I grew up in the South where, even today, religion is more a part of the culture than in my current home of Columbus, OH. The Columbus Marathon is this Sunday, and it will cause significant difficulties for those trying to attend worship here because the route passes close by on three sides of the church. This never would have happened in Charlotte or Raleigh, NC. Such an event would have been scheduled on a Saturday so as not to get all the church folks upset.
Sometimes I find myself a bit agitated by how little the culture in Columbus acknowledges the Church. I like to run an occasional 5k race, and I am astounded how many of them are on Sunday mornings rather than Saturday. But despite this, I am convinced that the fast fading era when attending church on Sunday was expected of respectable citizens did more harm to the Church than it did good. Especially in post WWII America, church became one hallmark of good citizenship, and in the process Christianity bargained away some of its authentic identity in exchange for the culture sending us worshipers on Sunday.
This strong connection between church and social respectability that was part of my upbringing seems hard to reconcile with Jesus' words in today's gospel passage. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword... Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Jesus speaks in the hyperbole common to the Middle East, but still, he clearly does not understand following him to mean supporting the status quo.
It is a real challenge for me, in my personal faith journey, to put Jesus above all else. My "all elses" are likely different from yours, but we probably share a few. Financial security is fairly high on my list. And while I am willing to be a bit "out there" with regard to some social justice issues and such, I still want to be respected and well thought of by people in my congregation and in my community. When I get other people mad at me it's usually because of bad social skills or from wanting things done my way, not because I'm so intent on following Jesus.
I wonder what the Church might look like if people like me worried less about whether or not the culture made it easy for us to worship on Sunday, and focused more on living a faith where absolutely nothing would come between us and following Jesus.
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In today's gospel reading Jesus says, "A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master." That's a curious phrase, "It is enough." After all, we live in a world where there never seems to be enough. And I'm not only talking about our consumerist society, so focused on acquiring things. I'm thinking of my own faith life.
I am a pastor because, at one point in my life, I became absolutely convinced that God was calling me to do this. At age 35 I disrupted my family's life, left my career, and went to seminary in order to follow Jesus. But when it comes to actually being a pastor, I'm not sure that "it is enough... to be like the master." Jesus wandered about Palestine, collecting a small cadre of followers. He never made it all that big by my standards. He didn't make much money, didn't have a nice house, and he certainly was not an influential member of his community. The movers and shakers of his day did have him executed, you may recall.
And yet I expect that my call should leave me reasonably well off financially, with a decent retirement account. I have some expectation of a "career ladder." I started in a smaller congregation and moved to a bigger one. Strange the way that when God calls a pastor to move it's almost always to a church that pays a higher salary.
"It is enough... to be like the master." Jesus says it in other ways. "Take up your cross and follow me... Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Man, following Jesus is hard sometimes. But Jesus promises that somehow, "It is enough... to be like the master." Lord, help me know and trust that it is enough.
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Spirituality is all the rage these days. Go into a bookstore and you will likely find a large assortment of books on the topic. Some will be Christian, some Jewish, some Buddhist, and some with no connection to any particular religion. I think it is wonderful that many Christians are rediscovering spiritual practices such as lectio divina, fasting, meditation, and so on. However, I sometimes find that much of this modern spirituality is almost solely focused on the individual.
I thought of this while reading today's passage from 1 Corinthians. The congregation at Corinth apparently loved to excel in spiritual practices and to acquire spiritual gifts. And speaking in tongues seems to have been one of the most esteemed gifts one could receive. But Paul, while he never condemns speaking in tongues, insists that spiritual gifts should be for the building up of the community of faith. For Paul, spiritual gifts and practices that only build up the individual are not nearly so important as those that build up the church.
Clearly some spiritual practices are, by their very nature, intensely personal. Times of private devotion and prayer should be a part of every life of faith. But there is a difference between personal and individualistic. Personal spirituality is wonderful when it serves to undergird a life of faith, but personal spirituality should not be an end in itself.
Perhaps that is a good way for me to evaluate my own spiritual life. How is my personal spirituality helping me to answer God's call for my life, nurturing me so that I can do the work God gives me?
How does your spiritual life support your life as a person of faith?
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If you have the occasion to attend weddings on a regular basis, then you probably know as well as I do that today's reading from 1 Corinthians is quite popular at marriage services. That's hardly surprising, considering Paul's soaring language on love, culminating with "And the greatest of these is love."
Many years ago when my wife and I were planning our wedding, we pulled out one of the pew Bibles in her hometown church to find Paul's words on love. I was something of a nominal Christian in those days, but I had a pretty good idea of where these verses were. Yet not matter how much I looked, I could not find them. I chalked it up to my own lack of biblical literacy, but I later discovered that I was looking in the right place. (I thought it was in 1 Corinthians but didn't know what chapter.) But the pew Bibles in that Southern Baptist Church were the old King James Version, and the word "love" never appears in 1 Corinthians 13. The chapter ends this way. "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." It is charity that never ends and charity that is patient and kind. (Actually it isn't patient but rather it "suffereth long.")
Western culture is enamored with love, but we often don't mean it the way the Bible does. Charity may not be the best translation, but the love spoken of by Paul is not the love of passion or feelings that most couples mean when they choose these words for their wedding. Rather this is the love that God has for the world, the love that causes Jesus to endure the cross, the love that leads him to say, "Father forgive them" while he is on that cross.
The love of passion is a gift from God, but many marriages would probably last much longer if couples focused a bit more on the sort of love Paul describes in 1 Corinthians. But even more, a lot of the partisan division and nastiness so common in our country could be greatly reduced if we realized that Paul is speaking more about our daily life with our neighbors than he is about marital relationships.
When Paul writes the Corinthian congregation, he is worried because he has heard of divisions and factions in that church. And he is not dispensing marital advice but advice on living in community when he speaks of love as kind and patient; not envious, boastful, arrogant, or rude; not insisting on its own way; not irritable or resentful. What might happen if we all took those words to heart in our day to day encounters with others, especially with those others who drive us crazy?
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A stewardship sermon from Hebrews 11:39--12:2 - Hebrews seems written to a congregation that is feeling inadequate and needs encouragement. And its author insists that we are connected to all the faith heroes of the past, that our struggles "perfect" or "complete" theirs. So too in our individual congregations, when we do our part, when we persevere, we perfect of complete the faith and work of those who went before us.
Today is the funeral of a beloved member of Boulevard Presbyterian. And as in many other funerals, we will remember her, give thanks for her life, recall funny stories, and proclaim the hope of resurrection. And rather appropriately, today's gospel reading features Jesus raising to life a young girl who has died.
Now the theological purists out there may want to point out that this event is quite distinct from resurrection. It is instead a resuscitation of some sort. And that is true. But regardless, I still find the story most appropriate for this day. First, the story insists that Jesus/God cares about our human relationships. Jesus here restores a family to wholeness, brings a lost daughter back into her family, to love and to be loved. And second, death proves to be no barrier for God's desire to restore and make whole.
And so while resurrection may be something quite distinct from what happens in this story, resurrection is cut from the same cloth. God cares not just for our "souls" but for our lives, our very human lives with their relationships and the capacity to love and be loved. And whatever resurrection looks like, it will be more than some wispy immortality of our souls. It will be nothing less than the redeeming and making new of our very humanity. Thanks be to God!
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In his first letter to the Corinthian church, Paul has scolded the people for the divisions in their congregation, for failing to put the needs of fellow members ahead of their own. One particular problem that has come to Paul's attention: when they celebrate the Lord's Supper, members who get there early and have plenty of food and wine go ahead and celebrate without waiting, leaving poorer members with nothing when they finally arrive.
As he seeks to correct this behavior, Paul pens the words many churches still use with the Lord's Supper. "The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread..." Paul then goes on to remind those who eat the meal "in an unworthy manner" that they will be judged, saying, "For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves."
I have always been surprised, given how focused Paul is on divisions in the church and how he next commands the Corinthians to "wait for one another" at the Supper, that people so often understand Paul to be speaking about some mystical presence in the bread and cup. But "the body" that we are called to discern is the Church, that one body with many members. Paul is saying that any gathering for the Lord's Supper that is only concerned about self, that fails to discern the community of faith, does more harm than good.
Such words are particularly challenging for American Christians, with our individualistic focus. When I was growing up in the Presbyterian Church, I experienced the Lord's Supper more as private devotional moment than gathered community event. Even though we passed trays of bread and juice to our neighbors, we never looked them in the eye or spoke to them. We seemed to be together in a crowded space, but nonetheless still alone. It felt a bit like going to a movie theater. Lots of people might be there watching the movie at the same time, but there was no connection between us.
"For all who eat and drink without discerning the body..." How might I, how might you, do a better job of discerning the body of Christ that is the Church the next time we gather to break the bread and share the cup?
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I just saw the September financial report for our congregation. It was quite disheartening. After going much of the year without seeing much negative impact from the economy, we now look to be running a significant deficit. Not what a pastor wants to see just as we head into this year's stewardship campaign.
"Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God." (from Psalm 42)
I think that one of the hardest faith pieces for me to keep in balance is striving to do my very best while, at the same time, relying on God's grace and providence. In my case, I tend to trust too much in my and other folks efforts. If things are going well it is because we are doing a good job. If they are not, it's because we aren't working hard enough or smart enough or something enough. If only we did a better job, if only we said the right things and had the right programs, people would flock here and all the members would be sacrificial in giving of their time and talents and resources. If only... and all the onlys seem to be about us.
Hope in God. That would seem to be the most natural thing for a Christian, and certainly for a Christian pastor. Yet too often, I seem to put it all on what I and others can or can't do. So where does God fit in all that? Perhaps today's tough times are calling me to trust less in self and more in God? If only I was a little better at it.
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From today's epistle reading: "Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other." Could there be a more counter-cultural statement? After all, I want to sell my stock when it is high, which means I hope to get someone else to buy it just before it goes down. I want to buy a new suit or TV or just about anything else when it's at a rock bottom price, or when someone else is losing money on it. I want excellent government services, but I would like someone else paying the taxes to fund them.
The other day a politician was speaking against requiring companies to provide maternity leave and stated that one reason for his opposition was that he didn't need it. He was male, or course.
I wonder what Christianity - and the world - would look like if we actually took the Christian message to heart, if we really worried more about others than ourselves. What if we worried as much or more about our enemies, our political opponents, our neighbors, the age group different from our own, and so on? What sort of community and world might we build? And might we just discover that we were all a lot happier, a lot more content, and a lot richer, even if our wealth was not about money? I wonder.
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A sermon from Luke 24:36-48, "Concrete Faith," kicks off this year's stewardship season. A lot of people think of faith and religion as disconnected from earthy, mundane, daily life. But Jesus comes "with skin on." Following him is about living out faith in the concrete messiness of everyday life.
