Holy Breathing

The theologian Charles Spurgeon said prayer is breathing in the very air of Heaven, and praise is breathing it out again. Imagine seeing every breath you take as an opportunity to pray, even if that prayer is “Thank you, Lord” or “Help me, Lord.” That interaction, that exchange with holiness, revives your spirit, spurring you onward. Now, imagine your exhaled words of alleluia as the natural expression of having experienced that holy exchange. It puts a whole new spin on breathing, doesn’t it? Have a blessed rest of the week and weekend.

Pondering the Tasks of Educating and Learning; of teaching and being taught

 

Prayer: Dear Lord, as I approach today or any day, thinking about what needs to be accomplished, help me to settle my anxieties and center myself in you. Let me breathe in and breathe out these words. Your "grace is sufficient for me" (2Cor. 12:9). I know if I truly believe that knowing how overly abundant your grace is, I will walk through my days buoyed by that race, not weighed down by the cares of any given day. Amen.

 

Devotion: As the week turns me toward a new month, my mind is filled with planning, the start of new activities, and of projects which have now become due. As it is the beginning of not only the secular academic year but of the sacred academic year of Sunday School, Confirmation, and Bible Studies, I have needed to ponder the role of the teacher and the act of teaching; and the role of the student and the act of learning. As a teacher in both worlds, reflection is critical on these topics. While carried out in some form or another all summer long, the conclusions based on reflection become more pointed as summer ends because it is the conclusions from those reflections that will guide the planning and the assessment process. Assessment activities should not be designed until I have decided what it is I am teaching and what it is I want to observe as learned.

 

    The teacher King David wrote Psalm 119 to teach his son Solomon the alphabet (abc's) and also a way to learn about God and how to live within God's law. The fifth stanza includes what we might call the alphabet E (verses 33-40) begins "Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end (or the appropriate rewarding outcome)." As a teacher, David is teaching Solomon (1) who to ask for help, (2) what help to ask for, and why this teaching should be requested. Ask Yahweh for help. Ask Yahweh to teach the ways of God's laws, statutes, decrees, rules, principles. Ask Yahweh to teach His principles so that they can be followed to their rightful conclusion. The rightful conclusion spelled out throughout the Psalm is being in a state of blessedness.

    It is undoubtedly a simplistic teaching pattern, but it is this simplicity that makes the lesson easy to learn, memorize, practice, and embody. Would that all teachings were so clear and so precise! I can well imagine that this way of teaching that raised the type of man who would ask God for wisdom when offered anything. I could go into David's harmful teachings and those effects, but I will leave that for another devotion.

 

    God teaches us through the written word, through the spoken word of prophets, ministers, teachers, parents/guardians, friends, neighbors, and members of our worshiping community. God also taught and teaches us through modeling, whether it was through the life of Jesus or his disciples or those listed in the earlier sentence. 

 

    We are all teachers, whether we want to admit it or not. Ask yourself this week; what am I teaching by my words, activities, or lifestyle? What am I learning from those around me? Is there anything I should change so that the end product is being in the state of blessedness?

 

Prayer: Lord, there are many paths offered to me. Help me to hear and to embody the teaching that will lead me to your blessed side. Amen.

Being a Sacrfice that Brings Life

 

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Romans 12: 1-2

    Most sacrifices are viewed as having to do with death rather than life. And, this view is rightly so, sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible involved the killing of an animal. In modern day language, the word sacrifice at the very least means something that is painful. "Give until it hurts" is the age-old moniker. It was at some point changed to "Give until it Helps." The good news is that being a sacrifice in Paul's mind and in Jesus' theology is that sacrifice of our bodies or our essence or substance should be life giving....life-giving to you and to those around you.

    The elements of this living sacrifice that is us, is described as "holy, and pleasing to God." What is holy and pleasing to God? Jesus summed it up like this in Matthew and in Luke. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself." The sacrifice of our substance and our essence should be based on, filtered through, and motivated by agapé love. This is the love spoken of in the familiar 1Corinthians verses read now primarily at weddings.

 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails I Cor. 13:4-8a

    I must confess when I look at agapé love as the kind of love God has for me and therefore, the love I give back to God, to myself, and my neighbor I am a big staggered by the immensity of the responsibility. But it is in understanding this that I can understand how something once considered unto death becomes something unto life. It is now clear how living a life in which agapé is the essence of motivation, the filter, and the foundation is not only "holy and pleasing to God" but will bring about "true and proper worship."

It becomes easier to be transformed because my mind is continually renewed as I progress in aligning everything in my life so that it expresses the agapé with which God approaches me, so that I can in return approach God, myself, and others in the same way.

    Finally, transformed, I can "test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

This process is slow and is not always completely forward moving. As human beings there are certainly going to be times when we fall backward, or stand still. This is normal and is to be expected. It is our desire to move forward, closer to God's love. It is our desire to develop the discipline of seeing, hearing, acting, and believing using God's love that is important.

Prayer: Lord, I know you are with me. As your child I come to you both humbly and boldly seeking your help that I may experience your love and in turn use that experience of love to love you, myself, and others. I offer all that I am as a living sacrifice that transformed by your love, I may grow to agapé myself and others. Amen.

Pondering the Blessing of Change

 As we enter this last month of summer, at least as understood by anyone in school, my heart is filled with gratitude. I have been and continue to be warmly received by Glenwood United Parish and Glenwood's people. The parsonage has been a Godsend offering respite from the typical noises of the urban life. I am also already seeing spiritual growth in our congregation. This and much more make my heart feel full. Thank you! My heart is also full because I am daily reminded of the steadfastness of the God we serve. Who knew even four years ago when I was completing my Ph. D. and planning on seeking a tenured position at a university or college that I would be turned back to God's first commitment, that of full-time service? At the time, I was still ministering, for sure, but it was not at least during the week a public ministry. I considered myself in those days an uncollared minister. Students at the community colleges and universities needed prayer and spiritual support as much as anyone I have met, but this is not allowed unless a student specifically asks for that kind of help. I spent, in one position 28 years navigating the “separation between church and state” so that I could be faithful to my calling as a teacher in the public realm as well as my calling as a Christian to be a representation of God’s love and grace. It is quite freeing to be able to proudly wear a collar, whether visible or not! This is something for which I am also very grateful.

 

               Looking forward to the Fall, I am reminded of verses from Psalm 145 in which David sings, “The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” (verses 13b-18; NIV) My pondering for this time, which ends one season and begins another, is focused on these verses. What would it mean to live our lives as if we truly believed God was faithful and trustworthy? How have you experienced being lifted up? In what ways have you been nourished in the past season? What are nourishment needs do you Have for the next season? As you ponder these questions, I pray that God will open the eyes of your understanding and that you might fully experience refreshment, and having your desires satisfied be strong enough to enter into the next season, whatever season that might be.

 

            I welcome your comments, questions, and any prayer concerns or needs for a conversation that this pondering might have elicited. Feel free to contact me via:

email: glenwoodunitedparish@gmail.com,

by postal mail PO Box 7010 17th Ave NW

Glenwood MN 56334

or by phone

 (320) 634-3712 (non-emergencies) or (320) 334-3124 (emergencies).

 

Prayer: Please pray with me. “God who hears my needs and is quick to answer be with me and work in and through me to inspire, to heal, and to bring make your heavenly kingdom a reality. Amen.

Justice and Want

Opening Prayer: Dear Lord, open my eyes and ears that I may see and hear want. Open my heart that I respond with justice. Amen.

 

Scripture(s):  Psalm 23: 1 (NRSV) “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” and

Ezekiel 34:11-24 (NRSV) “For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

 

Message: There are many bible verses that give a Christian pause. This verse from what is probably the most well-known Psalm in the book of Psalms is one of those. The Hebrew sense of “I shall not want” is more appropriately I shall not be in lack or I shall not be in a state of decrease. It makes sense why all of these translations would give anyone cause for pause.

It is clear there is want, that there is lack, and that there are many who are in a state of decrease. 

            A typical answer offered is that this verse refers to spiritual lack. While this is some of what this verse means, I think this verse refers to all of our needs, not just spiritual needs. I conclude this because verses regarding Jesus and God as the shepherd can be found not just in the New Testament but also in the Hebrew bible. The Ezekiel verses offer some clarification.

The Hebrew prophet Ezekiel prophesied not only the destruction of Jerusalem but the restoration as well. YHWH’s role in human history is not to be a distant all-powerful God, but to be a present, intimate shepherd. This shepherd seeks, rescues, gathers, and feeds his flock. Emphasis on making sheep into a flock. The last verses of this passage are essential. “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.” God calls us to rest so that we can be refreshed. God heals our wounds and strengthens us. Finally, God feeds us with justice.

             When I consider God the source of my rest and of my health, it is a little easier to feel as if I have all I need. When this also includes justice from God as my food, I can imagine not being in a state of decrease. This is all fine and good until we look at reality, the reality of need, want, lack, and injustice. How do we then make sense of the two? This is the way I am choosing to make sense. I am not in lack, want, or decrease when I am being fed by God. This world though is not accepting the feeding of God. It is because of this that the world, suffers due to lack, want, and decrease. It is our calling as sheep and members of God’s flock to offer as God’s representatives rest (respite), healing, community (bring back the strayed), and strength. Most of these needs can begin to be fulfilled when there is justice. Inequities in food, access to health care, and not having clean drinking water make it impossible to enter into rest. Rest beside still waters is only possible when justice is present.

            Justice reigns in the kingdom of God. It is our calling as Christians to bring the kingdom of God to the earth. Our calling and God’s power fuels our work. When justice rolls down like waters (Amos 5:24), then there will be rest because there is not lack, no want, no decrease. We can and should be part of seeing that this reality exists.

 

Closing Prayer: Lord, forgive me when my actions and words or the lack thereof make me part of the problem. Help me to be part of the solution. Amen.

Where is the Church: Jesus, Christians, and COVID-19? Blog #3: The Least of These

       The third blog, entitled, The Least of These uses words from Matthew 25:40. “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Before these words are spoken, Jesus tells two parables, one about Ten Virgins, whose message is about preparation. The second parable tells the story of the Ten Talents. This second parable’s message is about investment, stewardship of “the master’s resources.” Immediately before the quote regarding the least of these is the story, sometimes called “The Final Judgement.” In the Final Judgement, those who cared for the hungry, naked, and imprisoned will be judged as having fed, clothed, and visited Jesus. The one who ministered to Jesus are called righteous and have eternal life as their reward.

            I believe Jesus would categorize the least of these, which typically includes the homeless, children, and the elderly has grown to include those with compromised immune systems. Economic challenges that are a consequence of shelter-in orders add to this list, the furloughed, and those working in so-called essential industries. This list, I am sure, is much more extensive than this.  As mentioned in my first blog, within these identified groups of people to whom we minister are sub-groups who are systemically oppressed. This adds additional layers to their suffering.

“A pandemic such as this exposes and exacerbates the social disparities that have plagued and continue to plague our society--pun intended!”[1] New sources have identified multiples ways that there have been unequal and inequitable responses to the pandemic. An earlier blog has also identified the ways the pandemic has been used to justify increased oppression. This statement is exemplified in the events that have occurred since stay-at-home orders have been issued.

I am not to saying that there aren’t and haven’t been efforts to feed, clothe, and welcome. I am arguing that while it is easier to tend to physical needs, what is often forgotten is the attention to systemic injustices that causes the needs in the first place. If our country had been considering its preparedness for a pandemic like the Ten Virgins, we would not be making heart-breaking decisions about who is provided with a ventilator and who isn’t. If we had been better stewards of our knowledge and resources, perhaps those working essential jobs would have the items that would keep them safe from infection. When Jesus said in Mark 14, “the poor you will always have with you,” he was referring to this tendency. He was identifying that the poor will always be present because of the institutional reasons for their poverty will always be present.

The parables that proceeded the story of the final judgment are apropos. They tell stories about preparedness and about stewardship. These two items are vital if we are to care about and for the “least of these.” The pandemic has shed a spotlight on who the least of these might be. It is up to God’s people, the body of the Church to step up and to minister. By minister, I mean to go beyond the material. I call for the Body of Christ to be active in working so that the new normal will be one in which justice reigns and we don’t need to feed, to free, or to clothe because everyone has enough to eat and clean water to drink. The poor won’t be with us because the poor do not exist; all resources are distributed equitably.  

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[1] Demian Wheeler, email Message to Yolanda Y. Williams, April 22, 2020.

Where is the Church: Jesus, Christians, and COVID-19? Blog #2: Freedom

            In the previous blog, I spoke about the Church's response to the othering that has been a result of COVID-19 orders and recommendations. In this blog, I want to respond to the use of the term, freedom as an argument to disavow orders and recommendations put in place to flatten the curve on virus infections. Reports from news sources have documented protests in Wisconsin, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, Utah, Western New York state and Washington, and Pennsylvania

The New York Times reports, "…at least 316 million people in at least 42 states, three counties, ten cities, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are being urged to stay home."[1] 

For some, the issue is concern personal freedoms and the government's intrusion into those rights. 

If I get sick, then I am going to bear the consequences of my getting sick. If anybody else gets sick, they bear the consequences of their free choice without government coercion to do so. That's what this is about.[2]

           Interestingly, we, at least most of us, do not argue against the government's intrusions that make illegal murder. By limiting one person's freedom to murder, you save a potential victim or victims. The same would be true for other crimes. The argument I am presenting here is that our government restricts the personal freedoms of others all of the time for the sake of all members of society. The intriguing questions asked by Damato are, "What kinds of communicable diseases function to void one's right of free movement? How deadly does the disease have to be? How contagious?"[3] These questions are not about whether or not freedoms should be impinged upon, but concern who, what, why, and when should determine personal freedom should be restricted.

            There are more than 100 verses in the Bible talking about freedom. The call of God's representative is to proclaim freedom.[4] One of the purposes of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection was to offer freedom.[5]  The writers of the Psalms and the Epistles identify freedom as one of the gifts and characteristics of the faithful.[6] This makes it clear that freedom is not just an American value. It is a value of the Triune God. 

            Freedom for most is experienced in mobility, and the ability to live life on one's own terms. The Bible appears to differ with this definition. The letter to the Galatians reads, "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."[7]  Jesus used his personal freedom as ways to confront and to right injustices. In this way, freedom is not to serve the individual; freedom is to serve the community. Our freedom is to be exercised to provide grace. Our exercises of personal freedom are always to be focused on delivering the invitation and welcome discussed in the previous blog. 

I exercise my personal freedom to cover my face with a mask, to eat and socialize at home, not because I might be sick or they might be sick, but because this distance offers grace to both of us. I chose to follow the rules of personal distancing because it is in this exercise of my personal freedom that I reflect the love of God, self, and neighbor. As a Methodist, my practice of personal freedom is informed by three simple rules, Do No Harm. Do Good. Stay in love with God.[8]

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[1] Vanessa Swales, Patricia Mazzei, and Baker Baker, “See Which States and Cities Have Told Residents to Stay at Home,” The New York Times (New York, April 20, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-stay-at-home-order.html.

[2] CNN, “Protests Erupt Again over Coronavirus Shelter-in-Place Orders. Here’s Why Some Governors Aren’t Budging,” Newsdesk@CBS58.Com (Milwaukee, April 20, 2020).

[3] David S. Damato, “Civil Liberties Under Attack During COVID-19.”

[4] Isaiah 61

[5] John 8:32

[6] Isaiah, 61. Gal. 2, 4, 5, and 8, 2 Cor. 3: 17, Rom. 8, 1 Peter 2:16, Ephesians 2:8

[7] Galatians 5:13 ESV

[8] Rueben P. Job, Three Simple Rules (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010).