cooperation

Skin in the Game

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 92; 149, Exodus 17:1-16, 1 Peter 4:7-19, John 16:16-33

Though the nation of Amalek shared a lineage with the nation of Israel, they were bitter rivals. When Israel was encamped at Rephidim, Amalek attacked. While they fought, Moses stood on a hill and held his staff in the air. As long as he kept it raised Israel prevailed, but when he tired and let it drop Amalek prevailed. Growing weary, Moses sat on a stone and  his brother Aaron and companion Hur held his hand steady. The whole incident is a little strange, as it paints Moses almost as some sort of magician casting a spell over the battlefield. If God wanted Israel to claim victory, why not just destroy the Amalekites like He had the Egyptian army? We can learn some valuable lessons from this story.

First, it seems God wants us to have some skin in the game. He gives us our freedoms, but they are ours to defend. When enemies storm the camp, we can’t assume God will take care of it all like a superhero. Of course we depend on Him for our strength, but actual effort is required. For example, if our enemy is hunger, we might remember words attributed to Pope Francis: “You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. That’s how prayer works.”

Second, we have to be willing to receive and give help. Our leaders aren’t superheroes either. Aaron and Hur didn’t stand back and criticize Moses for failing to keep that staff aloft; they offered moral and literal support for as long as it was needed. They took turns because they were invested in the outcome, and leaders can’t do things alone. There was a measure of risk to getting involved: the people of Israel were fickle and quick to turn on their leaders, and if the battle had been lost Moses’s comrades would likely have paid a price. Like them, we need to shore up each other’s faith in difficult times, even when the outcome is uncertain.

Faith is not a miracle factory. It is a source of strength that grows stronger as we share it with others.

Comfort: Not only do you not have to carry every burden alone, it’s a sign of strength to share it.

Challenge: When you can, be part of a solution instead of an observer of problems.

Prayer: Thank you, God, for the community of believers who supports me in my journey. May I pass on the strength you share with me to others who need it too. Amen.

Discussion: In what areas of your life are you passively waiting for God or some earthly leader to solve a problem? What could you be doing to help with it right now?

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Gathering the Sparks

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Today’s readings (click to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 36; 147:12-20, Genesis 11:1-9, Hebrews 6:13-20, John 4:1-15

Though Charles Darwin did not write On The Origin Of Species as an attack on Christianity, many people interpreted it that way. The controversy of the seeming conflict  between natural selection and Genesis was not limited to Biblical literalists, but was also a concern for Christians who were not in theory opposed to more scientific theories of creation. The real danger of Darwin’s theory was what it said about the nature of life: it was not powered by love and redemption, but by competition and dominance. What did this reveal about God?

Maybe nothing as startling as it seemed. Another Biblical myth – the Tower of Babel – tells us that when God felt humans were growing too powerful and unified, he destroyed the tower symbolizing their potential, forced them to speak different languages, and scattered them across the world. God forced diversity upon his creation, setting tribes at odds with one another. Whether we read Darwin or Genesis, competition and diversity are central to the story.

In the Jewish myth of the Shattering of the Vessels, when God says “Let there be light” he sends forth his divine essence in ten vessels. The vessels are too fragile and they shatter, scattering divine sparks across creation. It is the duty of humanity to collect these sparks and repair the world. Division and scattering seem integral to our creation stories. We recognize the world as broken, and long to restore it.

Now consider Jesus at the well, talking to the Samaritan woman. They are separated by language and culture. As a woman and a Samaritan she is no one Jesus should be talking to, at least by the dictates of his culture. Yet he stops to banter with her, not to preach but to make a connection. They join their sparks to repair one tiny corner of the creation.

Other animals may be shaped by their environments, but humans can choose to shape the environment instead. When we choose cooperation over competition, we help repair the world. Each spark we collect illuminates what it means to be created in the image of a creator. Our brokenness offers the potential to create something divine in a way unquestioned wholeness never could.

Comfort: Brokenness is not a final state; it is the beginning of reconciliation.

Challenge: We have busy lives, and ignore many of the sparks of creation. Where can you slow down and make connections?

Prayer: Lord, make me an instrument of your divine reconciliation. Amen.

Discussion: Are you by nature more cooperative or competitive? Why do you think that is?

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Even a Miracle Needs a Hand

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 63; 149, Nehemiah 4:1-23, Revelation 7:(4-8) 7:9-17, Matthew 13:31-35

We’ll help our Maker
To make our dreams come true,
But I can’t do it alone,
So here’s what we’re gonna do

You hope and I’ll hurry,
You pray and I’ll plan
We’ll do what’s necessary ’cause
Even a miracle needs a hand

“Even a Miracle Needs a Hand”
by Maury Laws

In the 1974 television special ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, a young mouse who lives in the home of a human clockmaker potentially ruins Christmas for the entire town – twice. This young mouse isn’t much of a believer in anything, but the clockmaker’s song choosing hope over helplessness motivates him to try to fix what he’s broken by embracing both his skills and a little faith.

Now a Christmas special that barely acknowledges Jesus is hardly scripture, but it’s not exactly at odds with scripture either.

When the Jewish people returned to Jerusalem after decades of exile in Babylon, their city was “in ruins with its gates burned.” Just because King Cyrus had released them and allowed them to rebuild the temple didn’t mean they weren’t surrounded by hostile tribes and nations. They decided that in order to restore their security they needed to rebuild the wall which had once surrounded Jerusalem. Their hostile neighbors plotted to stop them, but the citizens of Jerusalem and Jews of the surrounding area gathered, prayed, and planned to move forward. They rebuilt the wall with tools in one hand, weapons in the other, and a firm grip on faith.

When we feel firmly convicted about something, it’s not always enough to have faith it will come to pass; we must learn to recognize when we are called to be an instrument of its realization. And it might not always be in a way we – or others – expect. If for example a church wants to become a weather amnesty shelter, greeting people and providing cots and blankets is only part of the story. Some seemingly less charitable work, such as seeking permits and updating liability insurance, needs to be done in defense of the mission.

Like the Jewish guards on the wall, it may appear some people aren’t doing the heavy lifting (or are impeding it), but their efforts are necessary to make sure it gets done. For one person to place a stone, two may need to stand guard. And it may take someone else calling to us from the middle of the ruins to realize we have any part to play at all.

Further Reading: For thoughts on today’s passage from Matthew, see Mustard Seeds.

Comfort: Even you can be an instrument of God’s work.

Challenge: Remember that because someone is not playing the part that’s important to you doesn’t mean the part they play is unimportant.

Prayer: Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts. (Psalm 125:4)

Discussion: In your faith community, family, or circle of friends, who does the work you are not suited for? What work can you do well that others can not?

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One Body to Heal

/ JJS / 2 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 51; 148, 2 Kings 23:36-24:17, 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, Matthew 9:27-34

If one member suffers, all suffer together with it;
if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
– 1 Corinthians 12:26

Today’s reading from 1 Corinthians can be read on many levels. It is often used to describe the importance of each person’s role in the body of Christ and to celebrate the many gifts they contribute. It also describes the importance of diversity within the church.

Read in context with today’s healing story in Matthew, there is yet another meaning. When Jesus healed two men of blindness, they were not passive recipients, but participants in the process. He asked them if they believed, and when they said yes he told them, “According to your faith let it be done to you.” Christ does not just do things to us, he does them with us.

When one part of the body is sick, it depends on the others for healing. An ailing tooth does not walk itself into a dentist’s office, but relies on the feet. A foot with a splinter cannot remedy itself, but depends on the hands to remove it. Hands that tremble from hunger cannot feed themselves, but rely on the mouth and teeth to chew and swallow. Each part is not only equally important, it is equally interdependent.

As members of the body of Christ, we must rely on each other and be present for each other in times of illness and distress. None of us is completely self-sufficient. We receive care when we need it, and we offer care when it is needed. And as the feet don’t feel burdened by the tooth, and the hands don’t feel burdened by the feet, we do so not out of obligation nor to secure help for ourselves in the future, but because we are one. The well-being of one is inseparable from the well-being of others.

Christ was extravagant in his love for all people. Christ was extravagant in his healing. As we are now his body, we are called to the same extravagance. Let us heal not out of duty, but out of extravagant love.

Comfort: It’s okay to rely on other people when you need to.

Challenge: Mental illness is often met with less sympathy and support than physical illness. Make an effort to learn more about how you can appropriately support people with mental illnesses.

Prayer:  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)

Discussion: How do you feel when people ask you for help?

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Losers

/ JJS / Leave a comment
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Veterinarian and volunteer treating a sea turtle with a shell damaged by a boat motor.

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 63; 149, Isaiah 56:1-8, Galatians 5:25-6:10, Mark 9:14-29

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote:

If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another […] Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ […] all must carry their own loads.

Doesn’t sound much like our culture, does it? There are no hit “reality” TV shows about people cooperating to arrive the finale together. Businesses – not content simply to provide quality products which benefit their customers and provide owners and employees with a comfortable living – embrace  a model that can see markets only as competitions. Rather than a system to serve the common good of a nation by sharing ideas, politics long has been a power struggle which exploits tribal ideologies to create winners and losers.

If we want to follow Christ, we must defy cultural expectations. That has always been true, but ever since Christianity became the empire instead of the underdog (some seventeen centuries ago), and we turned the Gospel from an invitation into an edict, we’ve been looking for ways to convince ourselves Jesus backs a winner.

What does it mean both to bear one another’s burdens and to carry ou r own loads?

It means putting the welfare of other people ahead of our own. It means balancing  a humility of word and deed with a steady call for justice. It means seeking ways to serve rather than to conquer. It means willing to be among the last – those whom Jesus calls first in the Kingdom of Heaven, but what many in our society would call “losers.”

In his humility and self-sacrifice, Christ defied expectations of what the Messiah should be: crucifixion was not for winners. As his followers, our triumphs are achieved not through force and fear, but through love and sacrifice. Our strength comes from open hands, not closed fists. When impose our need for victory onto the message of the Gospel, we rob it of the power to reveal itself. Let’s trust the message to be enough.

Comfort: In Christ, you are strong enough to be vulnerable.

Challenge: Look for ways to be more cooperative, especially with people you consider rivals in some way.

Prayer: Holy and loving God, lead your church to unity. Amen.

Discussion: Are you competitive in ways you don’t need to be?

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Zipper Merge

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 104; 149, Zephaniah 3:14-20, Revelation 18:1-14, Luke 14:1-11

The zipper merge is the idea that, when construction or an accident forces two lanes of traffic to funnel into a single lane, drivers should continue using both lanes as long as possible, then alternate between lanes to proceed. States which have adopted this strategy claim it significantly reduces traffic backup, but many people are reluctant to use it. They feel it’s rude to use the closing lane instead of waiting your turn, and either refuse to do it themselves, and/or refuse to yield to people who do so. Either way, they’re shifting blame onto the other “side” when traffic studies show it’s the refusal to yield that really increases the congestion.

We’ve been refusing to yield since well before the invention of the automobile.

When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited […]; and the host […] may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. […S]it down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

In a culture where “second place is first loser,” we are not inclined to put on the brakes. Yet Jesus clearly instructs us that it’s God’s role, not ours, to decide who is first. Refusing to yield – literally or figuratively – may be momentarily satisfying but it doesn’t teach the other person a lesson. It does, however, reveal something about our own humility. In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes: “love does not insist on its own way.” That’s the zipper merge in a nutshell. In God’s kingdom the point is not to get there first, it’s to get there together.

Comfort: God isn’t sorting us by losers and winners.

Challenge: As you go through your day, look for more opportunities to cooperate rather than to compete.

Prayer: God of Justice, I will work with your children, not against them. Amen.

Discussion: Some competition is healthy, but it becomes unhealthy when it interferes with our ability to treat each other as Jesus asks. Are you prone to any unhealthy competition?

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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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