Psalm 19:7-14 Clear Me From Hidden Faults

Observation: the first half of this song describes how the skies proclaim God's glory. The second half is from a human perspective, praising God's law. Better than gold, sweeter than honey, pointing out mistakes we make that we'd never see in ourselves.

Application: I am not sure I always see the law of God as sweet or valuable. Thing is, being wrong and making mistakes doesn't feel too terrible if you don't know you're doing it. In fact, it often feels good. It's being corrected that hurts. Dishing a little gossip, letting loose with a friend about your frustrations with coworkers, laughing a little...all that feels pretty good. What ruins everything is when your friend has to be "that person" and redirect the conversation, reminding you that this isn't exactly square with who God would have us be.

There isn't always an immediate "pay-off" in knowing God's law. A lot of times it reminds us we're falling short. Compared with the rush of self-righteousness that comes from pointing out others' faults, it's a buzz-kill. Until we realize that we're not just sinners, but sinners whom God has forgiven. Grace means nothing unless we know the sin it overcomes.

Prayer: God, thank you for the mirror of your law, to see I'm not perfect, but forgiven. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

Acts 4:13-31 Speaking With All Boldness

Observation: Peter and John have healed a paralyzed man in the Jerusalem temple in Jesus' name. When the religious authorities--the same people who orchestrated Jesus' death--tell them not to preach in Jesus' name anymore, Peter and John decide to listen to God instead of humans, "for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard." After somehow avoiding arrest, the apostles pray, not for safety from a very real danger, but for even more boldness to speak God's word.

Application: You know what? The more I watch what's going on around me, the more I get this paralyzing sense of anxiety, guilt and exhaustion. I know I'm not speaking out enough on behalf of people who are suffering very real harm in our society. Maybe some would call that "preaching politics," but I'm fairly sure Peter and John healing and preaching in the name of a man the Roman government recently crucified was seen as political also.

I need Peter and John's prayer today, not for safety from danger (my worst-case scenario is nowhere near as bad as theirs was anyway) but to speak God's word "with all boldness".

I think Peter and John were able to pray for boldness instead of safety because they knew the power of the story they had to tell. They had seen with their own eyes that Jesus had died, but was alive again. They were fresh from the miracle of Pentecost, where thousands heard God's word, and believed.

When I just pray for unity, for harmony, for peace, for everybody to "just get along," the subtle message I'm sending is that I don't really believe God's word can change lives and hearts. That it's more important not to offend people than to really speak the truth I find in God's word. But when I ask God to give me the guts to just tell the truth, well, I have to actually believe what Jesus says, that "the truth will set us free." That's a whole other thing. It's far from safe, but it's exactly what our world needs.

Prayer: Okay. Here goes...God, I want you to help me proclaim your word with all boldness. At least I want to want that. Maybe that's a start. Give me, and all who are reading this, some compassion, some discernment, and a whole lot of backbone, because the times require nothing less. Help us trust that your truth really does set us free. Amen. 

  

John 8:21-38 Jesus vs. Spiritual Entitlement

Observation: Jesus is arguing with the religious teachers of his day. He has the harshest judgements for them because they are the proudest of their status. They announce that they are "Children of Abraham," as though that status makes them free from sin. Jesus isn't buying it. Our family lineage doesn't automatically set us right with God or our neighbor.

Application: Growing up in the church, sometimes I thought of "Christian" almost as a cultural identifier rather than a faithful way of living. Something my family "was," rather than a dynamic relationship with God and my neighbor that requires my own commitment. People like me, who have "always" been Christian, have to fight against complacency and entitlement. Christian discipleship is not something that just "happens" because our families identifiy as Christian. And more importantly, being "native" to the Christian faith does not make it our personal domain, to which "newcomers" are merely "guests."

Jesus lays it out clearly: being connected to God is not a "right" to which we're entitled based on family ties, or religious rituals, or anything else. Only the Son--the Christ--is fully "at home" in God's house. Our welcome is based on his invitation. And thankfully, that's open to all.

Prayer: Jesus, keep me humble. Keep me thankful. Help me welcome others into faith, not as a "host" but as another guest, just glad to be at the table. Amen. 

2 Kings 11:21-12:16 Fixing the House

Observation: If you read the history of Judah's kings, a trend emerges. There are a lot fewer who "do what is right" in the sight of the Lord than "do wrong". But apparently Jehoash was one of the good ones. He commits to making repairs in the Jerusalem temple, and he holds his priests accountable to save the money they need from people's offerings to make it happen. No more melting down coins to make fancy bowls, snuffers, trumpets or anything else. The money goes straight to the workers, and the workers fix God's house.

Application: For as long as I've been in leadership in a church, I've heard over and over--largely from Christian leaders--that buildings can be a burden on real ministry. They're expensive. You have to heat them and cool them and clean them and plow their parking lots and shovel their sidewalks and, you know, pay for them, assuming your great great grandparents from the old country didn't raise them with their own two hands (which ushers in its own host of issues when you have to renovate).

It's pretty common that I'll hear, "gosh, I wish we could just get free of these golden calves, be like the early church, or like AA and meet in someone else's building; the church is a people after all, where two or more are gathered, etc, etc..." And to this, I say, "yes." Buildings can and do become a distraction sometimes, and the church is indeed the people, not the place where they meet. But let me also tell you, based on a year of working out of a Starbucks, with a few bins of hymnals and communion supplies (even the table) in the back of my tiny Scion Xa, to be moved in and out of a high school every single week: buildings can also be a tremendous ministry tool.

More and more Christian communities are by necessity figuring out who they are apart from their traditional meeting spaces. That's the chapter of ministry they are in, and he Spirit can and will still do amazing things through them. Let's hold them in prayer. But at the same time, what I get from this text in 2 Kings is that taking care of the space where we meet is an important ministry too. For congregations able to do it and keep it in perspective, it can be a tremendous tool for ministry, and those called to help maintain that tool are doing an essential ministry task. I'm thankful to God for the particular place where God calls us to meet on Sunday mornings, and for the ministry God calls us to beyond its walls.

Prayer: God, thank you for those who build, for those who clean, for those who repair, for those who raise money, those who give it, and those who are able to do important works of mercy and love, without giving a second thought to the logistics of how that happens every week. Help us be good stewards of the ministry places you have given to us. Especially, Lord, I want to lift up places of worship that were damaged or destroyed by the recent hurricane, that you would comfort and guide the churches who met there in the process of rebuilding. Amen.  

Psalm 119:33-40 Teach Me

Observation: This is part of the longest Psalm in the Bible, an acrostic love poem to God's law. I always find it strange at first to hear anyone write with such passion about laws and statutes--I never would have survived law school---but it's really less about memorizing rules and more about learning and growing in a better way of life.

Application: Protestant Christians like myself are trained to take a dim view of religious laws and "have-to's". Isn't that works righteousness? Still, learning a better way of life from God isn't about "earning" a seat in heaven, or anything else. It's a grateful response to God's grace. It's the joyous declaration, each day, that our lives can be fuller and more loving when we live in God's light.

Prayer: Teach me, Lord. Help me be more like you today than I was yesterday. Amen.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 Knowing Nothing

Observation: Paul writes about the time when he first met the members of what is now the Corinthian church. Instead of coming on "strong", with big confident rhetoric and lofty words, as other evangelists at the time were known to do, Paul didn't need to draw attention to his own skills as a public speaker. He decided to know nothing except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Application: It's a natural human thing to want to be acknowledged and appreciated. As a Christian leader, I wouldn't do very well if I wasn't at least comfortable sometimes being the center of attention. But honestly, like many people in leadership, I'd say "comfortable" isn't the half of it. I like preaching. I like having something helpful and relevant to say. And if I'm honest, I really like hearing about it when someone appreciates that. I'm human. I work hard. I like knowing it's not in vain.

But from Paul's words about knowing nothing but the crucified Christ, I get a helpful reminder that should come daily: it's not about me. The crucified one is infinitely more effective in changing people's lives than any smart words I have about him.

The only way to really make a difference is not to always have something cool and new and brilliant to say. It's to stick near the cross, and get out of the way so others can see.

Prayer: Jesus Christ, crucified one, you are my hope and the hope of the world. Let us rely on you alone. Amen. 

1 Kings 13:11-25 Know Yourself

Observation: I must have read this story before but I didn't remember it. A prophet is on his way back from delivering a message to the king of Israel. He's been told by the Lord not to eat or drink until he gets back home. Another prophet from that area invites him to his home to eat, presumably having heard that he's been told not to. The local prophet claims (falsely) that God told him it was fine and he should eat. So he does. And he gets eaten by a lion on his way home. Bummer.

Application: This is an interesting reflection on faith and personal experience. To be forthright, in my experience, it's not common for me to feel I'm hearing "directly" from God when I pray. I read scripture, I try to listen, I'll sometimes go over the events of the day and look for things that stand out, and when I get time I'll process them with friends or peers. I know there are some faith traditions in which a direct experience of hearing God's voice more common, but for me it isn't.

Still, even for those who do feel they hear from God often, this story is helpful. Sometimes two people will both claim to have heard from God, and heard contradicting things. It happens often in Church history. The English army did not exactly take Joan of Arc's word for it, nor was there much consensus among Northern and Southern preachers in the 1860s. When it comes down to it, you can't climb inside another person's mind and determine whether God has really spoken to them. But you can gather together around scripture and prayer, and commit to listening to each other and to God. Even then, consensus won't always come. But respect will.

It's important to trust that still, small voice in your heart that pushes you in the right direction, and not let anyone discredit it. But that's not the only voice God uses.

Prayer: God, speak to us. Not just me. Us. Help us learn to listen to you by listening to each other. Amen.

Romans 2:1-11 When it's Okay to Judge Someone

Observation: Paul is preparing to make the case that we are made right in our relationship with God only through grace, as a gift. But to get there, he has to prove that no one deserves it or has earned it. He uses an old standby, perhaps the oldest complaint about religious folks: they are hypocrites. They do the same things they condemn in others, and therefore are deserving of the same judgment. So when is it okay to judge someone?

Application: Never. It's never okay. It's never our job to judge another person. We can't evaluate another person's righteous behavior, relative to our own or anyone else's. Our own minds and hearts are too clouded by our own dysfunction and sin. Jesus said it best: don't worry about the splinter in your neighbor's eye until you've taken care of the log in your own.

I am not great at remembering this. It's hard not to notice when others behave in a cruel or selfish way, and even harder to see the many ways I do the same thing. I need to be spending time in God's Word as a reality check, to put the brakes on my hypocrisy.

Prayer: God, help me look at my own sin first...and second...and as many times as needed to truly understand your grace for me, so I no longer feel like judging anyone else. Amen. 

Psalm 106:47-48 Blessed Be

Observation: Psalm 106 is historical. It recounts the many ways God delivered Israel, and yet the people rebelled over and over. At the end, the author asks for God to do it again: "Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us in from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise."

Application: I know this song best from a camp song, "Blessed Be." It's amazing how much of God's Word you can know by heart if it comes along with three chords.

Psalms are songs. The original tunes are lost to history, but people of faith have sung them for thousands of years. It's how ancient people passed down their faith.  What this song reminds me of today is what a powerful teaching tool music is. I'd venture to say most Christians have a few key verses committed to memory--maybe  John 3:16, Psalm 23, Matthew 6:9-13--but beyond that, most of what we know is music.

This isn't a guilt trip about worshipping weekly (though that honestly helps) or a tirade against contemporary music (plenty of modern praise music, though not all, is very scriptural). It's just a reminder that we learn our faith by singing. God's Word shows up there in a special way.

Prayer: God, teach us to sing together. Amen.

1 Peter 2:9-15 Suffering Unjustly

Observation: The author encourages slaves to accept their master's authority, and following Christ's example, to accept suffering, knowing he suffered for doing the right thing, too.

Application: I'd have an easier time with this passage if it were general ethical advice for anyone, rather than specifically aimed at slaves. In a system that history has proven intrinsically unjust, can any suffering really be "just"?

Still, the point of the passage holds for my life. I have a lot more control over my life circumstances than a slave would. But everyone has some suffering come into their life over which they don't have control. If we suffer due to our own bad choices, we have ourselves to blame. But if we suffer even though we're doing the right thing, we know that God will still be a just judge.

Prayer: God, help me focus less on circumstances I can't control, and more on my attitude and my conduct, which I can. Amen.