convince you otherwise.”

Members of the early church in Rome seemed to have trouble agreeing on a lot of things. The flagship issue was about food. In simplest terms, Gentile converts to Christianity did not feel the need to observe Jewish dietary laws, and many Jewish members of the church held fast to these laws. Paul directed his response to the Gentiles, whom he characterized as stronger in their faith:

I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love … Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

In other words, we don’t have to impose, defend, or even share every belief we have, especially if doing so undermines someone’s faith or the peace of the community. Surrendering our need to be right is a legitimate spiritual discipline. Here’s a modern example for consideration: some people believe Gospel miracles are metaphors, and other people they are historical; does trying to convince someone miracles are or aren’t “true” help build their faith or just reinforce our own?

These days mutual upbuilding is a countercultural attitude. Rather, we are encouraged to shout over each other and refuse to give an inch. We don’t have to settle for agreeing to disagree … if we can agree to listen.

Comfort: You are not responsible for changing the minds of the world.

Challenge: For one whole day, try not to offer any unnecessary opinions. Can you go two?

Prayer: God of peace, grant me the wisdom to know when to speak and when to hold my tongue. May I do both these things to the glory of your name. Amen.

Discussion: What do you think are the practical limits of keeping your opinions to yourself? When does this type of peacemaking cross the line to appeasement?

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Road Trip

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 123; 146, Joshua 8:1-22, Romans 14:1-12, Matthew 26:47-56

“Christian” is not always a useful term. To people outside the faith, it’s often defined by a set of assumptions and biases that may or may not reflect the beliefs and actions of any particular person. Inside the faith … well, it’s pretty much the same thing. Not only have we divided ourselves into denominations, within those denominations we differ along liberal/conservative lines and other polarities. Non-denominational congregations often become de facto denominations with a single member church. On our good days we work toward being ecumenical, on most days we are tolerant but pretty convinced we are right, and on bad days we think “those people” are not “real Christians.”

Chapter 14 of Romans offers us some advice. Paul tells those who are strong in the faith to welcome the weaker (even those terms contain judgment), but not to quarrel over opinions. If the weak reject certain foods, or consider some days holier than others, the strong (who had moved beyond the law) should not chastise them, but instead recognize these actions were intended for the glory of God.

Our mistake lies in assuming that once we have embraced the Christian label, we have reached a destination.  In truth, we have only begun a journey. We follow the path to Christ our whole lives and beyond. We’re all at different places on the path, and that’s fine. If our fellows aren’t as far along as we are (and isn’t that a subjective call!) we may feel like they are holding us back and be tempted to drag them forward. Ever physically dragged someone along? Not only is it exhausting, it results in unsafe stumbling for both parties. What we can do is blaze a trail, mark it with friendly sign-posts, and wait to offer the refreshment of bread and wine before resuming our journey together. We can offer guidance when asked, and corrections if they wander off the path entirely or try to drag us backward with them. And we can humbly remember that up ahead, maybe out of sight beyond a curve in the road, someone waits patiently for us.

Comfort: Faith is like a road trip; we’re all trying to get to the same place. 

Challenge: Faith is like a road trip; we all have to stop at different times.

Prayer: Loving God, grant me patience and endurance for my own journey, and patience and generosity to help others on their own journey. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever been tempted to think that someone who identifies as a Christian is not a “real” Christian? Why or why not?

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Solid Ground

/ JJS / Leave a comment

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 41, 52; Joshua 7:1-13; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 26:36-46

Our modern understanding of happiness – as in “life, liberty and the pursuit of” – is a fairly new concept. American culture equates happiness with gratification, pleasure, or pleasantness and portrays it as a normative state. The happiness our culture tells us we should pursue is in truth impossible to sustain, so we feel failure or even guilt because we aren’t happy all the time. We are uncomfortable with grief, anger, or any emotion standing in the way of happiness. Our impulse is to muscle our way through difficult emotions – to manage them rather than feel them.

The Hebrew root of “happy” as it’s used in Psalm 41 (“Happy are those who consider the poor”) is also used for blessed, fortunate, place, step, and fate. Happiness in the Psalms refers to a condition of right relationship with God – regardless of our emotional state. “Satisfied” isn’t quite as… satisfying a word as “happy,” but it is more accurate. Satisfaction is independent of emotion. If happiness is a breathtaking sunset, satisfaction is the ground under our feet: we don’t notice it most of the time, but if it starts to crumble beneath us, we realize the sunset is merely a pleasant distraction. Because happiness is comparatively intense, we think of satisfaction as a lesser state, when it is actually foundational.

When Jesus in Gethsemane prays for suffering to pass him by, is he what we would call happy? How about when he realizes his friends can’t stay awake with him? Or when he accepts God’s desires above his own? Jesus shows us that feeling good is not as important as doing what is right. In the core of his being, Christ is happy as the Psalms describe it.

Some people go to the opposite extreme of happiness, and seek out suffering to please God. While we must be willing to suffer in the name of love and solidarity with Christ, such manufactured piety is unhealthy. Being in right relationship with God comprises both rewards and difficulties, and the transient emotions accompanying them are like sunsets and rain. We need solid ground to enjoy or endure.

Comfort: We are created for more than happiness, we are created for relationship with God!

Challenge: When you get a chance, watch a nature documentary. As you watch, reflect on the struggles and rewards that are part of the natural order.

Prayer: God of all Creation, above all things I seek right relationship with you. Amen.

Discussion: During what experiences have you suffered, yet been at peace?

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Raise the Roof

/ JJS / 1 Comment

raise the roof

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 19; 150, Joshua 6:15-27, Acts 22:30-23:11, Mark 2:1-12

When people learned Jesus had returned home after several days away, a crowd gathered outside his home. It was so large that one man, whose friends had carried him there on a mat because he was paralyzed, couldn’t get near the door. Undeterred, they tore an opening in the roof and lowered him into the house. Jesus rewarded his faith first by forgiving his sins, then by healing his infirmity.

This healing was performed partly as a demonstration to those who questioned Jesus’s authority to forgive sins. The faith of the man helped Jesus further his ministry.

How hard would we work to get our friends to Jesus? Would we tear open a roof? Progressive Christians are generally uncomfortable with evangelizing; worrying about being “Bible-thumpers” creates a spirit of timidity until we are more likely to witness to a favorite new novel or sushi restaurant than push the Good Book and Bread of Life. There are other places to begin, though. Open a door to give them a place to stay. Open a window to freshen a sick room they can’t leave. And while doing so we can open our mouths to have a conversation about who inspires and strengthens us to live in grace.

Of course we shouldn’t try to force the unwilling to meet him. But we can lend a hand to lift up those who are paralyzed by fear, addiction, or guilt. When we suffer those same conditions ourselves, we may need to lean on the strength and faith of others to deliver us to Christ’s presence. Even when it seems impossible that we might reach him, there is a way to be found if we persevere.

When we break through whatever barriers are between us and Christ’s healing presence, we may be surprised to find what we really need is forgiveness — from God and from ourselves. Without a clean start, any other type of healing we experience will be incomplete. We are healed not just for our own sakes, but also to further Christ’s ongoing ministry by sharing our own witness of the good news.

Comfort: There are many ways to share the Gospel.

Challenge: Find one that is comfortable to you.

Prayer: Gracious and Loving God, help me find my voice so I may spread your Gospel. Amen.

Discussion: What is the most rewarding conversation you have had about faith?

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