community

Under Construction

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 54; 146, Esther 5:1-14, Acts 18:12-28, Luke 3:15-22

Apollos was a Jewish man who followed the teachings of Jesus. Acts tells us: “He was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures. He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord; and he spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus.” He must have learned about Jesus apart from Paul and the other Apostles because he knew about the baptism of John, but not about baptism in the Holy Spirit. When he began teaching in Ephesus, a couple named Priscilla and Aquila (whom Paul had made disciples) pulled him aside to “explain the Way of God to him more accurately.”

This story is a wonderful model for how we Christians can support each other in growing our faith. Priscilla and Aquila did not embarrass Apollos by calling him out publicly, or set themselves up in opposition. Apollos was willing to hear them out and learned from them. They simply informed him of things he didn’t know, and the church thrived.

Let us celebrate and embrace this spirit of gentle correction and willingness to learn. Throughout our faith lives, every one of us is both an Apollos and a Priscilla, a teacher who is at the same time a student. What if, instead of treating the church as an ancient, brittle construction we inhabit solely for the purpose of preserving it, we recognized it as still being built by the Holy Spirit continuing to live and move among us? If we are continuing to work on the project together, like the members of the early church, we feel freer to hear each other’s stories and look at the project from each other’s perspectives to understand the big picture. Christ remains our foundation, but we are a team of builders united in the clamor and mess of creating something, rather than tourists traveling the approved but lifeless path to ogle the crumbling relics we aren’t allowed to touch.

The church is a living body, and living bodies grow and mature. Let’s embrace that process of growth by remaining supportive of each other despite the inevitable growing pains.

Comfort: The faith doesn’t need us to defend it…

Challenge: … it needs us to live it.

Prayer: Eternal God, may the breath of life you have granted me add life to your church here on Earth. Amen.

Discussion: Has hearing someone else’s perspective changed how you understand your faith?

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It’s complementary, my dear Christian.

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 135; 145, Job 40:1-24, Acts 15:36-16:5, John 11:55-12:8

A friend of mine volunteers a lot of her time working with feral cats. It’s not uncommon for people to dismissively ask why she wastes her efforts on stray animals instead of humans. Besides making unfounded assumptions, these questions rise from an attitude of scarcity which assumes one person’s priorities must be robbing resources from another’s.

Paul and Barnabas successfully worked together to build up the church in Antioch. After a while, Paul suggested they take a journey to visit the cities where they had previously spread the gospel. Barnabas wanted to take along Mark, but Paul objected because earlier Mark had deserted them to return to Jerusalem. They couldn’t come to an agreement, and parted company. Paul took Silas to Syria and Cilicia, and Barnabas took Mark with him to Cyprus, and twice as much ground was covered. We hear a lot more from and about Paul, but reliable information about Barnabas is lost to history. Paul does mention Barnabas and Mark in his letters, and his words suggest they maintained a respectful, possibly friendly, relationship.

They continued to be successful on their separate paths because they realized a disagreement does not mean the work comes to a standstill until one side gets its way. They didn’t interfere with or sabotage each other. To the contrary, they allowed the Spirit room to work. Often in our faith communities, leaders have different visions for the future of the community. For example, some leaders are inwardly focused on spiritual development and sanctuary, while others are more naturally drawn to externally focused work, such as mission and social justice projects. Scarcity-minded leaders assume these visions are competing. Because they feel threatened, they hoard what they see as limited resources and even undermine the “competition.” Grace-minded leaders try to understand how these visions might be complementary, and make room in the community for both – or more.

All good work is good work. Food pantries are not the natural enemy of building fund drives. Be grateful for the work God has called you to do, and be gracious about the work He’s given others.

Comfort: Your work is valuable on its own.

Challenge: Avoid comparisons.

Prayer: Gracious and giving God, thank you for the abundance that allows all your children to do the work of your kingdom. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever been unnecessarily competitive?

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Right Thinking / Wrong Headed

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 42; 146, Job 29:1-20, Acts 14:1-18, John 10:31-42

Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered, “It is not a good work for which we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy.”
– John 10:32-33

No matter what power Jesus displayed, it was his words the Jewish leaders feared most. Maybe this was because their own power depended on strict adherence to the letter of the law, and not its spirit. They could handle transgressions against the specific rules, but a revolution in thinking was a serious threat to their power. Unfortunately, this attitude survives in some of our churches even today.

While the two great commandments are simply to love God and our neighbors, some churches more strongly emphasize specific beliefs, or right thinking. An insistence on right thinking is another form of legalism which betrays God’s command to love. Over the centuries Christians have been forced to accepted certain creeds or face rejection by the church. Many schisms – and denominations – are directly attributable to differences in theological opinions that have little if anything to do with loving God and our neighbors. Trinitarian vs. Unitarian; transubstantiation vs. consubstantiation; predestination vs. election; the list goes on and on. Christianity might be easier if we all thought alike, but we don’t – and aren’t required to!

Schisms are less common today – as we have already been divided along some pretty fine lines – but we still struggle with problems caused by an insistence on right thinking. When we don’t like the way another church thinks, we can be quick to dismiss the good it may do. We may withhold support from worthwhile projects because we don’t like a church’s liberal or conservative stance. This temptation is understandable, but who really pays the price for our stand, no matter how principled we believe it to be? Even when differences in thought result in persecution and enmity, we must remember we are called to love our enemies. We all naturally believe our own thinking is right, but none of us is as right as Christ.

Comfort: Grace doesn’t depend on being right.

Challenge: Consider what types of thinking keep you from loving.

Prayer: God of sky and waters, wash away divisions among your people. Amen.

Discussion: What creeds or doctrines have you questioned or challenged?

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Astounding Gifts

/ JJS / 2 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 88; 148, Job 9:1-15, 32-35, Acts 10:34-48, John 7:37-52

“The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.” (Acts 10:45)

This verse illustrates the difference between superficial acceptance and true inclusion, a distinction sometimes lost on the most well-meaning individuals and communities. Sitting at a table with Gentiles was a major step forward for the Jewish apostles, but until the Spirit poured gifts upon the new arrivals, the apostles were unready to accept them as worthy of the same baptism in Christ.

How long do we wait until we truly include new people in our faith community? We almost always let them in the door, and eagerly recruit them for bake sales or nursery duty, but when do we stop thinking of them as the “new” people? Do we wait until they somehow earn our approval, like the apostles did, or do we start treating them as equal members of the body of Christ ASAP? Each person brings their own astounding gifts, so by keeping them at arm’s length we do a disservice to ourselves. Each person also comes with their own baggage and flaws, and we can’t be present with them in their struggles until we accept those, too. It’s not like we don’t have our own… Beyond that, it is simply the Christian thing to do.

Conversely, sometimes we withhold our own gifts until we are confident a community has fully embraced us. While it’s natural to be cautious when entering a new group, too much hesitation may send a false signal that we want to maintain distance. Our own gifts are for sharing, because life in a Christian community is a two- (and twenty- and two hundred-) way street. Being part of a community means offering support to it as we are able, as much as expecting it to be there for us.

We may not even know we possess a gift until the community invites us to take a risk. A gift is something you give, not something you hoard. Let us give and receive them with equal enthusiasm.

Comfort: Christ teaches us we are truly accepted, and to be truly accepting.

Challenge: Look for opportunities to share your gifts. Don’t be shy.

Prayer: God of truth, thank you for bestowing, revealing, and using the gifts of your people. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever been surprised to discover a gift in yourself or someone else?

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A Bigger Pan

/ JJS / 2 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 143; 147:12-20, Job 8:1-10, 20-22, Acts 10:17-33, John 7:14-36

A young bride wanted to make a roast just like her mother. To her husband’s dismay she cut off the ends – what he called “the best part” – because that’s what her mother did. When asked why, the mother who replied: “That’s how your grandmother taught me.” So she asked the grandmother who replied: “So it would fit in the pan.” Variations of this joke span many cultures, because it tells a truth about human behavior. One version isn’t so funny: the one where we cut away people who don’t fit in our church.

Peter’s action of eating a meal with Gentiles in a Gentile home – after the Lord sent him a vision about clean and unclean food – scandalized his Jewish contemporaries. Peter didn’t shatter this taboo to be outrageous; he did it because God made it clear the old traditions no longer served God’s purpose. How often do we run into this problem in our own faith communities? From the arrangement of chairs to the arrangement of the liturgy, we stick with what we’ve always done without examining whether it still serves God’s purpose. Sometimes our reluctance to change keeps people out or drives them away.

Jesus laid a firm foundation for this upheaval of tradition. For example, when Jewish leaders attacked him for healing a man on the Sabbath, Jesus pointed out they themselves performed circumcisions on the Sabbath to uphold Moses’ command. We should note he never broke tradition just to shake things up, but to serve a compassionate, higher purpose.

Traditions are an important part of faith and life. We shouldn’t change them merely to be popular or current. The church must be wise enough to offer people what they need, not just what they want. We should, however, periodically examine our traditions to ask why we observe them. If we don’t know, maybe a change is needed. If we realize a tradition – for example, sexist roles – excludes people from the faith community, are we willing to sacrifice some of the best parts because someone in the past used a smaller pan? Challenging ourselves: it’s a Christian tradition!

Comfort: Many traditions exist for a good reason.

Challenge: When the reason is not so good, we must be willing to listen for God’s new direction.

Prayer: Loving God, we live in an ever-changing world. Help us to value the things you value, and to embrace the changes you would have us embrace. Amen.

Discussion: What changes  – at church, home, work, or school – really bugged you? Which turned out to be better after all?

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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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The More Things Change…

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 89:1-18; 147:1-11, Judges 13:15-24, Acts 6:1-15, John 4:1-26

Famed novelist and relapsed Catholic Anne Rice once made a splash with a series of Facebook posts declaring she was “leaving Christianity” but not Christ. Her reasons aren’t exactly groundbreaking. She found Christianity (but not Christ) intolerant, quarrelsome and disputatious. Well… yes. Gandhi supposedly said: “Your Christians are so unlike your Christ” as though that was news to us. We embark on the journey to become more Christ-like specifically because we fall short. We especially need to support each other in the journey when we can’t stand each other. Christianity as a concept or a faith cannot exist outside community.

My former pastor, who worked for years to promote fairness for the LGBT community in our city, engaged the very people Ms. Rice “quit” when she endorsed an employment fairness bill. In the name of Christ, these people demanded the council deny this bill. One council member marveled that all his hate mail all seemed to be from Christians. Also in the name of Christ, many people, including my pastor, spoke in favor of it. The following Sunday she spoke to us about the hard but necessary work of loving those who oppose us. No matter which side of an issue one falls on, praying for one’s enemies is the Christ-like response.

We barely get into the sixth chapter of Acts before the squabbling begins. When Greek Christians felt Hebrew Christians were not treating the Greek widows fairly, the Greeks didn’t pack up and quit. The Hebrews got a little indignant, but the community reached a solution. Nowhere does scripture claim Christians are without quarrels. Without quarrels, Paul’s letters might never have been written! What the gospels and epistles do provide is instruction in how to live together in covenant despite differences.

People haven’t changed much in two thousand years. Some are liberal and some are conservative. Some are traditionalists and some are experimental. Etc., etc. Most of us usually think we’re right. Christianity has never been a monolith of thought and belief. It has always been about loving our enemies – even the ones sitting next to us on Sunday.

Comfort: God made us capable of thoughtful action and reaction.

Challenge: Fact check even the claims you are inclined to agree with.

Prayer: Glorious Creator, thank you for the gift of discernment. Amen.

Discussion: How have you resolved differences with your fellow Christians?

For further reading on today’s passage from John 4, see Worship Well.

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Christian Community

/ JJS / 3 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 62; 145, Judges 6:25-40, Acts 2:37-47, John 1:1-18

How would we react if our pastor suggested we take all our money to church, throw it into a big pile with everyone else’s money, and let people take what they needed when they needed it? In most churches, we’d start the search for a new pastor. However, Acts 2 tells us that’s how the earliest Christians chose to shape their community.

When our church plans a mission trip, our preparation includes reflection on Acts 2:43-47. We do indeed pool our resources, eat and pray together, and gain the good will of the people by serving them. So far we haven’t sold all our possessions, but members of some Christian communities – often called the New Monastics – have done just that to better serve each other and their neighbors. Some commit to this way of life permanently, and others do it for a season. Mission trips usually last for a short season, but living this way only for a little while can have a profound impact.

The Christian community of Acts functions very differently than today’s mainstream Christian communities. When we hear from people who want to define America as a “Christian nation,” how often do they suggest we divest ourselves of possessions and pool our resources? When someone expresses a desire to do so, do we take them seriously or call them communists or radicals? American culture is based on capitalism and democracy. As Christians, we recognize these are not ends in themselves, but means for building a society. When they are used as tools for injustice and exploitation, as any government or economy can be, we must be the voice of justice – the voice of Christ. When we value ideologies above the values taught by Christ, we must examine and adjust our priorities.

Should we all sell everything and live in communes? Probably not. But we should embrace the underlying values of the early Christians: community is more important than personal wealth; trust is more important than certainty; and time spent in service transforms us in positive ways. What changes can we make to reflect those values in our own lives?

Comfort: Each small step toward community make the next one easier.

Challenge: For each nine dollars you spend on food this week, spend the tenth on donations to a food bank.

Prayer: God of hope, thank you for the gift of community. Amen.

Discussion: What do you think are the positives and negatives of communal living?

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Relay Race

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 108; 150, Numbers 27:12-23, Acts 19:11-20, Mark 1:14-20

One of the hardest lessons of faith is learning to trust that God will come through, but not always according to our preferred schedule – or in our lifetime. As the nation of Israel drew nearer and nearer to entering the promised land, God reminded Moses that, because of past disobediences, Moses would not be entering it with them. After forty years of wandering, Moses must have found the disappointment almost unbearable. Can we imagine, were we to be in Moses’s sandals, not clinging to some sliver of hope that God might relent and let us in, if only for a day? Yet Moses chose to trust God and contribute to a smooth transition in leadership.

From the decades wandering in the desert, to the church being established in Acts, to our modern day, faith is a community experience. Our current vocabulary around faith emphasizes personal salvation, and that is an element of it, but the peace we pray for and the justice we long for are not personal but communal transformations. Maturing in that faith includes recognizing when it is time to pass the torch. Projects and missions near and dear to our hearts may not be fully realized in our own lifetimes. A narrow, individual perspective interprets this as failure, but a faith founded in community – in the eternal Body of Christ – invests hope in the long game.

Whether we are retiring from ministry or can no longer find time to serve as bake sale coordinator, merely stepping aside is not enough; when possible we should work to ease the transition for both our community and the person assuming our burden. When the Lord named Joshua as Moses’s successor, Moses presented him to the congregation, and personally commissioned him to lead the people. How humbling it must have been for Moses to admit the people could enter the promised land with or without him. Yet for a long time he was God’s chosen instrument of liberation and survival, and there must have been immense satisfaction as well.

Faith is not a sprint, or a marathon, but a relay race.

Comfort: You alone are not responsible for the fate of the world.

Challenge: When it is time to pass along your responsibilities, do so with grace.

Prayer: Eternal God, teach me to appreciate the time and tasks you have given me, as well as the opportunity to rest in your peace. Amen.

Discussion: Do you have trouble letting other people do things their own way?

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Invitation: Locker Room

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Earlier this week, while changing in the locker room, I heard a guy repeatedly cursing repeatedly and making a barking sound which may have been a laugh. Another guy was on his cell phone calling off work. I thought the first guy was rudely interrupting the second, until I turned around and saw they were the same guy. This man was having a particularly bad flare up of Tourette’s Syndrome, and needed time off. A few minutes later I was on my usual elliptical machine and working out with music pumping into my ear buds. When the first song ended, I could hear the barking sound echoing through the gym. Continue reading →