Thursday, January 22

Today’s Readings: Psalm 109; Jonah 1:1-16; John 2:23-3:15; 1 Corinthians 3:10-17; Psalm 139

Over the years, I’ve found that many lay people have a huge misconception about those of us who are pastors. Most folks assume that the vast majority of us receive our calls very early in life and that we whole-heartedly embrace our calls from the moment we receive them. I have found that’s often not the case. While many of us do have a sense of call that emerges fairly early in our lives, many of us spend years doing every thing within our power to resist that call. And why is that? I suppose it has to do with sensing the magnitude of the call. That’s one reason I love the book of Jonah. It presents a realistic portrayal of an individual responding to his or her call. Of course pastors aren’t the only ones in life who receive calls. I believe that every person has a call. For some that call is to be a parent, for some it’s to be a doctor, and for others it’s to be an unpaid caregiver for a loved one... And many individuals unconsciously find themselves doing what we pastors do in response to our call – running away from them! Today, I would invite you to spend some time meditating on what you feel is your call. Once you’ve spent some time contemplating your call, pay attention to your first response to that call. If you find yourself starting to run, know that if it is truly your call – chances are things will work out: whether you cooperate initially or not. Til next time…

Wednesday, January 21

Today’s Readings: Psalm 22:1-31; Isaiah 49:1-7; John 2:13-22; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

In the 1990’s a trend started within many of the mega-churches in our country. In an attempt to meet every perceived need of those attending, they started bringing in goods and services for their members. This was an intentional part of their growth strategy. Some churches, for instance, would bring in bookstores that sold books and a variety of religious goods. Other churches then went the next step and brought in coffee shops so people didn’t have to stop at Starbuck’s on their way to church. As someone who LOVES his coffee, I can certainly understand the appeal of such a decision! All of this, however, created an atmosphere of “one-stop shopping” in some of our churches that went unquestioned for over a decade because – from all outward appearances – such an approach seemed to work. The mega-churches grew like wildfire during the 1990’s! But does just because something “works” mean that is a healthy spiritual approach? I would say no. Today’s reading from John raises the question about what is/is not a healthy approach toward building spiritual community. In that passage, Jesus made it clear that there were more important things than simply the wants of the individual that should drive the life of a faith community - the primarily thing being the integrity of the house of worship. As you look to create spiritual community in your own life, what are you looking for? Are you looking for a “shopping mall” that can promise to meet all of your personal wants, or are you looking for a place that helps you connect with God? There’s an important difference between those approaches. Til next time…

Tuesday, January 20

Today’s Readings: Psalm 102; Isaiah 48:12-22; John 2:1-12; 1 Corinthians 2:10-16; Psalm 119:153-176

I have had mixed feelings in the days leading up to today’s Inauguration. I can certainly celebrate the fact that we have overcome a significant barrier that has blocked the full participation of many Americans in our society over the past three hundred plus years: race. As I hear people swept up in the excitement over the Inauguration talk, however, I am deeply saddened that they don’t realize that while one barrier has been overcome – many other structural barriers still exist. Today, for instance, we inaugurate someone who has made his strong support of segregation publically known (i.e. marriage for opposite gender relationships and civil unions for same-gender relationships). This saddens me more than I can put into words. So how do I deal with my mixed emotions on this day? Well, I do so by acknowledging that no human being (myself included) is ever going to fully get “it”. Every last one of us will have areas of our life where we extend the fullness of God’s love and grace, and every last one of us will have areas that are blind spots: areas where we refuse to extend the fullness of God’s love and grace to others. This includes our president-elect. The beauty of today’s timely reading from Isaiah is that it reminds us that in spite of those limitations, God can still work through us. God was able to use Cyrus – an imperfect leader from Babylon – to help get the Israelites back to Israel. Just think what God could accomplish through you and I. Today, as we inaugurate a new era of leadership in this country, my hope and prayer is that we will ground ourselves in the One (and only) place the fullness of our faith ought to lie: God. Til next time…

Monday, January 19

Today’s Readings: Psalm 58; Isaiah 48:1-11; John 1:43-51; 1 Corinthians 2:1-9; Psalm 8

The passage from John starts innocently enough. We hear of Jesus’ encounter with Philipp that ends with the seemingly innocent words “Come and follow me” (John 1:44 from The Message). I say “seemingly innocent words” because you truly never know where those words will take you when you first say them. Let me give you an example of what I mean. In the early 1990’s, I was a newly appointed member of the City of Spokane’s Human Rights Commission. The Commissioners became aware of an anti-gay training event that was being held at one of the local businesses in our community. Human rights activists from throughout the community decided to stage a peaceful protest to show that the event did not represent the values of our larger community. Shortly before the protest was to begin, however, we got word that members of the white-supremacist group The Aryan Nations (the Aryan Nations compound was about 45 minutes away) would be in attendance. They promised that blood would be spilled if any protesters had the nerve to show up. Each of us protesters had to decide if the decision to show up was worth it. In virtually every case, it was. Thankfully, the members of the Aryan Nations didn’t show up in force; they were used simply as a smokescreen to try to intimidate us. Those moments leading up to the protest were some of the richest moments in my spiritual life as they helped ground me in the reality that this thing called discipleship (this following Jesus) isn’t always easy. As Martin Luther King, Jr. and his associates showed us, there is often a price to pay. Today, I would ask you to consider two questions. First, when you hear those words resonate across the millennia – “Come and follow me” – what are their implications for your life? Second, where do you think those words might take you? Til next time…