Saturday, January 17, 2015

"The sabbath was made for man..."

Today’s readings: Psalms 104; 149, Isaiah 42:18-43:13, Ephesians 3:14-21, Mark 2:23-3:6

Jesus was constantly reminding the religious leaders of his time that the law was not created to oppress the people. When the Pharisees accused him of violating the Sabbath by picking grain to eat, he told them: “The Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath” (Mk 2:28) He reminded them that King David ate the bread in the temple when he was starving. The comparison may have been a bit of a stretch, but his point is clear: God’s foremost priority is the people, not the law. While it may be clear to us that picking a handful of grain for the moment’s enjoyment is qualitatively different than working a day in the field, the Pharisees made no such distinction between the letter and spirit of the law.

On the other hand, as Jesus tried to put the law into perspective, he at no time dismissed it wholesale. He never claimed the Sabbath was made for humankind…  to ignore. Christians should remember this when we consider whether faith absolves us of any particular obligations. We are eager to hear the message we are not slaves to the law, and we should just as eagerly receive Christ’s words about our responsibilities to justice and mercy. American culture is particularly prone to establishing rights, but how would we react to any proposed Bill of Responsibilities? Freedom is only one side of the coin. Despite our freedom – or maybe even because of it – Jesus clearly has expectations of our behavior; we are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned (Matt 25:31-46). Because the spirit is more important than the letter, this is not a simple checklist but a starting point. Freedom can be a wild creature; fortunately God gave each of us a brain, and we need to use it to rein in our fredom toward his service.

Like the Sabbath or the law, Jesus’ teachings were tools given to humankind. We depend on them to do our job as Christians. As with any good tools, we must learn to use them properly. To master them, not only do we have to read the manual, we have to apply them in the real world, and gain experience to know how they handle in action. A plumber isn’t a slave to his wrenches, but he isn’t much of a plumber without them.

Freedom from the law is a gift, but it is a gift we must use responsibly.


Evening reading: Psalms 138; 98

Friday, January 16, 2015

Chaotic Justice

Today's readings: Psalms 51; 148, Isaiah 42:1-17, Ephesians 3:1-13, Mark 2:13-22

Justice. To twenty-first century, Western sensibility, the word "justice" implies a certain type of order: punishment for wrongdoing, restitution for injury, protection and recovery of one's belongings and well-being. We use it in an almost exclusively legal sense. Phrases like "economic justice" spark debate about wealth redistribution  and who is deserving and who is not. We want justice to be blind, orderly, and swift.

God may take issue with that. When Isaiah describes the arrival of God's justice, the scene he paints is chaotic. God's justice lays waste to mountains, cries out like a woman in labor, and turns rivers into islands (Is. 42:14-15). As the representative of God's justice, Christ turns expectations upside down. He dines with tax collectors and other "undesirables." He eats and drinks to excess (as defined by those whose primary interest is not justice). He tells crazy stories about patched cloth and bursting wineskins. He doesn't behave at all like the messiah the Pharisees would have him be. When challenged about the company he keeps, Christ tells them straight up he is here for the sinners, not the righteous (Mark 2:17b).

If we broaden our understanding of justice beyond its strict legal interpretation, how is justice playing out in our modern world? Often it requires acts of civil disobedience -- acts that are seemingly the opposite of what is legally "just." Think of Rosa Parks, Susan B. Anthony, and Mahatma Gandhi. Each participated in great civil unrest in the name of justice. Not all were Christian or even acting from religious motivation, yet each helped move their corner of the world into a little better alignment with the kingdom of God, where the last are first and no distinctions are made on gender, social status, or ethnicity (Gal 3:28, Col 3:11).

We tend to think of blessed lives as quiet and orderly, but God's justice will upend our carefully crafted plans and lives. Followers of Christ spend a good deal of time on the margins of society, living with and working on behalf of the disenfranchised. According to each of our means and talents, we work for the type of justice that seeks to include rather than exclude, to practice mercy rather than revenge, and to raise to messy life systems that are orderly but deadly to the soul. Justice does not lock things down; it cracks them open.

Evening readings: Psalms 142; 65

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Raise The Roof

Today's readings: Psalms 97; 147:12-20, Isaiah 41:17-29, Ephesians 2:11-22, Mark 2:1-12

When people learned Jesus had returned home after several days away, a crowd gathered outside his home. It was so large that one man, whose friends had carried him there on a mat because he was paralyzed, couldn't get near the door. Undeterred, they tore an opening in the roof and lowered him into the house. Jesus rewarded his faith first by forgiving his sins, then by healing his infirmity.

This healing was performed partly as a demonstration to those who questioned Jesus's authority to forgive sins. The faith of the man helped Jesus further his ministry.

How hard would we work to get our friends to Jesus? Would we tear open a roof? Open a door to give them a place to stay? Open a window to freshen a room they can't leave? Open our mouths to speak of the good news?

Of course we shouldn't try to force the unwilling to meet him. But we can lend a hand to lift up those who are paralyzed by fear, addiction, or guilt. When we suffer those same conditions ourselves, we may need to lean on the strength and faith of others to deliver us to Christ's presence. Even when it seems impossible that we might reach him, there is a way to be found if we persevere.

When we break through whatever barriers are between us and Christ's healing presence, we may be surprised to find what we really need is forgiveness -- from God and from ourselves. Without a clean start, any other type of healing we experience will be incomplete. We are healed not just for our own sakes, but also to further Christ's ongoing ministry by sharing our own witness of the good news.

Evening readings: Psalms 16; 62

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Extras: Read All About Them

Today's readings:  Psalms 89:1-18; 147:1-11, Isaiah 41:1-16, Ephesians 2:1-10,  Mark 1:29-45

Shortly after Jesus recruited his first four disciples, they all stopped at the house of Simon (whom Jesus would later rename Peter). Simon's mother-in-law was sick in bed, so Jesus healed her. When her fever passed, the Gospel of Mark tells us, she began serving them.

Who doesn't appear in this story? Simon's wife, that's who. The presence of a mother-in-law tells us she existed, but Mark makes no mention of her. Nor do any of the other gospels. In first Corinthians, Paul mentions how she attended him in his ministry, yet he does not mention her name.

What must it have been like for her when her husband came home and said he'd quit his job to follow a revolutionary? That bombshell must have been unsettling at least. Given the station of women in the first century, her fate was sealed when her husband made this decision for her.



No one's journey unfolds in a vacuum. For good or ill, our decisions have repercussions for our loved ones. Our sacrifices become their sacrifices. While each of us is the star of his or her own life, there is no such thing as a supporting player: everyone is equally loved by God.

Simon's wife had a name. And hopes for her future. And as full and rich an interior life as anyone. As we grow in our faith story, some characters will stand out, but most won't. It's the "background" characters who reveal our character. Do we think of them as mere functionaries, filling a role but without inherent value? Or are we looking for Christ among them, open to hearing their tales? If in God's kingdom the last are first, perhaps the extras have the real leading roles.

Evening readings: Psalms 1; 33

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Evangelize vs. Evange-lies

Today’s readings: Psalms 42; 146, Isaiah 40:25-31, Ephesians 1:15-23, Mark 1:14-28

Evangelists have a bit of an image problem. For some people the word “evangelist” evokes revival tents packed with fake healings and snake oil salesmen. The world of televangelism, with its shiny suits and big hair and hellfire pledge drives to fund air conditioned dog houses, hasn’t done them any favors either. The stereotype of the modern evangelist doesn’t seem to have much in common with John the Baptist and his camel hair tunic. For as long as we’ve had religion – maybe because we have religion – we’ve had people trying to make a buck off  faith and fear. That’s not evangelism.

When Jesus recruited his disciples, he did so with an eye toward the future and the evangelizing they would be called to do. Even in his day, people were wary of the clergy, and with good reason. Jesus didn’t start his search among religious leaders: he chose fishermen. These fishermen – Peter, Andrew, James, and John – were men of the world, hard-working businessmen who could get dirty when necessary and be salesmen when needed. If they had good news to spread – news good enough to make them leave their old lives behind – people would listen.

We are all called to evangelize, to spread the good news of the Gospels. Very few of us are called to do it by preaching from a pulpit. Members of the New Monastic movement do it by moving to the inner city and becoming part of the community. Jay Bakker – son of infamous televangelists Jim and Tammy – started Revolution Church in a bar where many of the patrons had fewer addictions, tattoos, and piercings than he did. Some people spread the good news by volunteering at church to help the elderly prepare income tax statements and others take youth to rebuild after disasters.
Real evangelists exist everywhere; you can recognize them because it’s obvious they’ve dropped their nets and found new lives following Christ.

Saint Francis is credited with saying: “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” Less famously he also said:  “If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.” Each of us is equipped to evangelize the moment she or he has a story to tell.  Whether we share it through words or actions, it is a recognizably true story. The truth eventually withstands all image problems.

Evening readings: Psalms 102; 133

Monday, January 12, 2015

Holy Attire

Today’s readings: Psalms 5; 145, Isaiah 40:12-24, Ephesians 1:1-14, Mark 1:1-13

Have you ever heard the saying: “Clothes make the man?” It means that people will make judgments about you based on your attire. As people of faith we are not supposed to make judgments or draw conclusions about anyone too quickly, but the reality is we do it all the time. A pair of scrubs versus a nun’s habit versus a UPS uniform do in fact tell us something about a person’s vocation.

When John the Baptist appeared in clothes of camel hair and a leather girdle (more like what we would think of as a belt), and ate locusts and wild honey, it told the people of his time he was an old school prophet, reminiscent of those who had preached four or five centuries before him. Those same elements may seem extreme to modern sensibilities, but in his time they lent John credibility as a herald of the messiah.

While we don’t want to be self-conscious about our appearances, we should be aware of the messages they send out. Of course there is no one way to look. People of faith wear nice suits and jeans dirty from hard work. The crosses they wear may be demure gold ones or large, colorful tattoos. They express their truths in traditional attire and transgendered selections. So what part of our appearance shouts, “I am a Christian!”

2014 St. Joseph County AIDS Walk
It is the hand outstretched in a gesture of giving. It is the eye without a squint of judgmentthat truly sees someone as a person. It is the lip formed around words of love and encouragement instead of gossip. It is the head bowed in prayer at the bedside of a dying friend. It is the feet marching toward justice.

In today’s world, with its emphasis on individuality and personal achievement, these things are radical and countercultural. We can’t be content to witness with Jesus fish bumper stickers and John 3:16 coffee mugs and an occasional "Have a blessed day" that are nothing more than tribal tattoos.

Our appearance matters not because we want people to judge us kindly, but because it tells people what part our faith plays in our lives. Designer neckties and facial piercings say nothing about our God, but our demeanor and tone and generosity will be witnesses for the Spirit. What story will they tell?

Evening readings: Psalms 82; 29

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Make Straight The Path

Today’s readings: Psalms 104; 150, Isaiah 40:1-11, Hebrews 1:1-12, John 1:1-7, 19-20, 29-34

The prophet Isaiah, when addressing the exiled nation of Israel, talked about preparing a highway for the Lord. Mountains would be leveled and valleys filled in anticipation of His arrival. In that time and place, kings who planned to travel over difficult terrain would send workers out ahead of them to prepare the path for smooth travel. John the Baptist quotes Isaiah in expectation of the arrival of Christ, crying: “Make straight the way of the Lord!” (John 23) While Christ traveled many literal roads, God certainly doesn’t need a highway to enter any part of the world. What might it mean for us to prepare the way of the Lord?

Isaiah and John were both speaking to people living under oppression. The valleys and mountains represented obstacles that kept the people from experiencing the justice of God’s kingdom. Making them straight meant removing sources of injustice. It’s tempting to interpret the mountains as wealth and the valleys as poverty, and the leveling as an equalization, but justice is about more than wealth redistribution. Justice is about seeing and treating each other as the equally loved children of God that we are.

What obstacles do we need to remove today? Racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, religious intolerance – these and other forms of oppression continue to exist. Laws may prohibit them, but not truly stop them. The poor and imprisoned can become trapped in legal but unmerciful systems designed to keep them poor and imprisoned. Human justice exists in courts, while God’s justice resides in our hearts.

The task of working for justice may seem as insurmountable as literally filling valleys and razing mountains, but as the king never sent out just one guy into the wilderness to ready the whole path, neither do we do it alone. Only a few of us are called to be on the front line leading the way, but each of us is called to participate in the successful completion of the project. Making straight the way of the Lord requires a community willing to band together to brave the wild places in our society. These places may be in our homes, our workplaces, our municipalities, or even our churches.

Where will you plant your shovel?

Evening readings: Psalm 29