The Cost of Unity

 

Unity is such a wonderful concept, isn’t it? It sounds admirable and certainly is something we should all not only long for but work toward. The problem is this. Unity is costly. Jesus told those gathered to count the cost.

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ Luke 14:28-30

Most of us, I am guessing, did not think about the cost of discipleship when we chose to follow Jesus. But it probably also did not take long for all of us to find out that being a disciple has personal and maybe even professional costs associated with it.

The same is true with unity. Our reading this Sunday speaks of attributes that lead to unity and those that lead to disunity. In the unity category, we have “humility, gentleness, and patience,” and on the disunity side, we have “deceitful scheming and the trick people play to deliberately mislead others” (Ephesians 4).

It is easy to see how these characteristics work, but still, the question in my mind is what is the cost of unity? It costs us to be patient when everything inside of us is screaming “Hurry up!” It costs us to be gentle when we are not feeling gentle. It costs us to be humble when we know we “are all of that and a bag of chips.” Yet, Christ asks us to take up our cross. Paul advises us to “grow in every way into Christ.”

Why? I believe it is because the cost may be great, and we should be soberly aware of it and agree to bear it. But greater than the cost is the benefit. When we choose to live in ways that honor God and use the measure of grace given to us, we grow those wonderful branches that are attached to the tree that is God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). When we are attached to that tree, we cannot help but prosper in spirit and in truth. We cannot help but grow in health. And our health cannot do anything but strengthen the entire tree.

Friends, I invite you this weekend to explore your connection to the true Tree of Life that shelters us from harmful rays, provides stability in wild winds, and nourishes us with strong roots. Explore your unity with our Lord and Savior and how, while costly, it cannot be compared with the immeasurable blessings we receive in return.

The Rhythms of Life

 

I have been thinking about the concept of balance lately. This buzzword has always baffled me because I don’t think I've ever mastered the work-life balance everyone says I am supposed to have. My failure at this has always made me feel like something is wrong with me. This changed when I read a chapter from a book assigned for one of my classes, titled “Why I Hate the Word Balance.” In this chapter was the language I have been looking for to explain why balance, for me, just did not work. The author, Lance Witt, offered a different word for what we can achieve to be whole and healthy: rhythm. That word, of course, spoke loads into my musician’s heart. That’s it. Rhythm describes the passage of seasons, minutes into hours, and hours into days. Rhythm describes the ebbs and flows that are natural to life. Unlike balance, I don’t have to feel “off” if I am in a period of flow or if I am in a period of ebb. That is natural and normal. The first scripture that comes to mind is the one set to music by the Byrds "Turn!" Turn! Turn! The scripture is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Both the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) and the New Testament have a lot to say about seasons and the rhythm of life.

The gist of this devotion is this. Friends, life has a rhythm. Don’t frustrate yourself by trying to shove it onto a balance scale. Recognize that being a whole, healthy person does not mean that your choices will make everything smooth all of the time. Despite your best efforts and correct choices, there will still be times when you are thrown off. This is ok. This is normal. Heal yourself through those times, recognizing that it is just a part of the rhythm. Be kind to yourself and soothe yourself knowing that in every season and in every rhythm God is in the band. Sometimes he’s playing the snare. Sometimes God’s playing the bass drum. But in all ways God is present, providing beat patterns that can soothe us towards rest or excite us towards action. Go with the flow, looking for the voice of God to do what is necessary. Have a good weekend, everyone.

 

Gifts of the Spirit

1 Corinthians 12

 

English translations of the bible always confuse me. A great example of this is in the translation of the word “phanerosis.” Almost every bible translation I have read translates this word as “gifts.” My handy-dandy Greek translator uses manifestation or coming to light. This is deeper, richer, and more colorful, isn’t it? Wisdom, knowledge, faith, the ability to heal, to perform miracles, to prophesy, communicate in different ways, and to distinguish between spirits are manifestations of the spirit of God. Paul is careful to say that these manifestations are linked to their being used for the common good and to the ability to “say” or proclaim Jesus as Lord. That is the key. Why is this important? It is important because, in the ancient world as in today, many exhibit these manifestations. There are many who appear to heal miraculously and to speak words of wisdom or knowledge. There are many who can see into the future. But, and this is a big but, are they using these for the common good, or are they using these abilities for profit or for their own good? Are those who use these manifestations of God’s active Spirit proclaiming Jesus as Master (Lord)? This is our key. 

 

The Spirit of God was breathed into a lifeless lump of earth to make it live. This Spirit was in Adam and Eve when they sinned, so it stands to reason that the Spirit of God is in all humans, those who call themselves by Christ’s name and those who do not. If the Spirit of God is present in all human beings, then the accompanying manifestations of God’s Spirit can be used to further the kingdom of God, leading people to Yahweh, or in attempts to dismantle the kingdom of God or lead people away from Yahweh. The central issue is how these manifestations are used: for God’s kingdom or against it.

This is our call. Since we have all been endowed with God’s Spirit, we must use the manifestations of God’s Spirit to draw our spirits and the spirits of others to God’s Spirit. When we communicate, whether verbally or through our lifestyle, we must convey a message that aligns with our belief that Jesus is Lord. When we seek to heal others, it is not to pat ourselves on the back, but it is to bless them with the blessings of our Lord. When we speak knowledge, offer wisdom, or speak of futures, these must all be centered in the faith we have in Jesus. That is the point. 

 

The gist of all of this is this. Friends, we all have God’s Spirit. We all have abilities and inner callings that represent God’s Spirit in us. It is up to us to choose to use these abilities and inner callings to represent our relationship with Jesus as Lord, so that we fulfill our call to be not only a blessing but also a blessing to others. So let us use what we have been given to point others to God and to Jesus as Lord. Have a good rest of the week.

 

It’s the Journey, Not the Destination

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:3-6)

Thomas, unfortunately nicknamed “Doubting Thomas,” offers us comfort. Jesus accepts Thomas, with his doubts and all, and responds with healing experiences that answer them. This affirms for us all: doubts are natural, and Jesus provides acceptance, love, and healing.

Jesus gives Thomas the chance to touch his wounds and reminds him of a promise: everyone has access to being in God's eternal presence. We have a place prepared to which we will be escorted. Jesus says we know that place. Rather than focusing on the destination (heaven), Jesus tells us that the journey matters more than the destination.

 

Jesus’ statement, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” emphasizes that discipleship is the journey to the Father. 

 

Like Thomas, we experience doubt but find healing in a relationship with Jesus. Walking the path of Jesus—the way, truth, and life—brings us to the Father. The Greek word erchomai means "to move from one place to another." The importance of Discipleship is the journey, not the destination.

 

Discipleship is journeying. And, friends, here is the Good News. We are escorted by Jesus himself. We don’t walk alone. Jesus is the way that provides the passage. Jesus, as the truth, aligns us. Jesus, as the life, empowers us. Hallelujah! Thank you, Lord.

 

This week, breathe in this knowledge. Make this promise a part of what fuels your walk. Breathe out the praise and thanksgiving for a God who always goes above what is required to make our discipleship possible. Amen. Have a great weekend. 

Doing Greater Things

 

⁹ Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. ¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:9-13 NIV).

 

Good morning, friends. There are many things in the Bible that can be difficult to wrap your head around. This week, I am pondering Jesus’ statement that we who believe in God, the Father, will do greater things. When I was younger, my mind conjured up raising people from the dead, miraculous and instant healings, or inviting people to follow and having them drop everything to follow. With this as the list, doing greater things than Jesus seems impossible. The change in my understanding began with earlier cues in the reading.

 

In verse 10, Jesus talks about the source of his authority and what we as Christians experience when we allow God to work through us. This is evidence of God’s grace as seen through healings. If the “greater things” are not based in healings the way Jesus did them, or raising the dead what are “the greater things” are we going to do? I have some ideas about that and invite your comments in response.

 

The first “greater thing” is geographic reach. The area of Jesus’ ministry was small, geographically about 3125 miles. Paul’s estimated reach was 15,000 miles. Most places on Earth have experienced either the negative or positive reach of Christians. The second “greater thing” is the size of the body of Christ. Jesus started with 12 disciples. By the first century, Acts reports there were at least 8,000 at Pentecost. This number is disputed. 

There are reportedly 2.63 billion Christians worldwide in 2026. A third “greater thing” is the blessings that have been made possible because of God’s people. The number of people who have been fed, housed, clothed, and freed cannot be calculated. 

 

Lastly, we move beyond focusing on the evidence our physical ears and eyes can grasp to seeing our evidence as the effects of the works (verse 11). The effect of physical healing is that people are not only made whole physically but are also restored to their families and communities. The effects of the healings that occurred through Jesus’ forgiveness not only made bodies healthy but also restored the healed spiritually. We can always participate in working toward the Shalom of all with whom we come into contact. When we can’t do the hands-on work, we can provide Shalom by uniting our work and resources with those who can.

 

The conclusion is clear. We are practicing greater things. I am not saying that everything Christians or the Christian church has been positive or Godly, but I am saying that when we live as Jesus did, allowing God to work in and through us, our reach is expansive. What we give as children of God is always amplified and multiplied when we do everything, we do it to the glory of God and in the name of Jesus. So, get out there, whether in body or in spirit. Empowered and equipped by God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and united as the Body of Christ, we are unstoppable. 

Thanks be to God.

 

Beloved

1 John 4:9-10 (ESV) In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

 

 

The devotion for today is short because the scripture is so deep. I invite you to spend the next week drinking deep from this verse’s well. As we reflect, let's consider how its meaning shapes our journey today and always.

I often am sad that there will only be so much I can know about God on this side of glory. What about you? But I am comforted, and as the old hymns say, my heart is made glad because it is possible to know the love of God. The apostle John tells us that God's love has been made real, evident, and revealed in the fact that God sent Jesus. It is also encouraging to know that we live not just because of Jesus, but also through Jesus. God loves us because of who God is, and we have the evidence of God’s love for us in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.

If I allow it, knowing that God’s love is real and lets me live is enough. What about you? Is it enough for you? Can it be?

We are God’s own chosen beloved. Rest in that. Take joy, my friends, in that. Amen.

Being An Olive Tree

 

“But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust [confidently] in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.”

 

I love bible verses that refer to things in nature. King David compares himself to a green olive tree. It is interesting to note the attributes of an olive tree.

·      Longevity: Olive trees live for thousands of years. There are living olive trees today that are verified as being as old as 2,000 years.

·      Prolific: While olive trees start bearing fruit after 5 years, they can produce fruit for most of their lives. A tree in Crete is still producing fruit at the “ripe” old age of 16,000 years.

·      Indestructible: The root system regenerates even when the above-ground tree has been destroyed.

·      Drought-defying: Like eucalyptus trees, olive trees are drought-friendly.

·      Generous: Large olive trees produce 400 lbs. of lives annually. Are they age, they produce more.

·      Ancient: Edible olives have been cultivated for 6,000 years.

·      Sacred: Over the centuries the olive branch has represented peace, glory, fertility, power, and purity. The branches were offered to deities representing purification and are used in religious games. Branches were also woven into crowns for winners of games and wars. 

·      Healthy: Olives, distant relative of the peace provide antioxidants, healthy fats, and fiber.

8 amazing attributes of olive trees that will humble and inspire you. Olive My Pickle. (n.d.). 

How can/do we reflect the attributes of an olive tree when put our confidence in the lovingkindness of God?

·      Longevity: Though our bodies die, the effects of our lives, lives on (2 Cor. 6:9).

·      Prolific: The blessings that are produced when we live as vessels of the Holy Spirit are innumerable (1 Cor. 10:16).

·      Drought-defying: Jeremiah (17:7-9) tells us that trusting in God makes our roots resilient not matter what happens above the surface.

·      Generous: It is our calling to give, and our giving is multiplied by God working in and through us (2 Cor. 9:10-11).

·      Ancient: As a part of God’s creation of the heaven, earth, and all living things, God chose humans as unique and molded us out of the earth God created (Gen. 1:27).

·      Sacred: We are made holy by God’s forgiveness which cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9).

·      Healthy: We are made healthy for others and for all of God’s creation by emptying ourselves of the things of the world and being filled with all that is God. Jesus calls this process denying oneself, taking up one’s cross, and following him (Luke 9:23).

 

Being like an olive tree is both difficult and easy, both simple and complicated. This duality is most often because of our human nature. All of these attributes are possible only when we commit ourselves to daily transformation. We use the power given to us as human beings to choose. We choose to be filled, directed, and used by God. We choose to give up the fulfillment of our needs. We choose to participate in the fulfillment of God’s needs for creation, including human beings. God sets daily, the choices between life and death, blessings and curses. God asks us to simply choose (Deut. 30:19). Happy is the one who chooses life and blessing. Happy is the world God created when we choose life and blessing. Enjoy this brief return to winter.

Going Where God Asks You to Go

 

I have always admired the mobility of God’s people in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible.

When I was a younger woman, I considered moving to Europe to pursue a career as an opera singer. I had visited several countries during my College years and had become enamored of, first, the way Europeans treated me as a Black woman, and second, the sheer number of opportunities open to a singer. This desire was heightened when, in the 1980s, I started traveling back and forth to Switzerland and France to perform concertized versions of Porgy and Bess and then other works for solo soprano, chorus, and instruments. I felt Europe calling me, but each time, I answered “No.” I was the primary contact for my mom. I purchased a house and began a career in higher education teaching. The timing never seemed right to pick up and leave. Time and again, I made excuses and ruled it out, even though the call was clear.

In Genesis 12:1-3, God tells Abram to leave his country and the house of his father for a land he will be shown. Like me, Abram has a family to whom he is responsible, work,  and possessions. Unlike me, Abram has no idea where he is going. Abram had God’s commandment to leave and to go. Abram also had God’s promise that he would be blessed as he obeyed God’s command to leave. Abram chooses to obey God and to go wherever God is sending him. He and Sarai went. The outcome of Abram’s obedience is that he became the father of three major world religions: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.

We, as humans, like to see and know everything. We learn as disciples to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2Corinthians 5:7).  Walking by faith requires:

• The realization and acceptance that we are incapable of seeing and knowing everything.
• The belief that God knows and sees everything.
• A decision to trust that since God is omniscient, a
• Leaning on God’s promise to be with us and bless us as we obey: “My presence will go with you…” “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you.” (Ex. 33:14; Deut. 31:8)

The point I am making regarding Abram is that when God calls you, choose to obey, regardless of whether you can see the path clearly or know the destination. Go because obeying God can never be wrong.

 

I encourage you to pray that you will be better able to hear God's voice. Fear will say to you, “Stay, this can’t be good.” Because of this, I pray that you will ask God to steady your heart and help you override your human reactions to change so that you can experience the joy and blessing that come with following God’s commands.

 

Epilogue: After years of traveling to Europe, Asia, and Africa for my performance career, I decided to stay in the United States. I moved on from the dream of being an opera singer on a world stage to being something even better. The mobility I experienced was inside of me. Instead of requiring me to travel physically, God required of me a spiritual, mental, and emotional journey that led me to Fridley UMC. And for that, I will be forever grateful. Thanks be to God.

 

Walking in the Light

 

Weekly Devotion

1 John 1:5-7 (ESV)

 

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

 

John wrote three letters. In his first letter, believed to be written in Ephesus, he encourages those in faith with these words. God is light without darkness. I shared in the worship services a couple of weeks ago that light is not the absence of darkness, but it is, in fact, the other way around. Darkness is the absence of light. This is better understood when we remember the words from John’s Gospel. “ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). When light is present, darkness is pushed away. 

 

In physics, light is a combination of color bands that our eyes interpret. Perhaps then, the light we see as God is seen or interpreted by our spirits? This doesn’t mean that light doesn’t exist when we can’t see it, but it does mean that in order for us to walk in the light or to have fellowship with God, we must see and respond to the light. John answers the question “How?” in verse seven. The answer is simple and complicated, seeing or interpreting something as the light is only possible by walking in the light. 

 

Let’s explore walking from a human, physical perspective. Walking is considered to be a complex, coordinated, repeating sequence. Peter Tyson, of NOVA, writes in his article Our Improbable Ability to Walk, " that it is completely amazing that humans can walk upright. We only have two legs, and our center of gravity is high off the ground. Yet we can walk. Our ability requires coordination among multiple systems, including reflexive, voluntary, neural, muscular, and skeletal.

 

I believe there must also be spiritual coordination. Our spirituality is complex. It is impacted by our upbringing, hundreds of messages, our own desires, and sin. Because of all of these impacts, it takes a coordinated effort to walk in the light. This includes the following.

·      Renewing our mind (Romans 12:2). This means constantly realigning our thoughts and perspectives to God, exemplified by the life and words of  Jesus.

·      Daily asking for and receiving forgiveness (James 5:16).

 

Just as bodily walking requires effort until it becomes natural and can be done without thought, spiritual walking does as well. Remember the walking efforts of babies. It includes lots of falling down and getting back up. Sometimes it includes holding on to tables and the wall as supports to get back up. It includes crying and having someone around to wipe your eyes. 

 

In addition to the support from God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, you have your church family. Make an attempt to walk in all ways. When you fall, call on God in all of God’s fullness and the faith community. Set your eyes on the prize, which is, in John’s words, having fellowship (partnership for mutual benefit) with each other, cleansing from the  blood of Jesus, God’s Son.

 

Have a blessed week, conscious of the light of God and in your God-given power to walk in it. 

Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

Tyson, P. (2012, September 20). Our improbable ability to walk. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/our-ability-to-walk/