faith

Moving Target

/ JJS / 2 Comments

faithcriticism

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 54; 146, Ecclesiastes 2:16-26, Galatians 1:18-2:10, Matthew 13:53-58

The church is an easy target. As a human institution making the bold claim to represent Christ on earth, we paint that target on our own backs. Internal squabbling, failure to live up to our own standards, and outright corruption opens us to criticism from, well, everyone.

Because we are human we are often hypocrites, and because we are Christian we are charged with combating religious hypocrisy. Unfortunately our historical response to criticism of that paradox has been to double down on our own righteousness, thereby making the target ever broader. Calls to return to vague “traditional values” may feel satisfying to internal hardliners, but for those who are outside the church looking in, it only reinforces their perception of hypocrisy.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t strive for Godly lives. Of course we should! But when we fail and are called out for it, our response should be to look inward as mature people of faith, not to lash outward like children shifting blame.

If we are introspective (rather than defensive) about the health of the body of Christ, we just might conclude the honest and humble response to criticism is admitting we have always fallen short of our ideals. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul addresses a church that is only twenty years old. Already there is infighting between Paul and Peter over Gentile inclusion. Rival (he calls them false) interpreters of scripture and doctrine have infiltrated Galatia. He has to refute claims that he lacks the endorsement of Peter, James and other Apostles. A mere two decades in, the church was providing much of the same fodder for criticism it does today.

Maybe the church should be a target. Our promise is not that we are righteous, but that we are forgiven. Honest criticism can be the swift kick in the back door we need to remind ourselves. We need to own the infighting, particularly around matters of justice. A homogenized church at peace with itself is stagnant; a church in conversation with itself – even heated conversation – is making room for the Spirit to be heard. Intentionally or not, the message we send is: “We are better.” Nobody believes that, nor should they. The story we need to tell is: “We don’t claim to be better, but God’s loving mercy redeems us.” When that is the story we also tell ourselves, it becomes true.

Comfort: Being honest about our failings is a testament to God’s love.

Challenge: When you hear criticism, of the church or otherwise, take time for introspection before defending yourself.

Prayer: God of forgiveness, teach me to tell the story of your love. Amen.

Discussion: What hypocrisies of the church bother you the most? Where do you find productive places to discuss your concerns?

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All Is Vanity

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toil

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 57; 145, Ecclesiastes 2:1-15, Galatians 1:1-17, Matthew 13:44-52

Ecclesiastes is the story of a man seeking meaning in life.  The first chapter is titled “Everything is Meaningless” and the rest is about what you’d expect. The seeker does not find meaning in wisdom, pleasure, folly, toil, advancement, or riches. He concedes that wisdom is better than folly because your life will probably be more pleasant and longer. He advises readers to obey the king, keep their vows to God, make some friends, enjoy pleasure in moderation, remember God in youth, and (no kidding) diversify your portfolio.

The third chapter has a passage about everything in life happening in its proper time (which many of us remember best as the lyrics of the lovely Pete Seeger song “Turn! Turn! Turn!”), but the bottom line is no matter what we do we’re all going to die, so all our efforts are no more than vanity.

Fun stuff, right?

But there is wisdom here. The author of Ecclesiastes could also have written Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff … and it’s all small stuff (actually by Richard Carlson). We worry a lot about things that don’t matter in the long run. We convince ourselves we’re in control of far more than we are, then berate ourselves for not doing a better job. We waste emotional energy comparing ourselves to others when the competition and its rewards are completely imaginary. We want life to make sense, so we tell ourselves stories to make it seem so, and when reality collides with our stories we lose faith.

Good things happen. Bad things happen. In the final analysis … maybe there is no final analysis. At least not by human standards.

Faith means trusting that no matter what is going on, God is present and constant throughout. Let’s try to remember that when it feels like things are falling apart personally, nationally, or globally. Jesus tells us worry never added a single hour to anyone’s life … but it steals plenty. Do what you can today; there will be more to do tomorrow, and other people to do it. Do it with faith and love. Everything else is vanity.

Comfort: True meaning is found by recognizing that we live in the presence of God.

Challenge: For a week (if you can), keep a log of how you spend your time, and how what you’re doing makes you feel. Review it for a stark evaluation of where your vanities lie.

Prayer: God, I am with you. Teach me I need nothing else. Amen.

Discussion: What parts of life don’t make sense to you? How satisfied are you with the idea from Ecclesiastes that they don’t need to?

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Schadenfreund *

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hotcoals

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 56; 149, Proverbs 25:15-28, 1 Timothy 6:6-21, Matthew 13:36-43

Schadenfreude is a German word which roughly means “finding joy in the misfortune of others.” It’s not properly used to describe being happy about random misery like starving children or disaster victims – there are other words for that, some of them in English – but reserved for the misfortunes of our enemies, rivals, or people who just plain irritate us. It’s not very Christ-like, but it’s human nature. When we want to think of ourselves as too enlightened for that sort of pettiness, we may call it “poetic justice.”

Proverbs 25:21-22 advises us: “If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink; for you will heap coals of fire on their heads, and the LORD will reward you.”

“What?!” you may be asking yourself. “I can please God and honk off my enemies at the same time?” Technically, yes. Once we’ve nursed a good grudge against someone – be it a person, nation, or rival bowling team – we don’t want them to reveal any redeeming traits, because that really sucks the joy out of hating them. It may even force us to examine our own motives. So loving your enemy (which is how you act toward them, not how you feel about them), while the right thing to do, may be exactly what they don’t want.

But how long is it possible to think of someone as an enemy if they continually show you kindness?  And how long is it possible to think of someone as an enemy if you see them hungry, thirsty, tired, and in need of all the same things you are? Unless one or both of you intentionally stokes those coals of fire, they will cool and vengeful kindness becomes simply … kindness.

By the time Paul quotes this verse from Proverbs in his letter to the Romans, Jesus has taught and shown us what it means to love and pray for our enemies. Revenge masquerades as human justice; God’s justice is about reconciliation and forgiveness, and he’s not above subverting our baser instincts to help us get there.

Comfort: You don’t have to feel good about your enemies to love them as Christ instructs.

Challenge: Examine how you treat your enemies or rivals in the workplace or social situations.

Prayer: Merciful God, teach me to love my enemies and take joy in their well-being. Amen.

Discussion: Where have you seen the healing power of reconciliation? Did one or more parties have to demonstrate worldly “weakness” but faithful strength?

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*not a misspelling; an attempt at a German pun

Mustard Seeds

/ JJS / 1 Comment

weedlove

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 130; 148, Proverbs 23:19-21, 29—24:2, 1 Timothy 5:17-22 (23-25), Matthew 13:31-35

Have you ever heard someone say they love gardening because it brings them closer to nature? This is somewhat ironic, because manicured lawns and gardens are anything but natural. Nature is not tidy rows bent to human will; it is rambling and untamed. Gardeners fight nature with fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides to make sure desirable plants  thrive in an orderly fashion, and the plants they don’t value are removed or destroyed. Left to her own devices, nature would overrun most gardens and lawns with a beautiful and diverse ecosystem we call “weeds.”

When Jesus told the parable of the mustard seed – the tiny seed which grows into a great shrub to shelter birds – he wasn’t talking about mustard as a cultivated crop. In his culture, mustard was often a highly invasive plant species which was difficult to remove once it infested a field. Essentially, he was comparing his followers to a persistent nuisance – to weeds.

The Kingdom is all about the humble persistence of small acts of faith. As much as the world tries to insist its structures are the right way to do things, followers of Christ appear and reappear like weeds to defy its exclusionary boundaries. And try as we Christians might to impose order and uniformity through religion, visionaries and prophets spring up among us to remind us God’s vision can’t be contained within ours. In the parable of the mustard seed, it is the nuisance shrub which becomes a great sheltering tree for those needing a safe place to roost. Does that sound like the church today? Or are we busy balancing the soil pH for roses because dandelions are too common and don’t look as pretty?

Gardens aren’t bad. Genesis tells us humankind began in a garden. They can be beautiful, functional, and therapeutic. They can also be expensive, time-consuming, and exhausting. A worship service is like a garden – carefully selected blooms of song, prayer, and scripture to inspire and nourish us. But we can’t spend our entire lives inside church. The Kingdom grows in the wilderness, a sprawling tree for all who seek God’s shelter.

Comfort: Your life doesn’t have to be pretty to grow in the Kingdom.

Challenge: Regularly examine your expectations about church and faith, and ask yourself how God has defied them.

Prayer: God of the garden and the wilderness, I will worship you and spread your love in all places. Amen.

Discussion: What scares you about wandering in the (actual or metaphorical) wilderness?

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No Time Like The Present

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honor and glory

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 135; 145, Proverbs 10:1-12, 1 Timothy 1:1-17, Matthew 12:22-32

Paul did not start out sympathetic to Christians. He was born to  Jewish parents with Roman citizenship, an unusual status. As a devout Jew he considered followers of Jesus a threat both to both the faith and to the relatively secure status of Jews under Roman occupation. For years he persecuted Christians, literally hunting them down and delivering men and women for imprisonment and execution. As he wrote to Timothy: “I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence.”

Yet he was the greatest evangelist in the history of the church.

Can you imagine the resistance Paul faced from other Christians as he began his ministry? He was the embodied scourge of Rome across the backs of those who followed Christ. Why would anyone believe him when he said he was reformed? When people claim to change their minds or begin to behave differently, we suspect insincerity and our suspicions are often confirmed. But Paul persevered despite his critics, who included such important Christian figures as Peter. The zeal which had once driven him as “a man of violence” had been redirected.

If God could reform a villain like Paul, the rest of us should have great hope indeed.

When we try to change for the better, people will inevitably bring up our pasts and question our credibility. We may be embarrassed when that happens, but like Paul we can use that opportunity to testify to God’s grace. Whether we’ve decided to improve in a small way, like declining to indulge in office gossip, or in a more significant way, like seeking reconciliation with an estranged family member, our past does not need to be a source of shame.

Rather, by humbly acknowledging our past sins – not excusing them  or getting “holier than thou” – we can speak a powerful truth about how God’s grace has transformed our present. Paul was humble, but not ashamed. Persistent, but not defensive. His faith eventually became undeniably obvious to all. Whatever your sin or past, God can do the same for you.

Comfort: God wants to free you from the prison of your past.

Challenge: Forgiving your own past is an important step in forgiving others.

Prayer: Merciful God, thank you for your gift of grace. May my life be a testimony to the power of your saving love. Amen.

Discussion: What parts of your own past have you not been able to forgive? Do you think you need to forgive yourself before you can believe God forgives you?

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Just Because

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where-were-you

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 103; 150, Job 38:1-11; 42:1-6, Revelation 19:4-16, John 1:29-34

Some questions have no answers, or at least none we can understand. Job was a righteous man who’d been greatly blessed by God; he had a large family, lands and livestock, and good health. When Satan (not the devil we think of, but a member of God’s court known as The Accuser) claimed Job would lose faith if God revoked his favor, God took the bet. He killed Job’s family and livestock, struck him down with terrible disease, and left him a ruined man sitting on a dung heap.

Job’s friends tried to explain why these terrible things happened to him. Saying he must have sinned, they blamed Job for his own ills, but he knew he was innocent. Like well-meaning people at a funeral who tell bereaved family members “it’s part of God’s plan,” Job’s well-meaning friends didn’t manage to offer one comforting word. We all desperately want things to make sense, but sometimes they just don’t.

When Job finally gets to confront God, God’s response is pretty unsatisfying: “Where were you when I created the earth, the seas, and the heavens?” In other words: “know your place.” God doesn’t even feel obligated to disclose the wager. Sure God gives Job a new family and restores his fortunes, but can that ever make up for what was lost?

Is there any comfort to be found in this story? If we can let go of our need to explain everything, there is the comfort of a certain harsh wisdom. Sometimes disaster will rain down on you for no apparent reason. It won’t be your fault, and honestly there may not be a silver lining. Trying to assign it a purpose may leave you looking and feeling as ignorant as Job’s friends.

We. Don’t. Always. Get. To. Know.

However, we can know that in the midst of our worst times, and God is with us and rooting for us not to lose faith. If there’s a lesson to be learned, learn it. But don’t let your need to find one be more important than your need to trust God anyway.

Comfort: When bad things happen to you, sometimes it is the unknowable nature of the world, not a reason to believe you are being punished.

Challenge: When you can’t find meaning in tragedy, you may be called to make meaning from it.

Prayer: God, I will trust you always. Amen.

Discussion: What in your life doesn’t seem fair? If you stop insisting that it make sense, does that make it easier or more difficult to accept?

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Yoke and Unburden

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1463691099228.jpg

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 97; 147:12-20, Proverbs 7:1-27, 1 John 5:13-21, Matthew 11:25-30

A yoke, according to Merriam-Webster, is “a wooden bar or frame by which two draft animals (as oxen) are joined at the heads or necks for working together.” When Jesus began his ministry, the people of Israel were still yoked to the Mosaic law and its heavy-handed application. Not only was this law burdensome on its own, the leaders had come to use it as a tool for oppressing the poor and the downtrodden.

When Jesus told his disciples, “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” he was inviting them to hitch themselves instead to the divine love of God he brought to earth. Instead of being tethered to an unyielding law that dragged them along mercilessly to the inevitable grave, they could be partnered with forgiveness and mercy.

Note that Jesus did not offer to unyoke them entirely. Ultimately we are all yoked to something, and that something helps determine the direction we travel and how heavy our burden. What are you yoked to? Maybe it’s a career that drags you along at breakneck pace. Or maybe it’s an addiction that grows heavier and heavier with each step. It could be something as beautiful as a family, but even that can take us where we’d rather not be, and the burden can be heavy. If we are yoked to self-interest, the burden may seem light but pivoting on only one point leads us to travel a tight and pointless circle.

Whatever you’re yoked to, do you like the direction it pulls you? Does the burden it places on you wear you down or build you up? When we yoke ourselves to Christ, he will steer us toward faith, but never force us. A gentle tug of conscience is all that’s needed to pull us back on the path.

No matter what ties us down, Christ offers something better. We can still have a career and a family and many other pleasant and meaningful things in our lives, but Christ will guide us through them, rather than let them steer us. We’re all tilling the same field; how we’re yoked determines whether it is killing or sustaining us.

Comfort: Following Jesus does not limit us, but frees us.

Challenge:  Meditate on what you are yoked to. As yourself whether it’s the right thing.

Prayer: God of hope, I will follow where you lead me. Amen.

Discussion: What are you yoked to? Is it something you should free yourself from?

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Deep Calls To Deep

/ JJS / 7 Comments

deeptodeep

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 42; 146, Proverbs 4:1-27, 1 John 4:7-21, Matthew 11:7-15

“Faith: Sometimes it makes you miserable!”

Not much of a sales pitch, is it? But it’s true. The church teaches us to depend on God always, but often we may feel as if God just isn’t coming through for us – maybe isn’t there at all.  Enduring such disappointment and confusion may be harder than rejecting belief altogether; after all, we can’t be angry with someone whom we don’t believe exists.

When and why did we start believing that doubt and anger stand in opposition to faith? Christ and Paul both taught faith does not protect us from the evils of the world, but promises us something beyond.

The author of Psalm 42 wasn’t afraid to express doubt and anger. He says tears have been his food while his enemies mock him by asking “Where is your God?” Their taunts feel like a deadly wound to his body. The psalmist asks, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?”  Yet he knows he will praise the Lord again soon, even as his suffering continues.

Your suffering is not a failure of faith. Nor are your anger, confusion, and fear. Allowing yourself to feel these things is an indication of a solid faith that outlast all hardships. Expecting faith to eliminate such feelings can only end in a discouragement which truly does erode our faith. Your ability to cling to your faith during times of adversity is a much more powerful, truthful testimony than pretending faith creates all good times and no bad – people are too smart to buy that story.

Two images in Psalm 42 are especially well-known. One compares the psalmist’s desire to know God to a deer panting for water. Only God can slake the thirst for assurance, but the thirst will always return, and so the psalmist will always return to God. The other is captured in the phrase “deep calls to deep,” which refers to the primal cycle of tides and waves. They ebb and flow, rise and fall, but the power behind them is immeasurable, steady, and eternal. We can’t control the waves, but we can trust their creator.

Comfort: At every point in life, through every emotion, God is steady.

Challenge: Embrace your doubt; it doesn’t deter God.

Prayer: Thank you, eternal God, for understanding, accepting, and loving me no matter what my heart holds. Amen.

Discussion: Do you trust God to love you through your anger and disappointment?

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East, West, and In Between

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always north

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 97; 145, Joshua 1:1-9, Ephesians 3:1-13, Matthew 8:5-17

One of the great things about being a Christian is knowing your salvation is in the bag.
Or is it?

A Roman centurion once approached Jesus and asked him to heal an ailing servant. Jesus offered to come and cure the servant, but the centurion said it wasn’t necessary to go there: he had faith that if Jesus said it would happen, it would happen.

Jesus was amazed (the Bible’s words, not an exaggeration) at the faith of the centurion. He told his followers:

“Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Mind you these followers were all Jews, and therefore considered heirs of the kingdom. The centurion was an integral cog in the Roman machine which oppressed them. That had to chafe.

There’s a saying that being in church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than being in a garage makes you a car. We don’t inherit the kingdom by being born into a Christian family; we enter the kingdom through grace and faith. If the centurion is any example, our assumptions about what makes a faithful Christian may not be the same as Christ’s – and his is the opinion that counts. Is it possible that agnostics from the east coast and new agers from the west coast might find their way to the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob before we middle of the road Christians do?

The lesson here is not “it doesn’t matter what you believe.” It’s more like “don’t be too quick to make assumptions either way.” In a kingdom where the first are last and the last are first, discipleship can be a balancing act; humility is the narrow beam we must walk. Rather than insist we already know each twist and turn leading to Christ, let’s unfold the map together.

Comfort: You are officially relieved of the duty of deciding whether someone is Christian enough.

Challenge: Listening to people who disagree with your beliefs is not a threat.

Prayer: Gracious and merciful God, set my feet on the path toward salvation. Amen.

Discussion: What can you learn from other faith traditions? What do you think Jesus might say about it?

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Sower or Seed?

/ JJS / 1 Comment

Good soil

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 97; 145, Leviticus 25:35-55, Colossians 1:9-14, Matthew 13:1-16

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus tells the story of a man who spread seeds on the ground. Some fell on the path, and the birds ate it. Some fell on rocky ground and sprouted, but withered in the heat and blew away with the wind because its roots had nowhere to cling. Some fell among thorns which choked it out. Some fell on good soil and yielded an abundant harvest. The seed is the message of Christ, and the different circumstances represent how well his message is received. Where do you see yourself in this parable?

Are you the earth? If that is the role you identify with, what are you doing (or have you done) to prepare yourself for the message? What are you doing to ensure the message can take root in you and produce abundance? We are each responsible for preparing the soil of our hearts.

Are you the seed? If so, do you feel like you have any control over where you land? When you find yourself in an environment which is inhospitable for your growth, can you go somewhere more suitable? Jesus follows up the parable with an explanation of what circumstances each type of soil represents, so we would do well to avoid them.

Are you the sower? If you are, why do you think you are so indiscriminate  – careless even – about where you sow your seeds? Why aren’t you concentrating on only the best soil so that the harvest is maximized? The sower is not unconcerned with the results (otherwise why sow at all?), but he does not feel responsible for the fate of every handful he scatters.

The beauty of parables is that they really can be all things to all people. At different stages of our lives – maybe even different hours of the day – we could be earth, seed, or sower. Who is to say we might not even be one of the birds snatching the seed up before it takes root? Let us prepare our hearts well, place ourselves wisely, and share the Word with wild, faithful abandon.

Comfort: Wherever you are in life, Christ has a word for you.

Challenge: Resolve to “bloom where you are planted.”

Prayer: Loving God, you spread seeds of faith throughout the world. May they take firm root in us, that we may in turn share spread that faith to others. Amen.

Discussion: With what element(s) of today’s parable do you most identify? What does it feel like to place yourself in the different roles?

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