Slaves To Love

Today's readings: Psalms 116; 147:12-20, Isaiah 54:1-10 (11-17), Galatians 5:1-15, Mark 8:27-9:1

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.

- Galatians 5:13

Culture wars in the United States focus on rights and freedoms. Conflict arises when one faction views a gain of rights by the opposition as a loss of freedom for its own: gay marriage vs. religious liberty; public displays of religious symbols vs. separation of church and state; federal regulations vs. states’ rights, etc. We tend to think of freedom as the “right” to do the things we want. Compare this idea to the above quote from Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Paul’s idea of the freedom granted us through Christ is not about indulging our “rights” but about joyously embracing our responsibilities.

In Paul’s vision, we are responsible to each other to a degree he compares to slavery. The idea that someone else’s well-being is my responsibility is not capitalist, democratic, or libertarian. Strictly speaking neither is it socialist nor communist, though claiming these ideals might get you branded as such. Christian principles transcend economics and politics of every stripe. Consistently applied, they will manage to offend almost everyone who defines his or her identity primarily through a political or economic affiliation. We may claim and even believe we identify primarily as followers of Christ, but if our worldview involves rationalizing away the idea of loving enslavement to one another, we are mistaken.

In John 15:13 Jesus states: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.” This statement is about more than being willing to take a bullet. It is about living in a way that makes us as accountable for the lives of others as for our own. This is not a typical modern western attitude – in fact it seems counterintuitive. It redefines a successful life as one that is not about itself. But following Christ means following him out of step with the culture around us. First and foremost we are residents of the kingdom of heaven, and it doesn’t grant dual citizenship.

Evening readings: Psalms 26; 130

The Moral Arc

Morning readings: Psalms 122; 149, Isaiah 51:1-8, Galatians 3:23-29, Mark 7:1-23

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said: "The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice." He was not the first to use this particular metaphor. In 1857 Unitarian minister Theodore Parker used it in a sermon against slavery. Between Parker and King, other religious referenced the "moral arc." This image endures because because it bears out over time. Over the centuries, as prejudices become less acceptable, more and more people have gained access to freedom and justice .

Jesus constantly expanded the circle of justice to include the disenfranchised and despised. As Paul wrote to the Galatians: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." (Gal 3:28). Distinctions that separate human beings from one another have no meaning in the kingdom of God. Since Paul's time, the moral arc has led the church to remove divisions and champion justice in the form of abolition, civil rights, child labor laws, and other progressive social movements. Like society at large, the church experiences an uneven ebb and flow of progress, but on the whole it moves in the direction of justice. What barriers to justice are eroding right now?

Popular wisdom says that once we get to know individuals  or groups, we are more inclined to consider them equal and treat them justly. While this is generally true, and while it is desirable to broaden our understanding of the world by getting to know people, a hard truth remains: we simply don't have time to understand all the people Jesus would have us love. Does Christian love - expressed in mercy and justice - require us to understand its recipients? It does not, and demands to be extended especially toward those who remain alien to us.

Perhaps the only real division is between people we understand and people we don't. Can we rise to the challenge of loving people justly even when our lack of understanding makes us uncomfortable? The road to justice arcs beyond our ability to see, but it is where Christ waits to meet us.

Evening readings: Psalms 100; 63

Worthy

Today’s readings: Psalms 57; 145, Isaiah 48:1-11, Galatians 1:1-17,  Mark 5:21-43

Every one of us feels insecure about something. Perhaps it's our physical appearance. Our weight. Our ability. Our lovability. Our faith. Secrets we keep. Secrets we can't keep. Things we've done. Things we've left undone. Sadly, human beings have an infinite capacity for reasons to feel insecure. Left to fester, feelings of insecurity can quickly grow into feelings of unworthiness. Do we know anyone who feels unworthy to be loved by themselves, by others, or even by God? Where do we get these ideas we might be unworthy?

In today's gospel story, a woman who suffered with a hemorrhage for twelve years touched Jesus's robe and was healed by her faith. Under Levitical law, this woman was unclean, and therefore unworthy of touching a rabbi like Jesus. Societal norms might have kept her from being healed, but Jesus had no words of rebuke for her – only words of praise for her faith. As the incarnation of the divine, Jesus demonstrated unworthiness is a concept we use to hold each other back but it places no limitations on God's love for us. We must never let anyone tell us differently.

Other times feelings of unworthiness spring from actions we have taken and lives we have led. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul reminds them that before he evangelized for Christ, he was a murderer of Christians – surely a matter of no small regret. He also points out that once God chose him, he "did not confer with any human being" (Gal 1:16) but set directly about his calling. We learn at least two things from his experience. First, we are worthy because God tells us so, not because we or someone else decides it. Second, we don't have to wait for the approval of others to behave as though we are worthy: if that were the case, Paul would never have gotten started!

If God felt a notorious murderer of Christians was worthy of being their greatest evangelist, how much ego does it take to believe our small offenses make us unworthy of God's love? When we don't have faith in our own worthiness, let's remember our God has faith in us!

Evening readings: Psalms 85; 47

From Compromise to Integrity

Today's readings: Psalms 65, 147:1-11; Isaiah 49:1-12; Galatians 2:11-21; Mark 6:13-29

Compromise is often described as an agreement whereby both parties get what neither of them wanted. The definition of compromise itself seems like an  unfortunate arrangement: sometimes it means to settle a dispute through concession, and other times it means to make something vulnerable. Today's reading from Galatians contains examples of both.

Cephas compromised his principles when he stopped eating with Gentiles to appease "the circumcision faction" - those who believed Gentiles could not become Christians without adopting Jewish law. Cephas' hypocrisy influenced those around him and weakened the integrity of the church in Galatia. This action is not so different from distancing ourselves from "the wrong kind" of people in our own churches. Some beliefs must not be compromised, especially if doing so results in excluding people from Christ's table.

Paul, on the other hand, while seen as too accomodating of Gentiles by many Jews, was a master of persuading communities to open up to "the other." Did this compromise leave both sides unhappy? Perhaps, but only for those who felt "I must be free to do what I want, and you are free to do what I want." A modern equivalent is the debate in the church over gay marriage, particularly the argument that it somehow cheapens "traditional" marriage. While we may disagree, allowing someone to practice their faith as they see fit is not the same as having it forced on us. In Paul's community, people were circimcised or not as they believed right, and no one was the lesser for it.

Mary Parker Follet said: "There are three ways of dealing with difference: domination, compromise and integration. By domination only one side gets what it wants; by compromise neither side gets what it wants; by integration we find a way by which both sides may get what they wish." Paul's church - our church - is at its best when it practices integrity in all senses. The Gospel and the Epistles are a story of how we learn again and again that God's love is not contained by our prejudices. Expansive, reckless love is at the heart of Christian integrity.

Evening readings: Psalms 125, 91

Barnacle-Free Faith

Today's readings: Ps 12, 146; Isa 52:1-12; Gal 4:12-20; Mark 8;1-10

One trait of an effective movement, whether religious or secular, is an ability to stay focused. Unfortunately, the older and larger a movement grows, the more likely it is to lose focus. We need look only as far as the church to see a primary example. Early Christians were focused around the idea that Jesus was the savior, and through him all sin was forgiven. They had de facto leaders but no real bureaucracy, and were more focused on freedom and restriction. Is that what the church looks like today? Can we imagine Peter poring over building use policy revisions, or Paul reading the latest theories on why you should have one third more seats than you do members? These activities aren’t wrong in and of themselves, but if we’re not careful we may start thinking and behaving as if the point of church is to perpetuate church, rather than to serve God.

One of Paul’s purposes in writing to the Galatians was to encourage them to return to the basics of the faith. Like present-day churches, the simple ideas and practices that bound them as a community began to accrete individual and cultural restrictions. Like barnacles on a ship – sometimes known as fouling organisms – these additions adversely impacted the effectiveness and structure of the church. Paul told the Galatians they needed to scrape off “fouling” ideas, particularly a return to justification through the Law (via circumcision) rather than through Christ. Today’s church is just as prone to fouling ideas. Most of the time we can recognize them because they separate us from each other or the world around us. Any time we decide someone who professes dedication to Christ is not a “real” Christian because their denomination, practices, or identity don’t fit our mold, we are probably victims of fouled faith. People have been petty enough to create rifts because someone brought the “wrong” kind of bread for communion. As Christians, we are called to rise above such trivialities and unite rather than divide.

Faith is not always simple, but let’s resist the temptation to complicate it unnecessarily. If we focus on Christ, the barnacles on our faith fall away.

Comfort: Christ is the lens that focuses our faith.

Challenge: What barnacles have you accumulated? Scrape them off.

Prayer: God of Abundance, I will keep my eye on Christ.

Evening readings: Ps 36, 7

Tomorrow's readings: Ps 96, 147:1–11; ; Isa 52:13—53:12; Gal 4:21–31; Mark 8:11–26

Who do you trust?

Today's readings: Ps 62, 145; Isa 51:17-23; Gal 4:1-11; Mark 7:24-37

Trust is an essential component of faith. Who (or what) we trust reveals where our true faith lies. We can easily say and believe we trust God, but when pressed, do we turn to God… or to something else? In this current recession, do we grow more generous in response to the increased needs of others, or do we cling more tightly to what we have? Do we trust our savior or our financial advisor? Psalm 62 warns us not to trust in increased riches (v 10), but we often place practicality above generosity.

Even Jesus needed reminders that living a life of abundance means not hoarding resources, even spiritual ones. When a Syrophoenician woman asked him to heal her demon-possessed daughter, he responded by saying it wasn’t fair to throw the children’s food to the dogs (Mark 7:27). The children were the Jewish people, and the dogs – a very pejorative term in his culture – were the Gentiles. When the woman reminded him even the dogs got the crumbs that fell on the floor (v 28), he relented and healed her daughter. In that moment, Jesus displayed a trust in an abundant God that was deeper than his understanding of his mission among the Jews. Do we trust God’s abundance enough to be open to those who are strangers or even foes to us, or does our self-defined sense of mission limit what God can accomplish through us?

Sometimes we need to undergo some self-examination to understand where we place our trust. Paul reminds the Galatians that a person who places his or her trust in anything other than God becomes enslaved to that thing. In the case of the Galatians he may have been speaking of the Law or of lesser spiritual beings. Today we may cling to the law instead of love, or make idols of creeds or ideas. We may define ourselves by our looks, popularity, intelligence, wealth or any number of things which are impermanent at best, instead of by our relationship with God. If we lost any of these – or all of them! – tomorrow, we would still have God. What things are we enslaved to; that is, what unworthy things divert our trust from God? Let’s trust God now, so we have nothing to regret later.

Comfort: When everyone and everything are gone, God remains.

Challenge: Meditate on what you really trust. When you begin to fear or worry, remind yourself to trust God.

Prayer: God of abundance, I place my trust in You.

Evening readings: Ps 73, 9

Tomorrow's readings: Ps 12, 146; Isa 52:1-12; Gal 4:12-20; Mark 8:1-10