Psalm 96:1-13; Daniel 6:1-15; 2 John 1-13
When I read Daniel and 2 John in the same reading, I am reminded of my responsibilities on the CPM committee in my Presbytery - Committee for Preparation for Ministry. The meeting of the satraps and presidents sounds like the bunch of elders and ministers and Presbytery representatives who consider the readiness of individuals for ordination within our denomination, through stages of inquiry, candidacy and ordination. I'm not sure I'm a satrap or a president, but I, like Daniel, have for sat before them on my own journey to ordination. Now I'm one of them.
Daniel flew through the process and became a superior leader among them because he had "an excellent spirit within him," and had not broken the law of God. But jealousy seemed to creep in among the others; he was just too good. And on top of that, he was a fundamentalist. Can't have that in this denomination. And so, a new requirement was imposed, to give homage to the King over God. But Daniel stayed his conscience and his faith. He maintained first and foremost his allegiance to God over his King. And he stepped into the trap set for him by his colleagues.
When we examine candidates, we presidents and satraps are asked to have them uphold the essential tenets of the reformed faith, even though they might stray from our "standards" outlined in the our constitution (confessions and Book of Order) in "good conscience." In fact, they can even have a scruple with the essential tenets, as I read the PUP report and the committee, and in the name of diversity, the CPM can pass them on. Our General Assembly has passed a guideline for us to examine people for this aspect - the Peace Unity and Purity (PUP) report which leaves open the possibility for candidates to be less than "fundamental" on the standards, and ambiguous about the essentials, even though they might have "wonderful gifts," love the Lord, and be hard working and likable. Even if their practices and teachings might cause some to stumble or minimize the authority of scripture, or the Lordship of Jesus. Even if they cannot stomach calling God their Father. And so on.
But if they're too fundamental, they might make the rest of us look bad, or have to consider our own compromises with the truth when it gets in the way of our lifestyles or conflicts with our hearts or experiences. Or when the ministry of the gospel includes prohibitions that have gone out of vogue, such as sexual purity, the Lordship of Christ alone in a pluralistic world, and biblical literacy among others. When winning lost souls is too uncomfortable for some Presbyterians who would rather feed the poor, and settle for sloppy teaching, than sound proclamation and evangelism. Fundamentalists don't belong in the PC(USA).
The writer of 2 John saw this coming too, as he chastised the woman for allowing "deceivers" into her community - into her home no less - and apparently they were leading her and the community astray. She must have been a woman of influence in the church. It seems her children, however, were fundamentalists, or so we could decide from this text. And their fragile faith was in jeopardy by her inclusiveness. I don't see this as a mandate to exclude people form the gospel, but apparently, this "deceiver" had been undermining the fundamental teachings of the community who were filled with new converts: 5But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning, let us love one another. 6And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning—you must walk in it.
What are the commandments? God alone is God. Love God first and foremost, above the institution, above the denomination, the polity, the tradition, the structures and rules. God is Lord of the conscience, but not at the expense of the authority of scripture. And as professing Christians, the essential of our faith is Jesus Christ: his life and his work and his teaching.
When I talk to candidates I want to hear them profess Jesus Christ as the way and the truth and the life - before all else. I want to hear that they have "the excellent spirit of Jesus" in them and how the Holy Spirit is working in them. The denomination may come and go, but God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. And either we believe his commandments hold as truth for today or we don't. God is God, not us.
I see my work on CPM as dicey and necessary and occasionally controversial. For as what would be defined fundamentalism, I align with the writer of 2 John as I discern the readiness and competency of those who will lead and teach the essentials of our Christian faith to future generations: 8Be on your guard, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but may receive a full reward. 9Everyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ, but goes beyond it, does not have God; whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
Jesus was fundamental in his faith and his obedience to the Father, so evident in the gospel of John. Jesus alone is the fundamental way to salvation. Sin blocks our way to God. This is what he taught. Lest we forget, when Jesus came in this encounter today in Luke with the leper, he was more concerned with healing sins, than physical needs. Sin. A fundamental human condition that is fundamentally defined in our scriptures, and fundamentally accounted for in the life and death of our Savior. If we embrace the fundamentals of the way to salvation - Repent, believe and follow Jesus, who alone is the way to wholeness and to God, we shall never be moved.
No matter what traps might be set before us.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
First thoughts, daily scriptures - April 25, 2007
1 John 5:1-12
I often have people ask me how to "do evangelism." We like many churches, are wanting to grow. We have a New Life team in our church to explore ways to invite people to this encounter with God in community. Most of the activity surrounds mailing campaigns, events at the church, hanging literature on door knobs, and occasional (expensive!) newspaper ad. We're trying to get the web site updated. Sadly, only a few have participated in this.
But the rest of us? Dare we invite people to Church, let alone into a relationship with Christ? Share our testimony? Well these invitations can be awkward; sharing our testimony with others is just, well, too Baptist. We're Presbyterians. We seem to have a different order to evangelism: build the church, hire a preacher and round up Sunday School teachers to teach Bible stories, and they will come, and they will hear. If the music is good and we're friendly enough, maybe they will join. If they do, then we can go on mission trips together, and feed the poor together.
But share personal testimonies? Leave that to the Baptists.
Now I'm messing with some of you, I know. You have not dared speak the name of Jesus at a restaurant as you pray for the server out loud. You'd never think of giving God the glory in public on your child's soccer field. You have never "witnessed" to anyone verbally about the hope that lies in you - which is the Spirit of God, received through the blood of Christ, and the water of baptism. It has intimidated you to speak of the mystery of faith in a world that idolizes knowledge and solutions and reason and human power and privilege. Someone might think you're a Bible thumping, self-righteous, fundamentalist whacko.
Then I read I John: 11And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. It says to me that our faith in Christ IS the testimony, and at risk is death for those who do not come to faith in Christ. If we are not proclaiming our faith in Christ, as we live out our lives, to our friends, family, strangers, no one will come to know that it is Christ who gives all people life and hope and victory. Our testimony is not complete until we declare our faith, sharing with others God's perspectives and meaning to our life, as awkward as it might be. It means telling the truth about our own challenges and victories: that we are nothing apart from Jesus Christ. ALL life is in Jesus, and unless we SAY it, invite others to this relationship, we are fooling ourselves to think that our testimony and the hope for the world is in a fancy building, a slick program, a good preacher, our music program or our nice people.
All through history, God's people have shared their personal stories about their faith in God. In our schools, and offices and stores and neighborhoods, so must we, relying on the Holy Spirit to make our bumbling words effective for salvation. God will be the victor no matter what the church says. But the primary end of the Church is to BE the witness to the world of God's Kingdom and to tell it like it is. All of us.
I often have people ask me how to "do evangelism." We like many churches, are wanting to grow. We have a New Life team in our church to explore ways to invite people to this encounter with God in community. Most of the activity surrounds mailing campaigns, events at the church, hanging literature on door knobs, and occasional (expensive!) newspaper ad. We're trying to get the web site updated. Sadly, only a few have participated in this.
But the rest of us? Dare we invite people to Church, let alone into a relationship with Christ? Share our testimony? Well these invitations can be awkward; sharing our testimony with others is just, well, too Baptist. We're Presbyterians. We seem to have a different order to evangelism: build the church, hire a preacher and round up Sunday School teachers to teach Bible stories, and they will come, and they will hear. If the music is good and we're friendly enough, maybe they will join. If they do, then we can go on mission trips together, and feed the poor together.
But share personal testimonies? Leave that to the Baptists.
Now I'm messing with some of you, I know. You have not dared speak the name of Jesus at a restaurant as you pray for the server out loud. You'd never think of giving God the glory in public on your child's soccer field. You have never "witnessed" to anyone verbally about the hope that lies in you - which is the Spirit of God, received through the blood of Christ, and the water of baptism. It has intimidated you to speak of the mystery of faith in a world that idolizes knowledge and solutions and reason and human power and privilege. Someone might think you're a Bible thumping, self-righteous, fundamentalist whacko.
Then I read I John: 11And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. It says to me that our faith in Christ IS the testimony, and at risk is death for those who do not come to faith in Christ. If we are not proclaiming our faith in Christ, as we live out our lives, to our friends, family, strangers, no one will come to know that it is Christ who gives all people life and hope and victory. Our testimony is not complete until we declare our faith, sharing with others God's perspectives and meaning to our life, as awkward as it might be. It means telling the truth about our own challenges and victories: that we are nothing apart from Jesus Christ. ALL life is in Jesus, and unless we SAY it, invite others to this relationship, we are fooling ourselves to think that our testimony and the hope for the world is in a fancy building, a slick program, a good preacher, our music program or our nice people.
All through history, God's people have shared their personal stories about their faith in God. In our schools, and offices and stores and neighborhoods, so must we, relying on the Holy Spirit to make our bumbling words effective for salvation. God will be the victor no matter what the church says. But the primary end of the Church is to BE the witness to the world of God's Kingdom and to tell it like it is. All of us.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Daily Bible readings- first thoughts April 24, 2007
Psalm 98:1-9; Daniel 4:28-37; I John 4:7-21; Psalm 66:1-20
God can drive us to places we don't want to go. As Christians, we are taught to expect that - to follow Christ into difficult places when we commit to serve Him.
But God can drive us to other places, where we have no use. Indeed, King Nebuchadnezzar found himself toppled from his throne and driven into the wilderness, just like Daniel told him would happen. God drove him from power and privilege to danger and darkness, to grovel and scrap for survival with wild animals. Of use to no one, powerless for a time.
The evil spirit that possessed the man in Luke's gospel, who manifested itself in him as many, was driven out of him by a few words from Jesus. They too became powerless over the man, driven to oblivion.
John reminds us that God can drive out anything that blocks love from the world - including our selfish ambition, pride, fear. All God wants to dwell in us is love - for God and for others. As the King learned, [God] is able to bring low those who walk in pride. (Daniel 4:37). As God drives out sin and evil from our lives, through Christ, God brings us low. But God does not leave us there.
The King was restored to his throne with humility - now claiming the One true God: 34When that period was over, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me. I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored the one who lives forever. For his sovereignty is an everlasting sovereignty, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
Pride was driven out and replaced by the fear of the Lord. Fear, reverence, honor - the recognition that God is God, not us. God has all the power, not the unclean spirits of this world, that tempt us to think we are god, that we can go it alone, that we have it all together, that our needs matter more than justice and peace. God drives us to our knees, God drives us to consider the wasteland of our lives, God drives us to the brink, but God never leaves us there, to fear. For God sent Jesus into the wilderness to drive us home to God, and to dwell with us in love, by love, for love, forever.
13By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. (I John 4:13-16).
The wilderness can be a place where purpose and perspective is shaped. And everything else is driven out. So be it to the glory of God.
God can drive us to places we don't want to go. As Christians, we are taught to expect that - to follow Christ into difficult places when we commit to serve Him.
But God can drive us to other places, where we have no use. Indeed, King Nebuchadnezzar found himself toppled from his throne and driven into the wilderness, just like Daniel told him would happen. God drove him from power and privilege to danger and darkness, to grovel and scrap for survival with wild animals. Of use to no one, powerless for a time.
The evil spirit that possessed the man in Luke's gospel, who manifested itself in him as many, was driven out of him by a few words from Jesus. They too became powerless over the man, driven to oblivion.
John reminds us that God can drive out anything that blocks love from the world - including our selfish ambition, pride, fear. All God wants to dwell in us is love - for God and for others. As the King learned, [God] is able to bring low those who walk in pride. (Daniel 4:37). As God drives out sin and evil from our lives, through Christ, God brings us low. But God does not leave us there.
The King was restored to his throne with humility - now claiming the One true God: 34When that period was over, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me. I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored the one who lives forever. For his sovereignty is an everlasting sovereignty, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
Pride was driven out and replaced by the fear of the Lord. Fear, reverence, honor - the recognition that God is God, not us. God has all the power, not the unclean spirits of this world, that tempt us to think we are god, that we can go it alone, that we have it all together, that our needs matter more than justice and peace. God drives us to our knees, God drives us to consider the wasteland of our lives, God drives us to the brink, but God never leaves us there, to fear. For God sent Jesus into the wilderness to drive us home to God, and to dwell with us in love, by love, for love, forever.
13By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. (I John 4:13-16).
The wilderness can be a place where purpose and perspective is shaped. And everything else is driven out. So be it to the glory of God.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Daily Thoughts on the Daily Scriptures - April 23, 2007
Psalm 97:1-12; Daniel 4:19-27; I John 3:19-4:6; Luke 4:14-30
It's been a few weeks since y'all have heard from me. We were in Marguaritaville, sunny Key West to see our son and his wife and then a week to "re-enter" the real world followed. What a beautiful escape! Key West is the home of Earnest Hemingway, and Jimmy Buffett, and every kind of Marguarita imaginable.
I confess I did not read the Bible on vacation. We even skipped church. I did pray for people as God popped them into my mind. But the disciplines I practiced were to relax by catching up with our kids, snorkeling, eating, a good book and plenty of beach time.
Coincidentally, our daughter-in-law, the photographer for the Key West Magazine, was doing a feature story shoot on "Keeping Faith in a Hedonistic Town," or something like that. It required that she interview and photograph the pastors in Key West about the faith of their Key West flocks, and attend a few worship services. Now she and our son don't attend church. However, on our Sunday there, she spent 2 1/2 hours at an AME worship service, and when we caught up with her afterwards she said it was cool, the energy and the Spirit. All of a sudden I really missed my church family. I was ready to come home. Interestingly, I also realized I missed the daily discipline of reading the lectionary with you all (yeah, I'm a Bible geek). And then, on Monday the 16th waiting in the airport for our fight home, we saw the news unfolding of the Virginian Tech shootings. Like the psalmist says, "clouds of thick darkness were all around me," as I was reminded we live in a world of evil and brokenness, not a tropical paradise.
How soon I had become disconnected from the world's pain and tragedy - it's heartbeat, and drifted from the heart of God. All I had to think about was shopping for souvenirs and what restaurant we'll eat in. I returned a bit restless. My flesh was relaxed but my Spirit was still hungry, my heart kind of dull. When you don't read the Word, that can happen to you. When you isolate yourself form the world's evil and tragedy, hedonism is contagious. That has upset me this week.
When we lose perspective on God's ways, God's purposes, and God's truth, we lose ourselves. How tempting it is to seek an escape from the very hard work of showing compassion and of taking a stand against injustice and evil, to pursue our own pleasures and protect our own positions of power. We are faced every day with choices as the dark clouds enter our neighborhoods, our businesses, our schools, and we can choose to follow Jesus' heart for peace and mission to the poor and grieving and exploited, or we can follow our own.
Daniel shook in his boots having to tell the King the truth about his dream: that the King was going to fall from his place of power and have to live with the wild animals, because of his hedonism. He challenged the king: 27Therefore, O king, may my counsel be acceptable to you: atone for your sins with righteousness, and your iniquities with mercy to the oppressed, so that your prosperity may be prolonged." Tough words to muster to your boss, huh?
John's words remind me that we DO know right from wrong - our hearts condemn us, but obedience to the truth is the problem: to obey God and love each other. How easy we can be led astray by "other spirits" that make false promises, keep us politically correct, that satisfy our flesh, and tell us we can play it safe, cut us off from others' needs.
Jesus did anything but that. He brought the spirit of truth not the spirit of error. He lived and stayed among the poorest, getting away for a time to be with God, not escape. He came for the poor and the exploited, bringing freedom not slavery. And like all the prophets before him, he was run out of town for preaching righteousness and justice and love. (Luke)
I loved my vacation. We all need to take breaks and I will take many more to places of beauty and paradise. But I will take the Word with me, and seek God in all places, so as not to waste away in Marguaritaville.
It's been a few weeks since y'all have heard from me. We were in Marguaritaville, sunny Key West to see our son and his wife and then a week to "re-enter" the real world followed. What a beautiful escape! Key West is the home of Earnest Hemingway, and Jimmy Buffett, and every kind of Marguarita imaginable.
I confess I did not read the Bible on vacation. We even skipped church. I did pray for people as God popped them into my mind. But the disciplines I practiced were to relax by catching up with our kids, snorkeling, eating, a good book and plenty of beach time.
Coincidentally, our daughter-in-law, the photographer for the Key West Magazine, was doing a feature story shoot on "Keeping Faith in a Hedonistic Town," or something like that. It required that she interview and photograph the pastors in Key West about the faith of their Key West flocks, and attend a few worship services. Now she and our son don't attend church. However, on our Sunday there, she spent 2 1/2 hours at an AME worship service, and when we caught up with her afterwards she said it was cool, the energy and the Spirit. All of a sudden I really missed my church family. I was ready to come home. Interestingly, I also realized I missed the daily discipline of reading the lectionary with you all (yeah, I'm a Bible geek). And then, on Monday the 16th waiting in the airport for our fight home, we saw the news unfolding of the Virginian Tech shootings. Like the psalmist says, "clouds of thick darkness were all around me," as I was reminded we live in a world of evil and brokenness, not a tropical paradise.
How soon I had become disconnected from the world's pain and tragedy - it's heartbeat, and drifted from the heart of God. All I had to think about was shopping for souvenirs and what restaurant we'll eat in. I returned a bit restless. My flesh was relaxed but my Spirit was still hungry, my heart kind of dull. When you don't read the Word, that can happen to you. When you isolate yourself form the world's evil and tragedy, hedonism is contagious. That has upset me this week.
When we lose perspective on God's ways, God's purposes, and God's truth, we lose ourselves. How tempting it is to seek an escape from the very hard work of showing compassion and of taking a stand against injustice and evil, to pursue our own pleasures and protect our own positions of power. We are faced every day with choices as the dark clouds enter our neighborhoods, our businesses, our schools, and we can choose to follow Jesus' heart for peace and mission to the poor and grieving and exploited, or we can follow our own.
Daniel shook in his boots having to tell the King the truth about his dream: that the King was going to fall from his place of power and have to live with the wild animals, because of his hedonism. He challenged the king: 27Therefore, O king, may my counsel be acceptable to you: atone for your sins with righteousness, and your iniquities with mercy to the oppressed, so that your prosperity may be prolonged." Tough words to muster to your boss, huh?
John's words remind me that we DO know right from wrong - our hearts condemn us, but obedience to the truth is the problem: to obey God and love each other. How easy we can be led astray by "other spirits" that make false promises, keep us politically correct, that satisfy our flesh, and tell us we can play it safe, cut us off from others' needs.
Jesus did anything but that. He brought the spirit of truth not the spirit of error. He lived and stayed among the poorest, getting away for a time to be with God, not escape. He came for the poor and the exploited, bringing freedom not slavery. And like all the prophets before him, he was run out of town for preaching righteousness and justice and love. (Luke)
I loved my vacation. We all need to take breaks and I will take many more to places of beauty and paradise. But I will take the Word with me, and seek God in all places, so as not to waste away in Marguaritaville.
9For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.
10The LORD loves those who hate evil;
he guards the lives of his faithful;
he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
11Light dawns for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
12Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name! (Psalm 97:9-12)
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