righteousness

Choose Your Own Adventure

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 89:1-18; 147:1-11, Isaiah 41:1-16, Ephesians 2:1-10, Mark 1:29-45

According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus’s ministry quickly took off in a big way. In Capernaum he healed many people and drove out many demons, and word of his power spread quickly. Soon the entire city was at his front door. (Or more precisely, the door of Simon and Andrew’s place where he was staying.)  As he traveled with his disciples to spread his message to the neighboring towns in Galilee, “A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’”  And Jesus, moved with pity, said, “I do choose. Be made clean!”

Did Jesus ever choose not to heal? Did he ever choose to turn anyone away?

Some people may say yes. They may point to the rich young ruler who went away heartbroken when Jesus told him to sell everything he had and give the money to the poor. They remind us of the many people who abandoned Jesus after he presented them with a particularly difficult teaching. And they trot out the man who wanted to bury his father but was told to “let the dead bury the dead.”

Except Jesus didn’t turn any of those people away. They walked away. They chose to walk away.

Some preachers warn we soften the harsher truths of discipleship when we say Jesus accepted everyone. Maybe that’s so, but that doesn’t mean we should start deciding for ourselves whom Christ would reject, because we don’t know. A primary controversy of his ministry was based on fraternizing with “unclean” people the “righteous” people shunned. Once we decide we’re in the camp of the righteous, our view is skewed. Saul counted himself righteous and literally hunted Christians before he became the apostle Paul who wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

Rather than worry about other people’s choices, let’s direct our energies towards modeling our own choices after Christ. Without compromising our values, we can always find ways to choose mercy. Choose forgiveness. Choose to give the benefit of the doubt. Choose generosity. Choose to recognize dignity. Choose humility. Choose love.

Even when these choices are unattractive or difficult, they are still ours to make. The cost of making the right choices is a burden we voluntarily bear ourselves, not one we should force onto others.

Comfort: Jesus does not reject you.

Challenge: But that doesn’t mean you can’t reject Jesus.

Prayer: Loving God, help me make choices that reflect your love and righteousness. Amen.

Discussion: Have you made choices that other people have had to pay for?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. 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!

Anointed, Appointed, and Appalling.

/ JJS / Leave a comment
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David hands the Letter to Uriah, Pieter Lastman ca. 1583 – 1633

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 116; 147:12-20, 2 Samuel 11:1-27, Acts 19:11-20, Mark 9:2-13

While we are one body, Christians disagree on many subjects. One of the more controversial topics is the nature of God’s will. Over the centuries the finer points of this argument have divided the church many times. Some of us believe God directly controls the universe down to its subatomic components. Others believe God exerts minimal influence over the creation. Most of us land somewhere in the middle, influenced by – but often uninformed on the specifics of – whatever denomination (or non-denomination) we belong to.

In the United States few things highlight the arguments about God’s will – as well as people’s inconsistencies in embracing and defending  those arguments – like the election of a president. When we like the person who is elected, it’s God’s will. When we don’t like the person, it’s a subversion of God’s will. And some of us accept either (or neither) result as God’s will.

Whichever camp we call home, we ought to agree on one thing: just because someone is chosen by God doesn’t mean they will be righteous in all they do.

King David had everything he could have wanted, but when he saw Bathsheba, the wife of his soldier Uriah, he decided he wanted her too. When David impregnated her while Uriah was away at war, he conspired first to trick Uriah into sleeping with her so the solider might believe the child was his own, then to maneuver Uriah into a vulnerable position in battle so he would be killed.

David was anointed by God. David was appointed King of Israel. David was appalling in his behavior.

The evil he did to Uriah was not God’s will – to the contrary, it angered God. Not only did Uriah die, but so did many other soldiers whom David either didn’t consider or didn’t mind sacrificing (and given his considerable strategic skills, it was probably the latter).

Great power amplifies both our virtues and flaws.  Accepting a monarch, president, or other leader does not mean accepting and defending everything they do. God’s will may be inscrutable, but Christ’s teachings will always help us find the way.

Additional Reading:
For thoughts on today’s reading from Acts, see Just One Bite.

Comfort: God does not will evil.

Challenge: Read a little about predestination and Arminianism.

Prayer: I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. (Psalm 130:5)

Discussion: What do you think of when you hear the phrase “God’s will?”

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and 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!