Author: firstdelray

2 Kings 6:16 (Common English Bible)

     This week, the world was startled to learn that two Palestinians, armed with a gun, knives and axes, burst into a Jerusalem synagogue and murdered three rabbis and a fourth man during their morning prayer.  This outrageous act represents the kind of extremism that continues to destabilize the efforts toward peace and security for all of the Middle East. Yet, the world must never lose sight that for the majority of Palestinians and Israelis, peace is desired, prayed for and sought. As with any other people, those who make the Middle East their home wish simply to raise their families knowing they’re safe and secure. The difficulty is that these horrific acts, when they occur again and again, have the capacity diminish hope and shape a mood of pessimism and cynical expectations.

     Into the midst of this pessimism and cynical expectations the church has a word from the Lord, “Don’t be afraid.” Morale is the church’s business. As God’s people, the church must apply herself to the daunting task of reshaping our communities and unifying the public mood with an atmosphere that is hopeful. Never must the church permit people to wallow in dire despair or give free reign to expectations of disaster and experience of hopelessness and fear. Against the compulsion to panic the church is called to present another viewpoint, that of certainty and conviction in the active presence and work of God in the world.

     The world, in all of its brokenness, fear and anxiety, needs a theology of hope. Reservoirs of moral strength, genuine love and extravagant forgiveness is the gift the church received from the cross of Christ and it is the same gift that we are to distribute to every nation, to every people. It is at the very moment that terrible things happen that the church is surely called to instill again and again its confidence in the power of goodness, a goodness that springs forth from faith in God.  For only from this position of spiritual strength can people escape from utter despair and become caught up in compassion toward one another.

     If we are indeed God’s people, we are to play a part, however small, in bridging divisions and healing hurts. Perhaps our own contribution may be as simple as exercising civility, in speech and behavior, with those with whom we find disagreement. Rhetoric in our nation has become considerably more intense than most of us can ever remember. Our work, as God’s people, is now to cool our nation’s rhetoric and get on with building confidence once again in the immense spiritual strength that is available in God’s promise that “there are more of us than there are of them.”

Joy, 

2 Corinthians 1:4 (Common English Bible)

     Captured in these words is one of the great secrets of life; if we are to help others effectively we must recall how God has helped us. Forgetfulness in the one direction breeds selfishness in the other. It is a keen sense of God’s mercy and comfort in our own lives that fills our hearts with the desire to share that same mercy and comfort to others. Through memory our own mercy and comfort is endowed with wise and intelligent sight.

     This truth suggests that where mercy and comfort is lacking in the heart there remains soul work to do. Selfishness – and lack of mercy – is often the manifestation of someone wounded by selfishness and uncaring behavior. Emotional defenses are built, the result being that the broad stream of comfort and expression of concern neither flow into or out of the heart. What is required is fresh attention to God; attention to the promises of God in scripture and prayer that the eyes of the heart may once again discern the active presence and work of God in the present. Remembering what the Lord has done for us teaches us what we ought to do for others. More, clarity of memory results in the compulsion to participate in God’s ministry of grace.

     How will you participate in this great avalanche of comfort and mercy today? What attitudes will you change or action will you take or prayer will you pray this week as you seek to love God and neighbor more deeply?  Who do you know that needs your words of comfort or demonstration of caring concern? The apostle Paul, the author of these words, asks that you first remember what God has done for you. It is then that God’s comfort and care will be multiplied by your response.

Joy,

 Mark 12:28b-31 (Common English Bible)

     The question, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” is telling, even indicting. The question discloses the human heart that continually seeks, with considerable eagerness, to advance in personal stature by right belief and acts of piety. It is a question that is less concerned for another. The concern is for self and doing all that is necessary to be held in high esteem by others. So, what is sought is an understanding of the rank and priority of scale of God’s laws. With this knowledge is the ability to focus behavior for maximum value in the sight of God – it is the striving for self-righteousness. Are we to do this first or the other?

     Of course, this isn’t the only place we see this condition of the human heart. Jesus addresses this on multiple occasions, most notability in the sixth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, “Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven (verse 1).” Such behavior – or condition of the heart – misses the aim of God’s story. What God desires is “to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).”  Striving to please God by demonstrations of piety is devoid of any semblance of humility.

     God’s desire is not for sacrifices and human scrambling for an esteemed position among God’s people. Instead, God’s pleasure is dwelling with humanity and abiding together as God leads us into a deeper understanding and embrace of love – love for God and love for neighbor. More, God is more than a participant in this covenantal community; God is the prime sustainer and most glorious inhabitant. The resurrection of Jesus marks the end of self-righteousness.

     Jesus’ answer to the question, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” is a call to unshackle ourselves from a faith that values right belief and outwards acts of piety over transformed hearts, lives, and communities. God’s concern is about life together, not one’s personal stature. Anything else marginalizes the central message and objective of Jesus – the call to right relationships – and imprisons once again the human heart in ceaseless striving to earn favor with God. Walk in love, teaches Jesus, and in this walk the truth of God’s Kingdom will have its finest witness.

Joy,

Therefore whether we live or die, we belong to God.” 

Romans 14:8 (Common English Bible)

     For many of us our religious life is a bundle of shreds and patches. There is an unmistakable change in our spirit and attitude when we move from our private devotions to the common affairs of the day. We leave something behind when we leave our time of solitude with God. We do not meet all of life in the presence of the unseen. The result is a faith that appears stitched-up so many times that we are embarrassed.

     Here, in this sentence from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Roman Church, we are urged to clothe ourselves in another garment – to approach all of life in a conscious and all-controlling communion with God. This is a call to live in such a manner that when we pass from one thing to another, from one time of day to another, there is no change of atmosphere. It is to clothe ourselves with the conscious and intentional recognition that all of life is lived before God, that all of life is consecrated ground.

     God seeks unbroken communion with each of us. What that looks like is to face every moment of life, every matter that requires our attention, in the fellowship of an unseen friend. Everything is to be viewed in the light of God’s presence. It is this unfailing sense of God’s presence that makes life a continual Holy Space.

     “Burning bush” moments are those that are aflame with an unmistakable presence of God. Naturally, this expression is taken from the Old Testament when Moses was confronted by God in a bush that was engulfed in flames but not destroyed. Often they are welcomed moments by people of faith. Such moments provide confidence that we do not tread the complexities and difficulties of life alone. They are moments when God shows-up and by that holy presence, we are strengthened. Yet, the entire forest of our lives is not aflame with the glory of the Lord. Paul’s invitation here in Romans is to live every moment in ceaseless worship and experience the whole world as God’s Holy Temple.

Joy,   

1 Thessalonians 1:2 (Common English Bible)

     It is not unusual for someone to ask me, “Please pray for me.” Often my response is an invitation to immediate prayer. My desire is to take the request for prayer seriously. By praying with the person immediately, I wish to say that I care deeply about them and that I appreciate their confidence in the power of prayer. Recently, however, I have begun to question, “Just what do they expect from this prayer?” “Do they really believe my prayer to do any good?”

      Naturally, the Bible has much to say about prayer. What is often unrealized is just how frequently the mention of prayer in the Bible is one of complaint. The palmists, the prophets, Job and the apostle Paul often questioned the value of prayer, sometimes rather bluntly! Listen to a portion of Psalm 88, “But I cry out to you, Lord! My prayer meets you first thing in the morning! Why do you reject my very being, Lord? Why do you hide your face from me (verse 13, 14)?” It is clear that today’s church is not the first to question the usefulness of prayer.

      It is important – and helpful – to note, however, that in each complaint that is uttered there is present a fervent belief that something can be expected from prayer. Prayer is never given up on in the Bible, never dismissed as not of any use. What makes each of those who wrestle with prayer people of amazing stature is their absolute confidence in the power of prayer – power to disrupt at any moment the ordinary with the extraordinary. Without reserve or embarrassment each character in the Bible shared in the same compulsion to pray.

     I will freely share that I have no idea how prayer works. The question itself may be foolish simply because it strives to understand God. And someone once wisely declared that if we can ever grasp God then we must go looking for another God. Any God we can understand with our finite minds is simply too small to save us. What I am confident of is that God was very active in the drama recorded in the Bible and continues to be just as involved in the unfolding drama of life today. And God invites us, repeatedly, to seek the inflowing of God’s grace through regular prayer. Refusal to pray – even when prayer was questioned –simply was not an option for the people of faith in the Bible.

Joy,

Luke 24:19 (Common English Bible)

     I was told this week that a member of the church I have served for better than two years somehow has the notion that the regular reading of the Bible isn’t important. They do read each day a devotional provided by the church and that devotional does have a sentence of scripture provided prior to each meditation – much like the one you are reading now. But that is all.  The Bible remains a closed book in their home. It is unimaginable that this person listens to me each week and concludes that reading the Bible is unimportant.

     The words you are reading now are human words. The words of the devotional mentioned above are human words. Certainly, I hope that these words are helpful in directing people to the one, Holy Word that is the Bible. It is my prayer that my words here each week provide some deeper insight and understanding to God’s Word. Yet, I submit, my words – or any human words – are not an adequate substitute for God’s Word recorded in the Bible. Only the Bible is capable of communicating “the silent word.”

     “The silent word” that I speak of here is that unspoken word that is heard in the heart. It is that word spoken by the Holy Spirit to convey the reality of God with an imagination and force that human words are incapable. It is a word that has uncommon resonance with the particulars of our daily life: the myriad little and large decisions that press for our attention each day. God certainly uses the stumbling human words of women and men to help convey the silent word of God’s kingdom. But it is God’s Word in the Bible that has a unique power to bring the silent word to life in our hearts. It is a word that ultimately silences our chatter and confronts us with the living word that is Christ.

     In this sentence of scripture from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is presented as a prophet that is powerful in deeds and words. The mighty deeds and the mighty words Jesus spoke were inseparable.  With considerable force, Luke seeks to be clear that Jesus’ words were not less important than Jesus’ deeds. When a paralyzed man was brought to Jesus for healing, his first act was the spoken word, “Your sins are forgiven.” Luke wants us to understand that when God’s Word is spoken – or read – the silent word finds lodgment in the human heart.  Sooner or later, that silent word accomplishes what no human word can, it conforms us to the image of Christ.

Joy,

Psalm 37:1

     Here is a simple word of wisdom, “Don’t get upset over evildoers.” There are numerous reasons this counsel is wise; becoming upset rarely helps the situation, it often becomes a hindrance to what we truly desire and can lead us to a place of weakness rather than strength. Worse, becoming upset may lead to jealousy. Frequently, the climax of jealousy is behavior that is equal to the evildoer. What begins as a disturbed emotion finishes in behavior that is evil.

     Fortunately, the Psalms recognize that this is easier said than done. Rather than abandoning us to figure out how to appropriate this counsel into our daily lives, the Psalms offer a pathway. First, trust in the Lord and do what is right. The word here translated as “trust” is found elsewhere in the Old Testament as “careless.” Literally, then, we are directed to, “Be careless in the Lord.” Instead of carrying the burden of care – the care about what evildoers do – we are asked to let care be absent! God is powerfully at work in the world. When evildoers appear to have a favored position in the world they have not escaped God’s notice. Let the care, or burden about the evildoers behavior be God’s.

     Second, enjoy the Lord. What is spoken of here is a deep and abiding relationship with God that is similar to a rich, joy-filled relationship with a spouse. Those who set about with ardent purpose to discover that kind of relationship with God have little inclination to fret much about the behavior of evildoers. Yet, the majority of those who confess faith in God remain content with the occasional crumb that falls from the Lord’s Table; the sporadic attendance in worship, a prayer here and there and perhaps reaching for the Bible when our lives are disturbed. As with a spouse, this neglect of a relationship rarely leads to anything that truly satisfies. Let us be ambitious for a deeper relationship with the Lord – one where our experience is marked unmistakably with joy.

     Third, commit your way to the Lord. Any purpose, any ambition, any decision that must be made, Psalms invites us to commit it all to the Lord. Not merely when the way becomes difficult and we lose direction. From the beginning of each day we are asked to commit our thoughts, speech and decisions to God. God declares in the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, that, “I am the Alpha” – the beginning. God likes to be there in the beginning of all that we do. The promise of the Bible is that with this kind of solidarity with God we receive a peace that passes all understanding. It is a peace that disarms worry and angst about what evildoers may be doing.

     Finally, be still before the Lord and wait for him. Having done all this, and with sincere purpose of heart and mind, trusting in the Lord, enjoying the Lord and committing your way to the Lord, the Psalms asks that we now just rest – to simply be still. This may be the most difficult for many of us. Waiting isn’t something that comes easily. Yet, integral to faith is the knowledge that life isn’t something to face alone, apart from God. Just as an effective leader hands off responsibility to others we are asked to refer some of life’s concerns to God.  This pathway, found in the first seven verses of this Psalm, is the cure for becoming upset with those who do evil.

Joy,        

Galatians 6:2 (Common English Bible)

     We live today in a period of considerable religious upheaval. It is not the first time in our nation’s history. I doubt it will be the last. Entire congregations are now separating from denominations for another that more closely aligns with their particular theology and reading of the Bible. People are leaving particular churches and moving to others that are either more conservative or more liberal. Apparently they have made the decision that they cannot worship with those who may hear something else from the Lord. What is unfortunate in all this division is the failure to grasp that our common beliefs and our common challenge of declining church participation – and our common experience of God’s grace – is infinitely more important than the matters that divide us.

      Reversing the unfortunate decisions of separation may not be realistic however deeply we may cherish the idea of one visible and united Body of Christ. Rather large theological hurdles have been put into place. Yet, this sentence from Galatians does speak of an immediate summons to all Christian people to seek from God a common strength to confront a world that is rapidly discarding the most basic beliefs of our common confession. Jesus Christ is the hope of the world. Therefore all Christians must exist for one another, in the apostle’s words, “Carry each other’s burdens.” Only by this will the larger church, “fulfill the law of Christ.”

     What is the law of Christ? Nothing could be plainer: “This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) Here is Christ’s summons to slam the door on all recrimination and jealousy and bitterness toward one another and live for and not against one another. This present religious turmoil and spiritual angst demands it. With declining interest in the church now at a national scale, we simply cannot indulge in petty infighting and rivalry.

     This is not a request that the church abandon theological discussion and debate. Such conversation advances a robust faith. Each of us must speak our convictions as we discern God’s whisper. Yet, such convictions must be tempered with humility, the humility that acknowledges that there remains more truth to be heard by the church. Without ignoring our differences, the church must strive for a new spirit of understanding, sympathy and return to a deep spiritual communion with our Lord, the Head of the Church. Such a recovery of humility and civil discourse may prove to be a formidable force for bringing calm to the present spiritual storm. More, a distressed and confused generation may once again catch a glimpse of heaven and say together, “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, and in his Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, the giver of life.”

Mark 9:23 (Common English Bible)

     Why go to church? This is a question that is increasingly asked today. Decades ago there was a promise that as technology continued to advance, lifestyles would find increased time for leisure and rest. Technology has advanced – and continues at a blazing speed no one ever anticipated – but our lives have become more difficult, more stressed and terribly deficient of rest. Meaningful participation in church is simply “one more thing” in an already crowded life. Indeed, one may ask, why go to church?

     The best answer is that church will provide what is most urgently needed today, faith and hope and love. People are weary. With weariness comes fear and apprehension. Difficulties and problems result in many who live defeated lives. Meaningful participation in church and the practical application of the Christian faith has an enormous capacity to lighten our burdens, soothe our anxieties and order our lives. Those who go to church regularly discover a life that is better than they ever imagined. The reason, simply, is that through a pattern of living that applies the Christian faith, Christ takes-up residence in our lives.

     Many are not aware of this simple truth that Christ will come into their lives, into their hearts and into their minds if they simply ask him to. The answer for much that disturbs the human heart and mind today is simply the indwelling Christ. I have personally discovered Christ’s power to transform the individual by renewing confidence and hope in the future regardless of the present circumstances. Christ will guide us in the solution of our problems, whatever they may be.

     What do I mean by practical Christianity? I mean the opposite of intellectual consent to the teachings of Jesus. I mean that right belief does not change a life. Satan believes correctly in the promises of Jesus Christ. He is still the devil! What I mean by practical Christianity is living purposefully and intentionally into a relationship with the living Christ. No life will be changed, nor will they ever have victory and power, unless they find Christ personally. Such a fruitful relationship is begun – and nourished regularly – by going to church.

 Matthew 8:8 (Common English Bible)

     Living without God is not a recent invention. From the beginning of history women and men have heard the whisper, “Who needs God?” It was there in the third chapter of Genesis when Satan – having taken the form of a snake – asked the question of the woman, Eve. The question has disturbed every person since that fateful day in the Garden of Eden. How many of us can honestly confess to a desperate need for God? How real a factor is the thought of God in the common moments of each day?

     It is my experience that for many people, God resides in the peripheral rather than occupying a central place in their lives. If our felt need for God becomes only occasional we learn, moment by moment and day by day, to live without God. Eventually, it isn’t a big step to live entirely without any thought of God. Many who have moved to this place may reject having someone identifying them as an atheist but, in truth, God is no longer real. David H. C. Read once shared that some people in his New York City congregation have confessed that having missed worship and prayer for extended months, life went on much as usual. The question presses, “Who needs God?”

     Perhaps the real question in play is, “What is important to us?” If we decide in our hearts that material success, the acquiring of wealth and comfort, is to be our supreme goal, then God may be irrelevant: we don’t need God. Make no mistake; there is nothing at all wrong with success – even financial success. It is a question of what is most important. Do we seek to be caught-up in something bigger than ourselves; to be fully engaged with the purposes of God or do we ultimately live for ourselves? If we are totally dedicated to material success, asserts David H. C. Read, then we don’t need God. We have one.

     Here in Matthew’s Gospel a centurion realizes a need for God. One of his servants is desperately ill and there is nothing that the centurion’s wealth, position and power can do for the servant. The centurion realizes that he is without the resources that are required. The centurion approaches Jesus and asks for a word of grace, a word that would do for the servant what the centurion is incapable of doing. When the centurion declares to Jesus, “Lord, I don’t deserve to have you come under my roof,” it is a declaration that the centurion has been living without God. Now he has awakened to the need that has been there all the time. The centurion needs God. And at that very moment the servant was made well.

Joy,