faith

Who do you say I am?

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 67; 150, Micah 1:1-9, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Matthew 16:13-20

In first century Palestine, self-proclaimed messiahs were like coffee houses in Seattle: there was one on every corner, each claimed to be more authentic than the others, and most of them were overpriced. Jesus was different. According to Reza Aslan in Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus stood out because he didn’t charge for his services, and he was reluctant to publicly use the title of Messiah.

When Jesus asked his disciples who people said he was, they answered: “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” When he asked them who they thought he was, Peter said: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus blessed him and said: “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.” He then instructed the disciples to tell no one he was the Messiah.

Who do you think Jesus is? Is your understanding one you have developed by listening to God, or is it one handed down to you by other human beings? Of course we are introduced to our faith by other people, usually our parents though sometimes friends or other sources, but after they make the introduction, it’s up to us to develop the relationship. Think of your friends: who each one is to you may be very different from who they are to others. Just as a friend who goes on impromptu road trips with you may be a friend who is a reliable, steady support for someone else, the role Jesus plays in each of our lives may differ. Some of us need him to help reign in our darker impulses, and some of us need him to help us lighten up on our judgmental tendencies. We can need him in lots of ways at once, so it’s important that we don’t assume our relationship with him should look exactly like someone else’s. We all know the same Jesus, but our experience of him is unique and we can’t let anyone dictate what it should be like.

Comfort: Your relationship with Jesus is both special and communal.

Challenge: Have you asked yourself lately who Jesus is to you? If not, meditate and pray on that.

Prayer: Lord of Heaven, I am humbled and blessed that you have known me by name even before I was born. Amen.

Discussion: Has anyone ever told you that you were doing Christianity “wrong?”

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The B-Team

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 56; 149, Hosea 14:1-9, Acts 28:17-31, Luke 9:37-50

One day Jesus took three disciples up a mountain to pray with him. His appearance was transfigured to reveal his glory, the disciples were dazzled, and God said: “”This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” It’s a powerful moment with great theological significance.

This is about the other nine disciples.

While Peter, James, and John were with Jesus, the others were working on the mission Jesus had given them, including casting out demons. A man begged them to cast out the spirit who possessed his son, and caused him to shriek and convulse. The disciples, probably already feeling like the B-Team, couldn’t do it. Imagine the desperate and possibly heated brainstorming they had about how to get this done before Jesus came back.

Descending from glory to a scene of failure, an exasperated Jesus asked: “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you?” He attributed their failure to a lack of faith. Of course he healed the boy and returned him to his father.

How often, despite our best efforts to be strong in our faith, do we feel like the nine who were left behind, floundering to figure out what to do and how to do it? Are we jealous or resentful of the Peters who seem to be there for all the good stuff? We struggle to make a difference, and they seem to waltz right into it.

The original twelve disciples were not above such pettiness. They argued over which of them was the greatest, but Jesus wasn’t having it. Pulling a child to his side, he said: “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.”

Our faithfulness is not defined by perfection and power, but by our ability to love as Jesus asks us to. If it keeps us humble, second string is a fine place to be. If the least among us are the greatest, maybe the mountain isn’t the top after all.

Comfort: God knows your heart and faith; what other people think doesn’t matter.

Challenge: Don’t compare yourself to others.

Prayer: Glorious Creator, I seek to serve you humbly and with love in my heart. Amen.

Discussion: Do you have control issues?

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Weathering The Storms

/ JJS / 3 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 104; 149, Hosea 10:1-15, Acts 25:13-27, Luke 8:16-25

How often have we heard teams pray before a sporting event to ask God to help them win the big game (and by inference, sabotage the other team, as though getting God to cheat for you is sportsmanlike)? How many people thank Jesus for everything from parking spots to Grammy awards, as if they are saying “Good job!” to a personal assistant? Our relationship with our God should be close, but not so cozy we forget who is in charge.

When the disciples were afraid their boat would sink in a storm, they woke Jesus from his sleep. He rebuked and calmed the storm – and then he rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith. To this point they had experienced Jesus as a healer, storyteller, and prophet who taught forgiveness. For the first time, they got a glimpse of the raw power of a being who could command the clouds and sea. Not surprisingly, this revelation amazed and frightened them. They asked themselves exactly who it was they’d agreed to follow.

As we mature in our own faith, our experiences may be similar. At some point we must move past the non-threatening, undemanding baby Jesus in the manger, to a more adult Jesus who makes loving but firm demands of us. The more we follow him, the more we realize how harrowing discipleship can be. Like those first disciples, we cry out for the Jesus who takes away our problems, but eventually we learn he expects us to have faith through our personal storms. Jesus is not just a servant, but a servant leader who teaches us to have faith that casts out fear. The closer we grow, the greater our awe and the more we realize just how amazing his love for us is, because he is so much greater than we will ever imagine.

When your storm comes up, do you want to be the disciple who in a faithless panic wakes Jesus? Better to be the disciple who can say “I kept the course faithfully – even through trouble – because I trust in you, Lord.”

Comfort: We can be confident Jesus is present during all life’s storms.

Challenge: When you pray in times of trouble, ask yourself (and God) whether you should be praying to avoid or endure them.

Prayer: Teach me, Lord, to trust you in difficult and frightening times. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever become stronger from a situation you would rather have prayed away?

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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?

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!

The Future is Now

/ JJS / 4 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 97; 147:12-20, Job 29:1, 31:1-23, Acts 15:1-11, John 11:17-29

“The future is now.”

That’s what Jesus was trying to tell his friend Martha when she was grieving for her brother Lazarus. If only he had arrived earlier, she believed Jesus would have saved his life. When Jesus told her “Your brother will rise again,” she assumed he was referring to the resurrection in a distant future. Even after he said “I am the resurrection and the life,” she still didn’t quite get it: Jesus had every intention of bringing Lazarus back from the grave.

Christians spend a lot of time focusing on the afterlife. A lot. Of time. In many ways it makes sense – eternity is a long time and we don’t want to mess it up. But like Martha, we can lose sight of the here and now. It’s not just our faith that lives in the future; we spend a lot of time dismissing the present. We’ll start a diet “after the holidays” even if that holiday is Arbor Day. We’ll schedule that long vacation after our careers slow down a little. We’ll join that Bible study after we get our lives in order. That kind of thinking is a trap, because we train ourselves to believe nothing starts today.

Martha wouldn’t understand the resurrection was standing next to her until Lazarus crawled out of his tomb.  We should know better, but the promise of eternal life in the present moment can seem too good to be true. Jesus says otherwise. Do we think we need to improve ourselves before God can bless us? Before God can use us? If we believe that all good things come from God, why do we think we need to put Him off until we’ve laid all the groundwork? Aren’t we actually telling God … not yet?

The future really is now. Christ is among us. You are being called to rise up from underneath all that is burying you. You may have to shake off the dirt, but take that first step. Breathe the fresh air. Step into the life God has ready for you; Christ has already delivered your future.

For more thoughts on today’s passage from John 11, see It Takes a Village to Raise a Lazarus
For more thoughts on today’s passage from Acts 15, see Entrance Exams

Comfort: God is ready for you.

Challenge: Believe you are ready for God.

Prayer: Eternal God, teach me to find new life in the present, and to trust you with my future. Amen.

Discussion: What have you been putting off?

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Blind Faith

/ JJS / 4 Comments

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 84; 148, Job 19:1-7, 14-27, Acts 13:13-25, John 9:18-41

Author G.K. Chesterton asked why anyone would attempt to defend Christianity, since to defend a thing is to discredit it. What might he have made of the hundreds of books dedicated to apologetics which fill the shelves of almost any Christian bookstore? Of course we want to be able to talk intelligently about our faith, but is the truth of our faith ever adequately expressed in argument, no matter how well-reasoned?

When the man cured of blindness testified to the Pharisees about the impact Jesus had on his life, he didn’t construct a theological argument. He stated the simple truth: “I was blind, now I see.” Not much arguing with that statement, is there? The obvious changes faith has produced in our lives communicate the Good News more effectively than any appeal to reason or logic. Each of us has a different spin on the blind man’s truth. Maybe it’s “I was addicted, now I am recovering.” Or “I was in despair, now I am full of hope.” Or “I was angry, now I am at peace.” The reality of our story is its own defense.

A history professor once told me history shows us rationalism is not the only way of knowing about the world. In a culture demanding we reason our way to faith, this thought frees us from the need to understand everything in terms of pure intellect. This doesn’t mean science is out the window and superstition rules, but it does help us accept the untestable truth that putting our faith in God forever alters our lives.

Just as a strong faith doesn’t depend on a steady supply of supernatural signs, it also doesn’t rely on an unshakable foundation of logical proofs. They are two sides of the same coin. A lack of either should not derail our faith journey. The signposts that best help us find our way are the changes we experience in our own lives and see in the lives of others.

Perhaps another thought from Chesterton best summarizes today’s reflection: “Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.”

Comfort: Reason is compatible with faith, but faith does not depend on it.

Challenge: When you discuss the Christian faith, have confidence your own experience is a powerful testimony for the Gospel.

Prayer: God of life, thank you for the mysteries and realities of faith. Amen.

Discussion: Have you struggled to reconcile reason and faith?

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There’s none so blind as they that won’t see…

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 116; 147:12-20, Job 16:16-22, 17:1, 17:13-16, Acts 13:1-12, John 9:1-17

Every summer we take our nephews camping. The campground’s many roads loop back on one another, so there are multiple ways to get places. One afternoon the younger nephew insisted we were taking the long way back to camp and kept trying to pull me down another road. I pointed toward our site: “Look, Jack, our tent is right there.” He said: “I don’t see it.” We did this twice more until I looked down and saw he’d shut his eyes tight.

Sight and blindness are important metaphors in the Bible. In today’s passage from John, we encounter a blind man who prompts Jesus to break Mosaic law and perform a healing on the Sabbath – a reminder that faith binds us to mercy, not legalism. In Acts, Saul and Barnabas meet Bar-Jesus, a Jewish magician and false prophet in the city of Paphos. Saul condemns Bar-Jesus for “making crooked the straight paths of the Lord” and the Spirit strikes the magician temporarily blind. His refusal to see the truth – and his attempt to lead others down the wrong road – put him in a debilitated state. If this seems harsh, remember Saul himself was struck blind by the Spirit before he accepted Christ, so what seems like a curse may have been a cure.

We’re all blind to something, especially our own shortcomings. Like the disciples asking whose sin caused the man’s blindness – his own or his parents – we want to point fingers. Certainly neither the man nor his parents were without sin (who is?) but Jesus focused on how God could transform the present situation. Jesus used spit and dirt to begin the healing process, but the man had to walk himself to a pool to wash the mud off. When we want to make ourselves whole, we need to have faith God does not limit us to the darkness of the past, but guides us to a brighter future. We may have to get our hands dirty with therapy, soul-searching, and hard decisions, but as the old hymn promises, the lost will be found and the blind will see.

(for another take on today’s reading from John, see Spit, Mud, and Healing)

Comfort: God is waiting to make you whole.

Challenge: You’re going to have to do some of the work.

Prayer: God of healing, granter of mercies, I seek the wholeness you offer. Amen.

Discussion: The title of today’s post is from Jonathan Swift’s Polite Conversation. What are some things you’ve tried not to see?

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Addicted to Answers

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 12; 146, Job 12:1, 13:3-17, 21-27, Acts 12:1-17, John 8:33-47

Are you addicted to answers?

Plenty of answer-pushers are itching to sell them to you: evangelists promoting books and videos, self-help gurus offering weekend seminars, politicians telling you who to blame, and television doctors who just happen to own stock in the current miracle herb. Answers are tempting. They help us cope with life by providing a quick, if false, sense of security. Answers are different than truth, which is acquired through work, discernment, study, and a willingness to tackle the messy and often unanswerable questions of life.

Job’s friends were answer addicts. They clung to the answers which gave them comfort despite evidence before their very eyes (the ruination of a just man) even though in the long run these answers were doing them real theological and spiritual damage. Job’s mind, however, was clear. He would wrestle with the unpleasant truth, even if it meant taking on God:

I will take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand. See, he will kill me; I have no hope; but I will defend my ways to his face.

Such powerful words. Job tells his friends that in the end their flattery of God will not save but destroy them. He, on the other hand, will confront God with the truth even though it is harsh.

We want things to make sense. After all, we are genetically wired to detect patterns and impose order on the world. We want to blame vaccines for autism, foreigners for economic woes, and cartoons for real world violence. We want to understand the reasons behind people’s actions. But the truth is, the world is complex, confusing, and in many ways incomprehensible.

And that’s okay.

Our own relationship with God should be as personal and trusting as was Job’s. We don’t need answer-pushers mediating that relationship for us. Great spiritual teachers do not hand out answers, they teach us to how to seek truth. Sometimes that truth is: only God has the answers. Better to say: “I don’t know but I will trust God” than be made a liar by false comforts.

Comfort: It can be truly freeing to admit: “I don’t know.”

Challenge: This week meditate on some ideas that you take for granted.

Prayer: God of truth, I will trust you at all times and under all circumstances. Amen.

Discussion: Has anyone ever tried to sell you false answers?

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Holy Arguments

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 122; 149, Job 9:1, 10:1-9, 16-22, Acts 11:1-18, John 8:12-20

Great spiritual teachers are famous for telling us to seek truth, wisdom, and connection to God in silence. Unfortunately for most of us, actual spiritual silence can be really hard to achieve, especially when we are upset. Sometimes we first need to clear our heads by venting our anger and negativity. Even anger at God needs to be expressed. Job knew this to be necessary when he said: “I will give free utterance to my complaint.”

Job accuses God of setting him up with a great life so his fall will be even harder. Do we ever feel like God has set us up to fail? Or like God is testing us? A popular cliché says “God never gives you more than you can handle.” Job would disagree. With its framing narrative of a wager between God and Ha’Satan, the Book of Job can easily be misunderstood to promote the theology of a God who is constantly testing us, a God who virtually hunts us, “bold as a lion.” Rather, it is a poetic exploration of our relationship with God and suffering. Anyone who has never felt angry or let down by God is a member of a very small club. Job expresses the feelings we all share when we suffer.

Arguing with God has a long tradition among the faithful. Israel (Jacob) literally wrestled with God, and a nation was named for him. Every year during the Jewish High Holy Days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), people of great faith are held accountable for their actions of the past year – and they also hold God accountable. Only by speaking our most difficult truths can we fully express our faithfulness. God already knows what is in our hearts, so doing this is a matter of showing trust in a God who is loving and great enough to handle whatever we have to dish out.

We think of arguments as negative events, but they are inevitable when we are building any deep relationship. Sometimes an argument is a sign that a relationship is worth fighting for.

Comfort: God accepts our whole hearts, not just the happy parts.

Challenge: Find and read some articles on having healthy arguments.

Prayer: God of truth, I open my whole heart to you. Amen.

Discussion: When have you argued with God?

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If Paul could do it…

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 57; 145, Job 4:1, 5:1-11, 17-21, 26-27, Acts 9:19b-31, John 6:52-59

Lasting change is difficult to make. After we’ve found the motivation to make a positive change, we must struggle with a world inclined to keep us as we were. If we leave behind bad habits, friends who shared those habits may try to drag us back to our old ways for their own purposes. If we’ve repeatedly promised change only to let down our friends and family, they may view new declarations of change with understandable suspicion. Real change can’t depend on how other people perceive us, but on how we perceive ourselves.

When Paul did a spiritual 180 and started preaching in Jesus’ name, people who knew him were amazed at his radical change. Those in Jerusalem who did not want to accept his change plotted to kill him. On the other hand, when he joined the disciples “they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.” Many of them had been evading him for some time, and only the testimony of Barnabas on Paul’s behalf swayed them.

Paul’s old associates were invested in keeping him the same, and the people he hoped to make his new associates weren’t ready to accept him. Despite these attitudes, Paul persevered because he was dedicated to God above all others. To a lesser degree, we may experience the same thing when we make a change. If we decide to give up gossip, for example, the friends we used to gossip with will undoubtedly feel snubbed when we decline to participate. Given our history, other people will find it difficult to trust us. The same would be true of addictions, lying, spitefulness, or any host of vices. A truly penitent heart will persevere in change whether other people accept the change or not; our relationship with God will sustain us.

We can’t change any mind but our own. When we know we need to make a positive change, we must be prepared to endure and overcome resistance, and not let that resistance discourage us. God doesn’t promise us ease, but to be with us through everything.

Comfort: When we change our hearts, God knows and accepts.

Challenge: Be supportive to someone who is trying to change.

Prayer: God of truth, in you I am made new every day. Thank you for second and third chances. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever made a change people chose not to accept or support?

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