A Thought

“Walk prudently when you go to the house of The Lord, and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know they do evil.  Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before The Lord.  For The Lord is in heaven, and you on earth.  Therefore let your words be few; for a dream comes through much activity, and a fool’s voice is known by his many words.”  Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 NKJV

One of the many things said to be destroying the Church from within is the consumerist mentality.  That is, we do not often attend worship for The Lord Himself.  Rather, we go – and have probably been so conditioned for a very long time – to get something from The Lord.  And if a particular church does not give us what we demand for ourselves, we slander the preacher and brand him/her a fool, and simply move to the next one … and the next one … and so on until we get what we demand.  Many leave churches claiming not to have been “fed”; but it must be observed that the “food” is being offered in abundance, but these consumers only want dessert.  So they refused to even sit at the table as the meal was offered.   

But what does the Teacher/Preacher (depending on the preferred translation) mean by walking “prudently” when entering the house of The Lord?  To be “prudent” is to be, among other things, “advisable”.  That is, we are encouraged to enter into the house of The Lord with a willingness to “be advised”.  What we get may not be at the top of our list of demands; but coming from The Lord through His Word, we can be sure it is what we need most desperately.  Faith, then, is a level of trust that what we need most is what we will get.  It may not fit our personally construed narrative, but we can be sure it is His narrative because this is exactly what we are being invited into: the New Covenant.

This is why “prudence” is of the utmost importance.  It is not unlike being hired for a job with a company.  That company has its policies, its requirements, and its expectations.  When we are hired, we are invited into an already-established narrative.  We should not expect that the company will suddenly change its long-standing practices to accommodate us only because we find ourselves unable to embrace the narrative as it stands.  Like the Covenant narrative, we are also free to walk away if we cannot – or will not – live into its terms.

Yet unlike the job which was very likely not so easy to get, the Covenant is an open invitation with no prerequisites!  There are indeed terms we must be willing to embrace and live into, but we need not worry about “impressing the Boss” because that Invitation was issued long ago with no requirements except an open willingness to be loved!  Yet if we already have our own terms set, our own demands listed, we cannot hear the invitation because we are too busy laying out our own desires.  We are not “advisable”.

To be perfectly honest, this is a very difficult kind of love to conceive of because we do not see much of it in our world, in our culture’s narrative – especially during election season!  Since we cannot see it and rarely experience it, it is hard to believe such a depth of love exists because we try to compare Divine Perfection with human imperfection.  Yet if we are willing to be “advisable” and fully open to such a possibility, The Lord assures us He will go to great lengths to make us aware and help us to experience this new life!  There is no action, there are no words on our part necessary to attain this Love because it is already given, and very freely so; but if we are too full of ourselves and our own demands, we cannot be “advised”.

“Be still and know I am The Lord”.  He beckons us in our humility and in our silence.  Do you get this??  “Be still” in the Scripture not only speaks of physical movement but also of speech.  “Be still”, our Lord says, “and just let Me love you”. 

The Lord is great, is He not?

Michael

A Thought for Tuesday, 8 November 2016

“As Jesus was speaking, a cloud came and overshadowed them (Peter, James, and John), and they were fearful as they entered the cloud.  And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!’  When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone.  But they kept quiet and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.”  Luke 9:34-36 NKJV

Election Day.  Especially this year, many are just relieved it’s finally over.  Regardless of the outcome, these (including myself) are simply grateful we no longer have to suffer the plain nastiness of these candidates and their minions.  Of course we all have a preferred candidate (even though many claim to have held their noses while they voted!); but regardless of who will be declared the winner by the Electoral College, we can finally go on about our lives.

This interesting scene from Luke’s Gospel takes place immediately following the Transfiguration.  The three apostles had witnessed Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus about His impending death, and they had been overwhelmed by the experience.  Peter wanted to build three tabernacles; one for Jesus, one for Moses, and the other for Elijah.

Rather than to worry about structures to memorialize the occasion, The Lord spoke through the cloud and gave them the only memorial which would matter long after the structures had failed: “This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!”

These past few weeks we have heard nothing but charges, accusations, innuendo, and downright blasphemy – which is what happens when we slander someone who is, like us, created in the Divine Image.  And yet, for as loud as the screaming is as we demand to be heard, The Almighty speaks through this obstructive “cloud” of noise and vitriol: “Hear My beloved Son.  He has something worth hearing!”

Be grateful for the privilege we have as citizens, but always hear our Holy Father; for His enduring Word is that which will find no ending.  The nastiness of these bitter days will not even be a memory. 

The Lord is great, is He not?

Michael

Visions of Salvation

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18

Ephesians 1:11-23

Luke 6:20-31

“The saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.”  Daniel 7:18

If the prophet Daniel is correct in his vision, then we must understand that “possession of the Kingdom” does not begin only when we breathe our last in this life.  This possession is marked by how we fit into the narrative of Jesus’ Beatitudes as “saints” of the Church – right here, right now, from this very day and onward.

So what is a “saint”?  Very simply put, a saint is a “steward of The Lord's goods”.  Getting past the not-well-understood and often-maligned Catholic doctrine of the “intercession of the saints”, there is in the Catechism a very good and well-thought-out understanding of how the Bible describes a “saint”.  And the description has little to do with one’s death.  It is much more about how one chooses to live and honor “The Lord’s goods”.

The substance of what makes a saint, according to the Catechism, is found in the Acts of the Apostles; describing those who devote themselves to the apostles’ teachings and who share all they have with one another so there is not be a needy person to be found among them (AA 2:42-45). 

It happened in the aftermath of the Spirit’s Presence at Pentecost, and it must be happening today; for there is a progression from the Beatitudes through the Resurrection, through Pentecost, and finally landing at our feet – the eternity of the Kingdom alive and well in the Church.  To be defined as a biblical saint does not require a miracle to be performed by us nor do we have to wait until we are passed from this life. 

It must be said, however, that the life of a saint – dead or alive – can be nothing short of extraordinary; for there can be no such thing as an “ordinary” saint.  And what makes a saint extraordinary in this life is according to what we choose to pursue.  So a saint cannot be construed as a mere believer; a saint is a “doer of the Word and not a hearer only” (Romans 2:13; James 1:22).

This state of saintly being does not happen in a void, however.  The source of what can make us extraordinary are the Sacraments themselves from which we derive our spiritual nourishment.  Especially as we prepare our hearts and minds to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion, we must look beyond the ordinary “practice” of Holy Communion as only a thing we do once in a while to remember Jesus’ Extraordinary Death.  We must gain for ourselves and for one another a much better understanding of the great need we have of the Sacraments as much more than a mere memorial, much more than an ‘ordinance’ we are commanded to do only for the sake of doing it.

The saintly life cannot be disconnected from the Sacraments, the Church, or the Scriptures lest we come to believe we can attain genuine sainthood by mindless participation or simple church membership.   Rather, we must understand we are being fed and nourished for much more than just our own sanctification (for our Lord says, “My flesh is real food and My blood real drink”, John 6:55) because a true saint understands his or her place in the Church, not as a passive observer but as an active participant in the life of Christ Jesus intimately connected to the work of His Church.

In other words, we actively practice the Presence of The Lord as if He were physically standing before us.

In our own United Methodist tradition and doctrine, then, we must understand sainthood within the doctrine of sanctification.  And I think it is more important now than ever before that we United Methodist Christians pay very close attention to what sanctification is, how culturally costly it is in terms of living into the sanctified life, and how easily we can be drawn away from it by our own traditions.

Recall St. Stephen (AA 6-7).  The culture into which Stephen was speaking was not open to the idea of an extraordinary life, a life which would draw one away from what had become ordinary.  Stephen came from within this renewed ekklesia which had been kissed by the Spirit of the Living God.  The ordinary culture was so disturbed by what was coming from this renewed Movement that they “instigated some men” to claim they had heard Stephen speaking “blasphemous words against Moses and against The Lord” (AA 6:11) because they “could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke” (AA 6:10).

We know – or should know – what eventually happened to Stephen.  He bore his extraordinary witness to the very ordinary council and ultimately pointed out to them that they were “forever opposing the Holy Spirit – just as your ancestors used to” (AA 7:51); condemning not only their own traditions in their determination to hold on to their ordinary positions of privilege but in their actual opposition to “practicing the very Presence of the Most High God” by their very ordinary and traditional cultural choices – living in the traditions of men rather than in the Spirit of The Lord.

So they murdered Stephen; but before they stoned him to death, they became even more enraged when “visions of salvation” overwhelmed Stephen.  “Look!  I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the Right Hand of God!” (AA 7:56).    

It must be understood, however, that this “vision of salvation” did not come only when Stephen’s death was imminent.  It is written in AA 6 that “Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people”.  

It was those extraordinary “wonders and signs” which infuriated the very ordinary people and the very ordinary culture they not only claimed as their own but had perpetuated for generations for themselves, for their own sakes, their own comforts, and their own privileges.  The problem with this ordinary culture, however, even though they still tried to claim the privilege of “God’s chosen”, was that they were unwilling to reach for the extraordinary.  They chose – and settled into – the very ordinary.

Their own “visions of salvation” were contained in their own self-righteousness, but their practices – by the very nature of those practices – necessarily marginalized and minimized those whom Jesus referred to as “the least of these” – as though we cannot be lifted up unless someone is beaten down.  

So when our Lord and Savior lifted these up, He lifted these up, who had been marginalized and exploited by an ordinary culture and an ordinary people, not only to His Favor – He commended these to our care in perpetuity, just as our Lord and Savior also said, “The poor you will always have” (Matthew 26:11) – which must be understood as much more than a cultural reality.  It was – and still is – a charge to the “stewards of The Lord’s goods”.  

If the practices of the Church have become ordinary, then we’re doing Church and the Gospel wrong.  The practices of the Church must be so extraordinary that those of the ordinary culture will either join us – or oppose us.  They will either stand with us – or stand against us.  The Church must never settle for an ordinary response of “meh” – as if the ordinary can take us or leave us!  For it is only the extraordinary from within which we may experience AND SHARE “visions of salvation”!

The Lord’s very Body, the Church, must never again settle for the ordinary traditions of our culture, for Our God is extraordinary; and so is His Good News and the Life we are invited into.  So let us go on faithfully in our stewardship of The Lord’s goods.  It is never too late to reach for the Extraordinary and settle for the ordinary no more. Amen.

A Thought for Friday, 4 November 2016

“We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.  Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor.  For Christ did not please Himself; but, as it is written, ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on Me’.”  Romans 15:1-3 NRSV

Many have heard it said – and have said it themselves – that the United States is a “Christian nation founded on Christian principles”.  A consensus of polls puts the Christian population in the US at about 70%.  So how can it be that a “Christian nation founded on Christian principles” standing at 70% of the population is so darn mean-spirited, hateful, and spiteful??  Republican or Democrat.  Catholic or Protestant.  Jew or Gentile.  Conservative or Liberal.  It makes me wonder exactly what we mean when we say “Christian principles”.

We hear a great deal about “tolerance”, but I doubt many on either side of the argument really understand what the word itself means.  The Latin root of the word means “endurance” (Dictionary.com), which is to say we “tolerate” something as a matter of acknowledging its reality.  It does not in any way mean we express support or agreement.  St. Paul challenged his Roman audience, comprised of Jewish and Gentile Christians, to “acknowledge” the reality of disagreement without being disagreeable.  Based on what is written in the previous chapter regarding kosher regulations, Paul says, “Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God” (Romans 14:20). 

Even though Paul mentioned food specifically, we are compelled to consider the broader context throughout the letter which stipulates that whatever we choose to do which may cause distress or grief (or temptation!) for those who do not share our beliefs, we should refrain from that practice – at least while they’re present.  At the very least.  That they do not agree does not necessarily make our own practices wrong in themselves; but when our practices or beliefs are forced upon others only for the sake of trying to prove ourselves right and with no regard for their own “weakness”, we are wrong - not necessarily in the belief but certainly in the practice of that belief.  The practice in question causes distress, we know it may cause distress, but we do it anyway by claiming our “rights” while failing to understand the “Christian principle” of building up – rather than trying to tear down – one another.

Right or wrong, “each of us will be accountable to God” (Romans 14:12).  And it seems most likely that we who try to claim “Christian principles”, regardless of which side of the political aisle we choose to stand, had better try and more fully understand exactly what “Christian principles” are and how they are best expressed.  That guy Jesus might be a good place to start in trying to better understand “Christian principles”; you know, the One who “did not please Himself”? 

Yes, some things are as wrong today as they were thousands of years ago, and some things are still as right today as they were when Jesus walked the earth.  It just is that the “principles” in which Jesus abided are not so popular today – even among the 70% who claims some sort of affiliation to Him.

There is no need to worry about how others choose to live and to act.  Even if we are afraid of the examples “they” may be setting for our children, we need not live in fear if Christ is present in our hearts, in our homes, in the churches in which we worship, and in the work we do.  Trying to live as a true disciple fully devoted to Christ is hard enough without trying to force others to also live.  For “those who humble themselves will be exalted”.  So says the One upon whom our insults fall.

Let there be peace,

Michael  

A Thought for Wednesday 2 November 2016

“Get wisdom, get insight; do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.  Do not forsake [wisdom], and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you.  The beginning of wisdom is this: get wisdom, and whatever else you get, get insight.  Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you will embrace her.  She will place on your head a fair garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown” (Proverbs 4:5-9 NRSV).

So “the beginning of wisdom” is to “get wisdom”?  Well, if I were wise, would I not already be in possession of wisdom?  Not quite, because it is also written, “Do not be wise in your own eyes” (Proverbs 3:7a).  This may be a polite way of suggesting to us that if we believe ourselves to be wise, we may be fooling only ourselves; and consequently, cheating ourselves out of one of The Lord’s most precious gifts. 

We all probably know some incredibly smart, very well-educated persons who know a lot of stuff and have read a lot of books.  Here’s the thing about wisdom, though; all the knowledge in the world is useless if we do not know how to use that knowledge.  And if that knowledge we do have we believe to be for our own personal gain primarily or exclusively, we are still trying to balance on a two-legged stool.

There are a lot of ways in which to be wise, especially as we try to navigate this crazy world!  Worldly wisdom, however, does not quite do if we only know how to beat others at their own game – again – for our own personal gain or amusement.  The wisdom of what is written in the Scriptures teaches us much more than “how to get to heaven”.  Indeed, if this is all we are looking for, well, we may consider that true wisdom cannot exist in such a shallow pond.  There is much more.

Jesus teaches more than once that those who “exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted”.   Humility is a constant reminder to us that we simply are not “all that”.  We can indeed learn a great deal from well-educated teachers, but the best teachers also realize they can learn a great deal from their students.  Those who possess true wisdom can reach only one irrefutable conclusion: there is always more to learn.  And we learn by listening and observing; never by talking and certainly not by arguing.

Let wisdom in, and we will find treasures we never dreamed existed.  We will indeed find a “way to heaven” in our quest, but we will also discover more about ourselves, one another, and our God when our minds and hearts are open.  For there is a profound difference between “facts” which come from knowledge, and “Truth” which can come only from wisdom.

The Lord is great, is He not?

Michael

If The Lord already knows, why must we pray?

Jeremiah 33:1-9

Colossians 3:22-4:6

Luke 18:1-14

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”  Colossians 4:2

It has been said that prayer is what we do when we talk to The Lord, but meditating is what we do when we take the time to actually listen for The Lord’s response.  Jesus goes to great lengths to assure His followers that earnest prayers are always heard.  There are several passages in the Scriptures, however, which have been twisted to suggest that if we only believe when we pray, we will get what we want – “the desires of our hearts”, the psalmist says (37:4). 

We often skip over the part that seems to require we first “take delight in The Lord”; not just that He exists, but also including delight in His ways, His commandments, His requirements.  When our hearts match His heart, then we may expect the desires of “our” collective heart – our heart matching The Lord - not strictly our personal desires that have nothing to do with The Lord, the Kingdom, or His Church.

So we should not be surprised that the answer to our self-serving prayers from a truly loving Father is often “no”.  St. James says “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (4:3). 

How, then, do we put it all together so we may have a clearer understanding of the awesome task, the remarkable responsibility of prayer AND meditation without asking, “If The Lord already knows, why must we pray?”

A couple of weeks ago we began an exploration of biblical stewardship.  Recall that I suggested it is more often than not that when we hear “stewardship”, we hear “money” and stop listening – having already determined we are a) giving all we’re going to give, or b) giving all we think we can give, or c) not going to give, no matter what. 

Believe it or not, every church – without exception – has a mix of all three.  And believe this or not, but a, b, and c all miss the mark as it pertains to diligent and faithful stewardship because all three are subjective reasons that do not consider the privilege of stewardship; they see only burden.  Not just with money but with prayer, committee assignments, and other church endeavors that require membership participation.

And no less so when it comes to the many other means of grace we have been entrusted with.  Through it all, we fail to understand the principle of stewardship – what it means when we are entrusted with something of immeasurable value rather than that we are given something for our own personal enjoyment and benefit with no regard for The Lord, the Church, or the Kingdom.  Believing to the point of boasting that we are personally blessed only for our own sakes as some cosmic reward for our faith is a perversion of what is actually written in the Scriptures.

More than once (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; James 2:9) we are told that The Lord shows “no partiality”.  The Lord favors no one over another; rich or poor, black or white, male or female, Jew or Gentile, Democrat or Republican – all have found equal favor through redemption by the Gift of Christ Himself whether they believe it or not.   But all we are entrusted with is to be devoted to helping the “or nots” to believe – to give them a reason to believe.

When we finally determine that The Lord entrusts His people with such gifts for “making disciples” as per the Great Commission to the Holy Church and helping unbelievers and doubters to come to know of The Lord’s profound love and their own need to actively fellowship with the Church, then we can begin to understand nothing is given to us that we are not expected – actually, commanded – to give freely to others (Matthew 10:8). 

Big difference between having been given something and having been entrusted with something.  Yet both must be greeted and received with profound gratitude.  Sadly, however, we seem grateful only when we believe what we have – however much or little – has been given strictly to “us”.  We cannot seem to muster the gratitude to be thankful for what is entrusted to us for the Kingdom’s purposes in and through the Church.

Hence our acute need to pray AND meditate, and to understand what is really happening when we do engage the Kingdom of Heaven when we pray AND meditate.  This, of course, depends on why we choose to pray in the first place, and how much of our own precious time we are willing to devote to such prayer AND meditation – both talking AND listening.  We cannot call prayer a “conversation with The Lord” if we are unwilling to hear Him speak – or give Him time to speak.

I could not help but to think about the coming US election and how much we believe to be at stake as I was reading Isaiah 62.  The chapter begins with The Lord’s determination that when Judah is finally restored from her exile, “her vindication will shine like the dawn, and her salvation [will shine] like a burning torch.  The nations will see your vindication, and all the kings [will see] your glory” (1,2).

To this end, however, comes a duty to The Lord’s people before and after the Restoration: “You who remind (pray to) The Lord, take no rest; and give [The Lord] no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes it renowned throughout the earth” (6,7).

The engaging principle of stewardship in constant prayer, and being given a reason to pray, was set to remind the people of Judah to think very hard about what it is they really want and what they are willing to hear.  Did they only want to be returned to their homeland for their own sakes?  Or were they willing to “shine like the dawn” and “burn like a torch” as a deliberate – rather than an incidental - testament to the Living God who alone delivered His people from bondage and will set His people back on the right path – if they were willing to follow Him?

Are we so willing to “shine like the dawn” and “let our salvation burn like a torch” as a deliberate testament to the Living God who alone has atoned for our sins and who alone can set His Church back on the right path – IF we are willing to follow Him?  Are we willing to “take no rest, and give The Lord no rest” in earnest and diligent prayer until He delivers the Church from a culture that has become entirely too self-involved and self-centered?  Including those who have convinced themselves by a perversion of the Gospel that our God and the Father of ALL creation actually shows favor?  Or that the material blessings of this life are signs of Divine favor bestowed personally on one over another? 

That, my friends, is the very heart of the so-called “prosperity gospel”.  It does not fit the biblical narrative of The Lord’s people, and it does not acknowledge the reality that the entire Church is set apart – as Israel was intended – to work as a whole entity for His glory and for the spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being of others! 

Because genuine gratitude is not what we feel.  Like love, gratitude is what we do with what has been entrusted to us.

It is the nature of our prayer and our willingness to earnestly meditate which determines what we come to know about gifts and blessings.  It is entirely about how open we truly are to The Lord’s voice in our lives and in our hearts through the heart of the Church.  It is true, of course, that The Lord already knows.  What is not true is that we ourselves already know.  We don’t.  And if we think we do, it is only because we are not open to the distinct possibility that The Lord may ask more from us than we are willing to give. 

For heaven’s sake, Abraham was called to pack and move at the age of 75!  Was he blessed?  Or was he burdened!  We cannot say he was comfortable – which seems to be at the heart of our own desire.  Use me, Lord, but don’t inconvenience me!  Bless me, Lord, but don’t ask anything of me.

All the other components of stewardship, all the means of grace at our disposal to become all our God has intended for us to be, become meaningless if we do not understand the importance of, and our desperate need to, pray AND listen – not to make ourselves feel better but to learn to feel better about our Holy Father regardless of what He asks of us!  

Because it may be that where we are is what WE have settled for – not what He has asked of us.

There are 1001 reasons not to bother with prayer, not least of which is that “your Father already knows what you need”.  As with public worship, however, there is only One Reason to make time for prayer and meditation.  It is the only way we will ever come to know what our God, our Holy Father wants us to know – needs us to know AS A BODY for the sake of those who do not yet know. 

If we can get past the false notion that prayer is strictly about “me”, and if we can embrace prayer as the privilege it truly is rather than the burden we think it is, then we are well on our way to a healthy and truly fulfilling prayer life.  Because the entire Church of The Lord depends on our faithfulness and diligence in prayer.  The Whole Church – and the communities we are called to serve … for His Glory and no other.  Amen. 

A Thought

“Not every who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’.”  Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV

“I’m a good person”, many say; and according to certain cultural standards, it may be entirely true.  “I’m a good Christian”, many others say; and, again, according to certain cultural standards, this may be equally true as well – subjective, but true enough for us.  Yet there is an element to each of these statements which often contributes to not only a profound (if willful) ignorance of what Jesus actually requires of His followers; there may also be a significant amount of “boasting” as well as we attempt to justify ourselves not even according to our works (however these works may be defined) but according to our own subjective standards.

Jesus uses examples that may not even be indicative of any particular cultural standard, but there is a religious standard being expressed by those who are attempting to justify themselves and their works.  Casting out demons, prophesying (preaching/testifying/witnessing), and doing wonders all in the name of The Lord were works performed by the apostles before and after the Resurrection.  While it cannot be said Jesus is rejecting these efforts entirely, it can be said these are not enough.  Clearly Jesus is judging these things to be insufficient to “making disciples”.

So what are we to make of this?  These practices Jesus seems to condemn are not done without some measure of cultural risk, so why are these being so easily rejected? 

It must first be acknowledged that whenever we stand before The Lord on “that day”, we may not likely be asked to submit a list of accomplishments, things we may feel to be worthy of bragging rights, awesome deeds we performed in the Name of The Lord.  I can almost see it for myself that we who call ourselves Christian will stand before The Lord as He asks, ‘Did you pray for your enemies?  Or did you slander them to anyone who would listen?”  “Did you pray for your national leaders?  Or did you malign them on social media?”  “Did you feed the hungry?  Or did you blame them for being careless and lazy?”  “Did you visit those in prison?  Or did you write them off as getting what they deserve?”

When Jesus condemns “you who practice lawlessness”, He is speaking of much more than our own notions of “good” – as in how we determine we are “good” persons or “good” Christians.  He is speaking volumes about what it takes to be “faithful” disciples.  He is not talking about citizenship; our Lord is referring strictly to discipleship!  And the Judgment on “that day” will not be based on some vague and long-forgotten profession of faith!  It seems by Jesus’ words the Judgment will be entirely about how we chose to live into that profession of faith.

Jesus’ words do not present a conflict between “New Testament faith” and “Old Testament works”.  This is a false dichotomy we have created for ourselves over time precisely because of our inclination toward selective Scripture reading and personal interpretation – because that personal interpretation outside of traditional teachings and perspectives of the Church is how we choose to measure our own goodness and make the Scriptures fit our personal narrative rather than to make the effort to live into His narrative.  If we were to discern Jesus’ words as demanding works without understanding faith in discipleship, we would still be missing Jesus’ point.

We must not rely on our own or our culture’s standards of what is good, for our Lord’s standards are much higher but not unattainable!  We can live up to His standards.  He invites us to live up to His standards!  And why?  Because it is the only way others will be open to their own experience of our Lord’s grace – through His disciples.  We must suit up and step up – for “freely you have been given, and freely you must give” (Matthew 10:8).

The Lord is great, is He not?

Michael

A Thought

“The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15 NRSV).

“Now is the time!  Here comes God’s Kingdom!  Change your hearts and lives, and trust this Good News!” (Mark 1:15 Common English Bible)

First things first: did we begin our week with worship of The Lord?  With other disciples?  Did we devote ourselves, our lives, and our gifts to lifting up the Holy Church and being challenged with a new perspective on The Word? 

If the answer is yes, then the week has begun on the right foot, and the tone for the coming week is potentially set.  If not (with exceptions of illness or other infirmities), then there must be a better understanding of what being in the Body of Christ is about, what public worship is about, what being the Church is about.

“Believing the Gospel” and “trusting the Good News” carries much more weight than we often give credit for.  Too often we are determined that this message is for “me”, while the more difficult passages that don’t seem so good-newsy (downright threatening!) is for “them” – whomever “them” may be – usually those who do not live the way we think they should.  In both instances, we miss the essence of the Gospel, the “good news” as well as what it means to “repent”, which is to “change our hearts and lives” – not merely apologize.

Absent the knowledge of the Gospel, we pretty much keep to ourselves.  We do as we please when we please and however it may please us.  We consider ourselves “good people” by our own definitions, and we do for those we love and we may do for others beyond those we love as long as we do not have to go too far out of our way.

To “repent”, however, to “change our hearts and lives” means we cannot – must not - continue as before; such as doing only for those we love, helping others so long as it is not too inconvenient, or not engaging in public worship with and in the Church, the whole Body of Christ – warts and all!  If we claim to “believe” the Gospel but our lives are largely unchanged, how can we claim to have knowledge of salvation?  How can we claim to know Jesus at all if nothing about our daily routine has changed?

There is one sure way to weaken the Church, and it has nothing to do with the devil: that is when believers stay away.  Withhold our hearts, withhold our efforts, withhold our gifts, and withhold all manner of our contributions.  If this is our deliberate choice, what choices were made when we claim to have come to ‘believe’? 

The current political climate is such that getting everyone to vote is important because so much is at stake.  We encourage citizens to vote because it is how our republic is at its best.  How, then, do we think the Church will be just fine without us, without all believers doing our part to “make disciples”, without our contributions (of all kinds), without our active participation?  The answer is that it cannot.  The strength of the Church is fully invested in those who truly “believe” and “trust”, who fully “repent” and “change their hearts and lives”. 

Do we dare to notice Jesus does not say He will change our hearts and lives?  No, His call is an invitation to a life we have not yet known.  It is a challenge to go beyond ourselves and live into a life we had previously denied ourselves – and others!  We are invited to “change our hearts and lives” by our determination to live into the Invitation.  WE have to make that choice!

Each new day is an invitation into this New Life – until such time as we run out of days; and only The Lord knows when that Day is coming.  But with each day that passes without our having chosen to live into that Invitation, we are cheating ourselves out of the kind of life our Lord has in store for us. 

Let not another day pass without making some kind of change.  Accept the Invitation, the challenge to become more today than yesterday!  The Lord assures us He will lead us, but He makes no provision for following us wherever we may choose to go; for there is only one Way and one Gate.  The Church is the Body of Christ, and Christ is the Head of the Body.  There will we find Life – in Him and with one another.  

Stewardship: the true measure of devotion

Genesis 2:4-9, 15

1 Corinthians 9:3-14, 17

Luke 12:42-48

“Each of us will be accountable to God.”  Romans 14:12

“Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by [The Lord]. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service, you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already.” 

– C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

So according to Mr. Lewis (and no less according to sound biblical principles), there can be no part of our being that is not already claimed – and more especially so by the Blood of Christ Himself.  It stands to reason, then, that everything we do and every word we speak are responses to this reality.  We are in a constant state of response to The Eternal Covenant.  This is an important distinction because we must not believe being justified before The Lord automatically makes everything we do or say good or right.  We still possess the capacity to do our own thinking.  It is the power of thinking which is given from Above.

So the first thing the modern Protestant Church needs to do is to shed the common assertion that in the Covenant of Christ, we don’t “have to” do anything.  This is not only held to be blatantly false by Jesus’ many words; it has been proved over the generations to be extremely destructive to the Church and Her mission because at best it is an incomplete statement. 

This “alibi” has led to the statistical reality that only 20% of the people of the Church gives, and only 20% of the people of the Church does the work.  The other 80% simply does not care.  The Church is already limping through the 21^st century; imagine what the Church would look like if EVERY Christian decided he or she didn’t “have to” do anything.

On the other hand, imagine what the Church could accomplish for the Kingdom and the communities we are called to serve if every Christian spent more time thinking in terms of stewardship instead of ownership.    

What is most unfortunate about the biblical principle of stewardship is that many, maybe most, Christians immediately think of money; and almost immediately after this thought crosses the mind, we go numb, we shut down, and we stop listening.  Tithing and other offerings are certainly a part of a total heart for stewardship, but money in and of itself is not at all a component of a life devoted to faith and to Christ and His Body, the Church.  Stewardship is entirely about what we do with money and with every other component of our being.

So we must not think of stewardship as an “expensive” proposition but, rather, as an “expansive” one that encompasses every facet of our lives – whether we are working, shopping, playing, babysitting the grandkids, worshiping, or studying the Scriptures.  Stewardship is where the concepts of faith, work, and leisure time come together.  There is no part of our doing that is not “accountable to God”, as St. Paul wrote to the Romans and no part of our speaking that will not be called to account, as Jesus spoke in Matthew’s Gospel (12:36); because every part of our being - in how we worship and work and play in stewardship - is equipped and called for the sake of the Gospel.

The psalmist begins the 24^th psalm with, “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”  And from the very beginning, humans were created to work.  The work in the beginning was to tend and care for all of creation – not only for man’s own benefit but for the sake of The Lord’s charge to him.  Then, of course, as the Genesis account goes, The Lord determined that man could not do this alone, so woman was created. 

This account can go in a couple of different directions, but for our purposes let us consider what I believe to be the dominant principle: stewardship is too big to do alone.  And let us also consider that each human was not charged to do only so much as what may have been required for individual need or desire.  The charge to care for it all is humanity’s first “commandment”.  And within the structure of woman being created for man, we should consider the very broad principle that we are created to care for one another to make the work possible.

Stewardship, then, is our expression of obedience, a measure of faith and devotion to all The Lord has entrusted to us.  This is part of the reason why the vows we take when we join the United Methodist Church – which must never be taken lightly - challenge us to consider stewardship to be of the utmost importance in the life of the Church; because much like our marriage vows, we are not promising to go along as long as everything is going well.  We vow to The Lord Himself that we are committed to the very end.

Hugh Whelchel is executive director of the Institute for Faith.  In a 2012 article, he pointed out four fundamental principles of stewardship: ownership, responsibility, accountability, and, last but not least, reward.  Each principle has a biblical justification, and each principle speaks volumes about the biblical reality that we own nothing.  And if we do happen to think we are entitled to these things we think we own, even as we worked and saved for and hold title to these things, we are also reminded by the Scripture, as the Israelites were cautioned by Moses, “Remember The Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18). 

The “ability to produce wealth” but still with a mind to decide what to do with it, however much or little.  As a nation, we’ve come to expect the so-called “one-percenters” to pay their fair share – whatever “fair” may be; but as the principles of biblical stewardship go, we often fail to realize that no one who claims the Holy Name is immune.  No one of us should consider ourselves so poor or so in debt that we have nothing to offer to The Lord and His Church – or so ‘saved’ that we don’t “have to” - because it simply is not true.  This is why stewardship must never be reduced to only a discussion about money and tithing.

Jesus’ parable in Luke 12 (42-48) combines all the principles of stewardship held forth by Mr. Whelchel (ownership, responsibility, accountability, and reward), but take note that the parable says nothing exclusively about money.  This is not to say that stewardship is about everything except money; but we do see by this parable that while the Master is away, those who live and work and do according to His imminent return will find reward.  Not the reward we think we are entitled to by our own standards, but by our faithfulness with everything entrusted to us will The Lord decide what our reward will be.

It is not enough to think of stewardship in terms of how severe or light our punishment may be when The Lord returns and calls us all to account.  What is most important – above every principle, every standard, every ideal, certainly above every silly superstition – is that in stewardship, we live and work and play and shop with the joyful expectation that our Lord IS coming back!

Like the slave (or servant) in the parable, we must not allow ourselves to be convinced The Lord “is delayed” in His return to the point that we may do according to our own desires and exploit what is at our disposal for our own pleasure or personal gain.  Rather, we must learn to live in the Promise of Joyful Anticipation – the kind of anticipation we experienced as children while counting down to Christmas!  Remember “being good” for Santa?  Helping around the house? 

In the simple mind of children, it was – and still is - all about what might be found underneath the tree on Christmas morning.  For the mature disciple, however, it is entirely about a state of mind and heart to live with the knowledge that The Lord’s Promise is sure and certain – much more certain than our paychecks or Social Security! 

Stewardship is discipleship more clearly defined.  Stewardship goes far beyond believing something to be true; it is a life spent in knowing our Lord is true.  And just.  For the principle of stewardship is not at all about gaining adequate reward; it is entirely about showing The Lord what we can be trusted with in His Eternal Kingdom! 

Because that Kingdom is coming!  Glory to The Lord Most High!  Amen.

Where we are, we are

“Where we are, we are”

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

2 Timothy 2:8-15

Luke 17:11-19

“If we have died with Him, we will live with Him.  If we endure, we will also reign with Him.”  2 Timothy 2:11-12a

As one of the nastiest political campaigns many can recall is mercifully coming to an end, it grieves me that many may already be resigned to their worst fears; that things will not turn out the way they should, that the nation will never be the same again.  What is most grievous is that few are “for” anything, but are rather “against” many things.  Think about how, rather than extol the virtues of a preferred candidate, many are reduced to comparing vices in trying to decide not who is better but which would be worse!

There are some things we’re stuck with as nothing more than further evidence of a long-fallen world drifting further from The Lord, but I also think if the Church’s attention is primarily directed toward trying to reclaim what we may believe to be ours to claim, we are deceiving ourselves and cheating our children – and, consequently, the Church - of a truly prosperous future in The Lord’s Covenant. 

We cheat ourselves and deceive ourselves by denying what is written in the Scriptures for the faithful, in which we are encouraged not to reclaim what we only think we’re losing, but to navigate together in faith “what already is” while encouraging one another to look forward in truly joyful hope to “what is yet to be”.

It is true there are some things we will never be able to change, but what is equally true is that NO ONE will get their own way – and we as individuals must make peace with this.  This is not the appropriate mindset for a Christian anyway; it is the very sort of mentality that has closed many churches, permanently damaged relationships, and destroyed any witness that may have had half a chance – because ultimately, those who do not get their own way would rather see a church – and perhaps this nation - burn to the ground than to give even an inch toward anything resembling unity and sense of collective purpose.  As it is written, “pride goes before destruction” (Proverbs 16:18).

What we often fail to appreciate, let alone embrace, is the certain reality that Christians are charged with and baptized into one thing: to become and to share the Gospel as the Body of Christ; to live and to do collectively just as Jesus Himself would do.  When we refuse to do even that because we’re too busy or it just “ain’t my thang”, what is left for us but to fight and argue over things that have no bearing on the Church’s mission and witness?  As has been said by people much smarter than I, if we are not focused on doing what is right, we will only focus on what is wrong. 

There are still some who refuse to turn their backs on the witness of the Church, working their fingers to the bone, giving all they can; and still, just as Jesus encountered the lepers in Samaria in which ten were healed of that dreaded disease, there may be only one who will bother to say ‘thank you’ for what is offered faithfully.  Yet, like our Lord, we must persevere in faith because we (hopefully) can better appreciate what is coming much more than we hate what is happening.

We are – or should be – a people of great hope, no matter how dark the clouds may seem; the very hope Paul was certainly speaking into when he wrote, “[I am] chained like a criminal, but the Word of God is not chained” (2 Tim 2:9).  Paul knew he could not change his circumstances, but he also knew he could control the way he thinks and lives – not to engage in the current circumstance which would likely evoke feelings of hatefulness and resentment, even fear (look at us now!).  Rather, Paul was fully engaged in the hope that should regulate the life of the faithful – all for the sake of the Word of The Lord.  Nothing less.

Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles carries a great deal of meaning not only for those who have lost everything but also for those who live in fear of losing what little they may think they have.  ‘Go on about My business’, says The Lord.  “Build houses … plant gardens”.  Don’t engage in the culture, but live right where you are.  Don’t think about where you were, don’t lament where you are – and for Heaven’s sake, do not dread tomorrow!!  And do it all as faithful witnesses to a much Greater Truth.

What stands out in Jeremiah’s letter, however, is not the tone that seems to require that The Lord’s people settle for anything.  Instead, consider what Jeremiah’s words mean to the people of Judah as The Lord encouraged them to “take wives and make babies” … “take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage” … “multiply” right where you are! 

At first glance it may appear as though Jeremiah is encouraging Judah to mix and mingle in that Babylonian culture.  Marry a local girl or boy.  Get along with the world you’re stuck with, and learn to go with the cultural flow.  However, it has often been said that the only fish that go with the flow are the dead ones.  Going with the flow is not at all what Jeremiah is encouraging The Lord’s people to do! 

Even as they appear to be defeated, as things are not going the way they would like for them to go, as NO ONE is getting his or her own way, The Lord’s people are being called into something much greater than what is right in front of them.  But what they faced in Babylon is what they also faced in the wilderness as a test, just as we are being tested today.  It is as Moses encouraged the people of Israel to never forget that 40-year trek in the wilderness: “The Lord led you … to test you in order to know what is in your hearts, whether or not you would keep His commands” (Deuteronomy 8:2).  Not just what we may be feeling in our hearts, but how we express outwardly what is in our hearts.

As a matter of being tested, how are we doing?  Are we working and living diligently according to this culture’s standards?  Or are we learning more about living and growing in community with one another according to The Lord’s Covenant?  Are we “multiplying”?  Or are we diminishing? 

We all know the sad answer, of course, but we must also take stock of what else is being diminished along with our numbers … our witness.  Somewhere along the line, theology and faith became only about “me and Jesus”.  Along with this narrow viewpoint came a “clubhouse” mentality that has hijacked the Church’s witness and turned it into preferential choice.  Much like our politics, the dominant question is ‘what’s in it for ME’? 

And all the while we are picking and choosing as we are pleased individually, we are fighting amongst ourselves over personal preferences rather than focusing on the one and only reason for which we of the Church are even called to exist: The Gospel.  This, and only this, is what the Church is about.  Living the Gospel, being the Gospel, and sharing the Gospel.  But if we are defensive and think we must protect what we only think is ours, we will never move ahead.

I cannot help but to think about last night’s Razorback game.  Alabama is #1 in the nation and for good reason; they are a formidable force to be reckoned with.  It did not take long for them to dominate the game; and as a result, the Razorbacks were constantly on the defensive even when the offense was on the field.  There were some bright spots, but our quarterback had a very hard time getting anything going because he was being almost constantly overwhelmed.

I am no coach nor can I critique a team or a game, but I see the team much like the Church as the Body of Christ functioning as St. Paul encouraged the Church to function as one - “yet with many members”.  The quarterback could not do what he is very capable of doing because the other members of the body were not functioning as they should.  They were being constantly pushed back.

Thinking about how we often feel swimming against the “tide” of the dominant culture (no pun intended), we may sometimes feel like we are being overwhelmed.  For every single step we seem to gain going forward, we get pushed back two.  The culture is gaining ground offensively because the Church is constantly put on the defensive. 

But we must endure as The Body because of the Promise that is before The Body.  We may end up bruised and bloodied by the time it’s all said and done, but we are assured that “if we endure, we will also reign with Christ.”  We will not overcome this culture, and what we only think we are fighting to gain is not ours to gain because we are “co-heirs” with Christ Jesus to something much greater than we will ever see in this life.

We are the people of The Covenant – now and later.  And if we live and work together faithfully and endure to the bitter end, we will hear our Lord call out to us, “Get up and go your way.  Your faith has made you well.”

Glory to You, O Lord.  Amen.

Taking? Or Receiving?

Lamentations 1:1-6

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Luke 17:5-10

“Guard the Good Treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.”  2 Timothy 1:1-14

“Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way.  I can't wait to look in the mirror ‘cause I get better lookin' each day … Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best I can!”  Mac Davis, 1997

Sometimes it is hard to be humble when things are going our way, but just when we think we’re riding pretty high, someone – or some THING – lets the air out of our balloon.  If we’re lucky, a slow leak will allow us to drift gently back to earth.  There are more often times, however, when the balloon pops and we crash hard when we get a little too full of ourselves.

There may be no more humbling statement in the Bible than Paul’s words to Timothy: “Join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to His purpose and grace” (2 Tim 1:8b-9). 

“Not according to our works”.  So we should bear in mind that, even though we have each been endowed and entrusted with certain spiritual gifts unique to each individual, none among these gifts is “personal awesomeness” – and certainly not “personal favor”!  Consistently, we are reminded throughout the Scriptures that it is The Lord alone who is truly “awesome”.  Our works, the very ordering of our lives, are merely responses to the awesome deed that atoned for the sins of the entire human race without our having to ask.

Being so completely and unreservedly loved, then, sometimes it may be hard to be humble; yet “humility” is a spiritual strength, a discipline, and a mark of spiritual maturity that may be among the most misunderstood (and perhaps least desired) of the virtues, much in the same way we confuse “meekness” with “weakness”.  Humility not only keeps us sufficiently in our proper place but also is the virtue which reminds us how and where to appropriate our trust, our faith; not in ourselves or our accomplishments, but in The Lord alone.

Humility as a virtue, then, is defined as a “firm attitude, a stable disposition, the habitual perfection of intellect and will” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1804).  Both are necessary responses as spiritual disciplines when we fully embrace our Lord and His teachings and as we commit ourselves not to our own understandings or our desired interpretations of scriptural precepts - but striving as though there is always more to know … because there is.  No one among us knows “just enough”.  As it is written in the Proverbs (3:5-6); “Trust in The Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways, submit to The Lord, and He will make your paths straight”. 

Jeremiah’s Lamentations is a profound prayer of acknowledgment and confession after intense soul-searching of what Judah once was by the Hand of The Lord, and what Judah had become by their own hands in surrendering their faith in The Lord in favor of trust in their own desires and confidence in their own demands.  Oh, I’m sure they still “believed” there is a God; but they were so busy loving themselves and neglecting one another that they completely forgot how to love The Lord and their neighbors. 

Jesus’ admonishment, according to Luke, is also a bitter pill to swallow.  Yet Jesus takes the time to remind His followers that “doing good” (the 2^nd General Rule of United Methodism) is not something for which we should ever seek recognition or even acknowledgment from others.  Rather, we do “only what we ought to have done”.  That is, what should have been done in the first place should never have been neglected nor should it be assumed that “someone else” will take care of those things which demand the attention of the Church.

The broader context of Luke’s Gospel necessarily includes the apostles’ request for an increase in faith.  Such a prayer might seem worthy of recognition and a Divine Pat-On-The-Back for such loyal servants of The Lord seeking to be even more loyal.  Yet with one broad stroke, Jesus teaches us humility. He gut-punches us by reminding us that we are mere servants, “slaves”, “bond servants” as St. Paul often refers to himself – to The Lord AND to one another. 

If genuine humility is lacking in us, what is also lacking is the kind of faith which justifies and sanctifies.  Lacking any real sense of humility, we can actually convince ourselves that we are due something, that if we are not happy or even just satisfied, someone owes us what we think we have been cheated out of. 

Faith cannot function well within such a state of mind and heart and being.  We are owed nothing.  We are entitled to nothing, and we are not due any extra wages for obedience, for doing what we should have been doing all along; for what we demand for ourselves in the here-and-now and try to “take”, our Lord says, “You have received your reward already” (Matthew 6:1-21).

So then it becomes a matter of whether we believe we can “take” what we want when we want it, or if we possess the patience and humility to “receive” what is offered to us when it is offered to us – not according to what we think we are entitled to, but what The Lord Himself decides He wants us to have – and this according to our genuine need rather than according to what we desire.  For it is also written, “What is prized among humans is an abomination in the sight of The Lord” (Luke 16:15b). 

It is Jesus’ statement and parable in Luke 16 that leads us to Luke 17.  Recall that Jesus says, “Since [the time of John the Baptizer], the good news of the Kingdom is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter by force” (16:16).  And then Jesus tells the story of the rich man and poor Lazarus.  The rich man died after having received all the good things this life, this world can offer; yet because he somehow believed he was entitled to these riches for himself, he stepped over and completely neglected poor Lazarus who lay at his gate “covered with sores” (16:20).

We know how the story ends.  The rich man is tormented in Hades while Lazarus rests in the “bosom of Abraham”.  All this is in accordance with the Law of Moses and the prophets, just as Abraham had chastised the rich man (16:31).  Though Lazarus was in dire need, he did not receive by begging nor did he try to take in this life all he had hoped for (just morsels!).  Yet when he received what was finally offered, as opposed to the rich man who took all he could gain for himself with no thought of what he should have been doing – according to the Law of Moses - Lazarus’ hand was full.  It was the rich man who finally came up empty after having been so full for so long.

The assurances of the Kingdom cannot be “taken”.  In humility (no thought of self-worth or self-entitlement) and abiding in sufficient faith, the Kingdom will be “received” in due course and according to the will of The Lord – and no other.  Humility fully trusts this to be true.

The assurance we have is what is offered only to those who “wait for The Lord” (Psalm 27:14) with patience, with humility, with strength of heart and mind … with faith.  And the assurance offered to those faithful to The Lord in the fullness of humility?  “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

There can be no greater gift offered to any of us than that of a heart hungry for our Holy Father and His Eternal Word … for His purposes and not for our own personal gain.  The state of this nation – and the state of the Church today – are clear indications that we have so set our own hearts on what we want and when we want it that we are inclined to “take” more than we are open and patient in our humility to “receive”.

Let this time of celebration, then, be a time in which we learn – together - to wait patiently for The Lord; for whatever it is He chooses to entrust to this particular congregation must be “received” not only as a blessing … but as a calling, a purpose beyond ourselves.  St. Peter and St. Paul both agree that “The Lord shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11) but “welcomes all who fear Him and do what is right” (Acts 10:35).  That is, doing “what we should have been doing all along”.

This IS the Gospel of The Lord, and is the work of Christ in the world today.

Amen.