Over the years I’ve watched poll after poll indicate that the more regularly an individual attended church, the more of a traditionalist people were. By traditionalist, the implication was the individual was more cautious in everything from their politics to their lifestyles. As a result, some people in our society have grown to equate being Christian with being an advocate of the status quo. Today’s story from Acts reminds us this wasn’t always the case, for in the story Paul & Silas get in trouble for messing with the status quo. In doing so they were accused of being dangerous “agitators subverting our Roman law and order” (Acts 16:21 – The Message). Of course this wasn’t the only time when Christians were accused of upsetting the status quo. From Jesus’ appearance in the synagogue at the age of twelve through the end of his public ministry, Jesus was constantly turning the status quo on its ear. His disciples made a practice of turning lives upside down as well. My question for you to consider today is this: has your faith compelled you to become a leading proponent of the status quo or a willing agitator? Of course, at different times in our lives we are called to be both. My greatest fear, however, is that we modern Christians will lose our willingness to claim the piece of our call that calls us to agitate and instead settle for being exclusively agents for the status quo – in our collective world and in our individual lives. I hope you’ll put my fear to rest. Til next time…
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Saturday, July 12
Over the years I’ve watched poll after poll indicate that the more regularly an individual attended church, the more of a traditionalist people were. By traditionalist, the implication was the individual was more cautious in everything from their politics to their lifestyles. As a result, some people in our society have grown to equate being Christian with being an advocate of the status quo. Today’s story from Acts reminds us this wasn’t always the case, for in the story Paul & Silas get in trouble for messing with the status quo. In doing so they were accused of being dangerous “agitators subverting our Roman law and order” (Acts 16:21 – The Message). Of course this wasn’t the only time when Christians were accused of upsetting the status quo. From Jesus’ appearance in the synagogue at the age of twelve through the end of his public ministry, Jesus was constantly turning the status quo on its ear. His disciples made a practice of turning lives upside down as well. My question for you to consider today is this: has your faith compelled you to become a leading proponent of the status quo or a willing agitator? Of course, at different times in our lives we are called to be both. My greatest fear, however, is that we modern Christians will lose our willingness to claim the piece of our call that calls us to agitate and instead settle for being exclusively agents for the status quo – in our collective world and in our individual lives. I hope you’ll put my fear to rest. Til next time…
Friday, July 11
Today’s Readings: Psalm 24; Genesis 32:1-21; Luke 2:15-21; Acts 16:13-15; Psalm 93
There’s an interesting element in today’s passage from Genesis that caught my eye. The element concerns a trait that many of us have. That element is found in Jacob’s initial response upon hearing the news that his brother Esau (the one whom Jacob had treated VERY badly) was on his way to greet Jacob. Even worse from Jacob’s perspective was the news that Esau wasn’t alone – he had brought 400 men with him. Now here’s the element of the story that caught my eye: Jacob’s response in verse 6. Some would read this verse and say the element of the story I was referring to was Jacob’s propensity to always assume the worst. While that would be a traditional assumption to make concerning Jacob’s response, I have a different take on what was happening inside Jacob. I don’t see if simply as a matter of assuming the worst; I see it as a matter of Jacob projecting his thoughts and values onto another. He had struggled to gain the upper hand against his brother Esau early in life and resorted to whatever he needed to in order to secure Esau’s birthright; consequently, Jacob assumed Esau would act in the same manner. Esau didn’t. He was a bigger person that Jacob had been. Over the years I’ve found this same propensity to project our stuff onto others in lots of folks – including myself! As a result, we often end up preparing ourselves for lots of different external scenarios, instead of spending time tending to the one place we need the work most: on ourselves. I would invite you to explore your life and your relationships and see if this dynamic is at work in your own life? If you find some projection-issues present, consciously invite God into those inner recesses of your life. Who knows what might happen when you quit projecting your values and expectations onto others and begin to receive them on their own terms?! Til next time…
There’s an interesting element in today’s passage from Genesis that caught my eye. The element concerns a trait that many of us have. That element is found in Jacob’s initial response upon hearing the news that his brother Esau (the one whom Jacob had treated VERY badly) was on his way to greet Jacob. Even worse from Jacob’s perspective was the news that Esau wasn’t alone – he had brought 400 men with him. Now here’s the element of the story that caught my eye: Jacob’s response in verse 6. Some would read this verse and say the element of the story I was referring to was Jacob’s propensity to always assume the worst. While that would be a traditional assumption to make concerning Jacob’s response, I have a different take on what was happening inside Jacob. I don’t see if simply as a matter of assuming the worst; I see it as a matter of Jacob projecting his thoughts and values onto another. He had struggled to gain the upper hand against his brother Esau early in life and resorted to whatever he needed to in order to secure Esau’s birthright; consequently, Jacob assumed Esau would act in the same manner. Esau didn’t. He was a bigger person that Jacob had been. Over the years I’ve found this same propensity to project our stuff onto others in lots of folks – including myself! As a result, we often end up preparing ourselves for lots of different external scenarios, instead of spending time tending to the one place we need the work most: on ourselves. I would invite you to explore your life and your relationships and see if this dynamic is at work in your own life? If you find some projection-issues present, consciously invite God into those inner recesses of your life. Who knows what might happen when you quit projecting your values and expectations onto others and begin to receive them on their own terms?! Til next time…
Thursday, July 10
Today’s Readings: Psalm 37; Genesis 31:25-50; Luke 2:1-14; Acts 16:1-12
It seems to me as if my call this week is to explore my need for control from a variety of angles. Just yesterday, for instance, the Gospel passage called me to examine my need to have thought through everything completely before I ever take action. Today’s Gospel reading raised another issue related to my need for control. More specifically, it caused me to look at my assumption that there is a right and wrong time to do things. Having worked with people for years, I know I’m not alone in this. Folks will spend lots of time and energy trying to figure out “the right time” to do something. When they consider having children, for instance, they torture themselves examining their finances & job situation to see if it’s the right time to have a child. When people contemplate a job change, they explore economic indicators to see if the job market if healthy enough to accommodate their change. Even when it comes time for retirement, folks will agonize for months to determine whether or not they have enough in savings and whether or not their investments are doing well enough to allow for it. I could go on and on with the list. Today’s story of Jesus’ birth reminds me that one doesn’t always have to wait for “the right time”. For in Mary and Joseph’s case, you couldn’t have imagined a much worse time to have a child. Here Mary and Joseph are – a young couple just getting established who are called to leave the comforts of home and head to an unfamiliar city to participate in a census. I’m sure they poured every hope and prayer into asking that their baby’s arrival be put off until “the right time” when they can return home. And yet what happens? The child comes at perhaps the most inopportune time imaginable. The story challenges me to face the fact that often - due to our limited human perspective - our notions of “the right time” aren’t necessarily accurate. It reminds me once again of the difference between our time and God’s time. Today I would encourage us to look at our lives and see if there might be something we are putting off because we feel it isn’t “the right time”. Look at that decision with new eyes and see what amazing things might be birthed in our lives if we step out in faith and trust things to work out not in our time but in God’s. Til next time…
It seems to me as if my call this week is to explore my need for control from a variety of angles. Just yesterday, for instance, the Gospel passage called me to examine my need to have thought through everything completely before I ever take action. Today’s Gospel reading raised another issue related to my need for control. More specifically, it caused me to look at my assumption that there is a right and wrong time to do things. Having worked with people for years, I know I’m not alone in this. Folks will spend lots of time and energy trying to figure out “the right time” to do something. When they consider having children, for instance, they torture themselves examining their finances & job situation to see if it’s the right time to have a child. When people contemplate a job change, they explore economic indicators to see if the job market if healthy enough to accommodate their change. Even when it comes time for retirement, folks will agonize for months to determine whether or not they have enough in savings and whether or not their investments are doing well enough to allow for it. I could go on and on with the list. Today’s story of Jesus’ birth reminds me that one doesn’t always have to wait for “the right time”. For in Mary and Joseph’s case, you couldn’t have imagined a much worse time to have a child. Here Mary and Joseph are – a young couple just getting established who are called to leave the comforts of home and head to an unfamiliar city to participate in a census. I’m sure they poured every hope and prayer into asking that their baby’s arrival be put off until “the right time” when they can return home. And yet what happens? The child comes at perhaps the most inopportune time imaginable. The story challenges me to face the fact that often - due to our limited human perspective - our notions of “the right time” aren’t necessarily accurate. It reminds me once again of the difference between our time and God’s time. Today I would encourage us to look at our lives and see if there might be something we are putting off because we feel it isn’t “the right time”. Look at that decision with new eyes and see what amazing things might be birthed in our lives if we step out in faith and trust things to work out not in our time but in God’s. Til next time…
Wednesday, July 9
Today’s Readings: Psalm 18; Genesis 31:1-24; Luke 1:67-80; Acts 15:30-41
One of my biggest character defaults is that my natural tendency is to want to have everything thought through before I commit myself to something. Now when some folks read that statement, they might think to themselves, “Thinking things through first is a bad thing? Sounds pretty responsible to me!” If that’s your first response, I can certainly empathize. That’s because for years I couldn’t imagine any other way of being. Zechariah’s words of prophesy in Matthew, however, contains words that point us toward another way of being. In speaking of his future child and the way in which God will use that child Zechariah noted, “Through the heart felt mercies of our God, God’s sunrise will break in upon us, shining on those in the darkness, those sitting in the shadow of death, then showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace” (Luke 1:77-79 – The Message). I particularly like the last 14 words of that passage – “showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace”. That phrase helped me uncover two limitations of my previous “plan it all ahead in advance” approach toward life. The first limitation was that often I would put the bulk of my energies into planning things rather than actually doing things. The second limitation is that the outcomes were nearly always limited to the scope of MY vision. I rarely allowed myself the luxury of thinking or dreaming outside of the box. Thankfully Zechariah’s words offer a different way of being: a way where things unfold one moment at a time. They also point us toward a reality that would be bigger and better than anything we could dream of ourselves. So much for our beloved boxesJ If you are like me and struggle with an addiction to preparation and planning, I invite you to sit with Zechariah’s words and see if they might help encourage you to let things unfold for you so that you too could be put on “the path of peace”. Til next time…
One of my biggest character defaults is that my natural tendency is to want to have everything thought through before I commit myself to something. Now when some folks read that statement, they might think to themselves, “Thinking things through first is a bad thing? Sounds pretty responsible to me!” If that’s your first response, I can certainly empathize. That’s because for years I couldn’t imagine any other way of being. Zechariah’s words of prophesy in Matthew, however, contains words that point us toward another way of being. In speaking of his future child and the way in which God will use that child Zechariah noted, “Through the heart felt mercies of our God, God’s sunrise will break in upon us, shining on those in the darkness, those sitting in the shadow of death, then showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace” (Luke 1:77-79 – The Message). I particularly like the last 14 words of that passage – “showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace”. That phrase helped me uncover two limitations of my previous “plan it all ahead in advance” approach toward life. The first limitation was that often I would put the bulk of my energies into planning things rather than actually doing things. The second limitation is that the outcomes were nearly always limited to the scope of MY vision. I rarely allowed myself the luxury of thinking or dreaming outside of the box. Thankfully Zechariah’s words offer a different way of being: a way where things unfold one moment at a time. They also point us toward a reality that would be bigger and better than anything we could dream of ourselves. So much for our beloved boxesJ If you are like me and struggle with an addiction to preparation and planning, I invite you to sit with Zechariah’s words and see if they might help encourage you to let things unfold for you so that you too could be put on “the path of peace”. Til next time…
Tuesday, July 8
Today’s Readings: Psalm 72; Genesis 30:1-24; Luke 1:57-66; Acts 15:22-29; Psalm 145
I draw great strength from the stories of our faith that remind us how God can be present and work through circumstances that are less than ideal. Today’s passage from Genesis is a good example of this. In the passage, we are told the story of how Jacob came to have eight of his children (the birth of his first four sons was mentioned at the end of Genesis 29). Now given Jacob’s standing in our faith tradition, you would expect the circumstances of those births to be extremely noble, right? Wrong! The pregnancies were instead fueled by petty jealousies and insecurities. In spite of those questionable beginnings, however, Jacob’s sons went on to become the heads of what would become the tribes of Israel. This reminds me of the transformative presence God can have in our lives: how things that are initially born out of our own shortcomings can blossom and grow into things we would never imagine. As you survey the landscape of your life, perhaps you’ve personally experienced this dynamic. Today I would encourage you to take a moment and see if there are remaining aspects of your life that you would consider inviting God’s transformative presence into – aspects that had less than noble beginnings. If you take that dramatic step and invite God’s presence into those embarrassing or uncomfortable places, you just might be surprised what those areas of your life blossom into and become. Til next time…
I draw great strength from the stories of our faith that remind us how God can be present and work through circumstances that are less than ideal. Today’s passage from Genesis is a good example of this. In the passage, we are told the story of how Jacob came to have eight of his children (the birth of his first four sons was mentioned at the end of Genesis 29). Now given Jacob’s standing in our faith tradition, you would expect the circumstances of those births to be extremely noble, right? Wrong! The pregnancies were instead fueled by petty jealousies and insecurities. In spite of those questionable beginnings, however, Jacob’s sons went on to become the heads of what would become the tribes of Israel. This reminds me of the transformative presence God can have in our lives: how things that are initially born out of our own shortcomings can blossom and grow into things we would never imagine. As you survey the landscape of your life, perhaps you’ve personally experienced this dynamic. Today I would encourage you to take a moment and see if there are remaining aspects of your life that you would consider inviting God’s transformative presence into – aspects that had less than noble beginnings. If you take that dramatic step and invite God’s presence into those embarrassing or uncomfortable places, you just might be surprised what those areas of your life blossom into and become. Til next time…
Monday, July 7
Today’s Readings: Psalm 35; Genesis 29:20-35; Luke 1:48-56; Acts 15:12-21; Psalm 77
In early April the National Council of Churches asked local faith communities to engage in an ongoing conversation titled “A Sacred Conversation on Race”. Sadly, many local faith communities chose to opt out of this call – I suspect largely out of fear that talking about a difficult topic like race might scare off some of their parishioners. In talking with friends about our faith community’s decision to participate in the on-going conversation about race, I shared that I was glad I wasn’t smart enough to worry about the ramifications of such a conversation. It was just something that had to be done. My friend was a little surprised when I shared my reasoning for why it had to be done. Instead of saying what he expected to hear (i.e. “We’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do”), I said we were participating because it’s the ONLY thing we could do. In today’s passage from Acts - in the midst of a volatile controversy about the inclusion of Gentiles in the Jewish-Christian community – James says to his audience, “Friends, listen. Simeon has told us the story of how God at the very outset made sure that racial outsiders were included” (Acts 15:13 – The Message). What those words tell me is that being inclusive isn’t something that we should take pride in – something that we do because it’s “the right thing to do”. No, today’s passage tells me we are inclusive because it’s in our DNA as Christians; it’s simply who we are. And the best part of living in Christian community is that we don’t simply have to wait until we die in order to get a taste of God’s all-inclusive Reign. Peter, James, John, Paul & Barnabus showed us that if we are faithful in following the Spirit’s leading, we can get a big taste of that Reign right here and now – in our individual and collective lives together! Til next time…
In early April the National Council of Churches asked local faith communities to engage in an ongoing conversation titled “A Sacred Conversation on Race”. Sadly, many local faith communities chose to opt out of this call – I suspect largely out of fear that talking about a difficult topic like race might scare off some of their parishioners. In talking with friends about our faith community’s decision to participate in the on-going conversation about race, I shared that I was glad I wasn’t smart enough to worry about the ramifications of such a conversation. It was just something that had to be done. My friend was a little surprised when I shared my reasoning for why it had to be done. Instead of saying what he expected to hear (i.e. “We’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do”), I said we were participating because it’s the ONLY thing we could do. In today’s passage from Acts - in the midst of a volatile controversy about the inclusion of Gentiles in the Jewish-Christian community – James says to his audience, “Friends, listen. Simeon has told us the story of how God at the very outset made sure that racial outsiders were included” (Acts 15:13 – The Message). What those words tell me is that being inclusive isn’t something that we should take pride in – something that we do because it’s “the right thing to do”. No, today’s passage tells me we are inclusive because it’s in our DNA as Christians; it’s simply who we are. And the best part of living in Christian community is that we don’t simply have to wait until we die in order to get a taste of God’s all-inclusive Reign. Peter, James, John, Paul & Barnabus showed us that if we are faithful in following the Spirit’s leading, we can get a big taste of that Reign right here and now – in our individual and collective lives together! Til next time…
Sunday, July 6
Today’s Readings: Psalm 45:10-17; Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67; Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30; Romans 7:15-25
Today’s Psalm is an interesting Psalm to sit with on the Sunday following the 4th of July. Why would I say that? I say that because I know that many of our churches across the country will use this Sunday to sing the praises of our country. And yet how does this morning’s Psalm begin? With these words: “Now listen, daughter, don’t miss a word: forget your country, put your home behind you” (Psalm 45:10 – The Message). I doubt that many pastors will use this text in worship. So what is the psalmist getting at behind those words? My sense is that the psalmist is calling his daughter to gain a sense of perspective that is larger than the one she is use to using. That’s why later the psalmist urges her not to “dote on father and grandfather” (the past) but to “set your mind now on sons” (the future) (Psalm 45:16 – The Message). I love the words from this morning’s psalm because they call on all of us to do the same thing – step back and look at things from a larger perspective. While we can certainly give thanks for the country in which we live, we should not forget to give thanks for other lands and other peoples whose presence enriches our lives and our world. While we can give thanks for our own families and friends who have supported and nurtured us, we should not forget to give thanks for all the other families and friends who have supported and nurtured others. In other words, we should begin to move beyond the narrow lens through which we view the world, and open ourselves to seeing glimpses of a larger perspective: God’s. On this final day of your holiday weekend, find some time to do just that. Til next time…
Today’s Psalm is an interesting Psalm to sit with on the Sunday following the 4th of July. Why would I say that? I say that because I know that many of our churches across the country will use this Sunday to sing the praises of our country. And yet how does this morning’s Psalm begin? With these words: “Now listen, daughter, don’t miss a word: forget your country, put your home behind you” (Psalm 45:10 – The Message). I doubt that many pastors will use this text in worship. So what is the psalmist getting at behind those words? My sense is that the psalmist is calling his daughter to gain a sense of perspective that is larger than the one she is use to using. That’s why later the psalmist urges her not to “dote on father and grandfather” (the past) but to “set your mind now on sons” (the future) (Psalm 45:16 – The Message). I love the words from this morning’s psalm because they call on all of us to do the same thing – step back and look at things from a larger perspective. While we can certainly give thanks for the country in which we live, we should not forget to give thanks for other lands and other peoples whose presence enriches our lives and our world. While we can give thanks for our own families and friends who have supported and nurtured us, we should not forget to give thanks for all the other families and friends who have supported and nurtured others. In other words, we should begin to move beyond the narrow lens through which we view the world, and open ourselves to seeing glimpses of a larger perspective: God’s. On this final day of your holiday weekend, find some time to do just that. Til next time…
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