Today's readings: Ps 96, 148; Ezek 1:28-3:3; Heb 4:14-5:6; Luke 9:28-36
Ezekiel’s vision of four-faced heavenly beings was vivid, but not something we can really relate to. On the other hand, the image he presents in today’s reading, while less fantastic, may pack more punch because we can actually picture it. God commissions Ezekiel as a prophet by presenting him a scroll and telling him to eat it. The scroll was covered with words of lament and mourning, and Ezekiel was commanded to share those words with the rebellious nation of Israel.
The image of consuming a scroll is simple, but it is rich with meaning. When God tells Ezekiel “eat what is before you,” (Ezek 3:1) he is confirming Ezekiel’s obedience, in direct contrast to the rebelliousness of the people. Scrolls in Ezekiel’s time were not made of paper, but either papyrus (the same basic material as sandals and baskets) or parchment (the skin of a kosher animal); neither would have been an appetizing proposition. Yet the scroll was sweet as honey in his mouth (v 3). Like Ezekiel, we may find the tasks to which God calls us less than appealing, but in the end we may find they provide us with a sweet fulfillment only discovered when following God. A popular riddle asks: “How do you eat an elephant?” Answer: one bite at a time. The stumbling block for most efforts is motivating ourselves to take the first step. If we can bring ourselves into obedience and choke down that first bite of scroll, who knows how sweet the rewards might be!
Wouldn’t it have been easier for Ezekiel to hold onto the scroll and read it to people? Probably. Yet as a prophet, Ezekiel was called to literally internalize the word of God, to let it nourish and become part of his very being. Do we consume scripture and let it become part of us, or are our scrolls lying around collecting dust? The answer is the difference between a living relationship with God and scripture that we can’t help but share because it’s part of us, and devotion to an eternally external text that is an object of study but not sustenance.
God does not offer us a mere recipe, but the bread of life itself. Let’s devour it with gusto!
Comfort: Faith is lived, not just studied and kept to ourselves.
Challenge: At each meal, offer a prayer of thanks.
Prayer: Holy God, let others see your spirit filling me up!
Evening readings: Ps 49, 138
Discussion question: Have you ever been reluctant to "eat" a task God has handed you? (please comment)
Friday, June 3, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Miaphysitism? YOU a physitism!
Today's readings: Ps 47, 147:12-20; Ezek 1:1-14, 24-28; Heb 2:5-18; Matt 28:16-20
This Thursday many churches celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, or the bodily ascent of the risen Christ into heaven. This story challenges the modern and scientific mind. Its accompanying readings are no less difficult. Ezekiel’s vision of four-faced beings and a god of fiery metal are highly symbolic and almost incomprehensible to anyone who’s not a dedicated Bible scholar. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews explains the human and divine interplay in the person of Jesus, part of the study called Christology. Heady material that for many of us is simply inaccessible.
In contrast, the Matthew reading is short and clear: Jesus asserts his authority and commissions the disciples to spread his commands and teachings to make and baptize more disciples. We should note his teachings did not include theories like hypostatic union or Miaphysitism: Christ’s nature in both the human and the divine, versus a nature which is of both. Clearly different… right? Yet centuries ago these semantics, which matter not one iota to loving as Christ instructed, caused schisms that last to this day. Passages like the one in Hebrews fueled the debate. What do we imagine Christ – who brought together Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles – might say about his followers dividing over such distinctions?
Such discussions have their place; after all, why follow Christ if we do not believe he is a unique confluence of the human and the divine? But sometimes we get so wrapped up thinking or talking about faith we become like people who believe reading a child psychology book equips them to be parents; being able to quote theories does not help us touch a human life in a loving way. Maybe we don’t denounce Monophysitism (don’t ask) on a daily basis, but based on mere opinion we do make “religious” distinctions of the kind Christ worked to overcome. Even our choice of Biblical translation may decide whether we are “in” or “out” with a specific clique, congregation or denomination.
Christ’s nature – human or divine – was radically inclusive. Any effort spent separating us from others, rather than loving them, betrays that nature. Christ tells us to love God and our neighbor. Why add more?
Comfort: Christ’s commands are simple.
Challenge: Look up “Christology” on Wikipedia or another reference.
Prayer: Holy God, may your love live in my heart and not just my head.
Evening readings: Ps 68, 113
Discussion Question: Does your head ever get in the way of your heart? (please comment)
This Thursday many churches celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, or the bodily ascent of the risen Christ into heaven. This story challenges the modern and scientific mind. Its accompanying readings are no less difficult. Ezekiel’s vision of four-faced beings and a god of fiery metal are highly symbolic and almost incomprehensible to anyone who’s not a dedicated Bible scholar. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews explains the human and divine interplay in the person of Jesus, part of the study called Christology. Heady material that for many of us is simply inaccessible.
In contrast, the Matthew reading is short and clear: Jesus asserts his authority and commissions the disciples to spread his commands and teachings to make and baptize more disciples. We should note his teachings did not include theories like hypostatic union or Miaphysitism: Christ’s nature in both the human and the divine, versus a nature which is of both. Clearly different… right? Yet centuries ago these semantics, which matter not one iota to loving as Christ instructed, caused schisms that last to this day. Passages like the one in Hebrews fueled the debate. What do we imagine Christ – who brought together Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles – might say about his followers dividing over such distinctions?
Such discussions have their place; after all, why follow Christ if we do not believe he is a unique confluence of the human and the divine? But sometimes we get so wrapped up thinking or talking about faith we become like people who believe reading a child psychology book equips them to be parents; being able to quote theories does not help us touch a human life in a loving way. Maybe we don’t denounce Monophysitism (don’t ask) on a daily basis, but based on mere opinion we do make “religious” distinctions of the kind Christ worked to overcome. Even our choice of Biblical translation may decide whether we are “in” or “out” with a specific clique, congregation or denomination.
Christ’s nature – human or divine – was radically inclusive. Any effort spent separating us from others, rather than loving them, betrays that nature. Christ tells us to love God and our neighbor. Why add more?
Comfort: Christ’s commands are simple.
Challenge: Look up “Christology” on Wikipedia or another reference.
Prayer: Holy God, may your love live in my heart and not just my head.
Evening readings: Ps 68, 113
Discussion Question: Does your head ever get in the way of your heart? (please comment)
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
The Memory (and Reality) of Persistence
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| The Persistence of Memory (Salvador Dali) |
Today's readings: Ps 98, 146; Deut 8;11-20; James 1:16-27; Luke 11:1-13
Service projects – particularly those spanning several days and states – reveal a lot about people. Ask almost anyone rebuilding a home or painting a school and they will tell you they are working hard. Watch them a while, and you’ll see differences in performance that don’t necessarily depend on age, experience or ability. People believe they are working hard as long as they are working harder than they usually do. By the end of a lengthy service project, many people – young people in particular – have their eyes opened to the difference between what they think is hard work (based on past experience) and what is actually hard work.
Persistence is similar. Many of us think we are persistent, but crumple in the face of real resistance. In Luke 9, Jesus advises his disciples to be persistent in their faith. He says a neighbor woken in the middle of the night by a knock on the door does not respond out of an inner sense of charity, but because the knocker is persistent. Jesus isn’t telling us to pester God into submission, but that true persistence can accomplish what appeals to good nature may not. How often do we hear someone claim something was meant to be or not meant to be because it was or wasn’t convenient? How many dreams are abandoned because of a lack of persistence? How many poor decisions are based on expedience? Important things – building a career, raising a child, achieving social justice – require persistence. More than that, they require us to examine whether we are actually persistent, or whether we merely think we are.
On the other hand, let’s not confuse being persistent with being stubborn. When we follow urgings of the Spirit despite resistance, we are persistent. When we grow deaf to the Spirit and insist on our own way, we are stubborn. Persistence is the fulcrum that balances complacency and obstinacy. To achieve this balance, this practice of discernment, we must yoke persistence with prayer. As we grow in faith, what we thought was tremendous persistence yesterday may be a fraction of what we need for tomorrow. Or we may realize that while we’ve been knocking, what we need to ask for has changed. No matter the outcome, a healthy persistence leaves us knowing we’ve done what we were called to do.
Comfort: Success not yet achieved is not the same as failure.
Challenge: List some dreams you’ve let go. Is it time to pick one up?
Prayer: Holy God, strengthen me when my flesh is weaker than my spirit.
Evening readings: Ps 66, 116
Service projects – particularly those spanning several days and states – reveal a lot about people. Ask almost anyone rebuilding a home or painting a school and they will tell you they are working hard. Watch them a while, and you’ll see differences in performance that don’t necessarily depend on age, experience or ability. People believe they are working hard as long as they are working harder than they usually do. By the end of a lengthy service project, many people – young people in particular – have their eyes opened to the difference between what they think is hard work (based on past experience) and what is actually hard work.
Persistence is similar. Many of us think we are persistent, but crumple in the face of real resistance. In Luke 9, Jesus advises his disciples to be persistent in their faith. He says a neighbor woken in the middle of the night by a knock on the door does not respond out of an inner sense of charity, but because the knocker is persistent. Jesus isn’t telling us to pester God into submission, but that true persistence can accomplish what appeals to good nature may not. How often do we hear someone claim something was meant to be or not meant to be because it was or wasn’t convenient? How many dreams are abandoned because of a lack of persistence? How many poor decisions are based on expedience? Important things – building a career, raising a child, achieving social justice – require persistence. More than that, they require us to examine whether we are actually persistent, or whether we merely think we are.
On the other hand, let’s not confuse being persistent with being stubborn. When we follow urgings of the Spirit despite resistance, we are persistent. When we grow deaf to the Spirit and insist on our own way, we are stubborn. Persistence is the fulcrum that balances complacency and obstinacy. To achieve this balance, this practice of discernment, we must yoke persistence with prayer. As we grow in faith, what we thought was tremendous persistence yesterday may be a fraction of what we need for tomorrow. Or we may realize that while we’ve been knocking, what we need to ask for has changed. No matter the outcome, a healthy persistence leaves us knowing we’ve done what we were called to do.
Comfort: Success not yet achieved is not the same as failure.
Challenge: List some dreams you’ve let go. Is it time to pick one up?
Prayer: Holy God, strengthen me when my flesh is weaker than my spirit.
Evening readings: Ps 66, 116
Discussion question: When has persistence paid off for you? (please comment)
Monday, May 30, 2011
The Long Game
Today's readings: Ps 97, 145; Deut 8:1-10; James 1:1-15; Luke 9:18-27
Great coaches do not hang their hopes or reputation on any single game, tournament, or season. They focus on long-term goals for the team and the program. Many fans and players who prefer the gratification of short-term results can quickly become disgruntled. No one likes to see their team lose. No player likes to sit the bench, especially a former star in high school, college or the minors. Despite complaints, good coaches stick to the strategy, put in players who won’t put their own egos ahead of the team’s needs, and patiently mold a team into its optimal form,
God also plays a long game – the longest. As the Israelites entered the Promised Land after forty years of wandering the wilderness, Moses explained how their trials had prepared them. Their faith was tested, and refined when found lacking. As their endurance was pushed to its limits, they became a people who could face adversity and come out the other side. No matter how much they complained during the process, God forcefully but lovingly stuck to the program for the benefit of the people as a whole. In the end they learned the problem was not the program, but their ability to accept and live it.
Under the best circumstances, people appreciate great coaches. Under the worst, they replace them with someone who promises more immediate results. Like the golden calf worshipped by the Israelites while Moses was on the mountain, cheap substitutes satisfy the present urge, but fail to build character that sustains the team for the long haul.
Jesus certainly understood the importance of long range planning. When Peter admitted he thought Jesus was the Christ (Luke 9:20), Jesus told him to keep that information under wraps until all that needed to happen had happened. Events might have unfolded very differently if the Jewish authorities had believed Jesus was the messiah – different in ways that could have been easier on him – but he chose to stick with the program.
A good program adapts to the needs of the team, while simultaneously moving each team member closer to the goal. God can work similarly in our lives – if we are open to the program. Let’s come ready to play.
Comfort: Waiting is not the same as doing nothing.
Challenge: Write down some long range goals. Revisit them regularly.
Prayer: God, thank you for your patience and guidance when I wander.
Evening readings: Ps 124, 115
Discussion question: When are you tempted to take shortcuts in life? (please comment)
Great coaches do not hang their hopes or reputation on any single game, tournament, or season. They focus on long-term goals for the team and the program. Many fans and players who prefer the gratification of short-term results can quickly become disgruntled. No one likes to see their team lose. No player likes to sit the bench, especially a former star in high school, college or the minors. Despite complaints, good coaches stick to the strategy, put in players who won’t put their own egos ahead of the team’s needs, and patiently mold a team into its optimal form,
God also plays a long game – the longest. As the Israelites entered the Promised Land after forty years of wandering the wilderness, Moses explained how their trials had prepared them. Their faith was tested, and refined when found lacking. As their endurance was pushed to its limits, they became a people who could face adversity and come out the other side. No matter how much they complained during the process, God forcefully but lovingly stuck to the program for the benefit of the people as a whole. In the end they learned the problem was not the program, but their ability to accept and live it.
Under the best circumstances, people appreciate great coaches. Under the worst, they replace them with someone who promises more immediate results. Like the golden calf worshipped by the Israelites while Moses was on the mountain, cheap substitutes satisfy the present urge, but fail to build character that sustains the team for the long haul.
Jesus certainly understood the importance of long range planning. When Peter admitted he thought Jesus was the Christ (Luke 9:20), Jesus told him to keep that information under wraps until all that needed to happen had happened. Events might have unfolded very differently if the Jewish authorities had believed Jesus was the messiah – different in ways that could have been easier on him – but he chose to stick with the program.
A good program adapts to the needs of the team, while simultaneously moving each team member closer to the goal. God can work similarly in our lives – if we are open to the program. Let’s come ready to play.
Comfort: Waiting is not the same as doing nothing.
Challenge: Write down some long range goals. Revisit them regularly.
Prayer: God, thank you for your patience and guidance when I wander.
Evening readings: Ps 124, 115
Discussion question: When are you tempted to take shortcuts in life? (please comment)
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