You're familiar with the command to the ancients, "Do not murder." I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder... You know the next commandment pretty well too, "Don't go to bed with another's spouse." But don't think you've preserved you virture just by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think no one notices--they can corrupt also. The Message
Monitoring and controlling your behavior can be pretty difficult. Just look at the Old Testament. You get the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law of Moses in the Torah, and most of the rest of the OT is about how the people couldn't keep the covenantal behavioral requirements. The prophets tried to set the people on the right course, but it didn't always work, so the people were exiled to Babylon as a consequence of their unrighteousness.
Obedience is difficult. We get it. We're human, after all.
But now in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is not only calling for right behavior. He is telling us our thoughts need to be pure. Why can't I have my consciousness? Isn't this going a bit far? Can't Jesus let me have my anger? I won't get out of control and strike someone. Can't Jesus let me have my lust? I'll keep appropriate boundaries.
Historically, this teaching from Jesus has been interpreted two ways. First, some have thought that Jesus was the first great cognitive psychologist, showing us that our thoughts are important. They determine how we will experience the world. It is crucial that we are aware of our thought life and seek to bring it into submission to our will, and of course, the will of God.
Augustine, if I remember correctly, thought that Jesus was pushing this obedience thing to the extreme to show that none of us can live a righteous life and therefore are dependent on the grace of God because of our sin. Remember, the scribes and Pharisees prided themselves, according to the Gospels anyway, on their perfect behavior in accordance with the Law. When Jesus says that even our thought life must be perfect, he renders even the most righteous among us as needy.
What do you think? How's your thought life?
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Lightly Salted, Matthew 5:13-16
You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it give light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven.
Note that Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is not like the Ten Commandments. There is no law here; no Thou shalts. Rather, Jesus is simply describing reality, so that his hearers might see clearly into the nature of things. Someone has said, "What is, is the great teacher." Jesus is describing what is in the Kingdom, as if the only things needed from us is acknowledgement and vision.
Jesus doesn't say, Thou shalt be poor in spirit. He says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." Jesus doesn't say, Thou shalt be salt and light. He says, "You are the salt of the earth... You are the light of the world."
The only danger here, if I read Jesus correctly, is in refusing to be who you are.
Note that Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is not like the Ten Commandments. There is no law here; no Thou shalts. Rather, Jesus is simply describing reality, so that his hearers might see clearly into the nature of things. Someone has said, "What is, is the great teacher." Jesus is describing what is in the Kingdom, as if the only things needed from us is acknowledgement and vision.
Jesus doesn't say, Thou shalt be poor in spirit. He says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." Jesus doesn't say, Thou shalt be salt and light. He says, "You are the salt of the earth... You are the light of the world."
The only danger here, if I read Jesus correctly, is in refusing to be who you are.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
The Nearby Kingdom, Matthew 4:17
After Jesus is baptized, he is driven into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted, tested and tempered. After that he begins his ministry, and his first ministry action is to proclaim through the countryside: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
I hate that. I don't want God's kingdom, the kingdom of peace and justice, to come near. I want it to be here. Why can't what I long for be in my grasp?
Most theologians think that when Jesus says the kingdom has come near, he is saying that the kingdom has come, in some sense, with his coming and will come fully in the near future. Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher. He believed that God's rule, the supernatural interruption of the natural order, was coming quickly, so people should get ready. The early church got the message and believed the same way. Jesus who had died and was resurrected and ascended would return imminently.
Maybe it's just my way of trying to understand Jesus' words 2,000 years later, but I think he's talking more than about time. I think he's speaking to the human longing for God's presence which is never fully satisfied. Our finite selves daily bump up against the infinite, the great mystery of existence, and we are frustrated, figuring there must be some method for experiencing the great Shalom, unity with God. But we can't find it. We are left with our craving and brokenness. Getting up for work in the morning. Helping the kids with homework.
The kingdom is near. Or to continue the U2 theme from last week: "I still haven't found what I'm looking for."
I hate that. I don't want God's kingdom, the kingdom of peace and justice, to come near. I want it to be here. Why can't what I long for be in my grasp?
Most theologians think that when Jesus says the kingdom has come near, he is saying that the kingdom has come, in some sense, with his coming and will come fully in the near future. Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher. He believed that God's rule, the supernatural interruption of the natural order, was coming quickly, so people should get ready. The early church got the message and believed the same way. Jesus who had died and was resurrected and ascended would return imminently.
Maybe it's just my way of trying to understand Jesus' words 2,000 years later, but I think he's talking more than about time. I think he's speaking to the human longing for God's presence which is never fully satisfied. Our finite selves daily bump up against the infinite, the great mystery of existence, and we are frustrated, figuring there must be some method for experiencing the great Shalom, unity with God. But we can't find it. We are left with our craving and brokenness. Getting up for work in the morning. Helping the kids with homework.
The kingdom is near. Or to continue the U2 theme from last week: "I still haven't found what I'm looking for."
Monday, January 10, 2011
Bleak Winter, Psalm 40:1-11
Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us
even in the leafless winter,
even in the ashy city.
I am thinking now
of grief, and of getting past it.
Mary Oliver
I hate January. Have I mentioned this before?
I hate the perpetual darkness that just hangs low over your head, pressing down on you, threatening to pin you to the ground like a heavy boot. Sure, there are the sporadic glimpses of sunshine, but then everything is frozen solid including your fingers as they fruitlessly scrape the windshield of your car in which the heater doesn't work and a new heater core costs more to put in than to get a new vehicle, almost.
The church becomes unbearable in January as the charm and spiritual warmth of Christmas has given way to ordinary time and beginning-of-the-year administrative tasks that you just have to plow through by sheer act of will. Our church, like any church nowadays, is constantly processing change, adapting to new realities in the American religious landscape. This constant change requires constant energy and attention. In January, that can be hard to muster.
Do I sound grumpy? I'm grumpy. January will do that to me. Psalm 40 is perfect January reading, or not, depending on your feelings about being patient:
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the desolate pit,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock;
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
How are you feeling this winter? Does Psalm 40 resonate with your 2011 winter experience?
even in the leafless winter,
even in the ashy city.
I am thinking now
of grief, and of getting past it.
Mary Oliver
I hate January. Have I mentioned this before?
I hate the perpetual darkness that just hangs low over your head, pressing down on you, threatening to pin you to the ground like a heavy boot. Sure, there are the sporadic glimpses of sunshine, but then everything is frozen solid including your fingers as they fruitlessly scrape the windshield of your car in which the heater doesn't work and a new heater core costs more to put in than to get a new vehicle, almost.
The church becomes unbearable in January as the charm and spiritual warmth of Christmas has given way to ordinary time and beginning-of-the-year administrative tasks that you just have to plow through by sheer act of will. Our church, like any church nowadays, is constantly processing change, adapting to new realities in the American religious landscape. This constant change requires constant energy and attention. In January, that can be hard to muster.
Do I sound grumpy? I'm grumpy. January will do that to me. Psalm 40 is perfect January reading, or not, depending on your feelings about being patient:
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the desolate pit,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock;
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
How are you feeling this winter? Does Psalm 40 resonate with your 2011 winter experience?
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Baptism of Jesus Sunday
In the liturgical calendar, January 9 is Baptism of Jesus Sunday. At WPPC this Sunday, we'll baptize and confirm six youth. What a great way to celebrate the baptism of Jesus!
When Jesus came up out of the water at his baptism, according to the gospel writers, the Holy Spirit descended on him and a voice pronounced, "This is my son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased." With this knowledge of his identity, Jesus is empowered to launch into ministry.
At their baptism and confirmation, I will anoint the youth this Sunday and pronounce that they have been sealed by the Holy Spirit in their baptism and marked as Christ's own forever. Those are pretty powerful words. Wonder what would happen if each one truly took those words to heart. How would it change their lives? What could they accomplish?
Freedom is a wonderful thing. We have a lot of it in this country, and we should be thankful. The dark side of freedom though is that we think we can go though the world making up our life as we go along. We have no sense that we are chosen or claimed, that we have a destiny or mission. We are left to wander, following our own appetites. Life lived in this kind of freedom can be very unfufilling.
Do you have the sense that you are claimed by God and that that claim matters in your daily life?
When Jesus came up out of the water at his baptism, according to the gospel writers, the Holy Spirit descended on him and a voice pronounced, "This is my son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased." With this knowledge of his identity, Jesus is empowered to launch into ministry.
At their baptism and confirmation, I will anoint the youth this Sunday and pronounce that they have been sealed by the Holy Spirit in their baptism and marked as Christ's own forever. Those are pretty powerful words. Wonder what would happen if each one truly took those words to heart. How would it change their lives? What could they accomplish?
Freedom is a wonderful thing. We have a lot of it in this country, and we should be thankful. The dark side of freedom though is that we think we can go though the world making up our life as we go along. We have no sense that we are chosen or claimed, that we have a destiny or mission. We are left to wander, following our own appetites. Life lived in this kind of freedom can be very unfufilling.
Do you have the sense that you are claimed by God and that that claim matters in your daily life?
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
A New and Better Wilderness--Isaiah 35
vss. 1, 10 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom... And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sadness shall flee away.
As an encouragement for the people in slavery in Babylon to return to Jerusalem through the inhospitable Sinai Peninsula, Isaiah tells of his God-inspired vision that the wilderness will be transformed to accommodate their travels through it back to freedom. This poem that describes the blossoming of a barren place and ordering of a an unsafe place for the sake of home-coming and freedom is beautiful. And as Christians, we look back at this beautiful, hopeful poem through the prism of the New Testament and claim it as a promise being fulfilled in Christ.
Read this whole chapter and ask yourself, how can I be a part of this transformation of creation that God promises? How can I be a part of this blossoming and ordering process?
It is perfect that this text falls on Human Rights Sunday. Just as the Jews were enslaved in Babylon, many are enslaved today. Some are enslaved for sex, some to produce goods, some for soldiering and some to work off debts. Estimates for slavery in the world are between 27 and 50 million people. Many slaves are children. There is slavery in our own country.
How can we as the church witness to the transformation of creation by "setting the captives free?"
As an encouragement for the people in slavery in Babylon to return to Jerusalem through the inhospitable Sinai Peninsula, Isaiah tells of his God-inspired vision that the wilderness will be transformed to accommodate their travels through it back to freedom. This poem that describes the blossoming of a barren place and ordering of a an unsafe place for the sake of home-coming and freedom is beautiful. And as Christians, we look back at this beautiful, hopeful poem through the prism of the New Testament and claim it as a promise being fulfilled in Christ.
Read this whole chapter and ask yourself, how can I be a part of this transformation of creation that God promises? How can I be a part of this blossoming and ordering process?
It is perfect that this text falls on Human Rights Sunday. Just as the Jews were enslaved in Babylon, many are enslaved today. Some are enslaved for sex, some to produce goods, some for soldiering and some to work off debts. Estimates for slavery in the world are between 27 and 50 million people. Many slaves are children. There is slavery in our own country.
How can we as the church witness to the transformation of creation by "setting the captives free?"
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Camel's Hair and a Leather Belt--Matthew 3:1-12
Next Sunday is the second Sunday in Advent. The Advent season is given over to waiting expectantly for Christ's birth, and the second Sunday usually is given over to reflections on the ministry of John the Baptist who encouraged the people to prepare for the coming of the Messiah through baptism, repentance and change of life.
Last week I heard the comedian Will Farrell commenting on the now iconic sketch from his SNL days involving the cowbell. If you haven't seen it, you can probably check it out on YouTube or the NBC website. Farrell's superb physical comedy skills and Christopher Walken's suberb acting skills join together to make a hilarious sketch.
Yet in the interview, Farrell says that in rehearsals the sketch was not funny at all. It was just strange. Then he put on a shirt that was way too small, and the skit was suddenly transformed. The skit was not just strange anymore; it was so strange that it was funny.
Sometimes a simple, subtle change can make all the difference. This is probably as true in life as it is in comedy.
Matthew takes time to mention, in his description of John's baptizing ministry, that John dressed in camel's hair and wore a leather belt. I find it odd that Matthew would point that out. He never mentions what Jesus wears during his ministry.
What do you think is the significance of John's attire? How does his attire affect his message? What is Matthew telling us about John here?
Last week I heard the comedian Will Farrell commenting on the now iconic sketch from his SNL days involving the cowbell. If you haven't seen it, you can probably check it out on YouTube or the NBC website. Farrell's superb physical comedy skills and Christopher Walken's suberb acting skills join together to make a hilarious sketch.
Yet in the interview, Farrell says that in rehearsals the sketch was not funny at all. It was just strange. Then he put on a shirt that was way too small, and the skit was suddenly transformed. The skit was not just strange anymore; it was so strange that it was funny.
Sometimes a simple, subtle change can make all the difference. This is probably as true in life as it is in comedy.
Matthew takes time to mention, in his description of John's baptizing ministry, that John dressed in camel's hair and wore a leather belt. I find it odd that Matthew would point that out. He never mentions what Jesus wears during his ministry.
What do you think is the significance of John's attire? How does his attire affect his message? What is Matthew telling us about John here?
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