Musings on the Daily Lectionary

Strange the things that strike you when you read a passage of Scripture. When I looked at today's reading - Luke's version of the calling of Peter, James, and John - two things jumped out at me. The first was Simon Peter's reaction to the miraculous catch of fish. "But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!' " It' s the same sort of reaction Isaiah has when he encounters God's presence in the Temple (Isaiah 6:5). And it is the standard, biblical response to encountering divine presence. It speaks of awe, wonder, and the common Old Testament phrase, "the fear of the LORD."

I don't hear much about awe in current Christian experience, and I hear much less about "the fear of the LORD." I wonder why this is, especially if "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge." (Proverbs 1:7)

The second thing that jumped out at me in today's Luke reading was the ending. On what had to have been the most incredible success of their fishing careers, Peter, James, and John hung up their nets. I really don't know why this contrast struck me so, but it did. Many of us long for success more than just about anything. These fishermen have a catch for the record books. Surely they would be inducted into the Sea of Galilee Fishing Hall of Fame. But they walk away from it all. I assume that someone else collects and sells the fish.

It makes me wonder a bit about the things that I count as successes in my life.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

A lot of Christians take for granted that Jesus performed miracles, healing people such as we read in today's verses from Luke. But I've always found it hard to preach from miracle stories, and I know that a lot of people find these miracle stories big obstacles to faith. Thomas Jefferson produced a "Bible" that edited out all the miracles of Jesus. And for much of the 20th century it was popular to give rational explanations for miracles. I heard more than one sermon as a boy where the miraculous feeding of the 5000 turned out to be a miracle of sharing.

But if the supernatural aspect of miracles have posed difficulties for modern, scientific people, the biblical story nonetheless greatly limits this miraculous power. Jesus can only heal you if you can get to him, if he has time, if he isn't too tired, if he hasn't already left and gone on to the next village. If you happen to be sick or demon possessed but you live in first century Europe, you're not getting healed because Jesus ain't coming to your town.

Theologians refer to this as the scandal of particularity. In Jesus, God's power is present in a particular place and time, and not in another. Near the end of "Jesus Christ Superstar" the voice of Judas sings, "Every time I look at you I don't understand Why you let the things you did get so out of hand. You'd have managed better if you'd had it planned. Why'd you choose such a backward time in such a strange land? If you'd come today you could have reached a whole nation. Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication." And when I get most upset with God it is usually because God won't act in the grand way I'd prefer. Rather than waving a magic wand and ending war, poverty, and injustice, God more often seems to work through the small efforts of faithful people.

I suppose that I'm still struggling to embrace "God's power made perfect in weakness," as Paul describes Jesus' death on the cross. Perhaps at times, faith is largely about trusting that God knows what God is doing, even when I'm sure there's got to be a better way.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

"Those who say, 'I love God,' and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also." 1 John repeats this refrain over and over. We cannot love God without loving our brothers and sisters. "Brothers and sister" likely refers to fellow believers and not all humans, but I'm not sure this makes the reading any easier to live out.

Some of the worst fights are church fights. And they can be over the most trivial things. In most congregations there are stories about arguments over carpet color or some other aesthetic issue that left feelings so bruised that people left that church. And churches often have more than a few members who can be awfully hard to love.

It should be noted that loving our brothers and sisters is not the same as agreeing with them, endorsing their views, or tolerating aberrant or destructive behavior. But it is about having their best interest at heart, caring for them, seeking what is good for them, even when we find them difficult to like. Perhaps it is precisely when we love those whom we find hardest to love that we become most Christ-like, in some small way mirroring his love that would die for sinners - would die for a world so bent on resisting God.

Lord, teach me to love more like Jesus.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke focus a lot on the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew uses the latter term. As a good Jew, he avoids saying "God" when possible.)

Modern Christianity seems to have lost any real expectancy of the Kingdom. If we speak of the Kingdom it often refers to the afterlife and not to anything here on earth. What a contrast to our gospel reading, where Jesus' arrival is connected with God's new day where the poor find good news, the blind are restored, the oppressed and captive are freed. Jesus also speaks of the year of jubilee or "the Lord's favor." In the Old Testament this was supposed to be a regular occurrence where debts were forgiven and land was returned to families who had to sell it because of bad economic times. Imagine the outcry is something such as this was suggested in our country. Charges of socialism would surely fly. And yet the Kingdom Jesus proclaims speaks of a leveling, of a lifting up of the poor and downtrodden, and and parallel pulling down of the well-off.

Now I don't believe that human beings can bring the Kingdom. Only God can do that. But while we cannot produce the Kingdom by anything we do, we are still supposed to be living as citizens of that Kingdom. Our congregations are supposed to be provisional outposts of the Kingdom, living in ways that help the world catch a glimpse of God's coming day.

But I am very much a part of this day, of its economic structures and its inequalities. And I must admit that I often am at a loss as to how I can reconcile my citizenship in the Kingdom with my citizenship in a world that is far from that Kingdom. O God, please guide me in how I am to live in this world but not be of it.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

"Simon son of John, do you love me?" The risen Jesus asks this question to Peter three different times. Peter insists that he does, growing a bit more exasperated each time the question is repeated. And each time Peter says yes, Jesus commands him to feed his lambs or tend his sheep.

On one hand, the threefold pattern of this story conforms to Peter's threefold denial of Jesus just after his arrest. These verses seem to serve as a reinstatement, a rehabilitation forPeter. If other Christians had questions about him, thought his denial had disqualified him, here Jesus restores him as a shepherd of the flock.

But additionally, the pairing of love for Jesus with the command to care for others speaks to all Christians. As Jesus says before his death, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." And of course Jesus has given his disciples a "new commandment, that you love one another." And the word Jesus uses for "love" is not about feelings so much as it is about caring for others, giving oneself for others, etc.

Our culture often thinks of faith as a personal and private thing. But Jesus says that loving him shows up in our relationships with others. Lord, help me to love those you place in my life.

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Semon Thoughts on a Non-preaching Sunday

Today's gospel reading features another post resurrection appearance by Jesus. This one, in Luke's gospel, is just after the risen Jesus joined two of his followers on the "road to Emmaus." As the disciples receive a report from those Emmaus travelers, Jesus suddenly stands in their midst. And Luke makes a great deal about pointing out that Jesus is flesh and blood, going so far as to report that Jesus asks for and eats something, a piece of broiled fish.

Luke seems intent on not letting us miss the flesh and bones nature of resurrection. In our day, people often think of resurrection as virtually the same thing as life after death. But for Luke, resurrection is not about escaping fleshy existence, and the problem with this fallen world is not that we are made of fleshy substance. Jesus was quite able to dwell in human flesh, and the risen Jesus is flesh and blood, too.

Luke sends a powerful message to those who would locate all Christian hope off in some spiritual realm. God's kingdom is real, physical, not something wispy and ethereal. And we are called to give witness to God's power to redeem all creation, including flesh and blood.

Musings on the Daily Lectionary

" O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day." Those who are familiar with the Psalms will recognize the opening of Psalm 96. "A new song?" What's wrong with the old songs? Religion often seems enamored with the old and uncomfortable with the new. That certainly got Jesus in trouble. He even spoke of his good news as new wine that couldn't be held by old wineskins. Of course Jesus also said that his coming would not "abolish the law or the prophets," that "not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law." (I've always loved the King James translation that says "one jot or one tittle" will not pass away.)

It seems that faith which is true to the Bible must always wrestle with this tension between old and new. The traditions that we have should not be too easily dismissed simply because they are old. They are, after all, a repository of faithful living that have been handed down to us. But neither are traditions to be followed simply because they are old. That "old time religion" may have been good enough for a lot of our forbears, but that does not insure it is right for this time.

The Church Reformed, Always Being Reformed is the motto of my theological tradition. God, keep me in touch with those traditions that have sustained the faithful over the years. And help me to see where you are making all things new in Christ.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

"Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth." (Psalm 47:1-2) Sometimes, riding my motorcycle on a beautiful spring morning, it is impossible to miss the grandeur of God's creation. It is impossible not to feel joyful. And I have had to do nothing to experience this joy but to be there. It is a wondrous gift, not of my or anyone else's making.

"Thank you." That is what most of us have learned to say when we receive a gift. Most of us probably do not say it enough, but most of us know what it means to feel deeply grateful. Most of us at times take stock of the ways others have blessed our lives. And I think I feel the most pity for people who are unable to feel gratitude, who think of everything as deserved or earned, who don't know the sheer joy of feeling truly thankful.

Theologically thinking, all that makes us who we are is a gift. Our talents, our quirks, our personality, our capacities are all given to us. We may use them well or poorly, but none of us created ourselves. How does one say, "Thank you" for all that we have been given?

The word repent has some baggage, some bad connotations. But I think that John the Baptist's call for people to "Repent" can be read as a call to realize how much we have to be thankful for, and, in gratitude, to live differently. How? John suggests, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." His list goes on, but you get the picture.

I wonder what opportunities I will have to say, "Thank you" this day.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre. God covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass grow on the hills. God gives to the animals their food, and to the young ravens when they cry. (Psalm 147:7-9)

I don't suppose anyone thought about Earth Day when the Daily Lectionary readings were chosen. If they had, perhaps Psalm 24 would be today's morning psalm. "The earth is the LORD's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it." But I suppose the same is implied in the few verses culled from Psalm 147 above.

Sometimes when questions about the environment, global warming, pollution, and so on are discussed, a basic assumption of these psalms seems to be missing. People speak as though the earth was ours. But the earth is not ours. It does not belong to us so that we can simply decide what to do with it. It belongs to God. And we have been called to tend it as stewards.

You can witness human arrogance and hubris on both sides of environmental debates. And certainly there are sometimes complex scientific issues that resist easy answers. But if the earth truly is God's, perhaps we would do well, when dealing with these issues, to ask ourselves whether God would be happy with our actions. If the earth is the LORD's, and if God is indeed pleased and delighted with this good creation, shouldn't we want to please God in our calling as earthly stewards?

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

"Whoever says, 'I am in the light,' while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness." (1 John 2:9-11)

Presbyteries, the regional governing bodies of the PC(USA), are nearing the ends of votes on whether the ratify a change to our constitution that would remove an ordination requirement that church officers be either chaste in singleness or faithful within a marriage between a man and woman. While the current rule obviously bans from office singles who are sexually active, the real intent of the requirement is to keep out gays and lesbians who are in relationships.

This question of who may be ordained has raged in our denomination for years now, and it can be terribly contentious. There are people of deep and committed faith on both sides of the issue, and it can be all too easy, not only to disagree, but also to feel a deep loathing for those who cannot see what is so obvious to me. People on both sides of the issue can fall into a downright nastiness toward their opponents, which begs the question of how the reading from 1 John applies. And I don't think an easy out can be found by claiming that my opponents have so badly misunderstood scripture that they shouldn't be categorized as "believers."

Love is easy when we all agree, but what about when we don't, and especially when our disagreements are about things that are very important to us? And for that matter, what about loving our enemies as Jesus calls us to do?

Lord, show me how to love.

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Musings on the Daily Lectionary

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." These words from 1 John are often used as a "call to confession" in Presbyterian worship. I've always been struck how these words connect with AA and other 12 step programs where the starting point of recovery is admitting that you're an alcoholic, or drug addict, etc. If you've ever seen an AA meeting, you'll know that people often introduce themselves with, "Hi, my name is Joe, and I'm an alcoholic."

I think it strikes many of us as odd to constantly remind yourself of your problem, to claim it so openly and frequently. I know that many worshipers would prefer not to have prayers of confession each week in our worship. They have told me so. "It's such a downer," they say.

John Calvin, the theological parent of my theological tradition, wrote in the opening of his Institutes of the Christian Religion, "Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves." The recovering alcoholic had discovered that true wisdom includes never forgetting that he is an alcoholic. And those who are in Christ discover that true wisdom includes never forgetting that they are sinners.

Like those alcoholics who refuse to admit their problem, many of us don't want to claim the label sinner. We like to think that human beings are basically good, that those who are "bad" must have had something go terribly wrong in their lives. We are loathe to admit that we have within us the capacity for evil, that it seems to be a part of our makeup.

Strange that recovering alcoholics find claiming their identity as alcoholics to be so helpful, an integral part of their recovery, while so many Christians find claiming our identity as sinners to be so distasteful. I wonder how often I distance myself from forgiveness and salvation because I want to insist I don't need them.

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Sunday Sermon - "Church: Proclaiming the New Age"

The story of the remarkable community of believers found in Acts 4:32-35, is about the power of resurrection ushering in a new age. In Acts, the Church is proof that Jesus has really been raised, shattering sin and death's power, and inaugurating the Kingdom of God.

Sermon 4-19.mp3