Scripture

Decrease to Increase

/ JJS / 3 Comments

YourBest

Today’s readings (click below to open in a new tab/window):
Psalms 15; 147:1-11, Genesis 9:18-29, Hebrews 6:1-12, John 3:22-36

The ministry of John the Baptist was a big success. Business was so good he had customers lined up from Bethany to Aenon, where he moved because it had more water to let him do his job. He had his own disciples and irritated all the right authorities. Yet when Jesus arrived on the scene, John willingly gave it all up. John knew something we often forget: successful ministry is not determined by numbers or longevity, but by how well it advances the message and mission of Christ. When John’s followers began flocking to Jesus, John didn’t start planning how to win them back. Instead he said of Jesus: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Christian ministry is not a competition, but our competitive nature can sneak into it. Choir solos, sermons, fundraisers, offerings, praise hands, potluck contributions – sometimes we can’t help comparing these things, especially if we are good at them. If healthy competition pushes us to do our best work, the ministry may benefit. When we start thinking of our collaborators as rivals, we do a disservice to everyone, and undermine the community and the ministry. Whether an individual or church, we let our lights shine to illuminate the love of Christ, not to put a spotlight on ourselves. Even if we are the very best at something, sometimes we must intentionally step aside to let others play their parts. Being our best – not the best – is what matters.

Mature preachers will say praise and criticism are the same. In other words, they hear feedback, but do Christ’s work for the sake of the work, not the reaction. Praise does not swell their heads, and criticism does not defeat them. This ego-free attitude requires cultivation, but our work will be the better for it. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a compliment for a job well done, but if our focus moves from Jesus to acquiring compliments (or members, or money, or readers), our work suffers.

For others to increase, sometimes we must decrease. But if we do it to help Jesus increase, we rise along with him.

Comfort: The best ministries are collaborations; you don’t have to do everything yourself.

Challenge: Whenever you feel competitive with someone, ask yourself whether it is healthy or unhealthy.

Prayer: Gracious God, teach me to appreciate the diversity of the Body of Christ. Amen.

Discussion: Where do you find yourself competing when you could be cooperating?

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The Fine Line

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Today’s readings (click to open in a new window):
Psalms 19; 150, Genesis 7:1-10, 17-23, Ephesians 4:1-16, Mark 3:7-19

The line between faith an insanity can be hard to identify. When Noah heard the voice of God telling him to build an ark, he must have questioned which side of the line he was on. His neighbors, friends, and family – the ones who didn’t scoff at him outright – surely had questions as well. How must it have felt to explain the enormous construction project going on in his back yard? Following God’s orders very likely ruined his reputation as a stable individual. At least until the rains started.

Not everything God would have us do will make sense to the outside world – and maybe not even to ourselves. Showing generosity to people who haven’t earned it, granting mercy to those who have wronged us, taking in strangers – these things seem scandalous by worldly standards. When God “asks” us to do something – through intuition, conscience, or other means – are we strong enough to ignore the mocking, sometimes hostile voices discouraging us? We probably won’t be asked to accomplish something as huge as 1.5 million cubic feet of boat, but when we open ourselves to ridicule the burden may feel almost as enormous.

When Noah and his family closed the door of the ark, they had no idea how long they might be afloat or what their final fate might be. Following God often means the faith that we are doing the right thing must be sufficient to carry us through dark and confusing times. We want to be sure we are on the right side of that line between faithful and crazy, but we often don’t. When it comes to leaps of faith we can pray, discern, and hope … but we can never be 100% sure. If we turn out to be wrong, or if things just turn out differently than expected, listening to that voice the next time may be difficult.

Not every little whim is a calling from God, but sometimes we need to risk looking a little crazy. That’s OK. We may turn out to be the only one with the good sense to get out of the rain.

Comfort: Faith may ask crazy things of us, but God will see us through.

Challenge: Is anything you have left undone nagging at your conscience? If so, pray and meditate on what’s holding you back.

Prayer: All-knowing God, I will trust you even when I don’t understand you.

Discussion: What’s the most outlandish thing you’ve done on intuition? How did it work out?

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It Rolls Downhill

/ JJS / 2 Comments

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Today’s readings (click to open in new window): 
Psalms 104; 149, Genesis 6:9-22, Hebrews 4:1-13, John 2:13-22

“Tourist prices” have been a problem for as long as people have traveled out of town. For example, non-Jewish currency was forbidden inside the temple at Jerusalem, so pilgrims needed to exchange it with money changers in the temple’s outer court before purchasing sacrificial animals. Doves, lambs, and other creatures are difficult to travel with, so livestock merchants also set up shop there. Both money changers and merchants took advantage of captive customers by demanding high prices. When Jesus arrived at the temple, he was so outraged to find “a den of thieves” where people traded faith for profit that he fashioned a whip out of cords and drove them all out. Not only had commerce defiled the temple, the institution that was supposed to protect the people was exploiting them.

The faithful are called to steward our resources justly. That means more than tithing and charity. Wealth does not buy us the privilege to shift social burdens onto the poor. In his encyclical on the environment, Pope Francis describes how the poor are disproportionately affected by climate change and pollution. The wealthy consume resources and produce waste at a much greater rate than the poor, but poor communities are where we dump trash, manufacture toxins, and  ignore contamination. This burden shift occurs down the road and around the globe. Industries with environmentally devastating activities forbidden under national policies exploit poorer, unregulated countries. Many economic and social forces impact the differences between wealthy and poor communities, but property values are not Christian values. Living in a nice neighborhood doesn’t mean we deserve more justice. Faith calls us to deploy our resources in a way that protects the most vulnerable among us.

Are we in the outer court exchanging profit for justice, or are we working to make sure the poor – whom Jesus told us to serve – are at the heart of God’s kingdom? Rock bottom prices have high human costs. Pollutants we vote or litigate out of our back yards are forced into someone else’s. When the choices we make to better our lives negatively impact others, we need to make better choices. Maybe we can start by treating the poor as we would treat our own family … because Christ has made them so.

Comfort: Rich, poor, or in between, God’s justice is meant for all of us equally.

Challenge: Read about how the poor have been unfairly impacted by pollution in Ringwood, New Jersey (also known as Sludge City), Horlivka, Ukraine, or Flint, Michigan.

Prayer: Lord, help me to live justly, not just for my own righteousness, but for the love of your creation. Amen.  

Discussion: Where in your own community do you see links between poverty and injustice?

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Scripture and Life’s Seasons

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 89:1-18; 147:1-11, Nehemiah 13:4-22, Revelation 12:1-12, Matthew 13:53-58

As the end of our two-year devotional cycle draws near, we return to Psalm 1, containing the words: “[H]is delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.”

We might like the idea of spending more time exploring scripture, but the reality of dwelling on it day and night may seem daunting, maybe even unnecessary. After we’ve read through the Bible (or the parts we consider important) once or twice, we may begin to feel we “get it” and become satisfied with our understanding. While we may learn some favorite passages to rely on in times of stress or joy, we may also feel the readings at church or bible have grown redundant, and start mentally composing a grocery list when “that scripture” comes up in the rotation. Does this sound like the delight promised in the Psalm?

If our study of scripture is to yield fruit we must return to it with the regularity and reliability of the seasons. Consider your own story for a moment. As you have matured, what new insights have you gained into the narrative of your life? How often does your understanding of the characters in your story evolve? What about your opinion of yourself and your actions? How do you view once beloved books, movies, and television programs from childhood? Though our core personalities are unlikely to change, what we knew firmly at fifteen may be a different story at fifty. And there is a certain delight in realizing we have better insight than we used to.

The same is true of our study of scripture. Each time we meditate on a passage, the experiences we’ve gained influence our understanding of the text. Sometimes the experience was intentional, such as reading a Bible commentary offering historical context. Other times the experience was more organic: hearing “love is patient, love is kind”  on a wedding day is very different than hearing it after twenty years of living within a marriage. Life helps us understand scripture in new ways, and regular scripture reading helps us understand new things about life.

Comfort: Scripture is always waiting for us with new depths of truth.

Challenge: Commit to daily scripture reading through the end of the year.

Prayer: Gracious and merciful God, may your Word be ever on my heart.

Discussion: Has your understanding of any particular piece of scripture evolved over time?

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Playing God

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 123; 146, 1 Kings 21:17-29, 1 Corinthians 1:20-31, Matthew 4:12-17

Imagine a great crime has been committed against you – one that cannot be made right. The perpetrator is apprehended and found guilty. When the perpetrator demonstrates he’s really sorry, the judge defers the sentence until after perpetrator’s death, at which time his son will suffer the penalty. If you’d have a hard time feeling like justice was being served, you’re probably not alone.

This is pretty much what happened after Ahab, who along with his wife Jezebel had a man stoned under false pretenses to take his ancestral land, humbled himself before an angry God. After Ahab put on some sackcloth, fasted, and put on a sad face, God decided punishment could wait.

Unfair as it seems, God – being almighty and all – gets to call the shots. We don’t have to agree, like, or understand it. But it does teach us something about the practical application of Biblical principles: just because God gets away with it doesn’t mean we can or should.

Punishing the children of the guilty, instead of or in addition to the guilty themselves, is not a just system for human beings to administer. We can’t point to books like Joshua, wherein God commanded virtual genocide, to justify our own tribal violence against people of a different faith or ethnicity. When the psalmists beg God to smash out the teeth and kill the children of their enemies, we can’t assume that’s the sort of behavior God encourages us to pursue. When we twist scripture to justify our worst impulses, who exactly are we serving?

Over and over, God offers redemption and forgiveness to the very people we would expect God to punish. Saul the oppressor of Christians becomes the Apostle Paul. The Ninevites who enslaved Israel are sent the reluctant prophet Jonah and they repent (much to Jonah’s disappointment).  God will do what God will do. Who among us dares to say when God should punish and when God should redeem?

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote: “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom.” Let’s walk and act humbly, leaving God’s choices to God.

Additional Reading:
For more on today’s passage from 1 Corinthians, see Fool Me.

Comfort: You don’t have to figure out what God would do; God will do it.

Challenge: Be cautious when using scripture to justify your actions.

Prayer: Merciful God, in my foolishness lead me to your wisdom. Amen. 

Discussion: What actions of God in the Bible are hard for you to understand?

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!