The truth will make you free

John 8:31-36New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”

Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

Friday, October 31st is Reformation Day.  It's always been an intriguing thing to me having Halloween and Reformation Day on the same day.  I don't have any interesting comparisons or parallels to make of it, but nevertheless, it's intriguing.

One of the readings assigned to Reformation Day is Romans from Romans 3: "For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law." A reading that many Lutherans probably have memorized.

But instead, I want to look at another reading from Reformation Day - the gospel reading.  Jesus telling the Jews that the truth (Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life according to John, remember...) will make you free.

Or as that other Martin Luther famously said: "Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty I'm free at last."

I'm free.

You're free.

How does that make you feel?

Do you feel free?

Do you know or believe what you are free from?  Sin?  Are you?

Do you need someone to tell you that? Is sin something you really thought (think?) you were (are?) a slave to?

And what exactly does Jesus mean by sin anyway?

First, perhaps a note that Jesus doesn't pluralize sin.  That's important because most of the time I think we think of sin (or sins) what we are thinking of is breaking God's law or disobeying God.

But here Jesus I think is using sin as a singular condition - one I might capitalize to differentiate it from sins.  So, Sin.

We are free from Sin.

Sin. As Luther might say it, the state of being curved in on ourselves.  Simul justus et peccator

Or, to paraphrase David Lose, the state of being caught up in the power that seeks to rob of us abundant life.

Or, to paraphrase Rob Bell, the state of being caught up in the disruption of the peace - or Shalom - that God desires for the world.  Being caught in a state of culpability in that disruption.

Anyway you slice it, a state of being.  Not simply a little "s" disobedience of one of God's laws, but instead being imprisoned and separated from God's desire for peace - the Kin-dom of God.

Are you free from that?

Jesus says that when you know the truth, you are.

The truth shall set you free.

Justified through faith.  Not by the actions of obeying a law so as not to commit a sin.  But instead living into the faith that comes from knowing that the truth has set us free from the slavery of Sin.

Free at last, free at last, thank you, God almighty, that I am free at last.  Amen.

Whole Life

Matthew 19:16-22New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

The story of the rich young man comes up a lot in the lectionary and exists in some form in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Off the bat, these things jump out at me as areas on which to focus:

- The young man asks what (singular) good deed he must do to inherit eternal life.  Jesus' reply is about how to enter into "life."  Not eternal life, but life...which would mean life now, not simply life not yet. Why would Jesus turn the young man's answer about (presumably) his future, eternal (heavenly?) life to simply the word "life?"

- Jesus only lists some of the commandments.  Glaring omissions for the young man?  You shall not have any other gods and do not covet.  Why do you think he may have left those out?  What does this tell us about how personal this interaction is between Jesus and the young man?

- Jesus tells him to be perfect.  Perfect, as I've talked about before, in this context, means whole.  Jesus is telling him to be whole.  Complete. What is he lacking therefore that would make him whole?

- The young man goes away grieving.  Why do you think that is?  We don't know if he actually does follow Jesus or not.  We don't know if he follows through with Jesus' command or not.  Is he grieving because he will miss his possessions, or is he grieving because he will miss out on following Jesus?

This text is often used for stewardship sermons.  It's connected also often with the lines that follow about how difficult it is for camels to get through eyes of needles and rich people to enter the kingdom of God.

But when we see the kingdom of God as life - not just the hereafter - and as the state of being whole, the story then becomes not simply about this one young rich man or even about all rich people.  

It becomes about all of us asking ourselves what is it that keeps us from a whole life?  What is it that keeps us from a complete relationship with God?

God's desire for us is wholeness.  God's dream for us is the kingdom - or kindom or commonwealth - of God.

God wants us to live.  To enter life fully, wholly, and completely.

God of life, teach me to live with my whole heart, my whole being, and my whole self.  Amen.

Integrity

James 2:14-18   New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

Two millennia later, Christians still get tangled up in the debate about faith vs. works as if they are two completely unrelated ideas.  Martin Luther himself was at best ambivalent about the epistle of James, and this passage is perhaps partially why.  Luther certainly favored Paul's strong assertions of faith being that which justifies (saves us).

And yet, if we read James closely, there is no rebuttal of the importance of faith.  Instead, perhaps the word that should spring to mind as we read James is "integrity."  One of the definitions of integrity is "the state of being whole or undivided."  So James then seems to really be alluding that faith and works together make the whole person.

When we think of faith as simply "belief" or "the state of believing," then it seems to be something of an intellectual exercise.  Believing the right things is often the litmus test for some faith communities.

Yet when we think of faith as trust or confidence, then something else happens.  When you trust someone, or have confidence in their love for you, what happens?  Do you return that love?  Does it show?  Doesn't trusting someone wholly and completely lead that trust and love to just bubble out of you?

When we act on our trust or our love or our faith with actions that demonstrate them, we are said to act with integrity.  We are showing that we are whole and complete - actions springing from who we really are.  If who we are is someone who trust God, then that's going to show.

God wants wholeness for us.  Integrity is a way we can see that wholeness in others and the way we can show that wholeness in ourselves.  

Faith and works springing from each other in an endless dance of relationship with God.

Faithful God, help me to live a life of integrity so that all may know my complete trust in you.  Amen.

Relationship

Numbers 5:5-10New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelites: When a man or a woman wrongs another, breaking faith with the Lord, that person incurs guilt and shall confess the sin that has been committed. The person shall make full restitution for the wrong, adding one-fifth to it, and giving it to the one who was wronged. If the injured party has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the Lord for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for the guilty party. Among all the sacred donations of the Israelites, every gift that they bring to the priest shall be his. The sacred donations of all are their own; whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.

For a long time, I avoided reading Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  All those endless rules and laws that just seemed to have nothing to do with me.

Equally I would get frustrated at people who insist on reading and following the Bible literally without being able to tell me HOW to read and follow these specific passages literally.

However, when you get past the rams and the priests and the sacrifices and talk of guilt and atonement, you reach a conclusion that comes across throughout the pages of scripture, both in the Old and New Testament.

God cares about relationship and calls us to forgive.

God cares about relationship and calls us to seek forgiveness.

As Desmond Tutu says: forgiveness is how we bring about peace in our lives and in the world.

For some, forgiveness make take time.  There may be a process that you need to go through to forgive.

And for some the healing of the relationship may mean removing yourself from the relationship rather than reconciling.

For some, there will still be sacrifices that need to be made for restitution.  Maybe it won't be a ram.  Maybe it won't be a burnt offering.  Maybe it will be our pride.  Or a letter of apology, or even a simple "I'm sorry."

But any way you slice it, forgiveness is God's way.

Forgiveness is the way of relationship.

And God is a god of relationship.

Gracious God, forgive me my debts as I forgive my debtors and help me to always seek to follow your way of relationship.  Amen

Note:  I'll be away for a long weekend starting later today.  Be back to blogging on Wednesday.

Sing a new song

Psalm 98 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

A Psalm.

O sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
    have gotten him victory.
The Lord has made known his victory;
    he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
    to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
    the victory of our God.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
    break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
    with the lyre and the sound of melody.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
    make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    the world and those who live in it.
Let the floods clap their hands;
    let the hills sing together for joy
at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
    to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
    and the peoples with equity.

Psalm 98 is one of my favorite Psalms.  It has many familiar phrases and tropes, ones heard in other Psalms and in other parts of scripture.  It is joyful.  It is triumphant.  It is comforting to turn to when things aren't going well.

I included the entire Psalm today rather than just a portion because I think this Psalm sounds best in its entirety - as a whole.  It flows and carries me away with it.  And I am hopeful that it can do the same for you.

What is, I wonder, the new song to sing to the Lord?

I talked already this week about joy and breaking into singing.   It's a good theme this week in the Lectionary.

It is good especially to be reminded of the joy God wants and will for us when the message the world often gives us is something much different.  

That the world is dark and foreboding.

And that God is distant and disinterested.

Or non-existant.

The Psalms are a good tonic for that and for all the human drama and emotions - both good and bad - that can both quiet and disquiet our souls.  They help us to lament when we are suffering, or cause us to turn back to joy again when we are ready for our suffering to end.

Wherever you are right now - whether in some kind of pain or sadness, or filled with contentment and happiness - read this Psalm through.  Slowly.  Meditating on each verse and asking yourself where God is for you right now.

God of sorrow and joy, help me to sing a new song - and song that praises you always.  Amen.

 

Golden Idol

Daniel 3:16-18New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”

The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is one you may remember from Sunday School.  We had a musical we did of the story at one of my churches.

Or maybe you remember this:

(Louis Armstrong singing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r1baNdgImo)

Buried in the story from childhood is a very real and adult issue: idolatry.

So, yeah, OK, we don't tend to worship golden statues (of golden calfs) anymore.  But idolatry is alive and well. 

Maybe it is easier to imagine and idol that looks impressive and golden - like the massive statue in Daniel or the golden idol of "Raiders of the Lost Ark," (this guy...remember?)

I have to admit that my idols don't always have such a shiny glint to them.  Sometimes my idols can be mundane and everyday.  Sometimes they can not even be tangible.  Maybe it's an idea or ideal: Freedom.  Independence.  Success.  Comfort. Wealth.  

Even Justice.

Whatever it is that I put before my God.

Luther said that whatever you set your heart or your trust on is your god.

Where is my heart? Where is yours?

Oh God, you are my God, and I will always love you.  Help me to trust always in your love for me that I may not put other gods before you.  Amen.

Break forth in singing

Isaiah 14:7New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
    they break forth into singing.

Imagine this for a moment. 

The whole earth is at rest.

And quiet.

And then slowly, bit by bit, breaks into song and the quiet becomes a choir of joy and praise.

Maybe something like this (but, well, without the Coca Cola!)

(link to video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib-Qiyklq-Q)

In the Hebrew scriptures, Prophets were often full of doom and gloom.  Full of warnings and condemnations.

But sometimes, through all the bad stuff they had to tell, an image of hope was given.  One that gave no doubt as to God's hopes for the world.  

That of love, and joy, and hope, and peace.

A message that sometimes even today breaks through.  Despite all the news of Ebola, and war, and refugees, and racial division, and political rhetoric and ideology, there is still this good news of God breaking into our world.

Wanting rest for us.

Wanting peace for us and quiet for us.

Wanting music and singing and joy for us.

Where are those moments in your life?

God of rest and song, open our eyes and hearts to see and hear the joy in the world.  Amen.

Being right

1 Peter 5:1-5New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it—not for sordid gain but eagerly. Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away. In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

One of the prayers I've tried to consciously add to my litany lately is "Lord, save me from being right."

Being right is as addictive as sugar and coffee and alcohol and drugs.  Being right fuels something in me that makes me, well, not the me I think God has called me to be.  Being right makes me want to be right again.  And again.  It can make me dig my heels in and believe I'm right even when I'm not.

And when someone is convinced they are right over and over and over again, eventually it means that others around that person aren't right.  How can we both be right?

It makes it easy to lord it over someone.

The truth I am finding more and more is that if I'm honest with myself, looking back over my life, it is the times I have been wrong that have formed me.  It is being wrong and teaches and opens me up to new possibilities.  We learn and grow from our mistakes, as uncomfortable and unpleasant as that can be.  But the more times we are convinced we are right, the harder I believe it is to admit when we are wrong and then to grow.

God wants us to grow and learn.  Not just as a child, but for our whole life long.

Unfortunately we don't live in a world that likes things that are wrong.  Pressure mounts from all sides to be right.  From religion to politics to art to families, we get messages 24/7 that tell us there is a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things.  That you are either "with me or you are against me."

Make sure you aren't doing it the wrong way!  Make sure you know that your ideals are the correct ones and "they" are wrong and you've got to prove them wrong over and over and over.

Being right is addicting and our world has I believe given in to the addiction.

And it's made us proud.

Yet God tells us there is another way.  Be humble.  Approach others with humility and love. 

Learn.  Grow.  Accept when you are wrong.

You don't need to be right.  I don't need to be right.  It damages relationships and community when we all believe we are right.

Clothe yourself in humility when dealing with each other for it is in that that true glory - and blessing - can abound.

Lord, save me from being right.  Amen.

Bread of Life

John 6:32-35New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

The Gospel of John is rich with symbolism, and none perhaps is more accessible to us than the image of Jesus as the bread of life.  It's accessible because each Sunday - for those churches who commune every week - we are given that bread to sustain us.

This is a text that is often associated with Holy Communion.  The Eucharist.  The Lord's Supper, or whatever your church refers to it as.

It is a text that churches who proclaim real presence - where Christ is present in the bread and wine of communion - can latch onto.

What makes this text so rich for me is that no matter how deeply or not you take the metaphor - from the literal to the symbolic - either way, there is comfort.  

Either way, Jesus declares that he is life.

Personally, as someone who loves bread, I can think of no better way for Jesus to describe himself.  Bread is food that comes in so many different forms all over creation.  And wherever you find it, you find life.  Bread is seen as life-giving food. (even in this day and age of gluten and carb-counting awareness!)

Never being hungry or thirsty again.  That's a tall order.  Yet Jesus is the life that offers that.

What is it that I hunger for now, I wonder, that Jesus can provide sustenance for?  What is the empty void that Jesus can fill?  

When you come to the table next time and the bread is put into your hand or mouth, remember the life that is given for you in that moment.  Whether you believe in real presence or communion as a memorial, remember that Jesus came to give you life.

Always.

Lord of life, feed me.  Amen.

Heaven and Earth

Philippians 3:17-20New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

There's a tension in scripture that is worth thinking about: that of the earthly or worldly realm and that of the heavenly realm.  Sometimes it's referred to as things of the flesh vs. things of the spirit.

For me, it's an unfortunate pattern for us that Paul falls into.  Unfortunate for us, because I think we have gotten into the habit of latching on to that rather dualistic way of seeing God's creation.  As if mystical, spiritual, heavenly things are good and earthly, fleshy, worldly things are bad.

As if we are just biding time on this rock until the fun starts in heaven.

The truth is that the good Lord created it all.  And so "flesh" and "earth" are not innately bad.

For Paul however, things of heaven is code of things of God.  So, while the language may be confusing and perhaps not even accessible or accurate for our time, it's good to know something about what Paul is getting at here.

The cross of Christ - which Paul notes has its "enemies" - is the place where transformation happens.  Whether you want to use words like heaven or earth or flesh or spirit, what Paul is letting the followers of Christ know is that the cross of Christ causes change.  It makes things new.  It brings about transformation.

When the shadow of the cross of Christ crosses your path, your identity changes.  You are a new creation.  You are of God.

Paul wants his followers - and us too I believe - to know that with Jesus everything has changed.  We have changed, and the world has changed.

Our identity has changed.

We are of God.  Both here on earth and in the heavenly realms.

God of life, you have claimed us.  Help us not to get caught up in making divisions in your world, but instead help us to live into the identity you have given us.  Amen.

Hey Jude!

Jude 1:22New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

And have mercy on some who are wavering

Jude is a book in the New Testament that is 25 verses long.  Not chapters, verses.  Same length as the equally short, Philemon.

It's not one that pops up regularly in the lectionary, and not one you probably generally study in Bible study groups.  It's a letter written to one of the churches of the emerging Christianity in the late 1st/early 2nd century dealing with one of the newer problems the church faced.

Unlike the early churches brought together by a primarily Jewish population that dealt with how to incorporate (or not) Jewish identity with the new Christian movement, and unlike later churches dealing with heavy persecution, the church Jude writes to has a different problem.  They were facing a subversion of the Gospel from the surrounding Greek Hellenistic culture.  These churches fought pressure and temptation to accommodate Greek pagan thought: a philosophy that ran in huge tension to the work of God's restoration and redemption that the Christian gospel proclaimed.

In other words, the Christian church Jude is writing too is dealing with temptation by the larger culture to be more like it than like the Christian community that was being formed.

Things haven't changed all that much, have they?

The larger culture if the world is still the greatest competition to the gospel of Christ and to our hearts and minds.  

Causes some wavering from time to time...

I've heard lots of bemoaning of the loss of the good old days from folks who long for the Christian community they remember as children.  I've probably bemoaned myself a few times.

But the truth is that from the very beginning we've been dealing with a competing culture that runs up against what the gospel of Christ stands for.  And like our early counterparts, we've over the years found ways to accommodate practices from the larger culture into our churches.  Maybe even some of those wonderful things you remember from your childhood.

Yet we have this assurance - this blessing - to have mercy on those of us who are wavering.

It's easy to see the big wide world and all it offers and feel the pull of it.  It's even easy to take some of that world and bring it to our churches.  Sometimes it even becomes a good thing.

But sometimes it causes us to waver and doubt and feel drawn away from the Gospel.

And still God showers mercy on us!

That's what Mercy does.  That's what the Gospel is.  

May you find yourself part of a community that lifts that up!

Merciful God, help me to know and dwell in your Gospel of love and thank you for holding me fast when I waver and am pulled away.  Draw me ever nearer to you always!  Amen.