Romans 10:1-13
In today’s reading for Romans, we see a continuation of the theme we ended with yesterday: control. Paul chides his Jewish brothers and sisters for vainly trying to “establish” their own system of justice, of being right with God. Then, he quotes the final words of Moses to the people of Israel:
“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14). According to Paul, Jesus Christ is that “commandment” that is as close to us as our own heart. But if that is the case, then is there no visible code that everyone can agree upon? If each of us must look to our heart, can not our hearts deceive us? Don’t we need something else a little more concrete?
In the centuries since, Christians have responded to these fears with attempts to make the commandment of the heart visible. On my shelf is a book called, “Creeds of the Church.” In it are 700 plus pages of creeds and confessions from the time of ancient Israel to our own time. We are always debating what it means to be a Christian, refining our basic belief. Sometimes, such refining has been necessary to make clear that some ideas are not of the faith. We Episcopalians have our own statement of faith, the Nicene Creed, which is not actually our own, but has belonged to the universal (or “catholic”) Church since the 4th century. It was formulated by the bishops of the Church to refute any notion that Christ had not always been with his Father eternally.
Still, sometimes it might be a good discipline to turn to verse 9 in today’s reading, and slowly repeat to yourself, “Jesus is Lord,” until you understand what it means in your life to submit to his lordship. Then, the commandment of the Lord, which brings truth and grace, will be on your mind and in your heart. Get that “Jesus is Lord,” and everything else will fall into place.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Reading for Monday, 5th Week of Lent
Romans 9:1-18
In this last week before we begin considering the events leading up to Christ’s Passion, we will be reading chapters 9-11 of Paul’s letter to the Romans. It is especially appropriate to consider these three chapters as we come closer to Good Friday. For both in the Gospel and in Romans, we are coming to the mystery of rejection. Next week, we will ponder the rejection of Jesus by his own people. This week we read Paul’s effort to explain this rejection. Hopefully, as we read, we will look beyond one nation’s rejection of Jesus, and consider the myriad ways in which our contemporaries say, “No” to the Good News.
In today’s reading, Paul brings us face to face with the other side of God’s grace – inscrutability. Paul’s brief reference to Jacob and Esau only hints at the scandal. You can read more of the story in Genesis, ch. 25-33. Esau was the first-born, and natural heir of the promises of God that Isaac inherited from Abraham. Esau was also his father’s favorite. From the beginning, Jacob and Esau struggled for privilege. Jacob’s name in Hebrew means “cheater.” And that aptly describes his dealings with his family. And yet, by God’s grace, it is Jacob who becomes “Israel” (he who struggles with God and men, and prevails). It is Jacob who became the father of the chosen people to whom Jesus came.
Are you offended at God’s grace? Does God seem unfair? Why does God seem to favor some people over others? Are you offended at the prospect of favor being unearned? Think back through your life. If you’re honest, you will see moments when, through hard work you “earned” your reward, and others where you caught a break – the Professor who let you turn in that paper after its drop-dead due date; that influx of cash from an unexpected source that got you through a hard time.
We want to think that we are in control of our own destinies. If we take the time to remember, we come to realize that we are not in control. But if we are not in control, then who is? God, I suppose. But then the temptation is to place God under our control. I suspect that most religious rituals in human history have been designed to appease and manipulate God into doing what we want him to do. When that fails, the temptation is to accept whatever happens as being under God’s control. That leads to such questions as, “[Jesus], who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2)
God does not promise us security. God promises that nothing, not even physical death, will separate us from his loving presence. Is that enough?
In this last week before we begin considering the events leading up to Christ’s Passion, we will be reading chapters 9-11 of Paul’s letter to the Romans. It is especially appropriate to consider these three chapters as we come closer to Good Friday. For both in the Gospel and in Romans, we are coming to the mystery of rejection. Next week, we will ponder the rejection of Jesus by his own people. This week we read Paul’s effort to explain this rejection. Hopefully, as we read, we will look beyond one nation’s rejection of Jesus, and consider the myriad ways in which our contemporaries say, “No” to the Good News.
In today’s reading, Paul brings us face to face with the other side of God’s grace – inscrutability. Paul’s brief reference to Jacob and Esau only hints at the scandal. You can read more of the story in Genesis, ch. 25-33. Esau was the first-born, and natural heir of the promises of God that Isaac inherited from Abraham. Esau was also his father’s favorite. From the beginning, Jacob and Esau struggled for privilege. Jacob’s name in Hebrew means “cheater.” And that aptly describes his dealings with his family. And yet, by God’s grace, it is Jacob who becomes “Israel” (he who struggles with God and men, and prevails). It is Jacob who became the father of the chosen people to whom Jesus came.
Are you offended at God’s grace? Does God seem unfair? Why does God seem to favor some people over others? Are you offended at the prospect of favor being unearned? Think back through your life. If you’re honest, you will see moments when, through hard work you “earned” your reward, and others where you caught a break – the Professor who let you turn in that paper after its drop-dead due date; that influx of cash from an unexpected source that got you through a hard time.
We want to think that we are in control of our own destinies. If we take the time to remember, we come to realize that we are not in control. But if we are not in control, then who is? God, I suppose. But then the temptation is to place God under our control. I suspect that most religious rituals in human history have been designed to appease and manipulate God into doing what we want him to do. When that fails, the temptation is to accept whatever happens as being under God’s control. That leads to such questions as, “[Jesus], who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2)
God does not promise us security. God promises that nothing, not even physical death, will separate us from his loving presence. Is that enough?
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Reading for Friday, 4th Week of Lent
Romans 8:28-39
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)
Earlier this week, I wrote of how much Paul’s devotion to the law of Israel had blinded him to the evil he was doing before he was stopped on the way to Damascus. Today, we can see the other side of that coin. No Christian ever knew more than Paul the extent to which we can deceive ourselves. Thus, no Christian knew more than Paul the depth of God’s grace.
In fact, it was Paul’s fanatical zealotry for the pursuit of righteousness that led him so far down the road of darkness as he tried to achieve a moral perfection that no man could accomplish. But without that fanaticism, Paul would not have known just how far the same Jesus whom Paul was persecuting would go to extend his grace and forgiveness. Thus it was for Paul, whose love of God – however flawed – was undeniable, that all things worked together for good in his life.
Wherever you are at this moment in your life – wherever you see someone else at this point in their lives – do not despair over those sins you can’t shake, your insecurities, the mistakes you see those whom you love making. As long as you, and they, love, trust that the journey to the source of that love has not yet finished. For as Paul concludes this act in his letter to the Romans, there is “nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:39 – Revised English Bible)
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)
Earlier this week, I wrote of how much Paul’s devotion to the law of Israel had blinded him to the evil he was doing before he was stopped on the way to Damascus. Today, we can see the other side of that coin. No Christian ever knew more than Paul the extent to which we can deceive ourselves. Thus, no Christian knew more than Paul the depth of God’s grace.
In fact, it was Paul’s fanatical zealotry for the pursuit of righteousness that led him so far down the road of darkness as he tried to achieve a moral perfection that no man could accomplish. But without that fanaticism, Paul would not have known just how far the same Jesus whom Paul was persecuting would go to extend his grace and forgiveness. Thus it was for Paul, whose love of God – however flawed – was undeniable, that all things worked together for good in his life.
Wherever you are at this moment in your life – wherever you see someone else at this point in their lives – do not despair over those sins you can’t shake, your insecurities, the mistakes you see those whom you love making. As long as you, and they, love, trust that the journey to the source of that love has not yet finished. For as Paul concludes this act in his letter to the Romans, there is “nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:39 – Revised English Bible)
Reading for Thursday, 4th Week of Lent
Romans 8:12-27
“The Spirit you have received is not a spirit of slavery, leading you back into a life of fear, but a Spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Rom 8:15 - Revised English Bible)
I wonder if fear is the original sin? Of course, fear is a perfectly good emotion for our self protection. But fear also leads to mistrust. And as we have already seen, “faith” for Paul is just a synonym for trust. And when it comes to our relationship with our Maker, fear leads to mistrust of God, and so leads to a lack of faith, and so to sin. And in these first 8 chapters of his letter to the Romans, Paul has been speaking to the fears of Jewish Christians. They feared that without the Jewish law, Gentile Christians would simply use the “freedom” of the Gospel to justify anything. Without the “old letter” of the law (Rom 7:6), the Christian community would have no clear guide for future decisions.
Paul’s answer in today’s reading is this: Trust the Spirit by whom you have been adopted, not as fearful slaves of an angry God, but as sons and daughters of a loving Father. Trust the Spirit when you can’t find the words to express your convictions, your sadness, your fear. For “in the same way the Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness. We do not even know how we ought to pray, but through our inarticulate groans the Spirit himself is pleading for us, and God who searches our inmost being knows what the Spirit means, because he pleads for God’s people as God himself wills.” (Rom 8:26-27 - REB).
In the Greek in which Paul wrote, the word we translate as “Spirit” could also mean “breath.” So, whatever fear you have this Lent, trust in the loving Spirit of God, who is as close to you as your own breath.
“The Spirit you have received is not a spirit of slavery, leading you back into a life of fear, but a Spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Rom 8:15 - Revised English Bible)
I wonder if fear is the original sin? Of course, fear is a perfectly good emotion for our self protection. But fear also leads to mistrust. And as we have already seen, “faith” for Paul is just a synonym for trust. And when it comes to our relationship with our Maker, fear leads to mistrust of God, and so leads to a lack of faith, and so to sin. And in these first 8 chapters of his letter to the Romans, Paul has been speaking to the fears of Jewish Christians. They feared that without the Jewish law, Gentile Christians would simply use the “freedom” of the Gospel to justify anything. Without the “old letter” of the law (Rom 7:6), the Christian community would have no clear guide for future decisions.
Paul’s answer in today’s reading is this: Trust the Spirit by whom you have been adopted, not as fearful slaves of an angry God, but as sons and daughters of a loving Father. Trust the Spirit when you can’t find the words to express your convictions, your sadness, your fear. For “in the same way the Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness. We do not even know how we ought to pray, but through our inarticulate groans the Spirit himself is pleading for us, and God who searches our inmost being knows what the Spirit means, because he pleads for God’s people as God himself wills.” (Rom 8:26-27 - REB).
In the Greek in which Paul wrote, the word we translate as “Spirit” could also mean “breath.” So, whatever fear you have this Lent, trust in the loving Spirit of God, who is as close to you as your own breath.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Reading for March 25th: Feast of the Annunciation
Today is the Feast of the Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary. Here is the Gospel reading for today:
Luke 1:26-38
And here is a meditation and collect for this day of celebration in the Church.
Happy Annunciation Day!
Luke 1:26-38
And here is a meditation and collect for this day of celebration in the Church.
Happy Annunciation Day!
Reading for Tuesday, 4th Week of Lent
Romans 7:13-25
Several times in today’s reading, Paul speaks of the “flesh” under which he is enslaved. Over the years, a too literal reading of this has led people to conclude that Paul had some secret sexual sin that he had to struggle with, even after his conversion to the Way of Jesus Christ. It is crucial to understand that “flesh” in this context means more than the physical body. It also refers to all that which is weak and transitory about us. In some translations, it isn’t “flesh,” under which Paul is enslaved, but “unspiritual nature.”
So, when Paul writes, “I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin,” he doesn’t necessarily mean that with his physical body he serves the law of sin. What might he have meant? Before he was blinded by the light on the road to Damascus, Paul was a Pharisee, zealous for the law. He was passionately committed to fulfilling every letter of the law that God had given to Moses. And he “knew” to the core of his being that Jesus of Nazareth was a dangerous and false prophet who led people away from God’s law, and was rightfully executed. And his God-given mission was to hunt down Jesus’s followers.
Imagine how you would feel to realize in one second that everything you were convinced of as being good and right was, in truth, evil. That is what happened to Paul when he heard a voice saying, “this is Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5). Thus did Paul come to know that in his “flesh” he had done evil, even when his “mind” was fully convinced of the right.
For many of us today, of course, it may well be self-indulgence to which we are enslaved, and because of which we cry out like Paul, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” For others, like Paul, it may be self-righteousness that enslaves us. So, which is it?
Several times in today’s reading, Paul speaks of the “flesh” under which he is enslaved. Over the years, a too literal reading of this has led people to conclude that Paul had some secret sexual sin that he had to struggle with, even after his conversion to the Way of Jesus Christ. It is crucial to understand that “flesh” in this context means more than the physical body. It also refers to all that which is weak and transitory about us. In some translations, it isn’t “flesh,” under which Paul is enslaved, but “unspiritual nature.”
So, when Paul writes, “I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin,” he doesn’t necessarily mean that with his physical body he serves the law of sin. What might he have meant? Before he was blinded by the light on the road to Damascus, Paul was a Pharisee, zealous for the law. He was passionately committed to fulfilling every letter of the law that God had given to Moses. And he “knew” to the core of his being that Jesus of Nazareth was a dangerous and false prophet who led people away from God’s law, and was rightfully executed. And his God-given mission was to hunt down Jesus’s followers.
Imagine how you would feel to realize in one second that everything you were convinced of as being good and right was, in truth, evil. That is what happened to Paul when he heard a voice saying, “this is Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5). Thus did Paul come to know that in his “flesh” he had done evil, even when his “mind” was fully convinced of the right.
For many of us today, of course, it may well be self-indulgence to which we are enslaved, and because of which we cry out like Paul, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” For others, like Paul, it may be self-righteousness that enslaves us. So, which is it?
Monday, March 23, 2009
Reading for Monday, 4th Week of Lent
Romans 7:1-12
“But now we are released from the law, dead to that which tied us up, so that we serve in the new spirit, and not the old letter” (Rom 7:6).
In today’s reading from Romans, Paul draws a stark contrast between the “new spirit” of freedom with the “old letter” of the written law. Letters are funny things. We create letters, then put them together to form words, then put those together to form sentences to communicate with each other. But do we? How often have you heard it said that someone obeyed the “letter of the law,” while trashing its spirit? Or when someone has ignored the letter of the law in order to fully keep its spirit?
What Paul understood was that as soon as we were told what we should not do, that only highlighted what we could do, if we thought we could get away with it, or if we didn’t care about the consequences. The other truth in this reading is that a focus on the “letter” of the law only creates confusion, the kind in which someone may break the letter of the law, while abiding by its spirit, or obey the law while trampling its spirit.
In either case, the letter of the law hasn’t communicated anything other than confusion. But as followers of Jesus Christ, we have been released from this confusion, Paul, insists, free to serve God and others in a right spirit. How do you recognize this right spirit? It is a spirit that seeks understanding, of the law’s ultimate purpose and of one’s motivation.
Lent is a time of self-examination. The new spirit in which we live is one that helps us engage in this self-examination without fear for ourselves. God’s final word to us is not condemnation, but reconciliation. Take a look at the rite of Reconciliation beginning on p. 446 of the Book of Common Prayer. The Church’s rule when it comes to private Confession is this. “All may. Some should. None must.” I pray that each of you may have a blessed and fruitful period of self-examination as we prepare to celebrate the Passion of Jesus Christ.
“But now we are released from the law, dead to that which tied us up, so that we serve in the new spirit, and not the old letter” (Rom 7:6).
In today’s reading from Romans, Paul draws a stark contrast between the “new spirit” of freedom with the “old letter” of the written law. Letters are funny things. We create letters, then put them together to form words, then put those together to form sentences to communicate with each other. But do we? How often have you heard it said that someone obeyed the “letter of the law,” while trashing its spirit? Or when someone has ignored the letter of the law in order to fully keep its spirit?
What Paul understood was that as soon as we were told what we should not do, that only highlighted what we could do, if we thought we could get away with it, or if we didn’t care about the consequences. The other truth in this reading is that a focus on the “letter” of the law only creates confusion, the kind in which someone may break the letter of the law, while abiding by its spirit, or obey the law while trampling its spirit.
In either case, the letter of the law hasn’t communicated anything other than confusion. But as followers of Jesus Christ, we have been released from this confusion, Paul, insists, free to serve God and others in a right spirit. How do you recognize this right spirit? It is a spirit that seeks understanding, of the law’s ultimate purpose and of one’s motivation.
Lent is a time of self-examination. The new spirit in which we live is one that helps us engage in this self-examination without fear for ourselves. God’s final word to us is not condemnation, but reconciliation. Take a look at the rite of Reconciliation beginning on p. 446 of the Book of Common Prayer. The Church’s rule when it comes to private Confession is this. “All may. Some should. None must.” I pray that each of you may have a blessed and fruitful period of self-examination as we prepare to celebrate the Passion of Jesus Christ.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Reading for Friday, 3rd Week of Lent
Romans 6:1-11
“By that baptism into his death we were buried with him, in order that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might set out on a new life.” (Rom 6:4 – Revised English Bible). We are reminded at every baptism that we “are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.”
The difference between us and Jesus is that He has already entered that new life of resurrection. We have “set out” in that journey, and are on the way. We have even tasted that life, in our Eucharistic fellowship with Jesus and each other. But we are not fully there yet. In a sense, we are dying to sin, day after day. Some days we may know the freedom of being at the disposal of God and a child of grace. Other days, we find ourselves yielding to sin.
In the 17th century, an Anglican clergyman named Jeremy Taylor wrote a long devotion entitled “Holy Dying.” In it, he wrote: “He that by a present and constant holiness secures the present, and makes it useful to his noblest purposes, he turns his condition into his best advantage, by making his unavoidable fate become his necessary religion.”
Death is our unavoidable fate. Our necessary religion is not to shrink from this knowledge but to embrace it, trusting in God’s unfathomable grace. While we are dying, let each of us walk that road, striving to grow in the doing of right and dying to sin, rejoicing when we are at God’s disposal, and trusting in God’s grace when we fall back. And always remember that where we are going, Jesus has already arrived. He is walking with us toward that final destination in Spirit, and his Father will welcome us when we get there.
“By that baptism into his death we were buried with him, in order that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might set out on a new life.” (Rom 6:4 – Revised English Bible). We are reminded at every baptism that we “are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.”
The difference between us and Jesus is that He has already entered that new life of resurrection. We have “set out” in that journey, and are on the way. We have even tasted that life, in our Eucharistic fellowship with Jesus and each other. But we are not fully there yet. In a sense, we are dying to sin, day after day. Some days we may know the freedom of being at the disposal of God and a child of grace. Other days, we find ourselves yielding to sin.
In the 17th century, an Anglican clergyman named Jeremy Taylor wrote a long devotion entitled “Holy Dying.” In it, he wrote: “He that by a present and constant holiness secures the present, and makes it useful to his noblest purposes, he turns his condition into his best advantage, by making his unavoidable fate become his necessary religion.”
Death is our unavoidable fate. Our necessary religion is not to shrink from this knowledge but to embrace it, trusting in God’s unfathomable grace. While we are dying, let each of us walk that road, striving to grow in the doing of right and dying to sin, rejoicing when we are at God’s disposal, and trusting in God’s grace when we fall back. And always remember that where we are going, Jesus has already arrived. He is walking with us toward that final destination in Spirit, and his Father will welcome us when we get there.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Reading for Thursday, 3rd Week of Lent
Romans 5:12-21
“Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” (Rom 5:20). Paul has spent nearly five chapters of his letter to Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome explaining the supreme importance of trusting in God’s grace for our salvation. At the end of chapter 5, he now begins to speak directly to those Jewish Christians who are, at the least, confused about his attitude toward the law given by God to Moses and handed down to his descendants. If the law has nothing to do with salvation, then why was it given in the first place, and what place does it have in the life of the New Covenant?
And by the way, what exactly does Paul mean by “increase the trespass”? Did the law actually make our situation with God worse? No, that is not what Paul meant. This is a theme that Paul has sounded before. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote: “the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith” (Gal 3:24). Once we had chosen distrust of God over trust, we needed a custodian to remind us of the difference between good and evil, right and wrong.
Now in this letter, Paul expands on the argument he started in Galatians. The law, as Paul explains it here, was put in place as the first step in our journey to the redemption of our sin. How does the law help us in this journey? By rubbing our noses in the realization of our need for God alone. How many centuries had the people of Israel had the law as their guardian? How faithful had they been to the law of God? The only honest answer that anyone could glean from the Old Testament was, not much. The longer that God’s chosen people tried, and failed, to keep the law of Moses, the more they would realize how far they were from God, and how much in need of God’s sheer grace.
Patty Loveless once sang this song of grace for an alcoholic: “And you know that you're gonna find me / If you keep on drinkin' fast / 'Cause honey I'm right there waitin' on you / At the bottom of your glass.” I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this in every case as the best response to someone you love suffering from addiction. We human beings have the right to protect ourselves. But it does summarize how God has responded to our sin. God has always been present to fallen humanity, by his law that shows us how far we have fallen, and by his Son who goes with us to the “bottom,” wherever that personal “bottom” is for you and me.
“Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” (Rom 5:20). Paul has spent nearly five chapters of his letter to Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome explaining the supreme importance of trusting in God’s grace for our salvation. At the end of chapter 5, he now begins to speak directly to those Jewish Christians who are, at the least, confused about his attitude toward the law given by God to Moses and handed down to his descendants. If the law has nothing to do with salvation, then why was it given in the first place, and what place does it have in the life of the New Covenant?
And by the way, what exactly does Paul mean by “increase the trespass”? Did the law actually make our situation with God worse? No, that is not what Paul meant. This is a theme that Paul has sounded before. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote: “the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith” (Gal 3:24). Once we had chosen distrust of God over trust, we needed a custodian to remind us of the difference between good and evil, right and wrong.
Now in this letter, Paul expands on the argument he started in Galatians. The law, as Paul explains it here, was put in place as the first step in our journey to the redemption of our sin. How does the law help us in this journey? By rubbing our noses in the realization of our need for God alone. How many centuries had the people of Israel had the law as their guardian? How faithful had they been to the law of God? The only honest answer that anyone could glean from the Old Testament was, not much. The longer that God’s chosen people tried, and failed, to keep the law of Moses, the more they would realize how far they were from God, and how much in need of God’s sheer grace.
Patty Loveless once sang this song of grace for an alcoholic: “And you know that you're gonna find me / If you keep on drinkin' fast / 'Cause honey I'm right there waitin' on you / At the bottom of your glass.” I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this in every case as the best response to someone you love suffering from addiction. We human beings have the right to protect ourselves. But it does summarize how God has responded to our sin. God has always been present to fallen humanity, by his law that shows us how far we have fallen, and by his Son who goes with us to the “bottom,” wherever that personal “bottom” is for you and me.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
"The Rest of the Prayer Book"
If you have had to miss any of the programs in our Lenten Series on Tuesdays, you can now read the handouts from those presentations here at the Christ Church web site. Take a look, and let us know what you think is special about our Book of Common Prayer.
Reading for Wednesday, 3rd Week of Lent
Romans 5:1-11
“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” (Rom 5:9). The wrath of God. No one likes talking about God’s wrath. Many of us carry the scars of God’s “wrath” as delivered by an overly zealous Christian. And this confusion of human “anger” and God’s “wrath” is exactly the problem.
You see, the Greek word that is translated here as “wrath” is used several other times in the New Testament. But that word, depending on whose anger we’re talking about, is translated differently. Whenever the reference is to human beings, it is “anger” as in, “for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires” (James 1:20). Indeed, human anger almost always produces nothing but more anger.
But when it comes to God, who is all powerful and all just, “wrath” is not a futile emotion, but an effective part of God’s justice in this world. In human beings, anger is a feeling. With God, anger is an action of God’s justice. Can anyone look at the injustices of this world without understanding that whoever created this world – marred by sin – has every right to be angry? The problem starts when human beings confuse their anger for God’s wrath. Even worse, the object of that anger also gets the two confused, and is scarred in their relationship with God.
In the political world I worked in before hearing God’s call to ministry, one of my mentors had a saying: “Never get mad, except on purpose.” What he meant is that it didn’t look good to be seen as not in control of your emotions, but that anger expressed in the right time could be seen approvingly as moral outrage. The expression of anger in that case was judged only by how it looked. In the context of faith, the feeling of anger should always be followed by prayer and reflection. Hopefully, that will help you separate righteous anger from human emotions.
Also remember that, as Paul makes clear in today’s reading, God’s deepest desire for all us sinners is not wrath, but reconciliation. Always act toward those with whom you are angry in a way that leaves the door open for that reconciliation.
“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” (Rom 5:9). The wrath of God. No one likes talking about God’s wrath. Many of us carry the scars of God’s “wrath” as delivered by an overly zealous Christian. And this confusion of human “anger” and God’s “wrath” is exactly the problem.
You see, the Greek word that is translated here as “wrath” is used several other times in the New Testament. But that word, depending on whose anger we’re talking about, is translated differently. Whenever the reference is to human beings, it is “anger” as in, “for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires” (James 1:20). Indeed, human anger almost always produces nothing but more anger.
But when it comes to God, who is all powerful and all just, “wrath” is not a futile emotion, but an effective part of God’s justice in this world. In human beings, anger is a feeling. With God, anger is an action of God’s justice. Can anyone look at the injustices of this world without understanding that whoever created this world – marred by sin – has every right to be angry? The problem starts when human beings confuse their anger for God’s wrath. Even worse, the object of that anger also gets the two confused, and is scarred in their relationship with God.
In the political world I worked in before hearing God’s call to ministry, one of my mentors had a saying: “Never get mad, except on purpose.” What he meant is that it didn’t look good to be seen as not in control of your emotions, but that anger expressed in the right time could be seen approvingly as moral outrage. The expression of anger in that case was judged only by how it looked. In the context of faith, the feeling of anger should always be followed by prayer and reflection. Hopefully, that will help you separate righteous anger from human emotions.
Also remember that, as Paul makes clear in today’s reading, God’s deepest desire for all us sinners is not wrath, but reconciliation. Always act toward those with whom you are angry in a way that leaves the door open for that reconciliation.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Reading for Tuesday, 3rd Week of Lent
Romans 4:13-25
“No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” (Rom 4:20-21)
If today’s reading sounds familiar, it’s because I preached on this reading a few Sundays ago. Paul has tried to make clear that our salvation is not merit-based, but depends entirely on God’s sheer grace, and our response of faithful trust. To prove that point to skeptical Jewish Christians, Paul points to their forefather, Abraham, pointing out that God’s promises to him came before the commandment of circumcision, and the giving of the law to Moses. In short, it was Abraham’s trust of God, which God counted as righteousness.
Read the whole story of Abraham and Sarah (chapters 12-25 of Genesis), and you might conclude that Paul over-stated Abraham’s faith at least a little bit. Twice, Abraham and Sarah go to a foreign land, and fearful of being murdered so that his wife will become available, Abraham passes her off as her sister. And twice, the local ruler almost commits adultery with her unknowingly, and making her bear children who wouldn’t be Abraham’s.
Then there’s the time that they agreed that Abraham would take Sarah’s slave, Hagar, and Abraham would have a child that would be “Sarah’s.” Eventually, Abraham had to send Hagar and her son, Ishmael, into the desert. The Arabic people of today consider Ishmael their ancestor. Little wonder, perhaps, that the children of Isaac and Ishmael don’t get along with each other very well.
Ultimately, however, Abraham did trust God’s promise that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed. His faith was, in fact, a lot like ours, with its ups and downs. His faith, like ours, was a process of growth and development. And so, in both our trust and our doubt, we truly are the children of Abraham.
“No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” (Rom 4:20-21)
If today’s reading sounds familiar, it’s because I preached on this reading a few Sundays ago. Paul has tried to make clear that our salvation is not merit-based, but depends entirely on God’s sheer grace, and our response of faithful trust. To prove that point to skeptical Jewish Christians, Paul points to their forefather, Abraham, pointing out that God’s promises to him came before the commandment of circumcision, and the giving of the law to Moses. In short, it was Abraham’s trust of God, which God counted as righteousness.
Read the whole story of Abraham and Sarah (chapters 12-25 of Genesis), and you might conclude that Paul over-stated Abraham’s faith at least a little bit. Twice, Abraham and Sarah go to a foreign land, and fearful of being murdered so that his wife will become available, Abraham passes her off as her sister. And twice, the local ruler almost commits adultery with her unknowingly, and making her bear children who wouldn’t be Abraham’s.
Then there’s the time that they agreed that Abraham would take Sarah’s slave, Hagar, and Abraham would have a child that would be “Sarah’s.” Eventually, Abraham had to send Hagar and her son, Ishmael, into the desert. The Arabic people of today consider Ishmael their ancestor. Little wonder, perhaps, that the children of Isaac and Ishmael don’t get along with each other very well.
Ultimately, however, Abraham did trust God’s promise that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed. His faith was, in fact, a lot like ours, with its ups and downs. His faith, like ours, was a process of growth and development. And so, in both our trust and our doubt, we truly are the children of Abraham.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Reading for Monday, 3rd Week of Lent
Romans 3:19-31
“For all alike have sinned, and are deprived of the diving glory; and all are justified by God’s free grace alone, through his act of liberation in the person of Jesus Christ. For God designed him to be the means of expiating sin by his death, effective through faith. God meant by this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had overlooked the sins of the past – to demonstrate his justice now in the present, showing that he is himself is just and also justifies anyone who puts his faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:23-26 – Revised English Bible)
Dante, before he could write of Paradise, had to pass through the Inferno; or as the rock singer Steve Miller once put it, "You've got to go to Hell before you get to Heaven." Paul has spent the first 2 ½ chapters of this letter taking Jew and Gentile through Hell. Gentiles had failed to recognize the evidence of one creator God all around them, and would perish forever apart from the Jewish law. The Jews had recognized their maker, had received his law, and had gone right on sinning, and thus would be judged by the law they claimed as their own.
Jews and Gentiles all – including you and me – have broken the cookie jar, and cannot even hope to put it back together. Nor can God who alone is just simply sweep the broken pieces out of sight. Justice must be executed. So how could God’s justice and God’s mercy be reconciled? Only an act of selfless love by God, which satisfies the demands of justice, could execute the justice that does not condemn, but restores. Human justice can only end with condemnation and punishment. God's justice ends with healing and restoration.
All we have to do – the only thing we can do, really – is trust God enough to look clearly at those ways in which we have fallen short of God’s righteous law, knowing that in God’s court, our fate is not execution, but reconciliation.
“For all alike have sinned, and are deprived of the diving glory; and all are justified by God’s free grace alone, through his act of liberation in the person of Jesus Christ. For God designed him to be the means of expiating sin by his death, effective through faith. God meant by this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had overlooked the sins of the past – to demonstrate his justice now in the present, showing that he is himself is just and also justifies anyone who puts his faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:23-26 – Revised English Bible)
Dante, before he could write of Paradise, had to pass through the Inferno; or as the rock singer Steve Miller once put it, "You've got to go to Hell before you get to Heaven." Paul has spent the first 2 ½ chapters of this letter taking Jew and Gentile through Hell. Gentiles had failed to recognize the evidence of one creator God all around them, and would perish forever apart from the Jewish law. The Jews had recognized their maker, had received his law, and had gone right on sinning, and thus would be judged by the law they claimed as their own.
Jews and Gentiles all – including you and me – have broken the cookie jar, and cannot even hope to put it back together. Nor can God who alone is just simply sweep the broken pieces out of sight. Justice must be executed. So how could God’s justice and God’s mercy be reconciled? Only an act of selfless love by God, which satisfies the demands of justice, could execute the justice that does not condemn, but restores. Human justice can only end with condemnation and punishment. God's justice ends with healing and restoration.
All we have to do – the only thing we can do, really – is trust God enough to look clearly at those ways in which we have fallen short of God’s righteous law, knowing that in God’s court, our fate is not execution, but reconciliation.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Sabbath Rest
I'm giving us all a break from new readings for the weekend, and an opportunity to reflect on what we've heard from God's Word this week.
A Collect for Saturdays
Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all you works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Collect for Saturdays
Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all you works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Reading for Friday, 2nd Week of Lent
Romans 2:25-3:18
In today’s reading, Paul takes on the central objection that faithful Jewish Christians had to Paul’s message of inclusion for Gentiles: “why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying.” Paul came to non-Jews with the good news that Jesus, by offering himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, had made all the Jewish rituals of sacrifice for sin unnecessary. Thus had God taken an act of evil, the murder of his Son, and transformed it into an act of supreme grace. Because of the cross, non-Jews were free from the ritual demands of the Jewish law – sacrifices, abstinence from certain foods, circumcision.
For Jewish Christians, the Law that God gave to Moses included the codes of moral behavior as well as ritual regulations. If Gentiles were free from the rituals of the law, were they not also free from the moral law as well? If God brought good out of evil in the Crucifixion, then why not “do evil that good may come?” Paul never said that. But some of his followers had, in fact, come to that exact conclusion (See 1 Cor. 5).
Paul tries to make it clear to the Romans that, whatever his reputation may be, he does not dismiss the Jewish Law. “What is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God” (Rom 3:1-2). The Law was indeed given by God to Moses. And as Paul has already written, that Law was plain for non-Jews to see in the world that God made and governs. Paul has also made clear that they are responsible for ignoring the evidence of God’s law in the world around them. And the Jews are even worse off for knowing God’s law straight from the source, and going on sinning anyway.
The Law, then is the source for God’s indictment of the whole human race, Jew and non-Jew: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Rom 3:10-11). So, what badges do we wear as signs of our righteousness? Political party, right doctrine, stock portfolio? I think there are many ways in which we try to justify ourselves and the compromises we make with unrighteousness. I think that Paul would be as dismissive of our ways of dividing ourselves as he was of how Jews and Gentiles divided themselves from each other.
In today’s reading, Paul takes on the central objection that faithful Jewish Christians had to Paul’s message of inclusion for Gentiles: “why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying.” Paul came to non-Jews with the good news that Jesus, by offering himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, had made all the Jewish rituals of sacrifice for sin unnecessary. Thus had God taken an act of evil, the murder of his Son, and transformed it into an act of supreme grace. Because of the cross, non-Jews were free from the ritual demands of the Jewish law – sacrifices, abstinence from certain foods, circumcision.
For Jewish Christians, the Law that God gave to Moses included the codes of moral behavior as well as ritual regulations. If Gentiles were free from the rituals of the law, were they not also free from the moral law as well? If God brought good out of evil in the Crucifixion, then why not “do evil that good may come?” Paul never said that. But some of his followers had, in fact, come to that exact conclusion (See 1 Cor. 5).
Paul tries to make it clear to the Romans that, whatever his reputation may be, he does not dismiss the Jewish Law. “What is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God” (Rom 3:1-2). The Law was indeed given by God to Moses. And as Paul has already written, that Law was plain for non-Jews to see in the world that God made and governs. Paul has also made clear that they are responsible for ignoring the evidence of God’s law in the world around them. And the Jews are even worse off for knowing God’s law straight from the source, and going on sinning anyway.
The Law, then is the source for God’s indictment of the whole human race, Jew and non-Jew: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Rom 3:10-11). So, what badges do we wear as signs of our righteousness? Political party, right doctrine, stock portfolio? I think there are many ways in which we try to justify ourselves and the compromises we make with unrighteousness. I think that Paul would be as dismissive of our ways of dividing ourselves as he was of how Jews and Gentiles divided themselves from each other.
Reading for Thursday, 2nd Week of Lent
Romans 2:12-24
When was the last time you said of someone, “he is a law to himself,” or something like that. Understandably we don’t quite know what to do with someone like that. They’re unpredictable. We wonder how considerate they will be of our needs and concerns. We fear finding out about something they’ve done after the fact and we have to clean up behind them.
But sometimes, maybe, they may have known something we didn’t. In retrospect, we realize that we wouldn’t have understood their insight however much they tried to explain it to us. Maybe our delay in doing something might have led to a missed opportunity, which they fortunately seized.
Today, Paul says of some Gentiles that they are “a law to themselves.” To Jews, that meant that they were moral anarchists, having no guide to keep them from the litany of sins that we heard yesterday. But was the Creator of the universe an exclusive possession of one tribe? Who were they to deny the possibility that God could write “the work of the law” onto other’s heart? Even if they couldn’t articulate it, would not those Gentiles stand a better chance of being justified in God’s eyes than the Jew who taught the law, but then broke it at every turn?
Now here’s a little thought experiment. Forget “Jews” and “Gentiles.” Today, 2000 years after Paul wrote these words, where might those people be who are a law to themselves, but show that the law of right and wrong , love and hatred, is written on their hearts? Do you know someone who puts the self-professed “Christians” to shame?
When was the last time you said of someone, “he is a law to himself,” or something like that. Understandably we don’t quite know what to do with someone like that. They’re unpredictable. We wonder how considerate they will be of our needs and concerns. We fear finding out about something they’ve done after the fact and we have to clean up behind them.
But sometimes, maybe, they may have known something we didn’t. In retrospect, we realize that we wouldn’t have understood their insight however much they tried to explain it to us. Maybe our delay in doing something might have led to a missed opportunity, which they fortunately seized.
Today, Paul says of some Gentiles that they are “a law to themselves.” To Jews, that meant that they were moral anarchists, having no guide to keep them from the litany of sins that we heard yesterday. But was the Creator of the universe an exclusive possession of one tribe? Who were they to deny the possibility that God could write “the work of the law” onto other’s heart? Even if they couldn’t articulate it, would not those Gentiles stand a better chance of being justified in God’s eyes than the Jew who taught the law, but then broke it at every turn?
Now here’s a little thought experiment. Forget “Jews” and “Gentiles.” Today, 2000 years after Paul wrote these words, where might those people be who are a law to themselves, but show that the law of right and wrong , love and hatred, is written on their hearts? Do you know someone who puts the self-professed “Christians” to shame?
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Reading for Wednesday, 2nd Week of Lent
Romans 1: 28-2:12
In the few verses before today’s reading (which are not included in the Daily Office Lectionary), Paul points out some of the sexual misconduct that results from the sin of idolatry -- of giving more worth to created things than their Creator.
Fine you might say, I don’t do that sort of thing; so I’m ok, you’re ok … NOT says Paul. Look closely at the checklist of sins Paul cites in verses 29-31. Notice how many of them aren’t actions, but thoughts and feelings – “covetousness, malice … envy … deceit … maliciousness … haught[iness] … heartless[ness], ruthless[ness].”
Paul then engages in a rhetorical technique called an apostrophe, in which he addresses people who aren’t actually there: “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges” (Rom 2: 1). By using the general term, “man,” it appears that Paul is not actually accusing anyone in the Christian community of these sins.
In one sense, of course, that’s correct. Paul is making a case that all human beings are lost in sin. So his indictment is not aimed at any specific people, but at all humanity. But…Can anyone in the Church at Rome, or the Church at Albertville, look at the list above and say, “never have any one of those thoughts crossed my mind for even a millisecond”?
The answer is so obvious that it can become too easy to focus on our sin, on condemnation. I’ve heard the stories of those who found their way to the Episcopal Church because of the condemnation they encountered in other churches. Grace will always have the last word when it comes to sin. But when it comes to the human condition, Sin has the first word.
In the few verses before today’s reading (which are not included in the Daily Office Lectionary), Paul points out some of the sexual misconduct that results from the sin of idolatry -- of giving more worth to created things than their Creator.
Fine you might say, I don’t do that sort of thing; so I’m ok, you’re ok … NOT says Paul. Look closely at the checklist of sins Paul cites in verses 29-31. Notice how many of them aren’t actions, but thoughts and feelings – “covetousness, malice … envy … deceit … maliciousness … haught[iness] … heartless[ness], ruthless[ness].”
Paul then engages in a rhetorical technique called an apostrophe, in which he addresses people who aren’t actually there: “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges” (Rom 2: 1). By using the general term, “man,” it appears that Paul is not actually accusing anyone in the Christian community of these sins.
In one sense, of course, that’s correct. Paul is making a case that all human beings are lost in sin. So his indictment is not aimed at any specific people, but at all humanity. But…Can anyone in the Church at Rome, or the Church at Albertville, look at the list above and say, “never have any one of those thoughts crossed my mind for even a millisecond”?
The answer is so obvious that it can become too easy to focus on our sin, on condemnation. I’ve heard the stories of those who found their way to the Episcopal Church because of the condemnation they encountered in other churches. Grace will always have the last word when it comes to sin. But when it comes to the human condition, Sin has the first word.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Reading for Tuesday, 2nd Week of Lent
Romans 1: 16-25
After writing of his hopeful message of “salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,” Paul turns around and begins to make clear how much all people, Jew and non-Jew, need salvation. God may have revealed his righteous law only to the Jews. But that is no excuse for the Gentiles. “Ever since the world began his invisible attributes, that is to say his everlasting power and deity, have been visible to the eye of reason, in the things he has made” (Rom 1:20, Revised English Bible).
A few Sundays back, I spoke of experiments in space in which atomic clocks have slowed down when the objects they were travelling in sped up. There is nothing faster than light, which travels 186,000 miles in just 1 second. Physicists also know that matter (the stuff we’re all made of) becomes less and less dense the closer it gets to the speed of light.
Theoretically then, the closer we get to the speed of light, the more time slows down and the less “material” we get. So, if an object actually reached the speed of light, it would completely cease to be material, and with time having stopped, it would become eternal. Sounds a lot like God. (If you’re really brave, you can go here to learn more about the ways in which modern physics points to the God of the Bible. It is dense reading.)
Paul didn’t know any of this of course, but he understood that creation will always provide evidence of its Creator. And the more we examine that creation, the more evidence we will find. That’s why we need not fear science, because science and religion both seek the truth, and those who truly seek shall find (Matt 7:7). God’s truth is like an eternal flower, always unfolding, always revealing another side of itself as its petals open wider and wider. There will always be something new to discover about God’s care for this world. I think that Paul would agree.
After writing of his hopeful message of “salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,” Paul turns around and begins to make clear how much all people, Jew and non-Jew, need salvation. God may have revealed his righteous law only to the Jews. But that is no excuse for the Gentiles. “Ever since the world began his invisible attributes, that is to say his everlasting power and deity, have been visible to the eye of reason, in the things he has made” (Rom 1:20, Revised English Bible).
A few Sundays back, I spoke of experiments in space in which atomic clocks have slowed down when the objects they were travelling in sped up. There is nothing faster than light, which travels 186,000 miles in just 1 second. Physicists also know that matter (the stuff we’re all made of) becomes less and less dense the closer it gets to the speed of light.
Theoretically then, the closer we get to the speed of light, the more time slows down and the less “material” we get. So, if an object actually reached the speed of light, it would completely cease to be material, and with time having stopped, it would become eternal. Sounds a lot like God. (If you’re really brave, you can go here to learn more about the ways in which modern physics points to the God of the Bible. It is dense reading.)
Paul didn’t know any of this of course, but he understood that creation will always provide evidence of its Creator. And the more we examine that creation, the more evidence we will find. That’s why we need not fear science, because science and religion both seek the truth, and those who truly seek shall find (Matt 7:7). God’s truth is like an eternal flower, always unfolding, always revealing another side of itself as its petals open wider and wider. There will always be something new to discover about God’s care for this world. I think that Paul would agree.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Reading for Monday, 2nd Week of Lent
Romans 1:1-15
This second week of Lent, we begin Paul's Letter to the Romans, and we will prayerfully study Romans until Holy Week.
Romans is unique among Paul's letters because this was the only letter that Paul wrote to a Christian community that he himself had not founded. In his letters to those communities, Paul is passionate, sometimes in love, sometimes in anger. "I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you," Paul implores the Galatians (Galatians 4: 19). "But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children," Paul writes of his ministry to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 2: 7). Paul speaks to those churches with affection, born of his familiarity with them, but also a strong sense of authority, as someone to whom they are obligated for the Good News of salvation they received.
But to the Romans, Paul writes of his hope "that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine." As I said yesterday, the Christian community in Rome was an uneasy mix of Jewish and Gentile Christians that had existed for some years already. The Jewish Christians were highly suspicious of Paul's message of inclusion of Gentiles at a price they feared was too high.
Paul will answer those suspicions head on in due course. But for now, he acknowledges that the faith they share in Jesus Christ is more important than their disagreements. We have disagreements in the Church today. And they are no more to be swept under the rug than Paul's disagreements with his Jewish brothers and sisters. But anyone who calls Jesus Christ, "our Lord," is someone with whom "we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith."
This second week of Lent, we begin Paul's Letter to the Romans, and we will prayerfully study Romans until Holy Week.
Romans is unique among Paul's letters because this was the only letter that Paul wrote to a Christian community that he himself had not founded. In his letters to those communities, Paul is passionate, sometimes in love, sometimes in anger. "I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you," Paul implores the Galatians (Galatians 4: 19). "But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children," Paul writes of his ministry to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 2: 7). Paul speaks to those churches with affection, born of his familiarity with them, but also a strong sense of authority, as someone to whom they are obligated for the Good News of salvation they received.
But to the Romans, Paul writes of his hope "that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine." As I said yesterday, the Christian community in Rome was an uneasy mix of Jewish and Gentile Christians that had existed for some years already. The Jewish Christians were highly suspicious of Paul's message of inclusion of Gentiles at a price they feared was too high.
Paul will answer those suspicions head on in due course. But for now, he acknowledges that the faith they share in Jesus Christ is more important than their disagreements. We have disagreements in the Church today. And they are no more to be swept under the rug than Paul's disagreements with his Jewish brothers and sisters. But anyone who calls Jesus Christ, "our Lord," is someone with whom "we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith."
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Lenten Series: Praying Shapes Believing
For those who weren't able to make it to the first program in our Lenten Series, "The Rest of the Prayer Book," I'm making available on the Blog the handout that went with that first program, "Praying Shapes Believing." Read and converse.
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Blessings,
David+
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Blessings,
David+
Welcome to the Conversation
Welcome to the Christ Church Blog.
In our Baptismal Covenant, we vow to "continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship," just as the first disciples of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship" (Acts 2:42). We can't do that in person as much as they were able to. But we can use the gifts of God's creation to facilitate our common life. And the Internet is one of the newest gifts of creation.
In the next couple of days, I will post a series of Scripture readings for the week ahead, one a day. These readings are taken from the Lectionary for the Daily Office of Morning, and Evening Prayer. Most days, I will post a brief meditation on each reading to get us going. Then I hope that you will be able to find a space within your day to read God's Word.
Speaking of "Word," we know that Jesus is the Word who was with God and was God (John 1). It may seem obvious, but of course, to say that Jesus was the Word doesn't mean that Jesus was just one single word. The Greek for "word" (logos) can also mean "conversation." So that we could translate the beginning of John's Gospel, "In the beginning was the Conversation."
My prayer is that we will be blessed in this conversation, between ourselves and God.
In our Baptismal Covenant, we vow to "continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship," just as the first disciples of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship" (Acts 2:42). We can't do that in person as much as they were able to. But we can use the gifts of God's creation to facilitate our common life. And the Internet is one of the newest gifts of creation.
In the next couple of days, I will post a series of Scripture readings for the week ahead, one a day. These readings are taken from the Lectionary for the Daily Office of Morning, and Evening Prayer. Most days, I will post a brief meditation on each reading to get us going. Then I hope that you will be able to find a space within your day to read God's Word.
Speaking of "Word," we know that Jesus is the Word who was with God and was God (John 1). It may seem obvious, but of course, to say that Jesus was the Word doesn't mean that Jesus was just one single word. The Greek for "word" (logos) can also mean "conversation." So that we could translate the beginning of John's Gospel, "In the beginning was the Conversation."
My prayer is that we will be blessed in this conversation, between ourselves and God.
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