In(ter)dependence Day

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 96; 147:1-11, Nahum 1:1-14, Revelation 12:1-6, Luke 11:37-52

We admire independence. We sing the praises of the self-sufficient, the self-made, and the independently wealthy. And yet … it is largely a myth. While relying on someone else is often portrayed as a weakness, the human condition is primarily one of interdependence. We rely on each other in ways large and small.

American Christians tend to speak of salvation in fairly independent terms – my personal relationship with Christ; the day I was saved; etc. Yet Jesus and the prophets spoke of salvation in terms of entire nations. Jesus said several times he came for the nation of Israel. He condemned the Pharisees and lawyers not just for their own misdeeds, but for hindering others from entering the kingdom. When the prophet Nahum spoke about God’s wrath falling on the city of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, he spoke to them as a people; the righteous would also pay for the deeds of the unrighteous. Does this seem unfair? Unjust?

Whether we recognize it or not, others depend on us for salvation. Our witness is only as credible as our character. Many people have turned (or been driven) from the faith because of the misbehavior and hypocrisy they experience in Christian community. Must we be perfect? Of course not. We should, however, remain aware that once we call ourselves Christians, our example teaches people what to expect from Christ.

Perhaps we think people are responsible for their own salvation, and perhaps ultimately they are, but such thinking diminishes the faithful parents, teachers, mentors, and friends who introduced us to our beliefs and helped us through hard times. People who are swayed by bad examples are no weaker or less deserving than we who had the benefit of good ones. Of people who cause others to lose faith, Jesus says: “It would be best for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large stone hung around his neck.”

A community rises or falls together because its tangle of cause and effect can’t be teased apart. Whether our interdependence is a blessing or curse is entirely dependent on us.

Comfort: You don’t have to go it alone.

Challenge: As you go about your daily business, think about all the things other people do to make it possible for you to do the things you do.

Prayer: Holy and loving God, may I be a worthy witness for you. Amen.

Discussion: When have you been forced to depend on someone? How did it make you feel?

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!

Good Losers

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 12; 146, Jonah 3:1-4:11, Revelation 11:14-19, Luke 11:27-36

Do you have to get your way to be happy? If so, brace yourself for a lot of disappointments.

God sent Jonah to Nineveh to warn the people there to repent or be destroyed. Jonah hated the Ninevites, so not only did he not want to be there in the first place, he really didn’t want them to be saved. Yet repent they did, and rather than be happy an entire city had turned to the Lord, Jonah went to the outskirts of town and pouted. The Lord caused a bush to grow to give him shade, and for a brief time Jonah was happy. Then the Lord “appointed a worm” to destroy the bush, and Jonah resumed his griping.

The Lord asked Jonah how he could be so upset about a day-old bush he hadn’t even grown himself, yet expect the Lord not to be concerned about a hundred and twenty thousand people who had lost their way.

We are going to be put in a lot of situations where we don’t get what we want. The new music director may go contemporary when we prefer classic. The presidential candidate we voted for could lose. The in-laws might insist on cooking the dressing inside the turkey when it is clearly safer not to. How do we react to these and the countless serious and trivial disappointments we will face?

When we are presented with a choice of resentment and sabotage, or working toward reconciliation, let’s remember that Jonah did not turn out to be the hero of his story. He hated the Ninevites because they had enslaved his people. Jonah’s bitterness prevented him from seeing that calling them to repentance was a victory which neither compromised him nor excused them, but vindicated the loving nature of the God of Israel.

How we behave in defeat says more about our character than winning ever will. We don’t have to betray our values to work for the greater good of a family, congregation, or nation. Dodging responsibility and sulking on the periphery serves no one well, least of all our God.

Comfort: Your happiness does not depend on getting your way.

Challenge: Do something nice for someone you don’t particularly like.

Prayer: God of reconciliation, may I be gracious and defeat and generous in victory. Amen.

Discussion: Do you prefer games that are competitive or cooperative?

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!

Silenced

/ JJS / 2 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 62; 145, Jonah 1:17-2:10, Revelation 11:1-14, Luke 11:14-26

Along his travels, Jesus encountered a man who was rendered mute by a demon. Jesus cast the demon out and the man began to speak. The crowd was amazed, through some of them claimed Jesus cast out demons because he trafficked with demons. He rebuked them by saying a kingdom divided against itself could not stand.

Dark forces always prefer our silence. For centuries the demons of racism, sexism, poverty, homophobia, religious persecution, and other persuasions have silenced countless people. Fears of rejection and retaliation muffle our truths. From slavery through suffrage through the civil rights era through today, the Bible itself has been used to dismiss generations of cries for justice. We effectively silence each other by refusing to listen: if your candidate, doctrine, or experience differs significantly from mine, too often I reject it outright without considering what it has to say about mine.

When I am forced to listen, if your words make me uncomfortable, I will find excuses to discredit them. Maybe I can’t pin it on Beelzebub, but your party, nationality, education, income, or number of piercings conveniently justifies my suspicions.

Fortunately, Christ’s power and love ultimately loose the tongues of the oppressed. God’s Kingdom is united around the language of justice. How do we make sure that kingdom is not divided? Martin Luther King, Jr may have summed it up best: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We must recognize that the injustice which concerns us does not stop with the relief of our own oppression, or that of people like us, but extends to such relief for all God’s beloved children. The members of a united house speak truth to each other, especially when the house is in need of repair to keep it from collapsing under its own failings.

When Jesus restores our voice, let us use it wisely and compassionately. When others undermine and defame us, let us remember we are a kingdom united around justice. In the words of James Weldon Johnson:

Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty.

Comfort: You have  a voice that deserves to be heard.

Challenge: Try to listen for voices you have been dismissing.

Prayer: Creator God, I lift my voice in praise and love to you. May I join with all of creation in singing your song of love. Amen.

Discussion: When have you felt like you weren’t heard?

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!

Running Away From God

/ JJS / 2 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 108; 150, Jonah 1:1-17a, 1 Corinthians 10:15-24, Matthew 18:15-20

Most of us remember Jonah from childhood Sunday School classes, and mostly how he was swallowed by a great fish and spit up on shore. In some Christian circles the fish and the attempts to explain how it could have “really happened” are such a focus that the more important points of the story blur in the background. Jonah is a book about God’s love for all people, even the people we don’t love ourselves.

The first chapter opens as God commands Jonah to deliver a message to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrians, who for a long time were Israel’s captors. Jonah decides to head in the opposite direction toward the port city of Tarshish in the west. This decision doesn’t pan out well. The Lord sends a great storm to trouble the ship Jonah has chosen, and it doesn’t cease until the crew members throw Jonah overboard because they realize he has angered the Lord.

Are we ever like Jonah? Do we ever head the opposite direction from where the Lord would have us go? Intentionally or not, we all make that mistake sometimes. Maybe we don’t like what God is asking us to do, or the people he’s asking us to do it for. Maybe we are too preoccupied with our own concerns to hear the call. Maybe we think we’ll answer later. Maybe we’re too busy justifying a fish story to see the greater truth behind it.

When we turn our face away from God, we can expect some rough weather. Probably not our own personal tsunami or mammoth tuna, but our lives won’t be what they could. Even if everything appears fine to outside eyes, inside we will know things are off kilter. When we ignore God’s call, the repercussions play out in our lives not as punishments but as natural consequences. A nagging lack of peace and contentment ripples through and distorts all our relationships to other people, God, and ourselves. As we will explore throughout our reading of Jonah, we will know we are heading toward God when we are heading toward reconciliation.

Comfort: Even if we move away, God is waiting for us to come back.

Challenge: Throughout your day, stop regularly to assess whether your actions are leading you toward or away from God’s call.

Prayer: God of Mystery, when you call me I will move toward you. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever moved away from where God was trying to send you?

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!

Eggs and Scorpions

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 122; 149, Micah 7:1-7, Revelation 10:1-11, Luke 11:1-13

What is the difference between being persistent and being stubborn?

Jesus told his disciples a parable about a man who went to his friend’s house in the middle of the night to ask for three loaves of bread to share with an unexpected visitor. Because it was so late, the friend tried many excuses to turn the man away and stay in bed. In the end, Jesus said, the man got his bread not because of friendship but because of persistence. Jesus continued to say:

Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Taken alone that last bit almost seems like a magic formula – just ask for what you want, and you’ll get it. Of course we know it doesn’t work out that way in real life. But just because we don’t get something right away doesn’t mean we should stop asking. Yes, God hears you the first time, but your persistence isn’t about changing God: it’s about changing you.

Jesus tells his disciples that when a child asks for an egg or a fish, a good parent doesn’t give them a scorpion or a snake. Better and more holy than the best of parents, God wants us to have things that are good for us. But what if the child, not knowing what adults know, asks for a scorpion? Or grabs for it? The good parent doesn’t allow it to happen. Eventually the child either grows more wise or gets stung.

And therein lies the difference.

With persistence comes growth and wisdom. God does not change, but our understanding does. Maybe we aren’t ready, maybe we don’t need it, and maybe we learn to live with not knowing. With stubbornness there is no change. We keep insisting on getting we want, and never learn to ask if we should. Both may result in getting what we ask for, but is it the egg or the scorpion?

Comfort: God wants only good for you.

Challenge: Make a list of the things you are asking God for, but have not yet received. Honestly evaluate whether you are being stubborn or persistent about each.

Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.

Discussion: Today’s reading from Luke begins with a short version of The Lord’s Prayer. How do you think this is related to today’s topic?

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Productivity

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 88; 148, Micah 6:1-8, Revelation 9:13-21, Luke 10:38-42

Search “productivity” on Amazon.com, and you’ll get more than 32,000 results. A few decades ago modern conveniences like microwaves, dishwashers, and computers promised to free us from the drudgery of labor. In reality, most of us have crammed that extra time, both at work and at home, with yet more tasks. In many industries productivity is measured in increments of seconds, and we learn to judge ourselves in terms of efficiency. The past was not necessarily better, but it was certainly simpler. Or was it?

When Jesus entered a certain village, Martha invited him into her home. Her sister, Mary sat at his feet and listened to what he had to say. Martha, distracted by many tasks, asked why Jesus didn’t seem to care she was doing all the work by herself. Jesus told her: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Remember that Martha extended the invitation. We don’t know what her specific tasks were, but they probably included what she thought were efforts to be a good hostess. Ironically, that seemed to involve everything but spending time with her guest. Was she really resentful of Mary, or was she frustrated that she couldn’t shrug off her own slavishness to productivity? We never learn how Martha responded, but one can imagine a moment of stunned silence as she realized she was complaining about a problem of her own making.

After we invite Christ into our lives, do we choose the one thing or the distractions? Is the bulk of our time at church spent tending the building or the flock? Are we too busy making sure people know we are Christian to actually model Christ? Is our prayer time filled with words or silence?

There is always plenty to be done, and we must make time for the doing, but we must also remember the doing is not more important than the being: being in the presence of God and God’s children.

Comfort: You can slow down. You can even stop once in a while.

Challenge: Make a list of the things you do simply because you think other people expect you to. What could you cross off?

Prayer: Eternal God, teach me to be mindful and present. Amen.

Discussion: In what ways have you created unnecessary work for yourself?

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Good Samaritan

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 143; 147:12-20, Micah 5:1-4, 10-15, Revelation 9:1-12, Luke 10:25-37

The parable of the Good Samaritan is so famous, a category of laws has been named after it. It actually began with a lawyer who tested Jesus by asking how to achieve eternal life. Since one of the criteria was loving your neighbor as yourself, the lawyer tried to justify himself by asking: “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus then told the familiar story: a man is left for dead by thieves; a priest and a Levite (his people) pass him by; a Samaritan man bandages him up, takes him to an inn, and pays for his care. The now-familiar twist in this story is that Samaritans were bitter enemies of the Jews, but when Jesus asked who had been a good neighbor, the lawyer was forced to admit: “The one who showed him mercy.”

He must hot have been a great lawyer, because he let Jesus off the hook without an answer to the question. He asked: “Who is my neighbor?” and Jesus told him a story about being a good neighbor, then followed it up with: “Go and do likewise.”

Jesus skillfully redirected the lawyer away from the wrong question … and toward the right answer. The man was really asking: “What’s the minimum number of people I need to love?” Instead of listing criteria he could exploit to exclude people, Jesus gave him a parable which taught him he needed to worry less about defining who his neighbors were, and more about redefining himself as a neighbor to all.

Are we showing neighborly mercy? Here’s a hint: if we show it only to people we feel have earned it, the answer is “No.” We can ask what people deserve, why we are being unfairly burdened, or how much is enough, but Jesus may not bother with our questions. He cares more that we listen to his answers. He wants us to redefine ourselves by those answers – to be a neighbor even when we are also an enemy. Merciful love is not a prize to be won; it is a grateful response to a God who loved us first.

Comfort: You don’t have to earn God’s love.

Challenge: People shouldn’t have to earn your love.

Prayer: Merciful and loving God,  may my heart, my words, and my deeds be a reflection of the infinite love you have shown me. Amen.

Discussion: Has someone you consider an enemy/rival ever surprised you with an act of kindness?

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!

Unlearning

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 65; 147:1-11, Micah 3:9-4:5, Revelation 8:1-13, Luke 10:17-24

It can be hard to tell when Jesus is paying you a compliment. Consider, for instance, these words he had for the disciples: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants.”

“Infants?” That must have drawn a little disciple side-eye. Jesus kept a supply of sharpened irony in his rhetorical toolbox.

The disciples had divested themselves of worldly interests and possessions and were following an itinerant, nearly homeless preacher endorsing a love so radical it bordered on naivety; they were about as far as you could get from the sophisticated and elite leaders of the world. The sophisticated and elite sought and held tightly to power – social, financial, and religious – in the vain hope it meant something. Our material successes will be meaningless and ultimately unfulfilling if we don’t understand them as means to serve a greater good, specifically the Kingdom of God. The greater our resources, the harder we must work to remain humble about their purpose and employ.

Jesus wasted no time tearing out any hint of worldly wisdom before it could take root in his disciples’ hearts. When they delighted in their own power to cast out demons, he told them: “Do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” A little earlier he’d had to set them straight about arguing over who among them was the greatest. Becoming truly wise and intelligent was a matter of unlearning what the world had taught them.

Of course not everyone who achieves worldly success is by default a spiritual failure. The ministry of Christ and his disciples depended in part on the support of people who had resources to spare. Homeless shelters and food banks need cash as much as they need volunteers. Wisdom knows our true joy, regardless of circumstance, is found in being citizens of God’s Kingdom. That joy frees us from worrying about looking wise or intelligent to the world, because we are children of God.

Comfort: You are not defined by your worldly status.

Challenge: Let yourself be a fool for Christ.

Prayer: Loving God, clear my head of the world’s ways, and fill it with Yours. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever held onto something that was bad for you, because letting it go might seem like failure?

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!

Two by Two

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 54; 146, Micah 3:1-8, Revelation 7:9-17, Luke 10:1-16

As Jesus prepared to expand his ministry, he selected 70 disciples to travel in pairs to the places he planned to visit. Today we might call them street teams. Each pair traveled simply; they carried no purse, no sandals, and no bags. They kept to themselves until they reached a destination, then where they were welcomed they stayed to cure the sick and where they were rejected they left promptly. Either way, they let the place know the kingdom of God had come near. If we assume three successful stops per pair, that’s 105 towns along a route of approximately 3,100 miles. Quite a grueling tour schedule when it’s mostly on foot.

How do you suppose Jesus paired people up? He could matched people who were already friends, or maybe they were random assignments, and people had to figure out how to get along with each other on the journey. Assigning people with similar personalities could make things easier or more difficult, depending on the personality. People with complementary personality types or experiences, while surely having to overcome some initial conflict, might be able to bring different strengths: introverts and extroverts; rich and poor; somber and playful; intrepid and cautious; cut-to-the-chase and touchy-feely. Perhaps he used all these criteria and more to build the most effective pairs possible.

On our own Christian journeys, we will find ourselves working alongside all kinds of people. We will like, respect, and enjoy each of them to different degrees. When, by example or intent, they expose our weaknesses, we can embrace an opportunity for growth. When we see them stumble where we stride easily, we can offer a steadying hand. We can hold each other accountable for getting the job done, and for grace. God has drawn us together, and it’s our job to work it out so we can credibly tell people the kingdom of God draws near. How we treat each other is a defining feature of that witness.

We are one body in Christ. A body isn’t walking unless one foot is on the ground and another is in the air.

Comfort: You are an important part of someone else’s journey.

Challenge: Pick a trait of yours that you think could use improvement. Talk to someone who is strong in that area about ways to improve.

Prayer: Thank you, God, for the many people you who support and guide me on my journey. Amen.

Discussion: Without mentioning names, is there a person you don’t particularly like but do respect?

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!

Scorched Earth

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 57; 145, Micah 2:1-13, Revelation 7:1-8, Luke 9:51-62

[A] village of the Samaritans […] did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.
– Luke 9:52b-56

It didn’t take long for the disciples to become drunk with the power Jesus had given them. In their culture, refusal of hospitality was a much more offensive act than we would consider it today, but what about their experience with Jesus could have possibly led James and John to believe he would want an entire village utterly destroyed?

In hindsight the proposed Fireball of Vengeance was an over-reaction, but Christians still like to flirt with the possibility. Too often we approach Christianity like an imperial decree, and a reason to punish non-conformists. We want civil laws and corporate policies to reflect our Christian doctrines, and are willing to let the house (and the Senate) burn down before we will compromise to live peaceably with our non-Christian neighbors.

Codifying Christian values into law actually erodes faith by substituting fear of prosecution for voluntary submission to God. We should live out our Christian values (conservative, moderate, or liberal) regardless of civil law. Sometimes that costs us money, status, jobs, or even freedom, but Jesus warned us that would happen. We can’t bring an individual – let alone a nation – to Christ through victim-mentality legislation; we do so by offering a witness that shows how Christ has transformed our lives through grace and love, including love of our enemies (and not the punitive “for your own good” kind of love that demands nothing of us but everything of them).

Even in his confinement, Paul was an influential witness to Christ. In a nation that guarantees the greatest religion freedom in the world, let’s not be so ready to shackle ourselves to theocracy. A life lived in humble service to Christ and the least among us wins souls that religious scorched earth policies would destroy.

Comfort: You can live your faith regardless of what others believe and do.

Challenge: Treat your non-Christian neighbors (or Christian neighbors who believe differently than you do) as people who are also loved by Christ .

Prayer: Lord of Heaven and Earth, make me a bold and loving witness for Christ. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever excused your own less-than-Christian behavior because it was permitted under the law?

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!