Beautifully Broken

Today’s readings: Psalms 84; 148, Isaiah 55:1-13, Galatians 5:16-24, Mark 9:2-13

Christians have an image problem. Like any other group in the age of the 24-hour news cycle, our most extreme and attention-grabbing brothers and sisters make the news and tell our story … whether we’d like them to or not. When a tiny church comprised of a handful of family members pickets military funerals to protest homosexuality, they make national headlines for years. A “family-values” politician caught in an affair becomes a media spectacle and fodder for those who would point out Christian hypocrisy. These types of public relations problems are not unique to Christians, or even religious groups. The public is fascinated with scandals, especially when they involve someone who has portrayed him- or herself as a “righteous” person.

Paul seems to draw distinct lines between the drunken, quarrelsome fornicators who will not inherit the kingdom of God, and the joyful, generous peacemakers who will (Gal 5:19-23). We want to heed his words: for good or ill, the behaviors he describes do have consequences in our lives and relationships with God and each other. As Christians we can feel pressure to appear as if we have all the good qualities and none of the bad. In reality, we have the same faults and foibles as everyone else, and when we pretend otherwise, people can practically smell the insincerity. Humbly acknowledging our own flaws doesn’t diminish our witness. To the contrary it tells the true story of grace: not that we become perfect, but that we accept God’s love despite our imperfections.

Acknowledging our flaws doesn’t mean we should settle for them. As we grow in our faith, our behaviors and attitudes will reflect that growth. When someone is thoroughly grounded in her or his faith, other struggling people – believers and non-believers alike – feel comfortable enough with that person to be truthful. To love like God loves, we must recognize a person’s brokenness without defining them by it. Let’s do our part to fix that image problem by showing the world following Christ means being humble and truthful. As Christ’s broken body heals the world, our broken and contrite hearts do also.

Evening readings:  Psalms 25; 40

Dropping Our Stones

Today's readings: Psalms 42; 146, Genesis 26:1-6, 12-33, Hebrews 13:17-25, John 7:53-8:11

Today’s story from John about a woman caught in adultery is the source of the saying: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” One of the best known stories about Jesus, it is ironically considered one of the least authenticated. Early manuscripts of John don’t include it, and in later ones it varies slightly. Perhaps the story persists because its message is so essentially Christ-like.

Under Mosaic law, punishment for women committing adultery was death by stoning. The scribes and Pharisees brought such a woman before Jesus and tested his observance of the law by asking what should be done with her. Jesus initially responded by stooping and writing on the ground. Some apocryphal versions of the text say he was writing the sins of everyone present. Others have theorized it was a stalling tactic. Either way, this action teaches us a valuable lesson: Christ has little interest in hearing us recount the shortcomings of other people.

When he instructed the person without sin to cast the first stone, the crowd of course dispersed. Christ knew an honest examination of our own lives generates humility and mercy. When he and the woman were left alone, he declined to condemn her and instructed her to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11). Whether this event is historical or not, it illuminates truth that transcends fact: Christ is more interested in freeing us for the future than in chaining us to the past.

“Sin no more” does not excuse past actions – it is a call to repentance. True repentance doesn’t mean feeling guilty and sorry, but going in a new direction. Punishing others through guilt only hitches them to the past, and prevents them from moving in any direction. Allowing ourselves to be punished by guilt – even self-inflicted – is just as counter-productive. Following Jesus’ example means trusting others and ourselves to acknowledge mistakes, change direction, and do our best not to make them again. Jesus loves everyone enough to leave the past in the past, and to let everyone move toward a future of endless possibility. First, everyone needs to put down the stones.

Evening readings: Psalms 102; 133

And Justice For All

Today's readings: Psalms 72; 145; Isaiah 49:1-7; Revelation 21:22-27; Matthew 12:14-21

The Gospels cite many passages from the Old Testament, particularly the prophets. Today’s reading from Matthew cites four verses from Isaiah which describe the humble way in which Jesus undertakes his mission of justice and mercy. The words originally applied to the exiled nation of Israel, similarly called by God to be a light to the world.

This call to justice is interesting, because it can be applied both internally and externally. Internally, Jesus is reminding the Jews that God desires mercy above sacrifice (he has just been condemned by religious leaders for committing the “sin” of performing a healing on the Sabbath). Externally, his message of justice for everyone is a thorn in the side of the Roman empire. No one is blameless, but all are worth redeeming.

It’s good to keep that thought in mind as we navigate through the modern world as well. When we perceive ourselves as the victims or the oppressed, it can be easy to overlook our own shortcomings. For evidence of this we can look to Washington, where each political party, once it takes power, attempts to justify behavior it has recently condemned in the other. Or we can look to the Christian church in America: as Americans become more diverse in belief and unbelief, many Christians mistake someone else’s free speech for an erosion of their own rights, and - ironically - attempt to clamp down on religious liberties. When the oppressed eventually find themselves in the position to oppress, our lesser nature usually asserts itself.

How can we avoid that trap? One way is to always focus on justice for others while we are seeking justice for ourselves. Martin Luther King famously said “"if one of us is not free, then none of us are truly free." Being oppressed by the Romans didn’t make the Jews more merciful to their own widows and orphans, so we should not assume that because we are oppressed we must be in the right, individually or as a group.

When Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies it is not just to adjust their attitude towards us, but equally to soften our hearts toward them.

Evening readings: Psalms 100; 67

Look at me!

Today's readings: Ps 102, 148; Isa 3:1-4:1;1 Thess 4:1-12; Luke 0:41-21:4

Beware the religious. At least (according to today's reading from Luke) those people who wear religion on their sleeves - or in the case of the case of the scribes, the sleeves of their excessively long robes. And those who make a public display of long prayers (v 20:46-47). Jesus is quick to point out the hypocrisy when outer forms of religion are counter to a person's inner state. Not everyone with a Jesus fish (ichthus) bumper sticker is devouring widows' houses (v 20:47), but if they do the disparity is all the more egregious for their display. The flip side is the martyr who just won't die - the person who abases him or herself unnecessarily (but quite obviously) in an insincere humility.

The bottom line: religious and pious efforts should be inwardly directed. Incidentally, the irony of that last statement coming from the creator of a devotional blog is not lost... There's nothing wrong with outward symbols of our faith as long as we're not using them to impress others with how holy we are. Having the fanciest Bible cover in Sunday school or sporting an "In God We Trust" license plate only invites scrutiny, and does little if anything to spread the Gospel. Neither does telling anyone who will listen the story of how we got stuck in the kitchen during the potluck because no one else would lift a finger to do all those dishes.

About the worst message we can send to non-believers is that Christians are somehow perfected by our faith. First it obviously isn't true (compare divorce rates between Christians and non-Christians for a start), and more importantly it's exactly counter to the message of the Gospel. We are not nor do we need to be (or appear to be) perfect: even better, we are forgiven! One way we can respond to God's forgiveness is to readily forgive ourselves and others. When we falter, any resulting distance between us and God is entirely of our own making. It takes more time than putting on a "Jesus Saves" t-shirt in the morning, but showing people that we remain in God's love despite our imperfections is about the best testimony we can give!

Evening Readings: Ps 130, 16

But why ...?

Today's readings: Palms 122, 145; Isaiah 1:10-20; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Luke 20:1-8

Sometimes the biggest barrier between us and God is religion itself. Hardly an original thought, but we need to hear it periodically. The problem is most "religious" activity at one time had a spirit-filled purpose behind it that slowly faded from memory until the ritual became a substitute for the underlying purpose. Take the animal sacrifices mentioned today in Isaiah. We consider animal sacrifice barbaric, but among the Israelites the practice was a step away from barbarism: the surrounding cultures were sacrificing humans. The author of Isaiah tells us the sacrifices themselves have become offensive to God, reeking of the hypocrisy of their practitioners. Instead of continuing on a path toward God's ever expanding justice and compassion, the Israelites settled for ritual over the mercy God would have them act upon the poor, the orphaned and the widowed. When ritual is stripped of relationship, it is no longer of God.

If we think we only need to learn this lesson once, Luke disabuses of that notion pretty quickly. When the Jewish authorities are faced with the question of whether John's baptism (and by implication the nature of Jesus) was heavenly or earthly, their concerns are misplaced. These people would have been familiar with Isaiah. Still their focus is on which answer might make them look foolish or rile the people. The status quo is more important to them than truth itself!

Like it or not, we all have some tendency to let unexamined preferences calcify into dogma. Things like language choices and personal causes can slant our thinking and actions in ways we don't notice. The familiar tempts us even when it no longer serves us. The Israelites - in Isaiah's or Jesus' time - surely did not set out to create traditions and habits that separated them from God, and neither do we. Let's be cautious not to let imperceptible drift over long periods of time move us away from the intentions behind our actions. "What Would Jesus Do" may seem trite ... but pairing it with "Why Would Jesus Do It?" might just sweeten the scent of our sacrifices.

Evening readings: Psalms 40, 67