faith

In The Between

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings:
Psalms 43; 149, Job 19:21-27a, Hebrews 4:1-16, Romans 8:1-11

How do you make use of “between” time, like time spent between destinations on an airplane or a train. Or Sunday evenings when – for practical purposes – the weekend is over but the work week has not quite begun? Or in the waiting room after you’ve watched a loved one rolled into surgery and the outcome is uncertain?

Some of us cope by filling those times with activity and finding comfort in productivity. Others use the time for quiet reflection, contemplation, or prayer. Still others take the opportunity to disconnect entirely, to quietly recharge like a fallow field awaiting the next season.

None of these ways is right or wrong, but if we find ourselves in a particularly stressful “between” time, we may have trouble appreciating people who prefer to pass that time differently than we would choose to. The one thing we have in common is the anticipation of a destination, even when we’re not sure where that destination might be.

“Between” times are particularly prone to stress when we don’t feel we have control over the outcome. A plane ticket has our chosen destination printed clearly on its face, but bypass surgery could end in a number of ways. After Christ’s crucifixion, the disciples found themselves waiting, but they didn’t know what for. Some fled. Some stayed in Jerusalem or nearby. A very few took his body to the tomb or later returned to prepare it for permanent burial.

What events are you between right now? Like the disciples, you may be struggling to understand how you have found yourself in this place, and wondering what happens next. During Lent we intentionally enter this space of waiting, but we know the destination. In everyday life, in the face of uncertainty, it isn’t usually a space where we want to linger.

If you can, take heart on this day of Vigil and know that in the waiting, in the tomb, in the world, something stirs. However you choose to endure, the God of the living moves in the darkness and will be revealed to you in the light. Dawn will come.

Comfort: God has not forgotten you.

Challenge: Attend an Easter Vigil service, or read this evening’s scripture for Easter Vigil.

Prayer: I wait for you, Lord. Always.

Discussion: What are you waiting for?

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The Bitter Cup

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Daily readings:
Psalms 22; 148, Genesis 22:1-14, 1 Peter 1:10-20, John 13:36-38, John 19:38-42

Good Friday readings:
Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Psalm 22:1-31, Hebrews 10:16-25, Gospel John 18:1-19:42

If Jesus was in danger, would you fight for him?

When the authorities arrested Christ, a disciple near Jesus drew a sword and severed the ear of the high priest’s slave. Jesus rebuked him: “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?” In Luke’s gospel, Jesus heals the slave’s ear. In John’s gospel, Peter himself draws the sword.  In all four gospels, Jesus goes peacefully with the authorities.

This encounter happened only a short while – minutes perhaps? – after Jesus had left the Garden of Gethsemane resolved to follow God to his own death: “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

What if fighting for Jesus is what puts him in danger?

Ever since Christianity was adopted as the religion of the Empire, we’ve killed and died not just to enforce it among ourselves but to impose it on others. Demanding the greater portion of the population  become (or act like) Christians would have been unthinkable to Jesus and Paul. We were to be apart from the world, not its strongmen. Are we to spread the gospel far and wide? Absolutely. At the tip of the spear or gun? Absolutely not. What people do with the gospel message is completely beyond our control. Forcing compliance is a sign not of faith, but of fear. His executioners robbed Jesus of his life. When we weaponize Jesus because we fear people who don’t follow him, we rob him of love.

On Good Friday, of all days, let us reflect on what it means to do violence in the name of religion. Even self-defense is something we must consider in light of Christ’s message. Then there’s the emotional violence of rejection. And the violence of neglect. If Christ asked why we turned away or ignored the hurting stranger, who could feel comfortable explaining – to the one who sacrificed himself on a cross – there was a chance it wasn’t safe? Could we justify our willingness to punish people for not acting Christian, but not to risk laying down our own lives in love as Christ did?

Following Christ often means accepting the bitter cup when we would rather swing the sword. Going with him to the cross is how we unveil him to the world.

Comfort: …

Challenge: Identify the bitter cups you have been rejecting.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Discussion: How have you let fear override your faith?

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Made to be Broken

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Today’s readings:
Psalms 119:73-80; 145, Jeremiah 16:(1-9) 10-21, Romans 7:1-12, John 6:1-15

You’ve probably heard the saying “Rules were made to be broken.” The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, phrased it a little differently: “if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin.” It seems like wonderful news that the law, fulfilled in Christ, no longer condemns us. Isn’t that the kind of freedom we desire?

One might think so, yet we seem eager to impose new laws. Over the years Christians have forbidden everything from dancing to haircuts. We’ve twisted religion to enforce cultural traditions as though they were divine rules. Why do this? Maybe because it’s so much easier to understand and navigate a system of laws rather than a commandment to love.

But this isn’t the only reason it’s harder to accept living under grace than living under the law. Accepting grace means accepting a God of unconditional love. That means God is willing to forgive people we’d rather He didn’t: ex-spouses, people who’ve wronged us, terrorists, etc. In the story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet wanted God to withhold forgiveness so badly that God had to deliver him to his enemies in Nineveh via the belly of a giant fish. There’s a little Jonah in all of us. Knowing God will forgive people we can’t (or won’t) rubs us the wrong way, so we return to the law even if God hasn’t.

It’s not like we’re any easier on ourselves. If we were eager to believe we could be unconditionally loved and forgiven, therapists would go out of business. The world teaches us we must prove ourselves in order to be valued. Jesus tells us we are already valued, and asks us to live lives that prove it. Sometimes we have to untie a lifetime of spiritual and psychological knots before are free to believe that. But once we are able to embrace it, we want it for others as well.

Maybe rules were made to be broken, but we were not. God desires wholeness for each of us. Christ teaches us how to mend our souls – to sand down the jagged edges and mend the cracks – by tending to each other’s brokenness. When the law is love, the penalty is more love.

Comfort: God’s love is unconditional.

Challenge: If you can’t bring yourself to forgive someone, at least pray for them.

Prayer: Gracious and Merciful God, I am humbled by and grateful for your love. Amen.

Discussion: Do you really believe God loves you unconditionally? Why or why not?

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Here’s your sign.

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings:
Psalms 84; 150, Jeremiah 14:1-9 (10-16) 17-22, Galatians 4:21-5:1, Mark 8:11-21

For Jesus, signs were a double-edged sword. They demonstrated his authenticity, his power, and his priorities. However, for some people, the signs themselves became more important than his message. When the Pharisees asked him for a sign to test him, “he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.’”

Just a little while later, when he tried to make a point about the influence of the Pharisees and Herod by comparing it to the contaminating properties of yeast, the disciples fixated on literal bread. Jesus asked why they were still talking about bread – had they forgotten all about how he fed not one but two multitudes with few resources but plenty of faith?

Aggravating circumstances often accompany his miracles: before he wants to reveal himself his mother goads him into changing water into wine at a wedding; the disciples are shocked he can feed a multitude with a few loaves and fishes … the second time; his closest friends doubt him even as he raises Lazarus from the dead; Peter begins to sink beneath the waves when he doubts the Christ who helps him walk across the water. Christ hopes for faith that doesn’t depend on miracles, yet sometimes he resigns himself to the “necessary evil” of providing a sign.

Many of us have hoped for signs. Who couldn’t use a little reassurance now and then? For some of us they provide a kick start to spiritual experience. But the real measure of faith is what we do in the absence of signs. How pleasing must it have been for Christ when peopled followed him not because of what he could do for them, but because of who he was and what he taught?

The second time the disciples presented him with loaves and fishes, he commanded them to feed the crowd themselves, and they were successful. Faith is not just believing in what Christ can do for us, but in trusting that he will accomplish miraculous things through us.

Comfort: God is with us regardless of whether we see signs.

Challenge: The next time you want to ask for a sign, try instead to pray for faithful discernment.

Prayer: Lord of all things, I will trust you always. Amen.

Discussion: How do you feel about signs?

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My Love is Your Love

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donotbefar

Today’s readings:
Psalms 22; 148, Jeremiah 5:1-9, Romans 2:25-3:18, John 5:30-47

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.

These opening verses from Psalm 22 don’t inspire many feel-good sermons, yet they contain the essence of faith. The psalmist who wrote these words had a very realistic view of the world. He saw that evildoers often have the upper hand, and that the faithful suffer unfairly. He felt like a worm, like prey hunted by lions and trampled by oxen. Yet in his pain and despair, he continued to cry out to God. He continued to believe God would ultimately deliver him, as so many before him had been delivered.

The psalmist, despite his misfortune and persecution, refused to believe God was anything but just.

Many people believe personal wealth and comfort are signs of God’s favor, and that poverty and illness are signs of disfavor. If this was the case, why is it that God always seemed to be sending prophets to defend the widow and orphan against the abuses of the wealthy? Why is it the hypocrisy of the powerful elicits God’s wrath? The psalmist endures his troubles by trusting that God will ultimately prevail; his current status is not the barometer of a capricious creator’s mood swings, but of the corruption of the society around him.

When we cry for justice, do we think of it as something to be delivered to us or something delivered through us? It can be either or both, but if our cry for justice ends when our own bellies are filled while others remain empty, what we’re seeking isn’t justice. The psalmist’s hope for himself is inseparable from his hope for his community. He prays to belong to a kingdom that expects is citizens to feed the poor rather than despise them.

When we believe God is just, we behave justly. If we want to be the recipients of God’s justice; we must also be the instruments of it.

Comfort: God is always the source of justice.

Challenge: When you feel you are the victim of injustice, ask yourself how you are also part of changing that.

Prayer: God of justice, I seek your way for myself and my neighbor. Amen.

Discussion: What do you think is the relationship between sin and suffering?

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Willful Ignorance

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Today’s readings:
Psalms 5; 147:1-11, Deuteronomy 9:13-21, Hebrews 3:12-19, John 2:23-3:15

In legal terms, “willful ignorance” describes an intention to remain unaware of facts to avoid prosecution for them (like not asking a friend why he suddenly has a Rolex to sell you). The term has expanded into more general use to describe anyone who refuses to learn something because they want to remain comfortable or blameless. As a defense it doesn’t hold up well in court, and as a choice it isn’t morally defensible.

When Jesus tried to explain being “born again” to the Pharisee Nicodemus, Nick kept claiming not to understand. Eventually Jesus grew exasperated and said: “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?  Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony.” It wasn’t a lack of testimony that vexed Jesus: it was a listener’s refusal to receive it.

In his letter to the Hebrews, Paul reminded them how their ancestors abandoned the God who led them out of Egypt and made an idol of a golden calf. When Moses didn’t return quickly enough for them from meeting the Lord on Mount Sinai, the people justified their actions by saying: “this Moses […], we do not know what has become of him.” Not “let us learn more” but “let us do what we already wanted to.” It only cost them forty years.

We practice willful ignorance when we stereotype. When we dismiss solid science. When we make excuses for unethical acts of a politician we happen to favor. Many harmful environmental and economic choices are made with willful ignorance so we can enjoy the present without being accountable for the future. We are susceptible whenever we don’t want to surrender the worldview we prefer.

Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” If we aren’t willing to make friends with the truth, what kind of friend could Jesus have in us? God and faith survive facts, even unpleasant ones. If we’re going to be convicted of something, let it be the truth.

Comfort: Facts are not the enemy of faith.

Challenge: If you don’t like the facts, it’s not the facts that have to change.

Prayer: God of Truth, open my eyes. Amen.

Discussion: What facts do you have trouble accepting?

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So. Much. Bread.

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings:
Psalms 96; 147:1-11, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Galatians 4:21-31, Mark 8:11-26

If we experienced an event – not once but twice – where a few loaves and fishes miraculously fed a multitude, would it have a lasting impact on us?

Today’s Gospel reading takes place after that second feeding of the multitudes, yet the disciples don’t seem quite able to process the meaning of what has happened. Does their thick-headedness frustrate us? Certainly Jesus felt frustrated as his time on earth grew shorter and his need to teach them more urgent. When they later mistake Jesus’s metaphor of yeast for yet another bread shortage, he responds:

“Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear? And do you not remember? […] Do you not yet understand?”

In other words, “What are you not getting about all this bread?!”

While the disciples were amazed both times the loaves and fishes multiplied, they failed to internalize the accompanying lesson: God’s abundance frees us for concerns beyond bread. It seems the impact of miracles on our faith and spiritual maturity is fleeting at best. This is an easy lesson to forget, because so many “ministries” promise a life full of miracles if we pray, repent, or donate enough. So much so, that when we don’t experience logic-defying miracles in our lives, we think something is wrong. Signs and wonders, or more accurately the lack of them, become an impediment to faith.

Who can say with authority why, when, or if miracles happen? They don’t define our faith – if they did, wouldn’t miracles alone have been sufficient for the disciples? Rather, Gospel miracles illustrate what life is like in God’s kingdom.

Apart from the odd cursed fig tree, Jesus’s miracles are about healing, abundance, and wholeness. We don’t have to be able to cure by laying on hands to contribute to this kingdom. When we forgive others, nurture the sick and feed the hungry, or embrace the alienated, we build God’s kingdom. When we live in Christ, each of us is a miracle waiting to bless the world.

Comfort: Our God is abundant in love and grace.

Challenge: God’s abundance can be expressed through our generosity; ask yourself where you might be more generous.

Prayer: Thank you God for filling me with the Bread of Life and satisfying me with Living Waters. Amen.

Discussion: Sadly, many people are genuinely in need of bread and clean water. How would you speak with them about God’s abundance?

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Whom do you trust?

/ JJS / 2 Comments

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Today’s readings:
Psalms 62; 145, Isaiah 51:17-23, Galatians 4:1-11, Mark 7:24-37

Trust is at the core of faith. Whom (or what) we trust reveals where our true faith lies. We can say and believe we trust God, but when pressed, do we turn to God… or to something else? Under trying circumstances, do we grow more generous in response to the increased needs of others, or do we cling more tightly to what we have? Do we trust our savior or our financial advisor? Psalm 62 warns us not to trust in increased riches, but we often place practicality above generosity.

Jesus himself accepted advice that living a life of abundance means not hoarding resources, especially spiritual ones. When a Syrophoenician woman asked him to heal her demon-possessed daughter, he responded by saying it wasn’t fair to throw the children’s food to the dogs. The children were the Jewish people, and the dogs – an insulting term in his culture – were the Gentiles. When the woman reminded him even the dogs got crumbs that fell on the floor, he relented and healed her daughter.

In that moment, Jesus displayed trust in a God abundant enough to transcend his mission among the Jews. Do we trust God’s abundance enough to be open to those who are strangers or even foes to us, or does a narrow vision of our mission limit what God can accomplish through us?

Sometimes we need to undergo some self-examination to understand where we place our trust. Paul reminds the Galatians that a person who trusts in anything other than God, such as the Law or superstition, becomes enslaved to that thing. Today we may cling to the law instead of love, or make idols of creeds or ideas. We may define ourselves by our looks, popularity, intelligence, wealth or any number of things which are impermanent at best, rather than by our relationship with God. If we lost any of these – or all of them! – tomorrow, we would still have God.

What things are we enslaved to; that is, what unworthy things divert our trust from God? Let’s trust God now, so we have nothing to regret later.

Comfort: When everyone and everything are gone, God remains.

Challenge: Meditate on what you really trust. When you begin to fear or worry, remind yourself to trust God.

Prayer: God of abundance, I place my trust in You. Amen.

Discussion: When have you been disappointed by something you thought you could rely on?

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Riding out the Storms

/ JJS / 7 Comments

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Today’s readings:
Psalms 88; 148, Isaiah 50:1-11, Galatians 3:15-22, Mark 6:47-56

The Gospels contain a few different versions of stories about Jesus walking on water. In today’s reading from Mark, he begins striding across the Sea of Galilee when he notices the disciples in their boat are struggling against the waves. He came towards them to reassure them, but the shortest sentence in this story may be the most revealing: “He intended to pass them by.”

Jesus climbed into their boat only after they grew afraid because they thought he was a ghost. Until that point, it seemed he expected they would be capable of fending  for themselves. Only a few minutes away from his presence, and they lost courage and – it seems – the ability to recognize him. When we are struggling and afraid, it’s easy to lose our clear line of sight toward Christ and imagine all manner of horrors are approaching.

In those times, we need to remind ourselves and each other God has not abandoned us. What if – like Jesus walking past the disciples in the boat – God has more faith in our ability to weather the storms than we do? Our strength derives from the knowledge (if not necessarily the feeling) God is always with us, but he does not literally need to be in the same boat. Could it be possible that when God is moving in a direction we don’t expect, particularly one that is diverging from us, we might fail to recognize the movement as His?

Jesus was teaching his disciples more than how to follow him: he was teaching them to lead others to him. He left them (and us) the Holy Spirit, but he also left them with the reassurance he believed they were capable of feeding his sheep (John 21:15-17). It took a lot of stormy moments – culminating in the crucifixion – for the disciples to understand this lesson. If we are to be witnesses for the good news, we must not despair every time the boat rocks. During the worst storms, even if we are to drown, God walks the waters to lift us out.

Comfort: God is with us. Always.

Challenge: Try to live into the spirit of Courage which God has given us.

Prayer: God, I trust that even when you see far away, you are closer than I can imagine. Amen.

Discussion: Are you a worrier? If so, what about?

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Fertile Ground

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings:
Psalms 15; 147:1-11, Isaiah 44:24-45:7, Ephesians 5:1-14, Mark 4:1-20

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus tells the story of a man who scatters seed across several types of ground. Only one type is good soil where the seed may find purchase and bloom. The seed, Jesus explains to the disciples, is the Word and the different types of ground represent the hearts and convictions of those who hear it.

As Christians, we believe we are the good soil where God’s word takes root and “bears good fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” That may very well be true, but it may also be true that God hasn’t yet sown all the word He has for us. Does any serious farmer reap one successful harvest then stop tending the plot? Of course not. There’s a lot of work that goes into preparing for the next one. Are we still fertile ground for the new things God might do, or have we borne all the fruit we care to?

Good soil requires a lot of care. It needs to be tilled regularly. It needs water. It needs fertilizer. It needs to be weeded so its nutrients aren’t needlessly depleted. Sometimes it needs to lie fallow for a season to be restored to health.

In other words, good soil is no accident. We may have gotten lucky once – or perhaps more accurately, been the beneficiaries of God’s grace – by being born or reborn into the faith, but are we putting in the necessary work to prepare for the time when God would scatter new seed our way?

The insights resulting from prayer and study help us keep our faith freshly turned over. Worship and praise feed and water our souls. Self-examination and confession reveal the weeds we’ve let overrun our hearts and habits. Being open to new information helps us understand how we best function in a changing environment. And rest – the kind of rest that occurs only when we finally turn our worries over to God – gives us the strength we need to be fruitful during the more inhospitable seasons of life.

When we do this work, we are better prepared to receive and nurture whatever God throws our way: a new mission, a new journey, a new understanding. They can sink their roots deep into our hearts, and grow to their potential. The sower is generous with the seed; let’s give it somewhere to land.

Comfort: God is always doing something new.

Challenge: Select a spiritual discipline, such as fasting or prayer, and stick to it for a month. Note any changes and growth it promotes in you faith life.

Prayer: God of new life, I will do my best to be ready to receive your Word. Amen.

Discussion: When have you felt God pulling or pushing you to grow in a new direction?

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