Psalm 146

 Psalm 146

Praise God who loves the marginalized; one of which is me!

The psalm appointed for this coming Sunday is very straight forward. 

Praise God who:

-executes justice for the oppressed

-gives food to the hungry

-sets prisoners free

-opens the eyes of the blind

-lifts those who are bowed down

-loves the righteous

-watches over strangers

-upholds the widow and the orphan

I have been blessed in such a way that I haven’t found myself in many of the above categories, at least not physically. But from a spiritual aspect, I find myself often in a number of them. God deals with us on both levels. 

In Matthew 22, Jesus said that the law of God boils down to two things; love God + love others. When God loves others, this psalm shows us what that looks like. What does it look like when I (you) love the other, the marginalized, the hard to love? 

All In, Additional Thoughts

 All In, 2

Mark12: 41-44

“…they contributed out of their abundance.”

“…she put in everything she had” 

I have been thinking about stewardship lately as I am preparing some thoughts to share at church about stewardship and education. When I came across this text for this morning’s devotion, I couldn’t help but see some implications. Earlier this year I ran across this account in Luke so I’m drawing on some of what I wrote at that time. When we think about stewardship, we think about giving, especially in terms of money, but also in terms of time and talent, It is so easy to sit down, with all good intentions, and look at our budgets, our calendars, take talent and interest inventories…. However, I think we all know that it begins with our hearts. Some might call it a mind set, but I think that it’s deeper than that. I also think that many, at least this is true for me, assume that since we are looking at ways to improve our stewardship, then our hearts are “in the right place”. But, what about stewardship of my heart, of my relationship to God and God’s community? How can I develop that more completely.

And here we have the example of the poor widow; she had developed stewardship of her heart of her very being. Notice in the account that Jesus doesn’t necessarily look down on those who had given larger sums of money. Rather, he points out a difference in motivation, maybe self-perception of where one stands in that individual’s relationship with God and God’s community. And it begs the question, with how much of my self-interest am I willing to trust God? Jesus said, “love God; love others” intimating that the rest will take care of itself. 

In my earlier thoughts on this account, I had written that the poor widow was “all in” in her understanding, her perception of her relationship with God. Her contribution was not an act of religious obligation she had planned and was now fulfilling. It was a natural extension of who she was, a natural response to being in a relationship. There were no boxes to tick off for her; tithed, check; went to church so many times, check; participated in x number of service events, check…

So, try beginning to think about stewardship with this question. With how much of my self-interest am I ready to trust God? The answer to that could leave us feeling rather low. But the good news is that God in Christ meets us, self-interest and all, where we are, and God’s Spirit guides us to growth. Jesus did not look down on the contributions of the more wealthy, yet he directed us to the attitude of the poor widow that prompted her contribution. Let’s strive to be “all in” in our relationship with God and God’s community and the rest will flow. 

Two Gems

 Today, I was reminded of two gems that my church has given me, actually to all.  One, is the use of the Lectionary, coordinated weekly and daily readings from Scripture, and two, Dr. Luther's teachings on baptism. Boring stuff right? But not necessarily, and how do they go together? 

The devotion I read this morning was based on Luke 18:18-39 chosen to go with last Sunday's assigned lesson from Luke 14. The title is "Riches Reimagined" The recent Sunday lessons have shown us a Sabbath attitude, honoring God by honoring, loving our neighbor, as how our lives look when we are committed to Christ - to the community of God. Then in this past Sunday's lesson Jesus talked about the cost of being committed. You might think he would talk about how others will treat his committed followers, but here he says something quite different. He said I should give up my self-interest, the attitude of possessing; owning/controlling people, things, ideas... But he also talked about benefits and I like the way the writer of this devotion put it,

"He wasn't promising worldly riches, but the boundless wealth of true community in the kingdom of God. Finding that depth of community can entirely rewrite our priorities."

But, daily, I sin and fall back into my self-interests; me, me, me... Enter Dr. Luther who encourages us to daily call on the grace of our baptism. "... that (daily) the Old Adam... be drowned and die ... and that a new man should daily emerge and arise..."

I don't know that I would have stumbled on these readings as a continued thought without the help of the lectionary, and when I acknowledge that I daily fall into living for self, I have Dr. Luther's reminder to daily call on God's grace in my baptism. 

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?