discipleship

Cross Training

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 96; 147:1-11, 2 Samuel 9:1-13, Acts 19:1-10, Mark 8:34-9:1

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

These words highlight a turning point in Christ’s ministry. All the miraculous healings and signs are revealed to be part of a bigger picture in which anyone who wanted to follow him needed to be willing to share in the sacrifice.

This talk of the cross wouldn’t have had any of the redemptive connotations we associate with it today thanks to our clear hindsight about the resurrection. It would be more like being asked to accompany him to the electric chair or the gallows. The crosses we wear today as jewelry or hang as decorations would have been horrifyingly morbid.

Have time and the marketing of Christianity diminished our sense of the cross in the western world? “Having a cross to bear” usually refers to some personal ailment or struggle, unconnected to any greater salvific purpose. In a predominantly Christian society (about seventy-five percent according to a December 2015 Gallup poll), our faith is hardly risky despite our efforts to spin holiday greetings into a crisis. In a culture where it’s possible to legislatively force others to observe our own values, we are rather more likely to be builders of the cross than its bearers; the dictators rather than the risk-takers.

Picking up the cross represents willingness to sacrifice everything to follow Christ and love God. For most of us it’s not lifted overhead in a single clean-and-jerk motion, but through a lifetime of spiritual exercise. These words marked the end of disciple boot camp, the end of being toy Christian soldiers, and the beginning of putting that training to use. We train not to be the kind of soldiers who kill for a cause, but who will die for it. When we surrender to the weight of the cross, the demanding yoke is made easy, the difficult burden made light.

Comfort: Giving up your life sounds scary, but it’s liberating.

Challenge: Pay attention for crosses. When you see them, reflect on what they represent.

Prayer: Gracious God, give me the strength to let go of all that might stand between me and you.

Discussion: Other than the cross, what Christian symbols are meaningful to you and why?

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Where there’s a will, there’s a weighing.

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 104; 149, 1 Samuel 4:1b-11, Acts 4:32-5:11, Luke 21:20-28

According to one anecdote about Abraham Lincoln, someone once said to the President he hoped that regarding the Civil War, God was on their side. Lincoln allegedly replied:

Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.

This quote, which can’t actually be sourced directly to Lincoln, distills many of his ideas about the role God did or did not play on the larger stage of human affairs. Lincoln was not convinced that because he sought the will of God that he knew or performed the will of God. Most of us will never carry the fate of a nation on our shoulders, but may we maintain the same humility in our conscience. There’s a difference between praying to do the right thing, and praying that the thing you do is right.

When the soldiers of Israel faced down the army of the Philistines, they couldn’t understand why they were losing since surely the God of Israel favored them. They sent for the Ark of the Covenant to be brought from the temple to their camp – literally placing God on their side of the battlefield. Not only did they lose, the corrupt sons of their high priest were killed, and the Ark was captured by the enemy.

We might easily assume that calling ourselves God’s people means what we do in good faith is God’s will. Yet time and again, God used foreign nations to further the plan when Israel failed to do so. Let’s always remain humble enough to consider that even people who seem bent on destroying us are not outside God’s providence.

But we need not despair from uncertainty. Thomas Merton famously prayed:

[T]he fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

Whatever we do, let us humbly fear and trust the Lord.

Read more on today’s passage from Acts in Mellow Harshed.

Comfort: God understands your intentions and inner conflicts.

Challenge: Read or listen to the whole version of Thomas Merton’s prayer.

Prayer: See the challenge.

Discussion: When have you realized you might have made some bad assumptions?

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Jump In With Both Feet

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 65; 147:1-11, Deuteronomy 13:1-11, 2 Corinthians 7:2-16, Luke 17:20-37

“He who hesitates is lost.”

The exact origin of this proverb is unknown, but it persists because it is timeless. We find or make up all kinds of excuses to hem and haw about decisions, only to regret opportunities that slip by. In business this phenomenon is sometimes called “analysis paralysis.”

Jesus warned his followers that when the day of reckoning came, it would be sudden and people needed to be ready at a moment’s notice. Anyone looking back toward home to gather belongings or tie up loose ends would be left behind. Does this seem harsh? Who wouldn’t be tempted to reach out to a loved one, or say good-bye to an old life?

“Justice delayed is justice denied.”

Another popular expression with vague origins. If we are waiting for justice, every minute of delay is essentially another minute of injustice. What could be more just than following Christ? Every minute we don’t follow him completely is a minute we’ve denied him. It seems unlikely he’s going to show up tomorrow, but that doesn’t excuse a lack of dedication. In what ways are we holding out? Maybe we’re waiting for an apology from someone before we forgive them. Or maybe we’re planning to spend more time in prayer and praise once things settle down at work or at home. Because we think of Jesus as loving and forgiving (both true), we can forget he also makes demands and approach discipleship like a diet that always seems to be starting “next” Monday. Or we can take him for granted and treat him like a family member who takes second place to our job “just this once” … for the second, tenth, or hundredth time.

No one’s dedication is perfect, but we can do our best to make sure we look forward toward Christ and not backward toward the attachments which prevent us from pursuing him unencumbered. Since we never know which moment will be the pivotal one in our relationship with Christ, why not assume they all are?

“I will prepare and some day my chance will come.” – Abraham Lincoln.

Comfort: Jesus is ready for you right now.

Challenge: He wants you to be ready, too.

Prayer: Lord grant me the conviction to follow you right how. Amen.

Discussion: What makes you hesitate to commit to something?

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Clay Jars

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 88; 148, Ruth 3:1-18, 2 Corinthians 4:1-12, Matthew 5:38-48

Where do you store your valuables? A safe? A vault? A storage unit? A coffee can buried in the back yard? Maybe what you value isn’t material, but you probably lock the door to your home or car to keep your family safe. Our instinct is to protect the things we find precious.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians of a different type of treasure: the extraordinary power of the light of the Gospel, a gift from God which we carry within ourselves. Other treasures might be locked behind heavy doors or surrounded by guards, but Paul says we keep ours in vulnerable clay jars – that is, our own fragile bodies that come from and return to the dust. No matter what happens to the jars, the treasure inside continues to “let shine light out of darkness.”

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.

Clay jars aren’t much for security. They are relatively easy to break, cart away, or pour out. It’s almost as if … this treasure isn’t meant to be protected. As if those would break us to seize or destroy it are the ones most in need of experiencing its full glory revealed. As if turning the extra cheek or walking the extra mile, as Christ tells us to do, isn’t about saving ourselves at all, but about revealing that glory – that absolute love –  to those who can’t imagine it is free to all, a gift and not an acquisition.

Jesus says “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” after he warns we may need to part with eyes and limbs, respond to abuse with patience, and generally fall into what the world sees as foolishness and ruin. But if we are filled with that divine and inexhaustible treasure, every chip and crack in our vessel is an opportunity to let it flow into the world.

Comfort: You can’t run out of love by sharing it.

Challenge: Christians are not protected from bad things; but through them we may help reveal the glory of God.

Prayer: God of light and clay, shape me into a worthy vessel for your glory. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever had a chance to demonstrate God’s grace through hardsheip?

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Saltiness

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 42; 146, Isaiah 58:1-12, 2 Timothy 1:1-14, Mark 9:42-50

In our current political climate, both left- and right-leaning Christians are working hard at shaping the law of the land to better resemble their idea of the Kingdom. Of course this shape is not clearly defined anywhere in scripture. Instead of definitions we get parables comparing it to everything from sumptuous banquets to lost sheep. So we have some Christians who want to impose more rules, some Christians who want to reduce discrimination against people who don’t follow those rules, and a whole lot in the middle left wondering how we can disagree so strongly.

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, written from prison, he tells his young protégé not to be ashamed that the empire has jailed him, but to join him in suffering for the Gospel. He doesn’t tell Timothy to try to force the empire to change; rather he understands he resides in a Kingdom which is not defined by walls, laws, or empire. Neither he nor Timothy will submit to laws that run counter to the Gospel, and they understand there is a holy penalty to be paid for their behavior.

Are we Christians called to transform the world? If we are, we must do it like Paul did, by transforming ourselves into models of Christ, who submitted unto death. The empire’s tools of persuasion are the sword and spear, but we transform them into the plowshare and pruning hook: the threat of death versus the promise of life. Paul expanded the Kingdom without passing a single law or firing a single shot.

Jesus warned his disciples that once salt had lost its saltiness, it could not be seasoned again. We might have some small success seasoning the empire to align more with our tastes, but in the end we are a small ingredient caught up in a recipe for disaster. We can’t change the empire by force, and insisting on doing so eventually dilutes our essential identity.

We should be less concerned with whether we see the Kingdom when we look around, and more with whether strangers can see it when they look at us.

Comfort: We travel the Kingdom of Heaven from the inside outward.

Challenge: Salt in the pure form we enjoy does not lose its saltiness, but in Jesus’s time salt was not nearly as pure. Read up on it here.

Prayer: Lord of Heaven and Earth, I will do my best to be recognized as an ambassador of your Kingdom. Amen.

Discussion: How can we influence change through love rather than force?

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Monday Morning Quarterbacks

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Good Game

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 103; 150, Isaiah 57:1-13, Hebrews 12:1-6,John 7:37-46

When we identify strongly with a team, we celebrate when that team does well and feel the loss when it does poorly. We call it “our” team and say “we” played great last night, even though “we” have never set foot on a professional field. The sense of community among fans may help us feel included and part of something larger than ourselves. These are good things, but we don’t want to lose sight of reality; after all, “fan” is short for “fanatic.”

Paul had many kind words for newer Christian churches, but he also felt the need to let the air out of their tires a little. Compared to some churches, they’d had it pretty easy. He reminded them: “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” It was wonderful to be on Team Jesus, but they hadn’t yet played under duress. None of us knows with complete certainty how we’ll react under pressure until we actually do. When newer churches hadn’t yet felt the squeeze of the Christian big leagues, Paul did have advice about how to prepare: “let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” In other words, if you want to be more than a fan – to be a real part of the “we” – put in the training.

Monday morning quarterbacks believe they could have played a better game. Are we ever Monday morning Christians?  After Sunday services, do we look at the world and believe we could do as well as, or better than, people who are struggling across the globe or in the pew next to us? Without being in their shoes, we don’t know. If we want to be more than fans of Christ, if we want to wear the jersey, we need to put ourselves through the paces until we sweat compassion and bleed forgiveness. Only then do we truly learn that judging doesn’t move us toward the goal, but supporting each other does.

Comfort: If you’re putting in the effort, God doesn’t make cuts.

Challenge: Rather than criticizing or gossiping about people who fall short, find constructive ways to help them regain their footing.

Prayer: God of mercy, teach me to be merciful. Amen.

Discussion: Academically gifted students are often called upon to tutor. Are you aware of any programs where students who are athletically gifted are called to do the same? If not, why do you think not? If so, what was that like?

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Losers

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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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Your Humble Servant

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 63; 149, Zechariah 14:12-21, Philippians 2:1-11, Luke 19:41-48

The media often portrays Christians as some sort of monolithic hive-mind, acting and reacting in unison. The truth is, we are all over the map on social and political issues, and understanding or representing anything deeper than a caricature of us takes more work and nuanced thought than the average broadcaster or viewer will invest.

The fault may be partially our own. We each have an assumption of what it means to be Christian, and by default tend to project it onto other Christians until they prove otherwise. Now that doesn’t mean we necessarily buy into the definition we are projecting; some of us assume other Christians will agree with us, and others assume we will be opposed on some issues. It can be tempting to say someone isn’t a “real” Christian if they think differently than we do, or to quickly make it clear we aren’t one of “those” Christians. Either way, too often we limit what it means to be Christian, making it that much easier to stereotype us.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul advises them to “be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” In our diversity, have we betrayed that advice? Is it any longer possible for the diverse universe of Christians to be in “full accord?” It is if we look at how Paul defined it:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

There isn’t one word of dogma in there. No specific religious practice. It says to look out for others first. That means listening more than convincing. Learning more than preaching. Serving more than insisting. Loving more than condemning. If I’m putting you first, and you’re putting me first, we aren’t even agreeing on who is first – but we are acting in accord. Following Christ isn’t about insisting others believe exactly as we do, but on serving them exactly as we believe Christ would have us do.

Comfort: You can love and serve Christians who think differently than you do.

Challenge: You have to love and serve Christians who think differently than you do.

Prayer: Lord, teach me to be your humble servant to all people. Amen.

Discussion: Beyond accepting Jesus, do you think there is a minimum set of beliefs necessary to be a Christian?

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Invest Wisely

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 116; 147:12-20, Zechariah 13:1-9, Ephesians 1:15-23, Luke 19:11-27

Jesus told a parable about a rich man who traveled out of town to secure a royal title. He gave ten of his servants equal sums of money to manage in his absence. The man was not popular, so the town sent messengers to ask that he not be made king, but he received his title. While he was away, one servant doubled his sum and another increased it by half. The new king was pleased and rewarded both with proportionally greater responsibilities. A third servant had buried his sum. Because the king was displeased, the servant explained he feared punishment had he invested the money and lost it. The king took the sum and gave it to the servant who had invested most wisely. The moral is that those who are trustworthy with a little will be given more, and those who are untrustworthy will have it taken away, so use your time and talents to the best of your ability to further the kingdom of God.

Most discussions of this parable focus on using our talents wisely, but let’s ask what it means that the servant buried what was given him, instead of banking it as his master would have preferred. The man was gambling on the hope that his master would not return a king – and maybe not return at all. Banking it left it in his master’s name; burying it in secret gave him a chance to claim it. If we devote our time and talents only to personal gain, and not to the greater purposes of God, we are in effect stealing what has been entrusted to us; we are betting against the ultimate righteousness of God.

Christ drives this point home in more than one parable. No one’s gifts are too meager to be put to good use. While taking a chance with them can be scary, these parables don’t condemn those who try then experience setbacks – they demonstrate disfavor toward those who do nothing. What you have to offer will be multiplied when you put it to use. Trust God to trust you.

Comfort: Your gifts and talents are meaningful when you give them meaning.

Challenge: One talent most of us have is the ability to encourage others in the use of their talents. Be generous with your encouragement.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the many gifts and talents you have given your people. Guide me to use them to glorify you. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever been surprised to discover a talent you didn’t know you had?

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Kingdom Come

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 143; 147:12-20, Malachi 2:1-16, James 4:13-5:6, Luke 17:20-37

When it comes to the concept of “end times” Christians are all over the theological board, from people believing the Bible contains clues to the actual date, to believing it’s all a big metaphor, to countless subtle, overwrought positions between them. After two thousand years it’s hard to believe it’s just around the corner (as did many of his contemporaries), but Jesus talked about it too much to simply ignore it.

When the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was coming, he told them it was nothing that could be observed but “in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” So which is it – now or later?

He shared examples of what it would be like. Two in a bed, and one taken. Two grinding meal, one taken, the other left behind. Ordinary things. Things we’re not likely to be doing if we think the world is ending. Things we do every day, right now, even as the world ends for so many people caught in war, famine, and disaster.

When the kingdom arrives for you, maybe you’ll be in bed and startle awake with a gasp that feels like the first complete breath you’ve ever taken, a breath full of sorrow and hope that connects you to all the other breaths of the Kingdom. The person sleeping next to you, and their shallow breaths, will wake next to someone who understands why we do good to our enemies, and how forgiveness saves the world, and wonder why you can no longer share the same hate. The kingdoms you wander could suddenly not be more different.

Perhaps the kingdom will come in the middle of your daily grind, when a remembered verse about lilies in the field blooms large, and your fears are cast out. A new perspective, a focus on what’s eternally important rather than what’s mundanely urgent, now separates you from co-workers who look at you like you’re from another planet. Your sudden inability to share their worries confirms their suspicions.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. That is when earth is like heaven.

Comfort: The kingdom is right here.

Challenge: Pick a random page in the newspaper (or your regular online news source) and ask yourself how residents of the kingdom might see the stories differently.

Prayer: Thank you, merciful God, for inviting me into your realm. Amen.

Discussion: Do you feel like part of the present kingdom?

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!