Encouragement In A Time Of Tension

 Thoughts on the week’s readings 8/16/22

It is Friday, and it has been another week of heightened tensions fueled by our ever-present narrow self-interest. Reading this morning’s devotion, 1Peter 4: 7 - 11, I thought back over several of the readings that I have encountered this week and I was both chastised and heartened. The tensions we experience in our world and in our personal lives never are generated from God. Think about it; at some level they are all connected to people, including ourselves,  thinking about themselves, their prestige, power, position in society, wants, perceived needs, money, time, fairness, the list can go on. We disagree, we get ugly, we fight over how we think our self-interests should be met or protected. At best, it gets tiring and at worst, it gets destructive. 

And all the time, there is God willing us to be at peace to be in harmony within the very existence of God. Jesus put it so simply, “love God; love others”. So here is some encouragement and a little chastisement that I gleaned out of several of my readings this week, paraphrased just a bit in places.

Proverbs 25: 6-7

Don’t think more highly of yourself than you should.

Psalm 112;

Happy are those who honor the Lord… they are like a light, they are generous, merciful,…they deal generously… they have distributed freely.

BUT

The wicked watch this and are angered by their actions.

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15,16

Let mutual love continue…show hospitality to strangers…keep free from the love of money…share what you have. This way of living is what God intends for us.

Luke 14: 1, 8-14

Take the lowest, most humble place among others…don’t give special notice to those who can repay you or from whom you will benefit. Instead, pay attention to the marginalized in society. 

1 Peter 4: 7-11

Maintain constant love for others…be hospitable without complaining,…serve one another with whatever gift you have been given

SO THAT

God, in Jesus, is glorified in all things.

The chastisement? It’s not about me!

The good news? It’s not about me, it’s about God 

All In!

Based on Luke 21:1-4 (and following verses)

The Widow’s offering

I somehow picked the wrong readings for the week from the lectionary, I’ll blame it on bifocals. But I went with them and I got a new, at least for me, insight on a well known account of Jesus. In this account, all kinds of people were at the temple to give their offerings, yet Jesus points out this woman who had just a small gift. He then compares her giving to that of the others who,  “… gave out of their abundance, but she gave out of her poverty”. And, we get the lesson that we should respond to God out of gratitude, or some form of that. At least that is the lesson I have been exposed to in past readings. 

I got thinking about this story through the lens of God-interest/other-interest as opposed to self-interest. The story isn’t really about making an offering, maybe not even about responding to God, rather it’s about who I am. By standards of wealth, the widow had nothing, and the amount that she gave was insignificant in terms of helping raise funds. She gave because it was a reflection of who she was, a participant in God’s community; I have, so I give to others, to God. It didn’t seem to be a question. She was, all in, her life in harmony with God. She didn’t keep a ledger of how much she should do or keep for herself. She gave all.

The others gave as well, and given that Jesus follows this illustration with comments about the temple, the physical representation of the church at that time, the institution, all of the ceremonies and rules, I would assume that they were tithing. The “rules” would have indicated that in order to be a good follower of God, you were required to give, so much, or perform this act… I would guess that they believed they were doing what was expected some, I’m sure, with grateful hearts. 

I don’t think that Jesus was trying to denigrate their offerings. Rather, could he have been directing us to think about practicing a religion in which we institutionalize God, putting God in a manageable box so we can tick off our requirements of God-interest while reserving other areas for self-interest, versus living within the realm of God where God-interest and other-interest (the two tables of the Law) permeate our entire lives? Maybe this account is not about giving or attitudes about giving, but rather about how we live in relationship with God. 

The others “practiced” their religion following what they accepted as the required acts, possibly with sincerity. The widow, on the other hand, was “all in” living in harmony with God within the existence that is God. What a world it could be if we all were all in within the realm of God. 

Living Clamorously Foolish?

 Thoughts on Psalm 148

Today is the 5th Sunday of Easter and the appointed Psalm is 148.

This is a familiar praise psalm, one of the ones in which the writer calls on all of nature both animate and inanimate to praise God. It is a fairly straight forward message, so looking to understand it a bit more, I looked up what Hebrew word was used for praise. I’m not at all familiar with Hebrew, but this is what I found. The word used for praise was  hallal and it could have several intentions; to boast, to shine, to celebrate are a few. We simply use the word praise which brings to mind participating in some type of corporate worship. I think that this can create in us a sense of compartmentalizing our relationship to God. But, hallal , for me anyway, broadens what that means. Look at the psalm, the writer urges all of God’s creation to praise, to shine (reflect God?) to celebrate, to boast, I think to reflect the joy and the goodness of God. This is not confined to a corporate worship moment, but it strikes me as a way of existing in God. Our lives are not compartmentalized into secular and spirit; we exist either living (joyfully) within the realm of God or living in tension with God within the realm of God. That tension is always rooted in my self-interest, putting my interests for my well-being before God and before others. 

In Psalm 148 the writer invites us let down our self-interest guard, to let go of the tension and exist in the realm of God in joy. One use of hallal that I found interesting is “to be clamorously foolish”. I think that would be what people would think of us if we lived lives of joyful God-interest and other-interest; joyfully putting the interests of others before my own interests. In Romans 12 Paul describes characteristics of living as Christians and the section revolves around love. I like one particular passage in that section in which he says “Outdo one another in showing honor (love).”  What a world that would be! What a world it is as we shine within the realm of God living clamorously foolish lives.

From Fishermen to Shepherds

 From Fishermen to Shepherds

John 21: 1-19

This past Sunday was the Third Sunday of Easter and for some the Gospel Lesson was from John 21. This is the account of Jesus meeting the disciples on the shore after they have gone back to fishing and his subsequent conversation with Peter. I have always liked this account, a natural meeting of friends along a beach in the early morning. I have previously looked at this as one more example of Jesus revealing himself after death, and or course, the significant “Do you love me” conversation with Peter. This morning, though, something else struck me. Something “hidden in plain sight” as it were. 

In the absence of Jesus and his immediate teaching and actions, in the absence of a sense of where they should go from here, the disciples returned to what they knew, to what gave them purpose prior to meeting Jesus. They went fishing. Using their talents to provide for themselves was what they (we) were trained to do. It was how one survived and provided for personal and family well-being. Re-enter Jesus, providing an abundance of fish and a breakfast of bread and fish. Then comes the conversation with Peter (with each of us), and Jesus refocuses Peter(us) from fisherman to shepherd; from ones who gather, produce, create to get what we need for our own well-being to ones who receive from God’s abundance what we need as we feed,  tend, care for others (and God’s creation). 

This line of thinking can lead us into self-examination. How do I use the resources with which I have been blessed? Am I fishing to provide for self or am I shepherding to help others? What kind of existence do I lead when I take my focus off of Jesus and revert to “what I know”, to self-interest, forgetting that God’s abundance is enough for me, forgetting that my focus should be first on God and then on others? 

Here’s the good news, Every time I fall into this fishing focus on life, there is Jesus, standing on the shore with breakfast prepared in abundance to sustain me for the work of shepherding, of feeding and tending his creation and for life in God’s community.

How will you shepherd today?

Self Interest doesn't have the Last Word! Good Friday Reflections

 Thoughts on a Good Friday

Good Friday Reflections on Luke 23

This a long introduction, but stay with me.

One of the courses I used to teach was Issues in Economics. This was an upper level seminar style class in which we learned about the basics of economics and then played with various social, political, and moral issues which are impacted by economic theories, practices, and policies. It was always a small group of motivated students and our discussions were usually quite interesting. One young lady’s comment and our ensuing discussion has since stayed with me and become a kind of lense through which I often look at Scripture and my life. 

Without going into great detail, our economic system is based to a great degree on self-interest, the idea that an individual will try to maximize actions to his or her advantage and achieve a greater level of well-being. The theory, roughly, goes that when individuals practice self-interest, other’s well-being will also be enhanced.  The problem comes in when conflicts occur between individual’s self-interests, or when individuals or groups advance their self-interests at the expense of others or the environment. I think you get the idea. But, here is what struck me about this particular discussion. We were getting into the possible pros and cons of this topic when one young lady came out with this. “So, could we say that narrow self-interest was the original sin?” The economics class, just turned into a religion class. (This was a Lutheran high school), and the ensuing discussion became one of the lenses through which I have since read scripture and practice self-examination. 

Enter Good Friday, 2022 and my reading of Luke 23. Here I was struck by the people’s accusations, and the way in which they reflected self-interest. Their argument was that Jesus was disrupting the status quo. His teachings were threatening their sense of how things should be done so that they could maximize their own well-being. The solution? Get rid of this person, misrepresent what he had actually taught.  Do violence to the one who would threaten their self-interest, their power, their comfort, their plans for changing the regime. Look at their accusations and the record ,though.

Accusation: We found this man perverting the nation!

Jesus: (Luke 6:27ff)

Love your enemies - do good to those who hate you - bless those who curse

you - pray for those who abuse you - do good and lend expecting nothing in 

return- be merciful as your Father is merciful.

Accusation: He forbids us to pay taxes to the emperor!

Jesus: (Luke 20:20ff)

Give to the emperor, things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that 

are God’s.

Accusation: He stirs up the people by his teaching!

Jesus: (Matt. 5:9)

Blessed are the peacemakers.

(Luke 10:36ff)

Which of them was neighbor?…’The one who showed mercy.’ Go and do

likewise. 

Instead of asking for a man of peace, a man who was living according to God’s way, showing what life in God’s community is like, and in order to protect their self-interests, the people not only called for Jesus death, they also chose Barabas, an insurrectionist, to be freed, reinforcing their desire to promote and protect their interests. 

Jesus’ life showed us how it is to live in the realm of God, to be within God’s community, and he did it perfectly because we aren’t able. But, his life also showed us what to expect not only from those around us but even from ourselves when we engage in thinking and living in God’s way. God, in Jesus, calls us to live God-interested (First table of the Law) and other-interested (Second table of the Law). How often have we marginalized others or gifts of God in order to justify, protect or advance our own narrow self-interest? How have we thought about or treated others who by their words or examples have exposed our concern for self and our lack of care and concern for others? Jesus’ death shows us the result of our self-interest. Thank God that our self-interest doesn’t have the last word!

Live exultantly!

 Thoughts on gratitude 

Psalm 9:1-2

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

The author of a devotion I recently read talked about the personal benefit of gratitude. The age old aphorism, God doesn’t need my gratitude. I need to give it, is the basic theme. So, I got to thinking how that might play out. Here are some of my random ruminations about that.  If God is all, and in all, and I am part of that existence of God, God’s community, God’s realm of existence, then it is not I alone that benefits, but other people and things in God’s realm benefit as well from my gratitude. 

In my experience, gratitude requires a humble heart. A humble heart approaches the rest of God’s realm differently than a proud or indifferent heart. A humble heart helps me understand that it’s not all about me. All of God’s realm can’t help but be symbiotic, to be built and to build upon one another.

When we give thanks with our whole heart, our gratitude isn’t confined to a “thank you” or even a song of praise. It is reflected in our way of thinking and in the ways we live among others. It impacts how we perceive the world around us. It comes from our core. Our gratitude is found not only in the words and thoughts expressed to God, but in the ways we think about and act towards others and the world around us (both physical and manufactured)

 “I will exult in you” An older definition of exult included the idea of jumping for joy, a rather radical notion for today. What if our gratitude included a life of active joy, jumping for joy through lives lived with concern and actions toward others and all of God’s creation? 

Live exultantly. Live joyfully!

Living Gratefully in Change (I'm still learning from my sainted mother)

 Living Gratefully in Change (I’m still learning from my sainted mother)

The devotion I read this morning was by Ellie Roscher, Gratitude at Home, Shepherd Me O God, 2022 based on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. She drew on the ideas of change in this passage, and began her thoughts with this statement. “Part of gratitude is being at peace with what is, instead of longing for what isn’t.”  This isn’t to suggest that we shouldn’t work to make positive changes in ourselves or for others; rather, it’s about our approach to day-to-day life. It’s about being grateful to God first, not only for what we have but also for what opportunities lie before us.  She asked this question. “How can we dwell in the moment without trying to manipulate it? How can we find a home in the season we find ourselves?” 

Segway to lunch at a local restaurant after church yesterday. My wife and I had just been seated and were looking at our menus when a gentleman came up to our table. Having recently returned to my hometown after being away for almost 50 years, we have come to expect to run into people who knew either me, my sister, or someone in my family. This gentleman had been my parents pastor many years ago. We chatted, and he left us with this short story about my mother. He reminded me that my mother always wrote notes to people who were ill and always included a clipping of a cartoon from the newspaper that she thought would make them smile. On one occasion a family member of his had just had surgery and when they went through the mail, upon seeing the card from my mother, he said not to open it just yet because he knew it would make him laugh too hard. Then this retired pastor told us of visiting my mother on a cancer wing of a hospital just before her death. As he asked the nurses for directions to her room, the nurse responded, “Oh we love having Irene on the floor. She brightens everyone’s day.” I’m sure that being that ill was not what my mother had planned for her life, but her example of living gratefully in the moment and being other-interested instead of self-interested gave her a peace, and still teaches me a valuable lesson. 

Roshcer ended the devotion with this.

Gratitude is wanting what is right in front of you. It is seeing this tiny, ordinary moment

quaking with holiness. Gratitude, embodied, is to find a home within. With gratitude we

hold the key to feeling at home no matter where we are…  When we are grateful for 

what is right in front of us, the present moment becomes home. Be where your feet are.

Thank God in all things. Living gratefully not only gives you peace, but it can impact others as well.