gospel

Lost Gospels

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 42; 146, 2 Kings 22:1-13, 1 Corinthians 11:2 (3-16) 17-22, Matthew 9:1-8

Josiah was only eight years old when he became king of Judah, but he was the best king to come along in a while. He tried his best to restore the honor of The Lord to his kingdom. During a restoration project at the Temple, the high priest found the book of the law (probably Deuteronomy) and had it delivered to the king. Josiah was outraged to discover his people had not been following the Lord’s commands for quite some time, and immediately set about making things right.

Whether the book had been lost for a long time or simply rediscovered is up for debate, but one thing is clear: by the time of Josiah’s reign, the Jewish people had strayed from the core of what defined them. From the time they insisted on being ruled by kings as were their neighbors, they began more and more to resemble those neighbors in so many ways – including the gods they worshipped – that they could comfortably neglect and eventually forget to do what God had commanded. They still identified fiercely as a people … but what did that really mean?

Being a Christian today is not nearly as well-defined as being a Jew of Josiah’s time, and that may be all the more reason to take a valuable lesson from today’s scripture.

It’s easy for the Gospel to get buried under everything we’ve borrowed from our neighbors. Sometimes it’s obscured by well-intended effort, such as trying to make the faith more “relevant” by assuming the trappings of culture instead of meetings its emptiness head-on. Other times it may take a renovation – of our church community or personal spiritual life – to understand we’ve inherited a Gospel clad in a fortress of bias, tradition, superstition, and ignorance. So much so that not only can’t outsiders find a way in, our central message – assuming we can find it – can’t find its way out.

The Gospel is sufficient on its own. We study a lifetime to understand it, but there’s nothing we can do to improve on it. Grace defines us as a people, yet it cannot be defined. God’s love contains us, but trying to contain it thwarts love. We can domesticate the Gospel and settle for being nominally Christian but otherwise unidentifiable as followers of Christ, or we can let it work its radical change upon us to be seen by all who would seek it.

Comfort: The Gospel speaks for itself…

Challenge: … but if we are to hear, we must be committed to changing.

Prayer:  As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.. (Psalm 42:1)

Discussion: As you mature in your faith, what aspects of Christian culture do you find more or less important?

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Broken Rudders

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 96; 147:1-11, 1 Kings 9:24-10:13, James 3:1-12, Mark 15:1-11

The Book of James teaches the tongue is small but capable of great feats. James compares this relatively small body part to a tiny rudder guiding large ships through strong winds. For this reason he warns religious teaching is a perilous pursuit, as our tongues are difficult to tame and when used carelessly cause misdirection and harm to ourselves and others. Teachers, James says, are held to a higher standard because a spring cannot produce both brackish and fresh waters – that is, because people rely on them for truth, their instruction must neither contaminate nor dilute the Gospel.

The chief priests and other leaders appearing in Mark 15 would have served several roles, including teachers. When Pontius Pilate realized Jesus had been brought to him because these leaders were jealous, he offered to free a prisoner at the discretion of the people. He hoped they would select Jesus. These leaders used their tongues to convince the people to free Barabbas instead. Technically Jesus and Barabbas would both have been accused of insurrection, but Barabbas was also a murderer. The chief priests used their powerful tongues to steer the crowd to free a killer instead of a messiah.

Even today many a preacher grows a flock by appealing to people’s baser nature and focusing on the “enemies” of the church. In the Western world, authentic persecution of Christians is rare, and systematic persecution is non-existent. Yet some preachers insist on targeting a group (when one group is not politically viable for attack they will move on to the next) and claiming specific people are the enemy we need to fight, all the while twisting the message to seem like love.

We do have real enemies, but Jesus taught us to love them. He also taught us what to fight: poverty, injustice, oppression, and the planks in our own eyes.  They know binding Christ’s message to hate crucifies undeserving victims. They open our eyes to how Christ’s love transforms us, and through us transforms the world.

Comfort: It’s perfectly acceptable to question your teachers. The good ones will welcome and even encourage it. 

Challenge: In most situations experienced sailors rely on subtle adjustments, not sweeping gestures. This is a good model for using our tongues.

Prayer: God of peace, may my words be pleasing to you and beneficial to your people. Amen. 

Discussion: Who was your favorite teacher and why?

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Usurpers

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 51; 148, 2 Samuel 15:19-37, Acts 21:37-22:16, Mark 10:46-52

Absalom’s seizure of his father David’s throne was what we might call a bloodless coup. In the nine years between the rape of Absalom’s sister Tamar by David’s other son Amnon (the event which effectively destroyed their relationship), their father-son dynamic went from estranged, to distant, to cool, and finally to enmity. Absalom used much of this time to win the favor of the people of Israel and quietly plot against his father, whom he knew would be reluctant to do him harm. By the time David and his court realized the inevitability of Absalom’s usurpation, they could do little more than  flee to the countryside.

Both small changes and veritable revolutions can catch us unawares – especially when we don’t want to believe they’re happening. Surely David, steeped as he was in a lifetime of political intrigue, should have seen the warning signs. Perhaps his desire to be reconciled with a son he loved clouded his judgment. That same fatherly love had caused him to stay the hand of judgment when Amnon did the unthinkable to Tamar.

None of us have a kingdom at stake, but we should always be alert for those who would usurp the Kingdom.   Who are these people? Politicians who pay lip service to Christianity to further unrelated – sometimes contrary – agendas. Religious leaders who for personal gain exploit our desire to be generous and charitable. Cultural figures who use their Christianity – conservative, liberal, or moderate – as a sword instead of a plowshare.

Absalom won the love of the people before dethroning their God-anointed king. Like the proverbial frog boiled so gradually it didn’t notice, they probably didn’t realize when or why they were in hot water. Our church, our community, and even our nation can shift around us if it does so by nearly imperceptible degrees which we find easy to ignore because of love and loyalty.

Our own well intended perceptions can be skewed by many factors. If Christ remains our benchmark – our plumb line – we will be able to spot intentions and actions which claim the gospel but do not square with it.

Additional Reading:
For thoughts on today’s reading from Mark, see Stop! Collaborate and Listen.

Comfort: Christ is our most reliable standard. 

Challenge: When you love or are loyal to something, don’t be afraid to be critical of it.

Prayer: Loving and righteous God, make your ways clear to me. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever been part of a community group whose character changed, or wasn’t who you thought they were?

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“… but I liked Jesus before he was popular.”

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 88; 148, 2 Samuel 5:1-12, Acts 17:1-15, Mark 7:24-37

There’s a feeling you get when you’re in on something special before it really takes off. Like an amazing band who still plays venues small enough for its members to linger over a beer or two with fans after the show. There’s a tension between wanting to share it with the world so it can get the attention and success it deserves,  and relishing the intimate experience of enjoying it with the secret club of people who appreciate it right now.

As a narrative, the Gospel of Mark races. Jesus goes from novelty act to cult favorite to budding superstar rather quickly. By the time he travels through Sidon and heals a man of deafness and a speech impediment, he’s finding it almost impossible to make time for himself. He still has his inner circle, but spends most of his time among the crowds who flock to him. It’s under these circumstances that he asks the man not to speak of the healing, but like everyone else this man who couldn’t speak suddenly couldn’t shut up about Jesus.

When something becomes popular, some early fans inevitably grow resentful. They mock later fans, imply the quality has declined, and start tossing around ideas like “selling out.” Some of that may be true – no one is prepared for the difference between hoping to cover the cost of traveling to a gig and selling out stadiums, and it has an effect. But by Good Friday, the chants of fans devolved into calls for an execution without so much as a farewell tour.

Sometimes the core of what we love stays the same, and it’s our perception that’s changed by all the hype and backlash. The core message of the Gospel is both personal and universal. We share it because we love it. When people use it to make a ton of money and move a lot of merch, we may become disillusioned – or we may be caught up in the frenzy – but that’s not the Gospel. Every once in a while, we need to unplug to rediscover the basics which originally moved us.

Additional Reading:
For more thoughts on today’s passage from Mark, see Whom do you Trust, The Truth About Crumbs and Dogs, and Generosity and Grace.

Comfort: When pop-culture-Christianity drags you down, you can always revisit the original material for renewal.

Challenge: Talk with some friends about what elements of modern Christian culture seem authentic to the Gospel, and which seem more about marketing it.

Prayer: Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness. (Psalm 143:1)

Discussion: What’s something you liked before it was popular?

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Things Get Real

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 135; 145, Hosea 11:12-12:1, Acts 26:1-23, Luke 8:26-39

Sometimes there is a large gap between what we say we want and what we actually want. Presenting his case before King Agrippa, Paul explained that he was a faithful Jew; like many of his accusers he was a Pharisee, and he’d actively persecuted Christians. His encounter with the risen Christ was unexpected and life-changing. By preaching the Gospel, Paul asserted, he was dutifully acknowledging the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah: “I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place.”

The Pharisees said they wanted Paul jailed for violating the law, but they actually wanted to preserve the status quo which allowed them privilege under the oppressive Roman regime. Waiting for the messiah demanded nothing, but his arrival was dangerous and uncomfortable.

Christians say we want to love the poor and the sick, but too often we actually want to express that love in ways that don’t make us too uncomfortable: nothing that messes up the sanctuary of the church, or threatens our safety, or makes us feel icky. We say we welcome strangers, but we don’t want them be too strange. Like the Gerasenes who ran Jesus out of town after he purged a man of many demons, we don’t want to be the kind of holy that attracts the wrong kind of attention – the kind that makes us look dirty and maybe unbalanced, rather than freshly laundered and pressed for the Thursday evening hymn sing.

The business of the church is not beautiful building s and respectable congregations. These things are fine; they simply aren’t the point. Filling up the pews is nice, but it’s also meaningless if we’re only playing a numbers game by poaching existing believers from “rival” congregations. We need to take the Gospel where it is not, which is often exactly where we don’t want to be. The good news is not that we bring Jesus to people, but that he is already with them and waiting to be embraced. When we don’t go to them, we don’t go to him either.

Comfort: It’s okay for your faith life to be messy.

Challenge: Same as the Comfort, but for the other half of the room.

Prayer: God, grant me the courage and strength to be an effective part of the life-altering Body of Christ. Amen.

Discussion: What chances do you regret not having taken?

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Citizenship

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 63; 149, Hosea 5:1-7, Acts 22:17-29, Luke 6:27-38

Despite Paul’s efforts to convince the Jews of Jerusalem that he too was a faithful Jew, many refused to believe him. The crowd was willing to listen as he told them the story of his conversion and encounter with Jesus, but as soon as he mentioned the Gentiles, they turned on him. Facts were irrelevant: his association with false accusations and foreigners fed the prejudices against him. Before the crowd could hurt him, Roman officials dragged him away to be interrogated by flogging. They abandoned that plan immediately when Paul revealed he was a Roman citizen by birth: flogging an uncondemned Roman carried serious penalties.

Paul’s persecution was unjust, regardless of his citizenship. We are sympathetic because we know his story, but do we understand what it says to us today? Citizenship – Roman or otherwise – is a human distinction, not a divine one. Christians are subject to nations which get to decide the civil rights of their citizens, but how we treat people – and how we advocate for the treatment of people – is not dictated by human law. We don’t abandon Christian principles about decency just because a government tells us we can – or must. To the contrary, the message of the gospel is incompatible with torture, discrimination, and other evils committed in the cause of nationalism. Mercy is not only for citizens. This is not a statement about immigration policy, but about our fundamental understanding of what it means when Jesus tells us to love our enemies.

“Enemies” aren’t simply people we fight in war; they are everyone we don’t especially want to love. Christ tells us loving those we like is nothing special – even sinners do that. We don’t have to like them, but he does instruct us to pray, feed, forgive, clothe, lend, and do good for them even when they hate and mistreat us … all the while expecting nothing in return. Difficult as it sounds, how we treat our enemies should look a lot like how we treat our friends. Citizenship in the Kingdom of God frees us from borders and obliges us to love.

Comfort: Loving our enemies gets easier with practice.

Challenge: Practice.

Prayer: Teach me, Lord, to love my enemies as Christ loves me. Amen.

Discussion: Whom do you find it difficult to love?

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Raise the Roof

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 19; 150, Joshua 6:15-27, Acts 22:30-23:11, Mark 2:1-12

When people learned Jesus had returned home after several days away, a crowd gathered outside his home. It was so large that one man, whose friends had carried him there on a mat because he was paralyzed, couldn’t get near the door. Undeterred, they tore an opening in the roof and lowered him into the house. Jesus rewarded his faith first by forgiving his sins, then by healing his infirmity.

This healing was performed partly as a demonstration to those who questioned Jesus’s authority to forgive sins. The faith of the man helped Jesus further his ministry.

How hard would we work to get our friends to Jesus? Would we tear open a roof? Progressive Christians are generally uncomfortable with evangelizing; worrying about being “Bible-thumpers” creates a spirit of timidity until we are more likely to witness to a favorite new novel or sushi restaurant than push the Good Book and Bread of Life. There are other places to begin, though. Open a door to give them a place to stay. Open a window to freshen a sick room they can’t leave. And while doing so we can open our mouths to have a conversation about who inspires and strengthens us to live in grace.

Of course we shouldn’t try to force the unwilling to meet him. But we can lend a hand to lift up those who are paralyzed by fear, addiction, or guilt. When we suffer those same conditions ourselves, we may need to lean on the strength and faith of others to deliver us to Christ’s presence. Even when it seems impossible that we might reach him, there is a way to be found if we persevere.

When we break through whatever barriers are between us and Christ’s healing presence, we may be surprised to find what we really need is forgiveness — from God and from ourselves. Without a clean start, any other type of healing we experience will be incomplete. We are healed not just for our own sakes, but also to further Christ’s ongoing ministry by sharing our own witness of the good news.

Comfort: There are many ways to share the Gospel.

Challenge: Find one that is comfortable to you.

Prayer: Gracious and Loving God, help me find my voice so I may spread your Gospel. Amen.

Discussion: What is the most rewarding conversation you have had about faith?

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Whatsoever

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 89:1-18; 147:1-11, Joshua 3:1-13, Romans 11:25-36, Matthew 25:31-46

In the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, a king judges and divides all the nations of the world – blessed sheep on his right hand and accursed goats on his left. To the sheep he says: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” The sheep ask when they did these things for him, and he explains whenever they did it for the least of his brothers, they did it for him. How we understand this message hinges on how we understand Jesus’s use of “brothers.”

Many hear a call to social justice, to consider all who are in need the brothers (and sisters) of Christ. Scripture – in both Old and New Testament passages – certainly calls us to show mercy and hospitality to the poor and marginalized, so this reading seems in character. Others focus on how “brother” is used elsewhere in Matthew, and associate it with “follower.” Under this interpretation, the story is about the consequences of how people receive specifically the disciples and – by extension – preachers of the Gospel. The second camp is concerned the first camp promotes a social gospel reducing salvation to a list of specific good works. The first camp calls this an oversimplification of their position and claims those who truly receive Christ respond to those in need.

Between these camps lies the beauty of parables, which are open to interpretation. Not to say we can impose whatever meaning suits our current whim, or that Jesus’s intent is unimportant, but that more than one aspect of the truth can be revealed. Is it not vital to welcome the Gospel and aid its bearers? And once we do so, will we not view our relationship to “the least” in a new light that inspires us to serve them? Our relationship to the Gospel is inseparable from our relationship to the world.

Comfort: You can’t go wrong welcoming the Gospel and serving the needy.

Challenge: Our fellow Christians, who have different understandings of the Gospel than we do, can be the hardest not to judge. Make it a point this week to engage such people in conversation, with the intent only of understanding, not persuading.

Prayer: Gracious and Merciful God, grant me the patience and humility to understand the lessons of scripture. Amen.

Discussion: Is there one interpretation of this parable you prefer over the other? Is it the same one you feel is more “authentic?”

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Master Plan

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 27; 147:12-20, Exodus 1:6-22, 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, Mark 8:27-9:1

The story of Joseph, his many brothers, and his father Jacob is very near its end with today’s reading. The journey to Egypt for Jacob (also called Israel) and his sons has been a long and twisted one.While Joseph and Pharaoh’s favor allowed the fledgling nation of Israel to settle freely in the Egyptian land of Goshen with all the food they needed, the other residents of Egypt were not so lucky during this seven years of famine. After giving Pharaoh all their money one year and their livestock the next, they had nothing left but their land and bodies. In exchange for food, they offered themselves up as Pharaoh’s slaves and had to pay a tribute of a fifth of all they harvested. Continue reading →

You Don’t Know Me

/ JJS / 1 Comment

Today’s readings: Psalms 46 or 47; 149, Isaiah 45:14-19, Colossians 1:24-2:7, John 8:12-19

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Judgment: to some degree, we’re all guilty of of it. At our best we can take a mental step back and move beyond it. At our less-than-best, we’re capable of doling out some pretty shabby treatment. Why do we judge? Sometimes it’s out of fear. Other times it’s because we see traits reflected in others that we don’t like in ourselves. Once in a while it’s because we need to believe someone did something wrong — usually defining “wrong” as something we haven’t done or been caught doing — that caused their illness, death, poverty, unemployment, public shame, prison sentence, or other problem. After all, the unacceptable alternative would be to admit that under the same circumstances we might have the same outcome, rather than convince ourselves we are saved by our virtue. Continue reading →