Saturday, May 30

Today’s Readings: Psalm 119:1-24; Ezekiel 7:14-27; John 14:21-29; Romans 8:18-25; Psalm 74

Every so often one of the daily readings comes along that seems to be ripped out of today’s newspaper headlines: much like an episode of “Law & Order”. Today’s passage from Ezekiel provides us with one such passage. In the text, Ezekiel describes the extent of the devastation visited upon the people by observing: “They clamor for the prophet to tell them what’s up, but nobody knows anything. Priests don’t have a clue; the elders don’t know what to say. The king holds his head in despair; the prince is devastated. The common people gripped with fear” (Ezekiel 7:26-27 from The Message). That sounds a whole like what has been happening to us for over a year now. Oh, we may not have looked to the prophets to tell us what’s up – but we did look to our trusted economists to predict the depth and duration of the recession. And we might not have consulted a spiritual leader called priest per se – but we did turn to those who present the public face of our faith hoping they would provide words of hope and comfort. And we may not have had the experience of being ruled by a king – but we looked to those who occupied our statehouses in hopes they would get us out of the mess. And what did we find when we looked in those places? Words of cynicism and uncertainty, messages of blame and division, scandals… It’s no wonder that some folks have succumbed to fear and paralysis! Thankfully, we people of faith have another place to look that can provide deeper – more comprehensive insights into our true state of being: God: a God who promises to deal with us not where we should be, but “where [we] are.” The culmination of that promise being that we “will know that [God is] God.” During these tumultuous days, where are you looking for answers. Your financial planner? Your elected officials? Your priests, your pastors, or your elders? Or are you looking someplace else? Are you looking to the One whose roots sink much deeper? Til next time…

Friday, May 29

Today’s Readings: Psalm 53; Ezekiel 7:1-13; Luke 11:14-23; Romans 8:12-17; Psalm 33

Two years ago during my sabbatical, I had the chance to read a book that had a profound effect on me The book was called The Contemplative Pastor, and it was written by Eugene Peterson. In the book, Peterson talked about three qualities he felt an effective pastor should have. Two of the qualities he listed were ones I expected to see. The third was somewhat of a surprise. The third quality an effective pastor should have, Peterson wrote, is that he/she should be apocalyptic. By that, he meant a pastor should have a sense of urgency about his/her pastoral work that inspires others to feel a sense of urgency as well. This is a challenge for many of us in the progressive church since we put such an emphasis on God’s unconditional love. Now don’t get me wrong. The notion that God loves us unconditionally isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. The problem is what we’ve done with the idea. Because we know that God will love us no matter what – we can get awfully complacent about the way we lead our spiritual lives. Let’s say we have a choice to get the kids up on a Sunday morning and take them either to soccer practice or Sunday school. Where do we take our kids? Or let’s say our work schedule changes and we suddenly have an extra 30 minutes before work in the morning. What do we do with the extra time in our morning? Do we use the time to strengthen our spiritual life through some time of prayer and devotion, or do we sleep in? Often times, because of the notion that God will love us no matter what, our spiritual practices fall toward the bottom of our “to do” lists. Consequently, the quality of our spiritual lives suffers greatly. Today’s reading from Ezekiel is a “nice” challenge to our rather laid back approach. The words from Ezekiel confront us by saying: “The end of business as usual for everyone… Endtime – the end comes… Judgment Day! Fate has caught up with you… Time’s up. Coundown: five, four, three, two, one…” If that isn’t apocalyptic language I don’t know what is! I’m not suggesting that we should hear these words and make substantive changes to our life that our fear based. That’s because I’ve learned that most fear-based behavioral changes rarely last. What I am saying, however, is there is a wake-up call here that challenges us to move our spiritual lives much higher on our priority list. So how would you characterize your approach toward your spiritual life? Do you have a prevailing sense of apathy or complacency toward your spiritual life, or do you feel a sense of urgency about the matter? Til next time…

Thursday, May 28

Today’s Readings: Psalm 27; Ezekiel 6:1-14; Luke 10:38-42; Romans 8:1-11; Psalm 79

As the mainline denominations began to experience a noticeable decline in membership during the 1960’s and 1970’s, many denominations bought into a very specific approach to reverse the membership declines and initiate institutional growth. They adopted what many have called a programmatic approach toward congregational life. The basic philosophy went something like this: “If you want to grow a congregation, develop programs that will attract new members. It’s the programs a congregation offers that will ultimately grow the church!” In order to attract families, for instance, local churches were told to develop programs ranging from parenting classes for parents to activity groups for youth. And in order to attract young people, local churches were pressured to create programs for single persons. You name the demographic, and programs were created to attract new members from that group. It certainly sounded like a reasonable approach toward church growth. And for many local churches, the strategy worked; their institutions began to grow numerically. But at what cost? You see one of the dangers of a programmatic approach is that it is predicated on growing churches by appealing to one thing: self-interest. Just as the programmatic approach predicted, new folks came into our local churches and stayed as long as they got exactly what they wanted out of them. As soon as the local church failed to meet their demand(s), however, many of the new members quickly disappeared. That dynamic left many in the church growth movement very disillusioned. I was reminded of this as I read today’s passage from Romans, where Paul cautions: “Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what God is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored” (Romans 8:6-8 from The Message). The challenge for our local churches in the 21st Century is to break their bad habit of appealing primarily to people’s self-interest, and instead begin to cultivate a culture where individuals are attracted to a local church because of its ability to help facilitate the growth of their personal relationship with God. So where are you at with all of this in terms of your own spiritual life? Is your relationship with God predicated on your sense of what God can do for you; or is it predicated on something else – something much deeper? Til next time…

Wednesday, May 27

Today’s Readings: Psalm 122; Ezekiel 4:1-17; Luke 10:25-37; 3 John 9-15; Psalm 137

The last 24 hours or so have been difficult hours for me. They’ve been tough because I’ve had to live with the reality that the California State Supreme Court decided to uphold Proposition 8 – a measure that removed the right of LGBT people to marry in the state of California. It was incredibly ironic that the decision was announced the same day I read the story of The Good Samaritan as told in the Gospel of Luke – for there is an important lesson that runs through both situations. Let me see if I can draw out that lesson. In the story of The Good Samaritan, one should realize that the first two individuals who passed by the injured man on the roadside had one thing in common: they were religious leaders. The first individual was a priest, and the second a Levite. I can just imagine what the priest was thinking as he came upon the bruised and battered soul: “I’d better hurry up and get to the Temple so I can be on time for the afternoon service.” I can also speculate about what the Levite might have been thinking: “My religion teaches that anyone who comes in contact with blood is unclean. If I touch this battered man, I’ll come in contact with blood and be unclean. Therefore, I’d better pass him by.” The sad irony here is that religion – an entity that was created to add value and meaning to peoples’ lives – was instead used to justify the shameful neglect of a person in need. It was only the Samaritan – an individual who was a part of a community viewed as apostates by the Israelites – who had the sense to extend care for a fellow human being. Sadly, the example of the priest and Levite was followed by some members of the religious and political establishment in California as they used their beliefs to deny the sacred worth (& legal rights) of LGBT persons. All of this makes me wonder how your religious/spiritual beliefs affect your way of being in the world. Do they give you reason to lash out against (or withhold care from) those who are different from you; or do your religious beliefs allow you to reach out to and empower those who are different? Til next time...

Tuesday, May 26

Today’s Readings: Psalm 52; Ezekiel 3:17-27; Luke 10:17-24; 3 John 1-8; Psalm 64

In the early 1990’s I was blessed with the opportunity to serve on the Human Rights Commission for the City of Spokane, WA. In the four years I served on the Commission I was blessed with the opportunity to hear many stories about brave people standing up to hate in their own community. One of my favorite stories involved the community of Billings, MT. The area in which I lived (the Inland Northwest) was a hot-bed for white supremacy groups. In the year 1993, the activity of white supremacist groups reached a crescendo in Billings when KKK fliers were distributed to homes throughout the community, a Jewish cemetery was desecrated, the home of a Native American family was painted with swastikas, and a brick was thrown through the window of a six-year-old boy who had displayed a Menorah for Hanukkah. Many segments of the community felt as if they were under siege! It would have been easy for the members of the community to respond to the messages of hate with their own brand of hate. Instead, the people of Billings responded with love and a sense of solidarity with those whom the white supremacists had sought to marginalize. One of the most moving responses the members of the community made occurred when the local newspaper printed a full-page picture of a Menorah. The editors of the paper hoped that some members of the community would display the Menorahs in their front windows as a sign of solidarity with Jewish members of the community. Guess how many residents displayed the Menorah? Nearly 10,000 homes and businesses. What a powerful witness!! I was reminded of that experience as I was reading today’s passage from Luke. In that passage, the Gospel tells us Jesus said: “All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God’s authority over you and presence with you” (Luke 10:19 from The Message). It would have been so easy for the members of Billings to try to respond to the acts of hate by exercising their muscles and pushing the white supremacists out of town. Had they done so – had they attempted to show their authority over the evil they faced - it simply would have escalated acts of physical and psychological violence in their community. By turning their thoughts inward, however, they were able to let the transformative power of God’s love and grace shape their response. The expressions of hate stopped immediately. Perhaps there is an area of your life with which you are struggling. Your first instinct might tell you to hunker down for a long and protracted battle as you defeat “the evil” before you. If that’s the case, I would invite you to consider doing what the people of Billings did; fight that first instinct and instead open yourself to God’s authority in your life. Once you do that, the so-called enemies you face might evaporate in the face of God’s awesome presence. Til next time…

Monday, May 25

Today’s Readings: Psalm 106:1-23; Ezekiel 3:4-17; Luke 10:1-17; 2 John 1-13; Psalm 106:24-48

Before I begin today, let me just say, "Happy 650th Post!" It's hard to believe it's been almost exactly 2 years since we began this blogging journey together. I would have NEVER had the drive to stick with this daily spiritual discipline without readers like you - so thanks for accompanying on this wonderful journey of introspection. Now, back to my daily post...

It’s not often that I get the opportunity to physically re-enact a piece of Scripture. In the year 2001, however, I did. Let me tell you the story behind my re-enactment. When I went to seminary in 1999, I was convinced I was being called to get my Master of Divinity degree so that I could finish my education and go work for a church agency. I thought that I could only work for a church agency because I was a gay man - and the denomination I had been in my entire life did not ordain gay men. Therefore, I refused to allow myself to entertain the notion that I might be called to ordained ministry. It wasn’t until the second year of seminary that I opened myself to the call to parish ministry. That meant starting the ordination process in a denomination where I knew it would be impossible to see through. In April of 2001, my fears were realized: my ordination process came to a crashing halt when my home church – the church in which I had been born into, baptized, confirmed, and served in a variety of positions in my first 34 years – rejected my candidacy for ordained ministry. It was a crushing blow to have some of the same people who taught me about the radically inclusive nature of the Gospel say, “Oh yeah, we forget to mention that there’s no room for you in this realm.” Five months after their vote, I found myself back in my home town visiting. The Sunday of that visit, I felt called to go with my parents and older brothers to worship. I didn’t know how or why, but it felt like something might happen at the church that could facilitate my healing process. As the service was culminating, the words from today’s Gospel reading unexpectedly came to my mind: “When you enter a town and are not received, go out into the street and say, ‘The only thing we got from you is the dirt on our feet, and we’re giving it back” (Luke 10:10-11 from The Message). Consequently, at the end of the service I went outside and shook off the dust of my sandals. It was a liberative experience as the wisdom contained in Jesus’ words freed me to leave the tradition of my youth and move toward a place that could fully embrace both my understanding of the Gospel and my call to ordained ministry. My entire life and ministry changed in that simple moment of release! Perhaps there is an area in your life where you have felt the painful sting of rejection. You might even be clinging to that area in hopes that the situation will somehow resolve itself. If that’s the case, I would encourage you to at least begin opening yourself to the transformative possibilities that might happen if you find the courage to shake the dust from your sandals and move on. Til next time…

Sunday, May 24

Today’s Readings: Psalm 1; Acts 1:15-17; John 17:6-19; 1 John 5:9-13

Today, I am not giving a traditional reflection/sermon during worship. Therefore, I’ll include a short posting that captures the essence of what I will be doing during worship…

As a person who reached his teen age and young adult years during the 1980’s, I had the opportunity to witness the rise of the Religious Right. Ever since that time, the face of Christianity in our country has been incredibly fractured – at least that’s what the media would have us believe. You have the Religious Right on one extreme; the Religious Left on the other. You also have a growing amount of disaffected voices that fall someone between the two. Sadly, this has been the case for nearly 30 years now. Needless to say I get a little cynical when I read Jesus’ words proclaiming: “Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life that you conferred as a gift through me, so they can be of one heart and mind” (John 17:11 from The Message). “So they can be of one heart and mind..?” I find myself thinking. “Yeah, right – that’ll happen REAL soon!” As I sat with the Scriptures this week, however, I realized that one thing I love about corporate worship is that we get a tiny taste of what it might look like for a group of people to live in a space of one heart and mind. Each week as we participate in the Call to Worship and the Prayer of Confession, for instance, we hear disparate voices join together and become one. Each week as we hear the singing bowl call us to three minutes of silent prayer and reflection, we feel our scattered energies pull together and focus on the One. Today, as an act of experiencing what it means for the many to become one, we will engage in an age old worship experience called a Hymn Sing. It’s an opportunity to blend a variety of music styles and preferences together in order to produce one congregational experience of worship. My question then for you is this: “What might you do today to tangibly express Jesus’ call for his followers to ‘be of one heart and mind’?” Til next time…