Today's readings: Ps 33, 146; Isa 1:21-31; 1 Thes 2:1-12; Luke 20:9-18
In the early church, Advent was a season for converts to prepare for baptism though penitence and fasting. Today it’s more a time for remembering Christ’s first coming into the world, but as an annual season it also reminds us Christ comes to us again and again. Every moment we have the potential to accept Christ yet more deeply into our hearts. Advent reminds us to be open to Christ’s arrival, and the change it brings.
Make no mistake: whether it’s a revolution of our inner landscape, the world, or the church, Christ’s coming is always a revolution. Why not a more gradual and less abrasive evolution? Because institutions of power, including the institution of the church, almost always perceive and resist the kind of change Christ represents as a threat. By definition, institutions function through clearly defined, long standing programs. In stark contrast, Christ’s radical, all-inclusive love thwarts exclusionary traditions.
While we challenge external institutions that impede the Realm of God, we must also examine whether we have established internal institutions that hinder our role in that realm – institutions such as job security or financial stability. For example, I know more than one minister who laments how the church treats gay and lesbian people, yet does not speak out on the issue because “the congregation just isn’t ready to hear it.” I question the real motives for such silence. Like the bad tenants who kill the son of the vineyard owner so they may gain his inheritance (Luke 20:9-18), could these people be selling out their convictions – and Christ – for a share of an inheritance they do not deserve? Christ did not pander to the masses at the expense of the oppressed.
Why does our desire to spark a Christ-like revolution seem to dwindle with age? We often point to increased wisdom, but what if it’s really because accumulated pension plans and social prominence mean we have more to lose? Perhaps Christ teaches us the Realm of God is more accessible to the poor, because – like they young – they don’t fear losing what they haven’t got. Our first allegiance is never to external or internal institutions, but to the Realm of God.
Comfort: There’s nothing we can lose that’s more valuable than God.
Challenge: Read the lyrics of or listen to “It Should Have Been Obvious” by The Choir.
Prayer: God of Hope, I seek to serve your kingdom first.
Evening readings: Ps 85, 94
Tomorrow's readings: Ps 50, 147:1-11; Isa 2:1-4; 1 Thes 2:13-20; Luke 20:19-26
Showing posts with label institutions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label institutions. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Who do you trust?
Today's readings: Ps 146, 147; Micah 6:1-8; 1 Cor 4:9-16; Matt 15:21-28
Micah 6:8 is one of those popular Bible verses that appears on everything from coffee mugs to t-shirts in Christian bookstores: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” The prophet is telling the people ritual is no substitute for relationship. It’s a message we also hear from Christ. Unfortunately, like Micah’s audience, many of us would rather look for God in a tidy set of rules than wade through the mess of justice and mercy.
We can do the real work of justice and mercy only if we rely on God to guide us. Like the Israelites, we can be tempted to put our faith in rules, but we also face the modern temptation of misplacing that faith in institutions rather than in God. Psalm 146:3 tells us “Do no put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is ho help.” Putting our faith in any mortal institution is a mistake: all are temporary and prone to corruption.
Governments, economic structures, and even churches are at heart more interested in their own survival than in justice and mercy. We can love our country, but we must recognize God loves every citizen of every nation equally. We can believe capitalism is the best economic system, but must admit in practice it can come in conflict with justice and mercy. We can identify with the denomination that best reflects our beliefs, but we must remember no church has remained unchanged longer than God has. No social structure is a substitute for God. Any one of them could be gone tomorrow. If the disappearance of one of them would fundamentally alter how we choose to live our lives, we are not seeking God first.
Of course we have to live within existing social structures, but our lives of justice and mercy should influence them more than they influence us. If we blindly trust governments, political parties, ideologies, etc., we will eventually be let down. If we are not, our loyalties are not with God. We live God’s justice and mercy independently from – and often in spite of – the worldly structures in which we find ourselves.
Comfort: God is constant.
Challenge: Consider which of your political, social and economic values might be in conflict with your faith.
Prayer: Teach me, Lord, to act justly and to love mercy.
Evening readings: Ps 111, 112, 113
Micah 6:8 is one of those popular Bible verses that appears on everything from coffee mugs to t-shirts in Christian bookstores: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” The prophet is telling the people ritual is no substitute for relationship. It’s a message we also hear from Christ. Unfortunately, like Micah’s audience, many of us would rather look for God in a tidy set of rules than wade through the mess of justice and mercy.
We can do the real work of justice and mercy only if we rely on God to guide us. Like the Israelites, we can be tempted to put our faith in rules, but we also face the modern temptation of misplacing that faith in institutions rather than in God. Psalm 146:3 tells us “Do no put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is ho help.” Putting our faith in any mortal institution is a mistake: all are temporary and prone to corruption.
Governments, economic structures, and even churches are at heart more interested in their own survival than in justice and mercy. We can love our country, but we must recognize God loves every citizen of every nation equally. We can believe capitalism is the best economic system, but must admit in practice it can come in conflict with justice and mercy. We can identify with the denomination that best reflects our beliefs, but we must remember no church has remained unchanged longer than God has. No social structure is a substitute for God. Any one of them could be gone tomorrow. If the disappearance of one of them would fundamentally alter how we choose to live our lives, we are not seeking God first.
Of course we have to live within existing social structures, but our lives of justice and mercy should influence them more than they influence us. If we blindly trust governments, political parties, ideologies, etc., we will eventually be let down. If we are not, our loyalties are not with God. We live God’s justice and mercy independently from – and often in spite of – the worldly structures in which we find ourselves.
Comfort: God is constant.
Challenge: Consider which of your political, social and economic values might be in conflict with your faith.
Prayer: Teach me, Lord, to act justly and to love mercy.
Evening readings: Ps 111, 112, 113
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