Substance

30 June 2019 – 3^rd Sunday of Pentecost

Micah 6:1-8; Matthew 5:1-16

What is the substance of faith?  Believing something?  Nah.  It needs to go deeper than that.  It is written in The Letter to the Hebrews, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (11:1).  So more than simply believing something, there must be such a level of trust that we are willing to step into what we believe. 

Hope is willing to take a risk only when there is substance to the “conviction of things not seen”.  And although this is all written in the Scriptures for us to know, it becomes real only when we choose to live into the Promises.

The notion of individualized salvation as the “end” of a journey of discovery rather than as the “means” to even greater discoveries has put hope itself in the dust bin of theology.  As long as we can have some reasonable notion of going to heaven when we’re dead rather than experiencing heaven as we live, the rest is just dead weight.  The very false, yet very popular, idea of not having to do anything. 

This reduces the substance of faith to a mere belief which can change as the wind blows.  It is why so many feel perfectly justified in being disconnected from the fellowship of the Church, disconnected from ongoing religious instruction, disconnected from the heritage and the traditions of the Church, disconnected from common decency which is the essence of the Holy Law. 

There is no substance in that narrow way of thinking because Jesus didn’t teach exclusively about “going to heaven” as much as He taught about the reality of the Kingdom which can be experienced in Him.  Going back to Moses’ instruction to the Israelites in Deuteronomy, Moses emphasized Israel’s need and charge to continually tell the Story and to teach it faithfully to the next generation. 

Israel’s gravest danger, which Moses warned them about repeatedly, was in becoming completely disconnected from their past.  The substance of their being as a community, as a nation, as a “holy people” got lost.  And when that was lost, all was lost.  The substance of their being was lost.  They no longer had any sense of their being as a people of The Lord, of the Covenant.

I think the same may be said of the Church today

Someone once said we can teach our children about religion; but for faith to be understood by our young ones, it must be on full display.  That is, it must be shown and demonstrated.  It is what The Lord revealed to the prophet, and it is what Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is entirely about. 

Even as it goes to religious practices, Jesus had this to say to the scribes and the Pharisees: “You tithe … but have neglected the weightier (not more important but, rather, substance) matters of the Law: justice and mercy and faith.  It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others” (Matthew 23:23).

This is why faith itself cannot be reduced to a mere feeling or a vague belief in something which lacks demonstration.  Faith must be stepped into; this is, in fact, the essence of “assurance” (as the Israelites afraid of entering into the Promised Land and suffering the consequences of their fears).  We step in because we are unafraid.  So the genuine substance of faith must be an abiding principle that is as much about today as it is about eternity. 

We cannot teach our children about eternity (this concept being far beyond the human capacity to comprehend), but we can teach them how to navigate today while trusting fully in our Shepherd based on what He has done in the past for His people who obeyed Him.  This is why the study of the First Testament is so important to us.  The lessons from then are entirely about the substance of now. 

The Beatitudes are the “weightier matters of the Holy Law” (justice, mercy, and faith) that do not displace the religious practices necessary to develop and strengthen our relationship with our Holy Father and with one another.  Beginning with the needed assurance for those who are “poor in spirit” (lacking any sense of hope) and wrapping up with letting others “see your good works and bring glory to your Father in heaven”, what is lacking in so many is a demonstrable faith.

We are often “poor in spirit” because we have never really invested ourselves in the assurances of our Lord; and because we are not fully invested, there is no “light” for others to see because there are no “good works” that demonstrate what faith in our God looks like.  Others – especially including our children and grandchildren - are unwilling to step out in faith because the Church which proclaims its allegiance to this Great Shepherd is, by and large, unwilling to risk … well, anything.  Certainly not social standing.

With the Independence Day holiday only a few days away, there is a lot of talk about freedom; but I cannot help but to wonder if we really understand what it means to be truly free.  Too often, judging on the context in which the word is so casually tossed about, freedom typically seems to mean freedom from doing whatever it is we don’t feel like doing – OR – the freedom to do as we please regardless of how it may adversely affect others. 

Or in the case of a journalist who was so viciously attacked in Portland OR a day or two ago by the so-called ANTIFA (anti-fascist) crowd, freedom for this crowd seems to mean freedom to attack and brutalize any who do not agree with them.  In other words, as long as they are free to protest fascism by the hands of “others”, they are equally free to deny freedom to others; the freedom to walk the streets unafraid, the freedom to report, the freedom to do and to be according to our Divine Gifts.

But this is the ironic twist; freedom without the experience of living into the concept is only a concept.  Much like faith itself which is reduced only to a vague belief in something which has yet to be, unless we experience it, unless we move and step into it, we will never know of the assurances of all Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, particularly the Beatitudes.

How can we be the “salt of the earth” or “the light of the world” if our faith is exclusively personal and never communal?  The short answer is it cannot be.  It is just as Jesus pointed out; “No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it under the bushel basket but on a lampstand for all to see”.  And in the context of the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount as a whole, our Teacher is not talking about us merely talking out loud about it.  Jesus is talking about demonstration.

The substance of faith itself is, indeed, freedom; freedom from the shackles of our doubts and our fears, freedom from the bonds of a secular culture that seeks popularity by blindly following the “blind guides” into the abyss of darkness, the freedom to do good where good is needed most. 

Freedom is not at all about shouting from a distance to “them” (whomever “them” is) and telling “them” they need to do more for those who live in the margins of society; it is entirely about being with those who live in the margins of society, the “poor in spirit”, those who “mourn”, those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness”. 

Freedom is entirely about being free and having the will to put everything at risk for the sake of being a “peacemaker”.  It is the substance of our faith.  It is the very Face of God.  Amen.

When a Promise is a Lie

There was a time when I would at least try to listen to an opposing viewpoint.  It has been my experience that a willingness to listen is much more preferable to being antagonistic.  Although I cannot say my mind was ever changed by being shouted at or called a "deplorable", in many instances it can be said my opposition was affirmed by whatever arguments were brought forth.

This election season has become a joke.  I cannot bring myself to listen to these many ridiculous “promises” and the pretend-indignation expressed by the (at last count) twenty-two Democrat candidates who seem more certain the presidency is their destiny than they are aware they have jobs they are currently neglecting.  They also seem pretty sure of what they say and all they are promising – until thinking people vet these “promises” against a president’s constitutional and thus, legal capacity to actually carry them out.

It is a common thing for presidential candidates to promise the moon, but it has been rare (maybe even non-existent) for these promises to be measured by voters against the constitutional scope of presidential power and authority.

What is most disturbing in this field of Democrat candidates is the large number of those who currently hold an elected office  and yet display a profound ignorance of how the federal system of checks and balances really works.

Yet one cannot help but to wonder if it is ignorance on their part (most are educated lawyers) – or deliberate attempts to manipulate moods based on the presupposed ignorance of those who support them.  And by “ignorant”, I mean “uninformed” and, consequently, gullible.

“I will cut taxes”.  “I will raise taxes”.  “I will repeal this”.  “I will repeal that”.  And the list goes on and on.  By their expressions – and clear disdain for all things Trump – they do not seem to grasp (or they hope no one notices) that the president can only act within existing law.  I’ll grant that many presidents have danced on the edge of existing law with executive orders but, more often than not, what we get from the Congress whenever a president acts independently is a lot of “wailing and gnashing of teeth”.  There is no substantial legal blow-back, however, because the president is often determined to have acted within existing legal boundaries.

Worse even than this deliberate attempt to manipulate ignorant voters are the voters themselves who have come to not only expect this behavior from educated adults; we have all but embraced it.  We elect – and reelect – these persons over and again, affirming to them that this is apparently what the voters want and expect.  Though nothing changes, we believe their promises that things will certainly change if they are elected/reelected.

The Democrats are doing exactly this by accusing the current president of all sorts of mischief.  Yet the promises this current field are throwing out there for our consideration are staggering, exhausting to keep up with, and remarkably expensive.  There is also one element of each of these promises these contenders fail to mention: to accomplish any of these will require the cooperation of the Congress.  The president alone cannot deliver on any of these, and it is highly unlikely such outrageous promises will come to pass.

These candidates are either blind and ignorant themselves, or they are hoping voters are.  There is no way these candidates can possibly believe such astounding promises can ever come to fruition under our current system of government, a constitutional republic (not a democracy) shaped and bound by the US Constitution – not subject to a fickle and simple majority of demands or desires.

If these candidates know this – and giving them all the benefit of the doubt that they cannot help but to know this – that leaves us with this simple premise: those who are gullible enough to fall for all these “promises” are being sold a bill of goods.  They are being lied to.  We are being lied to.  It is one thing to cast a vision; it is another thing altogether to make impossible promises.

We are better than this, and we have every right not to be treated as mindless minions of an overbearing government.  The White House – indeed the nation – needs a chief executive officer and commander-in-chief.  The Pied Piper is a fable.  It is best to be left as such.

The Real Deal - 2nd Sunday of Pentecost 2019

23 June 2019 

2 Timothy 2:22-26; Luke 8:26-39

I have never been one for believing in the literal possession of one’s soul by a demonic force, at least not like it has been portrayed in movies like “The Exorcist”.  I suppose the reason for my cynicism is much like my doubts about “Bigfoot” – I haven’t seen either with my own eyes.  I’ve heard stories and I’ve watched TV documentaries, but I’ve had no personal experiences. 

Yet the Scriptures and the witness of the early Church Fathers seem clear – about demons, not Bigfoot.

I remember as a child listening to a priest talk about the occult.  He was most concerned with the “Ouija Board” game which, in his words and according to Catholic doctrine, is no “game” at all.  Dealing with the occult, summoning spirits and demons, and holding séances all make for scary Halloween fun, but all are very dangerous business not only because our Holy Father prohibits such activity, our Shepherd also shows us these demons and unclean spirits are very real.  And very dangerous.

By the Word of The Lord, then, we are compelled to look more closely, heed Jesus’ experiences with these demons, and stop pretending everything in Jesus is all fuzzy puppies, cuddly kittens, and feel-good theology with rah-rah sermons of “I’m ok and you’re ok, so we’re all ok”. 

The hard truth is coming to faith is not simply a moment of emotional weakness; faith is forged in fire by trial, temptations, and even doubts in coming to terms with the difference between good and evil.  The closer we draw to Messiah, the more fervent and pitched will the real battle become – because what we can clearly see by the Scriptures is these demons, these unclean spirits cannot abide by the Presence of The Lord and will fight back!

Recall the story written in Acts 19.  Some sons of the Jewish high priest were attempting to cast out demons in the name of “the Jesus whom Paul proclaims” (Acts 19:13); calling on Jesus’ Name without actually being connected to Jesus.  But “the evil spirit said to them in reply, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” (vs 15).  We are then told this evil spirit “mastered them all, and so overpowered them that they fled out of the house naked and wounded” (vs 16).

St. James did indeed say, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (4:7).  However, Jesus also taught that “Whoever is not with Me is against Me” (Luke 11:23).  The meaning is simple.  There can be no ambivalence about our devotion to The Lord.  We are in Him and Him in us, or He is absent.  We can take nothing for granted; not The Lord, and certainly not evil spirits. 

I don’t think physical convulsions are the sole, or even the primary, characteristic of a demon who is trying to make himself at home with us – nor is the devil a red person who carries a pitch fork and has horns on his head.  So we kid ourselves if we think a demonic influence will manifest itself so clearly.

It is also important to remember what St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “Put on the whole armor of God so you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; for our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (6:11-12).

This very real danger exists today as it did when St. Paul also wrote to the Corinthians: “I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Cor 11:3).  This concern was directed toward those who could be led astray by a false gospel that tries to “adjust” the Scriptures to the modern age.

It is not always force by which our faith and our allegiance to The Lord will be challenged; it will be, more often than not, by cunning; by deceit, by evasiveness, by subtle trickery.  It may come into our conversations as we gossip about and slander others.  It may come by a false notion that “love” justifies or excuses adultery, fornication, and other inappropriate relationships.  It may come – especially in an election season – through our support of one candidate by demonizing the opponent.

So I think what we must be consciously aware of is not necessarily the presence of the evil one but, rather, the absence of good – i.e., with Christ or against Christ.  St. Augustine believed if we are not aspiring to our higher calling in Christ (Wesley’s idea of sanctification, “going on to perfection”), we are surrendering ourselves to the absence of good.  The same can be said of the tension between love and hate.  The Scriptures do not allow an ambivalence or a middle ground; if we do not love, we hate.  Therefore, the absence of good is the presence of evil.

If this all sounds like a lot of theological double-speak, it is perhaps because we ourselves have become ambivalent about the presence of evil in the absence of good.  And the open door to the very real threat to the well-being of the Church is the ambivalence of Her members; a spiritual laziness or complacency that simply expects Jesus to do all the work, rejecting our Lord’s own warning to His disciples: “Keep watch; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”. 

The Lord is our comfort, a “very present help in our time of need”.  Yet we must be willing to admit and confess our need.  We must acknowledge that “good” is not subjective to the culture’s ideals.  Good is The Lord, and He has determined what is good and what is evil.  We do not get to decide for ourselves nor should we kid ourselves into believing so.

It is Jesus – the Living Word of the Living God – who has mastered the forces of evil in this life, in this world, and we must never convince ourselves we can go it alone or that the devil is a made-up story designed to frighten us.  As our Lord showed us in the wilderness, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4).  And this in the face of the evil one himself.

The evil one is present in the absence of Christ our Lord.  We must not kid ourselves into believing the threat is not a real one.  Our homes, our children, our churches and communities are all at stake if The Lord is not there.  The devil is real, and so are his tricks.  There is no middle ground between Good and evil.  Let The Lord have His way so we can find our Way in Him.  Amen.

Faith of our Fathers - 16 June 2019

16 June 2019 – Father’s Day

Hebrews 11:8-12; Matthew 1:18-25, 2:13-15; 19-23

The connection shared by Judaism, Islam, and Christianity is Abraham who is regarded as the father of our common faith.  Imperfect though he was (at least by human standards), Abraham was the one chosen by The Lord to begin the incredible journey to redemption.  As The Lord spoke to Abraham: “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you” (Genesis 17:7).

The father of “many” nations (Genesis 17:4) is the one through whom a perpetual covenant was established; and because of Abraham’s faithfulness, his sons received abundant blessings though only Isaac would carry the “everlasting covenant” to his own offspring (Genesis 17:19). 

According to the lineage recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, there are forty-two generations from Abraham to Jesus.  Throughout these forty-two generations are stories that make it hard to believe what The Lord was apparently willing to tolerate for the sake of the Holy Covenant, and there are many in this genealogy who would not make it to a list of ideal fathers – again, by our standards.  Yet there is one who has always stood out … not by his recorded words (there are none) but by his unwavering faithfulness: Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin.

Apart from the genealogy, not much is known about Joseph.  There are plenty of assumptions and there are stories in extrabiblical literature, but the Bible itself does not give us much.  Yet for one who spoke so little, he accomplished much.  His faithfulness and his diligence to see after Mary and the Baby allow this much for us to witness: obeying the Holy Father and trusting in His guidance is the Way for fathers throughout the ages.

In Catholicism, St. Joseph is regarded as the patron saint of the Church universal, unborn children, workers, travelers, immigrants … and fathers.  By “patron saint”, some traditions see an advocate; for all traditions, we see inspiration.  In this inspiration, we come to know Joseph as a man of honor.  When Mary was pregnant, Joseph would have been well within his rights to have her dismissed in public shame to be stoned to death (the consequence of adultery).  Instead, he would choose to let her go quietly to spare her that fate.  

Before he was aware of The Lord’s Hand in this drama, he would still choose honor and respect.  So in spite of what we do not know about Joseph, we know enough not only to celebrate and honor this man; we also know how he was regarded in the eyes of The Lord: he was “a righteous man” (Matthew 1:19) – because of what he chose to do when he didn’t have to.

What else do we need to know?  When he died?  How big a role he played in Jesus’ childhood?  What sort of husband he was?  In the grand scheme, what we are told about Joseph is that one attribute we fathers and grandfathers must strive to emulate and perpetuate: he was wholly devoted to The Lord.  He obeyed without question.  When he didn’t have to, when the culture demanded something else, he treated Mary with the utmost respect and care.  He put everything at risk not only to protect the pregnant Mary but also to protect his young family.

We contemporary fathers have no problem with being protectors – especially if that protection involves guns.  It is a very he-manly role to play in being armed and prepared to take on any who would threaten the well-being of our families.  While the crazy and often dangerous world we live in may seem to make that level of preparedness necessary, however, the ideal conveyed by Joseph suggests there is one thing we fathers must learn to do first: submit to The Lord and trust fully in His guidance and protection.

I have often wondered why it was that Joseph was only spoken to in his dreams.  Some have suggested it is in a state of sleep when we are most vulnerable, but I’ve had some really strange dreams that would lead me straight to a mental health facility if I were to follow through!  Could it be that Joseph was a manly man who trusted his own instincts more than he concerned himself with what The Lord may ask of him?

There is reasonable suspicion of a pregnant wife whom he had not yet “known” so intimately, but notice the tension between what the human culture would expect of Joseph and what The Lord would require of him.  This suggests we fathers may be inclined to be more aware of a socially constructed role we must fit into rather than be led into a truly godly role that, in the end, would make us all better husbands and fathers – men worthy of the love of a godly woman and the admiration of children. 

It is an ideal this world can have no concept of not only because of the “enmity” (opposition) which exists between this world and the kingdom (James 4:4) but also because of what Jesus Himself taught: “The world cannot receive [The Spirit] because it isn’t looking for [The Spirit] and does not recognize Him” (John 14:17).

It makes me wonder: if the very Spirit of The Living God came up and physically grabbed us by the collar to get our attention, what would be our response?  A culturally conditioned and violent response?  Or a spiritually conditioned and humble one? 

That may sound a little silly to us now, but think of Joseph and his predicament.  Though he is described in the Scripture as a “righteous man”, we may also do well for ourselves to think of him as a manly man, a working man, a no-nonsense man.  Yet he was also a man more clearly aware of the Presence of God and more clearly willing to heed The Lord’s Voice over and above his own misbegotten pride.  Like his ancestor, King David, a man after The Lord’s own heart.

There is a secret to being the kind of husband and father The Lord means for us to be, but that secret is revealed only “in secret” as Jesus taught us to pray “in secret”; fervently seeking The Lord’s will not only for our lives but for the well-being of the families entrusted to our care.  And our first order of business as fathers is to lead our families, our children to our Holy Father.  Only there can be found Everlasting Life and Everlasting Love.  It is the greatest gift we can give our children.  Amen.

"One" - 7th Sunday of Easter 2019

2 June 2019

Ephesians 4:1-13; John 17:20-26

Years ago, before I even thought about becoming a preacher, there was a young man, a college student in Conway, who took exception to my viewpoint and questioned my sense of unity in the “United” Methodist Church.  The discussion went back and forth, but essentially he maintained that for unity to prevail in the UMC, I must agree with his viewpoints.  To be fair, I said the same thing …

Over time, I’ve come to know even conservative Christians don’t always agree on every single point even though we may consider ourselves “like-minded”.  The only real consensus we Christians have is Jesus, but is that enough?  I’ve shared before that believing Jesus existed and having the faith to follow Him are two entirely different things.  And that may well be the basis of Jesus’ prayer!

Who gets to define unity?  Do we even know what it means to be “one”, as in Jesus’ fervent prayer?  When St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he encouraged the Church to “lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (4:1-3).

With so much talk about schism within the United Methodist Church, there are many who believe not only is a separation imminent, it has in fact already happened – in spirit, at the very least.  That one, single “issue” has come to define the whole of the United Methodist Church to the point of distraction; and to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure who is entirely to blame.

This “side” accuses that “side” of bigotry and hatred, and that “side” accuses this “side” of faithlessness.  Our bishop has consistently encouraged and called us to pray for revival (not “a” revival as an event but for revival of the Spirit in the Church), but there is no evidence of fervent prayer or revival.  It might make one wonder if prayer works … or if the Spirit has turned His back on the UMC … or if, in our prayer, we simply expect The Lord to do a miracle with no effort on our part.

So it is not so simple to read Jesus’ prayer to the Father for the unity of the Church – because the sense of unity, of “oneness” as Jesus is to the Father is not to be understood strictly on human terms.  We have to dig a little deeper, think more clearly, and gain – or regain – a profound sense of humility in coming to know our own sense of unity may not be at all what Jesus was praying for – the kind of humility that makes us teachable, leadable; the kind of humility in which Jesus has the answers rather than ourselves.

Our understanding of Jesus’ prayer must also take into account what He had said before about His entire purpose in being on the earth: “Do not think I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword.  I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household” (Matthew 10:34-36). 

In a way, Jesus sounds like He has only come to stir the pot and deliberately create dissension among families and communities, but the core of what is being taught, of what is being said, is not about a deliberate effort to cause division.  Instead, it seems to be that Jesus is actually teaching us about the real way, the only way, we can avoid division.

First He instructs His disciples, as He is preparing to send them out with power to heal and authority to cast out demons (Matthew 10:1), that when they are invited into a home, “let your peace come upon that home” … but if that peace is rejected, “shake the dust from your feet as you leave that house” (Matthew 10:14). 

Even though that “home” may be unified in and of itself, there is a point at which disagreement and dissension will come: the Word which requires a much higher level of unity beyond that home, beyond that family, beyond that community.  “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever does not take up the Cross and follow Me is not worth of Me” (Matthew 10:37-38).

The unity of that home, that family, that community is entirely subjective.  Each believes what it chooses to believe, what it has been taught to believe, and each will have an influence beyond itself; but when that home, that family, that community comes into contact with another home, another family, another community that is not like-minded and does not share a common culture and background, there will be clashes, there will be division, there will be dissension because each home, each family, each community has its own subjective standard, its own rules, its own way of believing and doing and interacting.

This is not necessarily a bad thing and it does not condemn one over another; but when Christ and The Word become the standard – and that Word is rejected because of an already-established way of thinking and doing to the exclusion of others - sin becomes the standard, and division is imminent.

This reality is no less so today, certainly in the United States and perhaps especially in the United Methodist Church.  In the wake of the 2019 Special Called Session of General Conference and in preparations for the 2020 General Conference, each “side” is preparing for battle.  Each “side” is determined to win, but I wonder if either side is fully prepared for whatever “prize” may await us … because the greater sin is not found in our determination of which “side” is more right or more wrong; it is found in our denial of Jesus’ ultimate prayer for unity. 

We hear the prayer, we read the prayer, but we don’t really take it to heart precisely because we have chosen “sides” and are determined to win regardless of what it may cost us in the end.  We are unwilling to “patiently bear with one another in love” because we have not only lost all patience with one another – we have also lost all sense of humility.

Jesus’ prayer, however, stands as a Perpetual Promise to those who continually strive for unity, who continually seek The Way as we consistently seek to admit our own faults even as we admonish those whom we are willing to love as Christ has loved us – sacrificing everything for the sake of another, including those who will persecute us, mistreat us, turn on us.  Judas and the others did as much, and Jesus still did what He needed to do for ALL.

I think I’m right about certain things just as you do, but our opinions do not make us righteous.  Righteousness comes only to those who do the will of The Father; and what does The Father require of us?  “To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God” (Micah 6:8). 

Let us begin here; for if we are so willing to “walk humbly with God”, He will take us where He needs us to be.  As One.  Amen.