But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.” - Hebrews 1:8-9

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 31, 2018): Hebrews 1

Jared Brock in “A Year of Living Prayerfully” comments that “there is a season for everything under the sun—even when we can’t see the sun.” Dark nights of the soul exist in every life. We have no defense, no behavioral trait that will make us immune, and no drug that can completely remove the times from our lives. The frequency may change from person to person, but not the existence of those moments when we can no longer see the sun.

Today is Black Saturday. It is the day that Jesus spent in the grave. Today is Christianity’s “dark night of the soul.” For this moment in time, there simply is no sun – or son. The Son of God for this moment lays in a cold grave. The disciples are scattered and scared. Each one of them is experiencing their own dark nights of the soul when the sun simply refuses to shine. It almost seems inconceivable that on this day of all days our scripture text takes us to the author of Hebrews’ quoting of a wedding Psalm written by the Sons of Korah- and a passage that C. S. Lewis considered to be an appropriate Christmas reading.

The author of Hebrews quotes from Psalm 45. And the Psalm, as already mentioned a wedding Psalm, starts out speaking of a remarkable young man. Through the first few verses, the Psalm could be speaking about a man, admittedly a special man, yet still an example of the human species. But with the words the author quotes here, all of that changes. This Psalm about a remarkable young man becomes unintelligible if it is still a man, and not God, about whom the writer of the Psalm is speaking. Sometimes it is easy to imagine that the early Christians went randomly through the Tanakh searching for references that might point toward Jesus. But this is often not the case. The change in the tone of the Psalm has long made Psalm 45 a Messianic reading, even centuries before the birth of Jesus. What the author of Hebrews does is take this text which has already been declared by Jewish expositors as Messianic, and makes the application to the life of Jesus. He reminds his readers that there is a grand set of reading from the Tanakh that applies to the Messiah, and therefore should apply to Jesus.

For us today, it is a reminder that even on this dark day, Jesus still reigns. It is a salve to heal our “dark night of the soul” by reminding us that there is still more to come, more that starts tomorrow.

But that should also be left for tomorrow. We, like the disciples, have a hope that is based on all that has been written. Today we have faith in the prophets and in God. But today we are also reminded that in every life there are days when the sun does not shine. But the existence of those days do not change our reality. Even with the Messiah lying dead in the grave, we have hope for tomorrow. We can go on with the strength that God has given us, and believing in every word written by long dead prophets.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Hebrews 2

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. – 2 Peter 3:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 30, 2018): 2 Peter 3

Today is Good Friday. I sometimes find it interesting to think about what the disciples might have been going through at this moment in time. I am not sure that any of them had gotten much sleep since the nap they couldn’t seem to avoid while Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Since then, their world had fallen apart, beginning with the betrayal of a trusted friend, the arrest of Jesus, the scattering of the apostle, the denial of Peter and then the execution of Jesus like a criminal. There had been a trial and a sentence of death. All of the disciples, except John, had gone into hiding. I can see them sitting in dark corners with the doors and windows closed just hoping that no one would come knocking. The fear in those rooms would have been palpable.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t seen the moment coming. Thomas had prophesied of this very moment just as the disciples made their turn to begin to walk toward Jerusalem (John 11:16). But somehow knowing that a moment is going to arrive and watching the events actually take place are two very different things.

I wonder as Passover approached if maybe the disciples started to believe that they were going to get out of this situation with their lives. After all, they knew that Jesus was the Messiah and that everything was under his control. He had fought with the religious elite in the Temple all week, and yet they had not made a move against him. Now it was just a matter of celebrating Passover, and then, three days from now, they would be able to leave Jerusalem for the relative safety of Galilee.

But then their world fell apart. Everything had ended so quickly, the disciple’s lives had been stolen away from them just as a thief sneaks in and takes away the belongings of his victim while the owner of the house and his family are asleep. And now, only John showed up for the crucifixion. Only John was prepared to watch this final act in the life of his rabbi, Jesus. In reality, John was probably too young to believe that anything bad could really happen to him. But the rest of the followers understood how bad things could get and were now hiding behind locked doors.

Maybe Peter was reliving that moment as he wrote these words. Just as Jesus was stolen from us on that Good Friday, so when he returns it will be a surprise. He will come when we least expect it. Only this time, there will be no place to hide. All of the happenings in the heavens and on the earth will be laid bare, and everything will be seen as it really is. There will be no warning. Oh, there will be Thomases that walk among us who will suspect something is about to happen, there will be those who will attempt to pin it down and tell us the date and time, but none of that will matter. When Jesus returns, it will be a surprise to all of us, just as his leaving was, even though the moment was expected, a surprise to the disciples. For some, this moment will be one of terror, but for all, it will be a surprise.

After all, this is the essential meaning of Good Friday. Jesus death is the down payment that God made on our lives. And if he died and rose, then have no doubt that he will return, like a thief in the night, to take us where he is.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Hebrews 1

It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. – 2 Peter 2:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 29, 2018): 2 Peter 2

French Dramatist Jean Anouilh commented that “there is love of course. And then there’s life, it’s enemy.” So much of the mundane things of life seems to drag us away from love. We get too busy to love; too preoccupied with the things necessary for life to spend the time necessary for love. We can give pretty speeches, we can argue that love is the answer that this world needs to survive, and then walk into the world and have that love stolen from us by the mundane things that are part of life. We get lost in life and never find our way back to love.

In the Christian Church, we have an ongoing argument on whether or not it is possible to lose our salvation. The idea behind the argument is that if you have truly known the love of God, is it possible to walk away from that love? One side argues that it is not. If you have really accepted the love God into your life, then you will never leave it. They state clearly that once you are saved, you will always be saved. Who, knowing that kind of love could turn their back on it.

The other side argues that it is possible to walk away from God. They can cite many examples of Christians who did exactly that. Those who argue that once you know the love of God, you cannot walk away say that these people never truly knew God. But the second side disagrees. It is not that we live in perilous fear of losing everything that we have gained in Christ; one mistake is not enough for us to lose our salvation. But sometimes life gets in the way. Sometimes, moment by moment, the mundane interferes with our experience of love. Anouilh was right; life is the enemy of love. And over time we find that we no longer remember the love that we once knew. We have walked away slowly, either of our own volition or because we have been lured away by the mundane demands of life. But either way, we have lost our salvation.

Peter argues that once you have turned away, once the love that you had once known becomes just a dream, it is worse than if you had never known that that kind of love ever existed. It is one thing to fantasize about what does not exist and quite a different thing to have a dream-like memory of something that you can’t seem to achieve once more in your existence. Once life steals our knowledge of love, that love is almost impossible to recapture.

Today is Maundy Thursday; the day before Good Friday. The word Maundy is from the Latin “mandatum,” a word from which we get the English word “mandate.” The origin of this Maundy Thursday comes from the Last Supper Discourse in the Gospel of John - “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35). God who loves us gives us the mandate to share that love. The task is harder than we sometimes believe. Too often life once more gets in our way. But this is not a suggestion; it is a command – go and love.

So Welcome to Maundy Thursday. I do not doubt that life will attempt to stop you from your task today, but love anyway because the truth is that for those who have lost their way, the only path back is to experience that love once more in their lives. And this is the mandate of the church; to love when love is hard, and to show those who have lost their love to the demands of life that there is a way back to God. And love is that way.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 3

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: … 2 Peter 1:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 28, 2018): 2 Peter 1

If we are to believe the critics of the Bible, like the author Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code), the decision of which books to accept and reject as biblical canon was made in a small, smoke-filled (probably not) room filled with insiders of the Christian Church. These men shaped the course of the Christian Church because only they possessed the power to choose which books would be accepted and which would be rejected. Ever since then, the Church has followed their theology and has rejected the theology of many other learned men who taught in the early days of the church. According to Brown, this discussion happened at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Of course, Dan Brown is a writer of fiction (and just as a disclaimer, while I reject Dan Brown’s picture of early church history, his books are very entertaining).

As far as we know, The Council of Nicaea never discussed the issue of biblical canon. But that does not mean that there was not an intense discussion around the issue during the first three centuries of the Christian Church. But the argument was not, as Dan Brown argues, around the kind of church that would emerge as a result of the picking of the canon. As far as we can tell, theology was not a consideration in choosing the canonical books; the deciding factor was authorship. The early church fathers were willing to accept any books that were written by someone who had walked with Jesus. They did not seem to care about the theology of those who had not known him during his time on the earth. And so much of the discussion around the selection of canon was focused on who wrote the book. The first time a list of canonical books appeared that included all of the books that we now consider to be canonical and none of the ones that have been excluded was in an Easter Letter written by Bishop Athanasius in 367 C.E.

So, of the twenty-seven canonical books, the traditional understanding of authorship breaks down this way.

            Paul – 13 books

            John – 5 books (The Gospel of John, the three letters of John, and Revelation)

            Luke – 2 books (The Gospel of Luke and Acts)

            James (the brother of Jesus) – 1 book

            Jude (the brother of Jesus) – 1 book

            Matthew the disciple – 1 book (the Gospel of Matthew)

            Mark – 1 book (the Gospel of Mark)

            Peter – 2 books (the letters of Peter)

Hebrews – the only anonymous book of the Christian Testament. Originally Paul was thought to be the author, but that appears to have been a ploy to get a much-loved book of Jesus into the canon. We really don’t know who wrote it. I believe that it might have been written by Prisca or Priscilla, but admittedly that is more of an emotional choice rather than one based on any empirical evidence. (Athanasius lists Hebrews as a letter belonging to Paul.)

Over the intervening centuries, the choices of the early church in choosing the canon have been re-examined from every angle, but no changes have been made. All of the books in consideration for the canon that were left out of the canon by the early church, and this was very much a church conversation, were omitted over issues of authorship.

We still argue over the authorship of many of the books in the Christian Testament. And one of the weakest books according to modern experts is Second Peter. The problem is that the letter does not sound anything like First Peter. But there is also possibly a very good reason for this. It is likely that Peter used a secretary to write the letter, and it is also possible that he gave this secretary great latitude over the final form of the letter.  This would result in a very different sounding letter.

But while the argument for the Petrine authorship of Second Peter is among the weakest of the canonical books, it is important to note that the argument supporting Peter as the author of the letter is incredibly stronger than that of any of the excluded books. If Peter wrote the letter, as is traditionally assumed, then he wrote it close to 68 C.E., the year that Peter was likely executed for his faith by Emperor Nero. (Nero committed suicide on June 9, 68 C.E.) Peter seemed to understand that his end was coming, and he needed to get one last message out to the Church of Jesus Christ.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 2

When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments. – 2 Timothy 4:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 27, 2018): 2 Timothy 4

The great Sherlock Holmes, or Arthur Conan Doyle, believed that “To a great mind, nothing is little.” If we are observant, there are always little cues that tell us a lot. But we have to be willing to look and listen.

There is so much that we do not know about Paul’s final days. Did he make it to Spain after he was released from his prison episode in Rome is a question that has been asked without a satisfactory answer for centuries. But in this simple comment, Paul gives us some details on how his last days were spent.

The first thing we should note is that Paul likely had advance knowledge of his final arrest (we do not know if Paul realized that this would be his final arrest.) We know that the prophet Agabus warned Paul of his upcoming arrest in Jerusalem (Acts 21) and so it is possible that something similar might have happened just before this arrest. It was common practice for soldiers to arrest someone and take any property possessed by the prisoner as their own. So Paul’s comment here seems to indicate that Paul was warned, of his upcoming arrest, at Troas and was able to give some of his more prized possessions to a friend before they were claimed by the soldiers. Some argue that Paul was likely arrested at Troas, but that doesn’t necessarily follow. He might have been arrested at Troas, but the actual arrest may have happened later. All we know is that Paul was warned of his upcoming arrest and was able to give some of his possessions to a friend named Carpus before his arrest.

Second, while it seemed that Paul understood that his life was coming to an end (I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. – 2 Timothy 4:6-7), he remained a student to the very end. He wanted the books he had left at Troas brought to him, and especially his parchments, which would have been Paul’s copy of the Tanakh, or the Old Testament. Just because his life was coming to an end did not stop the Apostle’s thirst for knowledge. Even late in his life, he had more that he wanted to know about his God. For Paul, the need to learn more never ended.

Our need to learn should never end either. There should never be a point in our lives when we have learned enough about our God. We need to give in to our thirst to learn more.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 1

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted … - 2 Timothy 3:12

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 26, 2018): 2 Timothy 3

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in “The Cost of Discipleship” writes that “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Bonhoeffer was executed during World War II; it was his cost of discipleship. But his words sound different in a society that seems to want to follow Christ for the benefits and tends to overlook the cost often. Of course, it is not just Bonhoeffer’s words that sound different. In “Tortured for Christ” Richard Wurmbrand tells of the cost for preaching in the Communist prison camps. Wurmbrand had declared that Christianity and Communism were incompatible, a crime that would find him sentenced to twenty-five years in the labor camps. (He would serve eight and a half years of his sentence.) In prison, the preaching of the Gospel of Christ was outlawed. Anyone who was found preaching would be given a severe beating. For Wurmbrand and several others, that beating was simply the cost of doing what God had called them to do. And so they preached, and then submitted themselves for their punishment. For Wurmbrand, the cost of following Christ during those eight and a half years was something that he would carry with him for the rest of his life. He carried the scars of the beating and torture until the day that he died. I sometimes wonder what Bonhoeffer and Wurmbrand might think of the reasons that we give for not preaching Jesus, or even mentioning his name, in our workplaces and societal gathering spots.

Paul understood. He writes to Timothy that every Christian should expect persecution. Often in our society, some outside of our faith refer to our belief in God as a crutch indicating that we are weak if we need to rely on such an outdated faith. But the reality is that it takes incredible strength to be a Christian. Being a Christian often means separating ourselves from issues and political groups because their aims to not match the purposes to which our God has called us. We are committed to living a lifestyle that is not easy to live. We cannot be warmongers because we have been called to be peacemakers. We do not support any retributive justice because we have been called to a ministry of reconciliation. As the world calls us to be bigots, we bravely support the equality of all people, regardless of age, gender, race, limitations or even sexual preference. In the face of hate, we must stand up and love.

None of these things are easy. All of them require a strength that is much deeper than that which we possess. But we have been called. And, with God’s strength added to ours, we will make a difference in this world. Persecution for a godly reason will always be welcomed. It is our badge of honor. And even in the face of that persecution, we will demand that this world be rebuilt into a better place, a place of love, mercy, and peace.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 4

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. – 2 Timothy 2:24

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 25, 2018): 2 Timothy 2

They gather around the things that they are opposed to full of anger. They lift their protest signs and shout their slogans. It often seems that, in the midst of their confrontation, they have finally found the place where they are truly happy. And there is nothing that they want more than for the confrontation to somehow continue. Or when the battle ends, they search for something else against which they can take a stand.

I understand that if it were possible to interview them in the midst of their most angst-filled moments, it would not be happy thoughts that we would receive in response. They would stress that they are trying to change the way that the world works. Sometimes these people believe that they are the instruments of God’s terrible judgment on the earth. But the reality is that they are neither.

I don’t care what the “hot button topic” might be, direct negative or violent confrontation rarely brings the desired result. Oh, we may be able to coerce a change in behavior with our weapons, threats, or even the overwhelming force of our personality; it is possible, given enough force, to coerce a behavior into the shadows or underground, but nothing has truly changed. And once the weapons or the threat has been removed, once the coercion disappears, everything will return to the way it used to be. If anything, these kinds of confrontations drive us further apart. If the issue is abortion, then the shouting and screaming and chaining of ourselves to equipment is more likely to entrench the various positions then bring unity. The Christian Church’s stand against same-sex sexual intimacy, often with violent and unnecessary rhetoric, has not brought the two sides closer together, it has driven us further apart. There is no solution. We simply make sure that our side of the issue is firmly entrenched. We go to battle with our favorite Bible verses proceeding like a sword from our mouths and wait for God’s wrath to devour our enemies.

Welcome to our world. Except that Paul seems to argue that it shouldn’t be this way, that this world of violent coercion is not the Christian Church; it is not the way that we do things. We don’t shout from the pulpits and call down hellfire on those who will not listen to our message. We step up with love, we are not quarrelsome, but instead, we kindly and quietly open the discussion, as much willing to listen as we are to speak. In this, we teach, not necessarily what it is that we think that they, our opponent, should do, but rather the reasons for our own personal belief. And maybe they, or us, gently change our opinions, even just a little. But no matter the result, Paul’s instructions leave us not as entrench enemies after the discussion, but maybe a little better friends with an increased understanding of the beliefs on both sides of the argument.

Personally, I have been ashamed of the way that the church has handled the abortion issue over the past few decades. Often, in the midst of the conflict, I wonder where Jesus would be? Would he carry the signs with images of aborted fetuses adorned with the word murder? Would he defend the practice, arguing that woman should be able to do what she wants with her own body? I can’t see Jesus doing either of these things. I can see him in the waiting room holding the scared little girls, because most of them are, and whispering in their ears, “No matter what happens in the next few moments, I am with you, and I love you. You are important to me.” And then I wonder if he looks over his shoulder and wonders why the Christians are still shouting their slogans outside of the clinic walls. Why is it that those who profess to be his followers refuse to love those who need to feel that love the most? I wish I knew the answer, but the reality is that we only seem willing to dig our trenches just a little deeper.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 3

Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. – 2 Timothy 1:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 24, 2018): 2 Timothy 1

In “The Little Mermaid” Hans Christian Anderson asserts “a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more.” We often forget, in a culture that seems to have a negative relationship with emotion, the importance of our tears. Not only are our tears important as a relief valve for our emotions, but they also signal the depth of our emotions for those in our circles of influence. A world without tears would indeed be a painful place to live. But tears also indicate what it is that we find important.

We have no idea of the context of the tears as Paul begins his letter to Timothy, but we suspect that these tears were shed when Paul and Timothy last left each other’s company. Even the exact circumstances of that meeting are lost to history. Maybe the tears were a result of the importance that the two men placed on the each other or maybe Timothy’s tears were due to the younger man having to leave his mentor in a bad circumstance, such as leaving his mentor in prison after a visit Timothy could have made to Rome. But no matter the reason, Timothy’s tears affected Paul.

And now Paul, remembering the tears, wanted to replace that memory with the joy of seeing Timothy once again. Paul had close connections with Timothy’s family and remembered the pastor repeatedly in his prayers. But nothing replaced the privilege of spending time in the presence of Timothy, a man that Paul loved like a son and had grown to deeply respect.

We have no idea if there ever was a joy-filled reunion between the two men, but if we had to guess the answer is likely no. Second Timothy is the last letter that we have in our possession penned by Paul. There may have been others, but we just don’t know. There is some evidence that, once Paul was released from his prison cell, he went on to Spain and spent a short period there. And then, as he returned to Rome and maybe on his way to see Timothy in Ephesus, where Paul had entrusted the Ephesian church to his leadership, Paul was once again arrested. This time his prison sentence would end with the apostle’s execution.

It is maybe interesting to note that while we think of Timothy being a young man as Paul writes his letters to him, the reality is that Timothy was likely around fifty as Paul sends him this letter. But that does not change Paul’s memory of his student, maybe proving that we are always young to the ones who have spent a portion of their lives teaching us. Youth is indeed a relative thing.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 2

In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. - Titus 2:7-8

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 23, 2018): Titus 2 & 3

Travel writer Rick Steeves says that “Self-consciousness kills communication.” I am not sure that he is right. Self-consciousness, or maybe better put, thinking before we speak or measuring our words, often kills misunderstanding, confusion, conflict, and other forms of miscommunication. I think, to Steeves point, it also kills some of the fun of communication (I mean, how would we deride our political leaders if they never misspoke), but the reality is that it is hastily spoken words that threaten to bring down our reputations. And for leaders of any kind, the danger is magnified.

The problem with the words we speak is that they can never be completely erased. In our digital age, I am always warning people about what they write on their social media accounts. There is no such thing as a “private message” because anything that is written can be shared. And while this danger is most obvious with the things that we write down, the danger is also present with the words that we speak. In politics, we often see political communication officers trying to walk something back that has been said, or written. But those hastily spoken words are impossible to walk back completely. We always leave the impression that what we said was what we believe, and that the walked back version of our words are only present because of expediency. And again, we return to Steeves’s accusation that “self-consciousness kills communication.” If what we speak first is always the truth, then maybe he his right. But often those words that we have to walk back are not what we truly believe, although, in the end, we have to work to defend them.

Paul, speaking to a young pastor, instructs him to possess integrity in his teachings and to exhibit a soundness of speech that cannot be condemned. As I write, I have to admit that I liberally use my backspace button on my keyboard, constantly questioning what it is that I really want to say. Sometimes I know I hit some hot topics. And if what I am writing is truly what I believe, then I am okay with that. If I am condemned, I want it to be for a hill on which I am willing to die – a message that carries that level of importance. For instance, I hope that frequent readers of this blog clearly understand that I believe in the primacy of love. If you want to criticize me because you believe that hate is appropriate in some circumstances, I am okay with having that discussion. But the primacy of love is a hill on which I am willing to die, and it is an issue for which I believe I have strong biblical support. I would not want any hastily chosen words to destroy that message. I believe in love.

As a people, I am convinced that we are called to be a people who chooses their words carefully. We are to be a people who infrequently have to walk our words back because we are careful with what we say. We understand the weight of our words, and so we decide to use them carefully. We speak with an important message on our lips, and we know that every word counts.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 1

To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. – Titus 1:15

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 22, 2018): Titus 1

The most famous line of Oscar Wilde’s four-act comedy “Lady Windemere’s Fan” also sums up the play’s central theme; “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” The only difference seems to be whether we tend to look down or look up. We are often taught that this difference often divides this world into two types of people: the pessimists and the optimists. But the world never seems to be equally divided between the two groups; it always seems that there are more pessimists than there are optimists.  

Paul seems to be making the argument that as Christians we should be optimists, that we are the ones who see what is pure and positive in the world around us, which seems opposed to most Christians that I know. If we are honest, we seem to be a very pessimistic bunch. We always seem to expect the worst of each other, and often argue that no one’s motives are pure. But Paul argues that that is a symptom of our corruption and not a sign that we have been recreated by the work of the Holy Spirit that lives in us. We believe that all things, at the very least, have the potential to be pure and right. And our belief is based on the God who is active in our lives. We might be stuck in the gutter, but all we can see are the stars.

Every person we meet is loaded with this God-driven potential. No matter how badly our opponents want to characterize us as lonely bitties sticking our noses into everyone else’s business and preaching a message that is stuck on the reality of hell, that is not who we are supposed to be. We are the ones who are looking at the stars and expecting great things of everyone. Because our concentration is on the stars, we expect this world to be a better place. We reject the idea that the world is out to get us, and we want to be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem.

And so we work with a single purpose, to make this world into the place that God desires it to be. We are the ones who see the purity of God’s creation all around us. We believe that love is a positive weapon that can change the world because Jesus believed that. And nothing will stop us from reaching for the stars. We are salt of the earth and the light of the world. We are the ones destined to bring both flavor and light to our communities. We are the optimists who believe that this world can be a better place – a pure place. And we aren’t waiting for heaven.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Titus 2 & 3

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. – 1 Peter 4:9

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 21, 2018): 1 Peter 4 & 5

Economist David Stockman had some interesting words for the President of the United States just before his March 2018 announcement of steel and aluminum tariffs. He called the steel industry the “crybabies of the beltway” and declared that, while the United States does need to fix its massive trade deficit, a tariff on steel and aluminum would not even begin to fix the problem. According to Stockman, the steel and aluminum deficit amounted to little more than a pebble in the shoe. While, because of an active lobby presence in Washington, the steel and aluminum industry could cause great pain, steel and aluminum was not the real problem. But the lobby had found a sucker, the President of the United States, who somehow believed that his tariff on Steel and Aluminum was the first step toward fixing the massive trade imbalance of the United States. The real problem was being left unchecked, which according to Stockman was the relative strengths, or more precisely the artificial weaknesses, of foreign currency and the inability of American industry to find a way to remain competitive on the world stage. That was what needed to be fixed, not the steel industry. (Stockman also pointed out that the Steel industry has promised to become more competitive for the last fifty years, but lobbying the President was simply easier than fixing their industry.)

It is amazing how the little things can upset all that we try to accomplish. Stockman argued that the steel industry was essentially looking for an easy way out of its trouble. They had become an irritant, and the irritant had stolen the focus away from the real problem. They were a pebble in the shoe.

Hospitality is one of the prime focuses of the Christian Church. If a church wants to follow the command of Christ and love, then it must participate in hospitality. Hospitality is an act of welcoming and doing for the other. It is not something that we understand very well in North American culture. Part of the problem is that we have become very egocentric. We don’t care about the other; our main focus has become ourselves.

It wasn’t that long ago that hospitality looked something like this. Someone came over to your home; you offered them a cup of coffee (or tea). You did this because it is the hospitable thing to do. Your visitor politely declines, because that is also the polite thing to do. But you insist. “Are you sure you don’t want some coffee?” Your visitor declines once more. So you continue, “Well, you know, I was going to make myself some coffee anyway.” Your visitor replies “Well, if it’s no trouble.” And before you know it you are sitting at the kitchen table having a nice visit drinking coffee.

Today, a typical visit looks like this. “Would you like a cup of coffee?” “No thank you.” And there the visit ends. No one gets any coffee. Nor is there any vulnerability by the lowering of walls so that we can really get to know each other. And often today the persistence is replaced by grumbling. And grumbling, by its very nature, destroys the hospitality. It is a small thing, but it removes our focus from where it needs to be. This world would be a much nicer place if we could just offer hospitality to each other, without grumbling or snapping, and simply do for each other. But that kind of hospitality seems to be lost in yesteryear, but something that badly needs to be revived in our contemporary society.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Titus 1

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. – 1 Peter 3:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 20, 2018): 1 Peter 3

One of Judaism’s greatest teachers was Hillel, the Elder. Hillel was born in Babylon around 110 B.C.E., and his life is thought to mirror that of Moses. Both Moses and Hillel lived 120 years, and both find their lives easily broken up into thirds consisting of forty years each. For Moses, those thirds are forty years in Pharaoh’s palace, forty years living as a shepherd in the wilderness, and then forty years as Israel’s spiritual adviser and Great Law Giver. For Hillel, he lived forty years in Babylon, forty years studying in Israel, and then forty years as Israel’s greatest spiritual adviser and preeminent teacher on the Law of Moses.

But one story of Hillel, the Elder sets him in direct contrast to another of Israel’s great teachers from that time, a teacher named Shammai. According to legend, a man approached both men asking them to teach him the Law of Moses, or the Torah, while standing on one foot. The question was, in itself, presumptuous. It was essentially asking these teachers, who had spent their lives studying and learning the Torah, to give him all that was contained in their life’s work in a very short period of time. According to legend, Shammai dismissed the man. Hillel, on the other hand, answered his challenge with these words; "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn."

There are so many people around me that seem to be wrapped up in what it means to follow God and do his will. Often they are worried that they have not kept enough of his law. Yet, the words of Hillel the Elder still ring true. "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn."

Peter, a few decades after the death of Hillel the Elder, and maybe a few years after the death of Shammai, seems to side with Hillel on this issue. This is what you need to know. As you live your life, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble, understand what it is like to walk in their shoes. You can almost hear the words of Hillel ringing through in Peter’s teaching. "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah.” Peter’s inclusion of this thought in his letter indicates that it is not just the whole of the Torah, it is the whole of Christian thought as well.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 4 & 5

For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. – 1 Peter 2:25

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 19, 2018): 1 Peter 2

Pastor Brian Zahnd insists that “The majority is almost always wrong. The crowd is untruth. Scapegoating is demonic.” If he is right, then what does that indicate for the populist movements that seem to be springing up all over the world. Can the will of the people really be trusted? I am not sure that I know the answer to the question. I am not undemocratic, I believe in free and fair elections. President Trump’s “jokes” about consolidating power and becoming “President for Life” fill me with more fear than you can imagine, and yet I have to admit that I often don’t know what is best for my country. And I am not sure that any one person really does. Leadership of a nation cannot be given to any populist movement because we will invariably get it wrong. While I think that Trump’s “drain the swamp” has appeal, even I know that a swamp serves a purpose in our ecological system. I do not need a politician who will do what I think is right; I need a politician who I can trust to do right things.

It was interesting as President Trump ramped up his rhetoric threatening a new trade war a couple of weeks ago, we started to relive Trade Wars of the past. And one of the quotes remembered by the news media (or fake news depending on which side of the argument you might be on) was from President Richard Nixon. (Now there is a president we need to emulate, who doesn’t need a little Tricky Dicky on their side – sarcasm in case you missed it.) According to Nixon, he engaged in Trade Wars to get the votes of the uninformed. And that forms the problem of the populist movement; it is based on the votes of the uninformed. But the other side of the problem is equally as daunting. We have no idea who it is that we can trust to do the right thing.

Peter closes off this section of his letter by expounding on Isaiah 53, a section of Isaiah’s prophecy that we know as the “Suffering Servant” passage. Partially based on Peter’s letter, Christians have long considered the “Suffering Servant” passage of Isaiah to be a prophecy about Jesus. And Isaiah writes this about the people –

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him 

the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).

All of us have taken a path not meant for us. We have done what seems right to us. And yet it is wrong. Isaiah’s words aptly sum up the contemporary populist movements. It seemed right, but it isn’t. But Isaiah stresses that the penalty of our wrong behavior is not laid on us who have gone astray, but rather on the mysterious “Suffering Servant.”

Peter’s message is that we know the identity of the “Suffering Servant;” it is Jesus. And even though we struggle with who it is that we can trust in our governments, ultimately we know that we can trust the one on whom God has placed “the iniquity of us all” with our lives. The Suffering Servant is also our Shepherd and the Overseer of our souls. He is the one who can be trusted with all that we don’t understand about this life. And even if we have wandered away, there is still a path that takes us back home again.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:15-16

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 18, 2018): 1 Peter 1

British novelist Martin Amis in “The Second Plane: 14 Responses to September 11” makes this observation: “It is straightforward—and never mind, for now, about plagues and famines: if God existed, and if he cared for humankind, he would never have given us religion.” In response, I have to admit that I am not sure that God gave us religion. In fact, there are moments in the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, when I am not convinced that God’s response to his creation isn’t “Okay, if you want to deal with me in this way, then I will let you. But I command you to live up to your promises.” After all, the idea of sacrifice, a religious institution in the ancient world in many religions, predates the Mosaic Law. Even the story of Cain and Abel carries a story of sacrifice and religion, and the story takes place long before any pronouncement of God. Religion seems to be our idea, an idea to which that God has relented and accepted on our behalf. But we have failed to live up to our own rules.

I struggle with the problem of evil, and I totally understand Amis’s comment. If religion is God’s idea, then it seems to have been a bad one. While I reject that religion is the basis for many of the wars around the world (I think the basic reason for war is greed and that we simply place the blame on religion, but the blame does not belong there), religion can be a contributing factor.

But there is also a problem with judging God using our limited frame of reference. God is other. In spite of the Genesis story that humans are made in his likeness, we do not in any way resemble God. “In our likeness” seems to be a reference to our moral character, or maybe our higher level functions, but the essential core of God is other which means not like me. This sense of otherness is what the Bible means when it declares God to be Holy. Holy does not equate to perfection; it equates to the otherness of God.

So God is Holy. This means that he is set apart and that there are two ways to relate to this God who is holy or other. One way is through religion, an idea that Amis, for good reason, rejects. Religion says that I have to identify with God through the ideas of sacrifice and obedience. Religion is highly ritualistic. This kind of religion is reflected in rules and regulations and results in our seeing a God who appears to be wrapped up in some cosmic fight with evil.

But at his heart, this is not a description of the God of creation. Okay, it is possible that God will conform to this realm if that is where we want to meet him, but it is not him. Rather, God is the being who created this world and then set us in it, giving us the ability to choose good and evil. He refuses to childproof our world so that we cannot get into trouble. He made us the caretakers of our environment, and each other. The answer to Cain’s question “Am I my brother’s keeper?” is still yes. And this God has issued to us an invitation – Be holy as I am holy. Be other as I am other. Participate with me in the act of loving this world. Be peacemakers wherever there is strife. Stand up against evil wherever it abounds. Give your help freely to those who cannot help themselves. Love when loving isn’t easy. God invites us into the process. So much, although not everything, could be solved by simply taking responsibility in this world and deciding to work with God.  

Amis takes aim at a God who would allow the 9/11 tragedy to take place. But the reality is that even in that tragedy, we failed God and each other. We forgot our responsibility in the mess. We are the reason for the horrors of September 11, 2001. We could have chosen love and failed. And we are still failing.

But God keeps issuing the invitation. Be holy as I am holy. Be set apart from the world. Respond with love everywhere, not just where it seems appropriate. Mend fences. Love those who live on the other side of the issue, race, or religion. Be holy. Will you mess up? Of course, that is part of the human condition. But you will also learn, and as a result, will love the world better. I believe that we have the power to stop the tragedies of this world. And the solution starts by declaring our love for each other in support of a Holy God.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2

All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered. – 1 Timothy 6:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 17, 2018): 1 Timothy 6

Albert Einstein famously said that “I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” I think that most of us would agree. There is nothing more annoying to our sensibilities than people who believe that they are above talking to anyone who is perceived to be below their station in life. To us, it reveals a character flaw that deflates our opinion of them. People who behave this way are often called “stuck up” or “snobby,” neither of which we aspire to be.

But there is another reality; while we may try to treat each other with the respect due to any human being, we also tend to mirror the respect that is given to us. Sometimes, the disrespect we perceive that is being aimed at us is only a reflection of the disrespect that we have given to other people. And what makes this an even bigger problem is that we are often blissfully unaware that we are projecting disrespect. The scenario plays itself out in social situations all over our society. People get mad because they feel disrespected when the disrespect that they have received is actually just a mirror of the disrespect, albeit unintentional, that they have been showing to others. Complicating this issue is the reality that we seem primed to react aggressively, often seeing aggression when none is being offered. And the result is that we do not treat each other equally, and we respect very few people in our circles of influence.

So Paul makes this argument. I believe that he is in perfect agreement with the words of Albert Einstein. Speak to everyone the same way, or maybe even better, consider everyone your equal or maybe even your superior. Give to them the respect that you want to receive. But understand the world in which we live. Some people are going to be snobs, and some are going to react aggressively because they have become damaged and expect aggression from you. When this happens, refuse to be a mirror. Set the higher example and continue to give respect to those around you, even when no respect is returned to you. Do this as your sacrifice and offering to God, so that your witness is not tainted or destroyed.

The truth is this; people are watching to see if this Jesus is really making a difference in our lives. And the difference that Christ makes is not usually visible when we are being respected. It is visible when people disrespect us, and we continue to return respect to them. Giving respect even when we are disrespected is not a sign of weakness, it is the recognition that they too are valued children of God, and as his children, each one of us is special and worthy of respect.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 1

Welcome to the celebration of all things Irish. Happy St, Patrick’s Day.

Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. – 1 Timothy 5:23

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 16, 2018): 1 Timothy 5

Íte of Killeedy was an Irish Nun who lived during the 6^th Century. She was an extremely individualistic woman who taught many, and who lived a very simple life. Íte of Killeedy likely died of cancer somewhere around her ninetieth birthday. But beyond her teachings and famous pupils (like Brendan of Clonfert or Brendan the Navigator who some hold, although admittedly with very little proof, might have been the first European to make it all of the way to the Americas almost a thousand years before Christopher Columbus), it is Íte’s ascetic lifestyle that sets her apart.

Specifically, modern biographers like to tell the story of her beetle. According to the story, Íte of Killeedy had a pet beetle that fed off of her flesh. Some argue that the beetle eventually became the size of a small pig. While that is extremely unlikely, other stories say that she lost her beetle when it wandered away from her only to be killed by one of the other nuns who were living with her. The act provoked Íte to anger, declaring that “For that deed, no nun shall ever rule over me.”

Whether or not the story is true, it matches many stories from an early church that seemed to connect sanctity and suffering. Holiness was only available to the believer through a life of suffering. The idea seems to stem from Jesus’s Passion, not just that he died on a cross, but also that he was severely beaten and led a life that seemed to invite pain.

Asceticism is something that we do not understand now, nor do we find a compelling example of it in Scripture. Jesus bled and died for our sins, but there is no indication that his life was one of suffering. We know that Jesus wept, but I suspect strongly that he also laughed.

And Paul seemed to preach against this connection of suffering and holiness. Not only did he ask for his own personal thorn in the flesh to be removed (2 Corinthians 12:7, maybe his own personal beetle), but he also argues with Timothy over adding wine to his diet. It appears that Timothy in his pursuit of a holy life had been drinking only water. The problem in the ancient world was that water was often impure, and it carried with it a number of diseases and sicknesses. Most of those sicknesses were removed from the wine in the fermentation process. Timothy was setting a good example for his followers, but he was doing it at the expense of his health. Paul’s instructions are clear. It is not God’s will for you to be sick or in pain. You will be able to do more for God if you take care of your body. In Timothy’s case, that meant adding a little wine to his diet.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 6

If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church? – 1 Timothy 3:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 15, 2018): 1 Timothy 3 & 4

A friend of mine tells a story of his Dad being forced out of his position. His Dad was a Pastor, and for some reason totally unknown to him, Dad had to leave the job he loved. Now, pastors leaving pastoral positions, either to go to a new position or to take a break from the calling is nothing new. Few positions are higher in stress than being a pastor of a church. Often, it seems as if you live in a fishbowl, with many eyes watching your every move. But, to the child, this move seemed abnormal.

Dad never talked about the move. He never told his children the reasons why the move was required. They simply packed up their belongings and moved on. Years later, my friend discovered the reason that Dad had been forced out of his job – him. At the time, and that period lasted through adolescence and well into his adult years, my friend was what might be described as a rebellious child. He was a troublemaker. And in spite of all the good that Dad had done in the church, those who were not happy with his performance had used this verse as a reason for his dismissal. Dad was failing at raising his son, so how could he run the church. My friend’s discovery, which didn’t happen until well after his father had died, filled him with guilt. He was the reason for the move that his Dad had never explained.

It sounds far-fetched, but I have sat on a board that proposed to use this verse in their pastoral search. And the board’s interpretation of the verse was that if the kids are not Christians, then how could this person lead a church. The problem with this interpretation is two-fold. First, we are a rebellious people, and some of us take longer to come to terms with our rebellious natures than others, and I am convinced that this has nothing to do with parental upbringing. And second, in the contemporary church, the Pastor is often over-worked, underpaid, and stressed beyond belief. One pastoral acquaintance admitted that during one stretch in his ministry, he routinely came home early and went to bed, a natural reaction to stress and depression, both the fault of the church. Often, the demands on the Pastor is so overwhelming that he has little left for the family. And that is not his fault; it is ours. As a result, the Pastor does not have the time or the energy to fulfill this simple command, to manage his family well; managing the church takes everything that he has to give.

But I believe that it also misses the point of this verse. There is a marked difference between the life of a Christian and one that has not accepted Christ. The demands of Christ are the pastor’s priority. And the Christian life is always first lived out at home. If a pastor cannot manage his family using Christian principals, then he will similarly lead his church. I believe that this is why pastors who lead their homes in an abusive way, even though their children might seem well-behaved to escape the abuse, will lead their churches in an abusive way. And, what might be even worse is that they will teach other men to be abusive. Pastors who have a low respect for women will carry that into their ministry. First, the flaw will be revealed at home, and then at the church.

But a home may also be managed according to Christian principles and still yield a rebellious child. And the true intent of Paul’s command here is directed at leaders of ministry. The only way our congregations will know how we lead at home is by how we react as a church leader. So, as a leader, we need to examine our home life and make sure that there is nothing there that would disqualify us from leadership because there is no doubt that the thing that disqualifies us will eventually be revealed in our public ministry.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 5

A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. - 1 Timothy 2:11-12

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 14, 2018): 1 Timothy 1 & 2

On January 25, 1988, the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode “Angel One” was aired for the first time. The episode intended to comment on Apartheid in South Africa using gender instead of race. But the result was an episode that was widely seen as the most sexist of the Television series. The episode postulated a world where women were both bigger and stronger, and who ruled over “the weaker sex” – in this case, men. Men were the ones who wore the sexy and revealing clothes. And men were dominated by women. In a world dominated by men, the episode spoke directly to gender roles in our culture, and the concept of the episode being a comment on Apartheid was almost completely lost.  

We still struggle with gender roles. Part of the problem is that, generally, men are bigger and stronger. Gender equality is hard for us because we are different, and this difference is something that we teach at a very young age. I got beat up as a child on the school ground by a girl who lived down the street. She was furious with me, I can’t remember why, and just started pummeling me with her well-aimed fists, and all that went through my mind was “you don’t hit a girl.” Gender differentiation is learned early. “You throw like a girl” is because of a difference in bone structure. Often, priorities, for varied reasons, are also different. But the one thing that “Angel One” got right is that culture also has a huge influence on how we perceive gender expectations.

There are two possible reactions to Paul’s comments on women and gender. One, and many churches follow this interpretation, is to say that the inequality between men and women is God ordained. I know of churches who refuse to allow women to hold positions of leadership based on these comments of Paul. No women are allowed to preach unless it is at a women’s conference, or possibly to children. Men must always do the instructing, and never be the ones being instructed. This is the way that God intended the church to run because Paul said so.

I grew up in a denomination that owed its existence to some very capable women preachers during its earlier days, although admittedly it had become much more of a male-dominated profession as time had passed, yet there was also a healthy respect for women leaders. This denomination had made a conscious decision that there was an equality between men and women. Unfortunately, the by-product of that kind of thinking is that it appears to lead us to the conclusion that somebody is wrong, in this case, either Paul or the denominational leaders. But there is actually another interpretation that I think needs to be given serious consideration. Paul was speaking from a cultural perspective as he makes these remarks. If Paul were on the fictitious planet “Angel One,” he would have spoken the reverse, that men should be quiet and that no man should be given authority over a woman. After all, if the faith were to be given any importance by the society, then some cultural mores would need to be followed. There is no doubt that Paul’s words match perfectly the time in which he taught, even as much as they are out of step in contemporary society. If this line of thought is followed, then it is our task to identify the cultural elements – different from the spiritual, God-ordained ones – that cause the Christian Church to be ridiculed in contemporary society, starting with the concept of complete equality between the sexes.

And what bolsters this concept is that Paul had women who were key in his ministry, women that included Timothy’s grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice, and a certain evangelist by the name of Prisca or Priscilla. In many of his letters there are key women that he thanks for their hospitality and leadership, women that I believe, if his culture were similar to ours, Paul would have welcomed into speaking and teaching positions without a second thought.

But his times were not like ours, and if we are going to judge Paul for his words, it is according the dictates of his own time that he needs to be judged, just as we will be judged by the dictates of ours.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 3 & 4