(see Soul Tending, pages 143-145)

Is there someone in your life who has faith in you no matter what? How has that person’s actions expressed his or her love and confidence in you? How has their ordinary action been an extraordinary gift?

Sacraments are simply the ordinary things we do through which God gives extraordinary grace. Through baptism, God conveys grace to allow us to begin our lives anew. Through Holy Communion, God conveys saving grace and power over death in Christ. Thankfully the sacraments are not dependent on our faithfulness as a people or our worthiness as individuals (same goes for those administering the sacraments, according to St. Augustine of Hippo). Baptism and Holy Communion are God’s gifts to us - God’s beloved children.

The consistency of unconditional love from someone may help us understand the sacraments. God does not withhold the sacrament of baptism because there are hungry children in the world. Instead God continues to work in people’s hearts bringing children to baptism to remind us through the sacrament that all children are God’s children worthy of love, safety, and care. Similarly, God does not deny anyone Communion until he or she is worthy but invites us to the table.

We find God waiting for each of us as we celebrate Holy Communion, ready to reveal again God’s power over sin and death by forgiving our sins and showering us with grace. The sacraments are not merely memorized words to help us imagine events in the distant past but new and real experiences of God. The sacraments are tactile ways of experiencing God. We feel the water and taste the bread and wine. In these seemingly ordinary acts, God is present in the most extraordinary way.

Through baptism we are adopted into the family of God and brought into the covenant God made in Jesus Christ, the same covenant God made with Abraham. When we are baptized, we are forever sealed into God’s love and the church promises to nurture and love us as we grow in faith. The sacrament of Holy Communion is the covenant family meal. By taking Communion, we participate in an ancient act that physically connects us to God.

James White in Sacraments as God’s Self Giving writes, “the vertical relationship to Christ is matched by horizontal union to each other” (pg. 38). Through baptism and Communion, a community is bound together by God’s forgiveness and a vision of the kingdom of God where equity, unity, and justice will reign with love. Coming together to baptize or break bread together is not to gain personal access to salvation or to recharge our individual spiritual batteries. This time together is to remember we are God’s children called together in Jesus to spread the gospel and seek peace in our world.

The sacraments are also one of the few times in our lives when we receive without having to give something in return. The sacraments are not about what we have done but about what God can do and is doing for us. God has claimed us as God’s own in baptism, pouring out the Holy Spirit that will continue to call us, meet us, and empower us as we receive and live into God’s reality of us as a Holy Communion.

PRACTICE and HOMEWORK: The Reformer, Martin Luther, once wrote that every time he saw water he would remember that he is baptized and reaffirm to himself his baptismal vows. In a similar manner you are invited to practice the fol owing daily prayer of conversion, which focuses on baptism and the ancient faith of the ecumenical Christian community.

(see pages 89-91 of textbook, Soul Tending)

Although we do not usually call this practice “almsgiving,”we are called to engage in it regularly s faithful Christians. Almsgiving means giving to the needy, helping the poor, taking care of those who are less fortunate, and giving yourself to the needs of others. Charity is also another way of talking about almsgiving. Do you currently practice almsgiving? How? What other forms of giving might be called “almsgiving”?

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement out of the Anglican Christian tradition, reminds us to give alms with the right attitude. He was passionate about doing more than just providing physical needs like shelter, food, and clothes for the poor. He felt that if one’s spiritual needs are not looked after, then tending to one’s physical needs is almost pointless.

In Matthew 6:1-4 Jesus teaches us what kind of givers we ought to be. To be holy as Jesus is holy, we must care for all of God’s people . . . as well as for all of God’s creation. We must not perform acts of charity in order to look good in the eyes of others . . . or to gain something in return, like political favor. We are called by God to care for others out of Christian love, humbly sharing blessings with those in need. Have you known people who brag about giving or have you ever gloated yourself about what you have given? Is it hard to be humble in giving (especially if it makes you feel good and you want to share the experience)?

Helping those in need can be somewhat intimidating because almsgiving is not about giving what we have left over. If we do give clothes that we no longer wear, they should be gently used, not ones that are falling apart or needing repair. Almsgiving is not about getting rid of junk but reaching deeper than we thought we could go and finding something of worth to give, including even kind words at the right time. The parable of the widow’s offering in Mark 12:41-44 illustrate the attitude we should have in our almsgiving. The woman gave out of her poverty when others gave out of their wealth. She gave even when she seemingly had nothing to give. Have you ever thought that you simply did not have anything to give?

Sometimes when we do not have much money, we assume we have nothing to offer. The widow clearly did not have any money, but she found not just the widow’s mite to give, but her heart. The story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) tells us that not only are we to give even when we think we don’t have anything, but we are to give when it may be inconvenient. Surely stopping to help the man on the road infringed somewhat on the Samaritan’s schedule, but that is the nature of almsgiving - reaching deeply into the pockets of our time, talent, and treasury . . . and our hearts, to relive the poverty of another (be it body, mind, or soul).

PRACTICE: Reflect on the past week. Can you think of times when you could have been less excessive? What times did you choose to look the other way and didn’t help someone in need? What times did you remain silent when someone needed to hear a word of peace and love from God through you? What would it take for you to become a more giving person, to share more of your time, talent and treasures (the things you value the most in life) with others who are impoverished in body, mind or soul?

HOMEWORK: (1) Go to the Habitat for Humanity website (www.habitat.org) and request a Habitat Bank. Fill one of the cardboard houses with the change you collect. When the house is full, go to the bank and get a cashiers check and send it to Habitat for Humanity (the general organization or a local chapter). (2) Make a rule that every time you buy new clothes or shoes, you will give something away that you haven’t worn in a year. Give the clothes or shoes to a needy friend or to a shelter. (3) Every time you stay with a friend, go on a trip, visit relatives, or stay in a hotel, put a dollar in a box for each night you sleep away from home. You will realize you always have shelter no matter where you go. When you get enough in your box, but a sleeping bag and pillow for the local homeless shelter. Put a note of encouragement in the sleeping bag. (4) Keep a log of how many miles you spend in a car, driving or riding. For every mile traveled, put a nickel in a jar. When the jar is full, buy gas vouchers or bus passes that the local homeless shelter or St Vincent de Paul Society may give to those in need. (5) Every time you go grocery shopping, take 10% of your food bill and donate the funds or value in actual food to the local Food Pantry. (6) God’s creation gives much to us. Find a way to plant a tree or support the ecology of your local area. (7) One of the most valuable thing God has given us is time. Where can you share your time to enrich the lives of others?

REFLECTION: What kind of ripples might (or have) come about from practicing almsgiving? How has your daily routine been transformed and how does that reflect the transformation taking place in your soul? How might all the areas of your life become connected in a new way based on your spiritual formation through almsgiving?

(Adapted from the book, Soul Tending, pages 33-35.)

Think about the word meditation. What are the first images that come to mind when you hear the word? Have you heard the word used before? If so, in what context? Have you ever meditated on anything?

Some folks when they think of meditation sometimes get the image of a monk or holy person chanting and sitting in a trance with crossed legs, surrounded by candles and incense. The practice is often associated with Buddhism; however, meditation is also a tool for discipleship in our Christian walk. Meditation is a spiritual discipline that lies at the heart of the context of faith as followers of Christ. Meditation can also mean contemplation, pondering, thoughtful reflection, and imagery. Meditation is linked closely to prayer because meditation is a form of prayer. When we meditate, we clear our minds and let God do the talking. Meditation is a gift from God that allows us a closer communion with our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.

Meditation involves the use of a particular image or verse from the biblical text to focus our hearts and minds on the presence of God in our midst. Through meditation, we allow the time and space to let God consume our thoughts until God’s words are our words. As Psalm 119 exhibits, the people of Israel understood the importance of taking time to listen to the Word of God through the reading and hearing of the Law or Torah. You may have even participated in something called a guided meditation where a story or biblical passage is read by a group leader who invites you to focus on a particular area of your faith. Meditation involves a physical stillness and silence accompanied by an emptying of the mind to allow, what the Trappist monk Thomas Merton called, the echo of God to resonate through us.

Meditation is not confined to chunks of time we take out of our schedules. It can also be the state of mind in which we actively experience life in the midst of our busyness. As we live our daily lives, we can contemplate or meditate continuously on some thought or image in our minds. Have you ever had a song or jingle stuck in your head? Meditation as a state of mind is very similar (except not so annoying). Words or images from the Scriptures get “stuck” in your mind. You are left repeating them continually throughout the day, offering you a more peaceful and prayerful approach to your sometimes hectic life. However you practice mediation, it, like prayer, frees up time our of your busy schedule to be in communion with God. We rest our voices and still our hearts and minds to listen for God’s voice in our lives. The practice of meditation or contemplation offers us the kind of peace we only find in the presence of God, and we know we are fine.

PRACTICE: Choose a simple phrase, such as God is good, upon which to meditate. Allow some silence to consider God’s goodness. Then take some time in the quiet to think about how good God has been to you. Listen to what God may be saying to you about God’s goodness. After a few minutes have passed, offer an “amen” (which means so let it be).

HOMEWORK SUGGESTIONS: (1) Commit to 5-30 minutes each day this week to spend in meditation. (2) Choose a life situation you are facing on which to contemplate with God. Keep a journal to write your experiences. (3) Memorize a phrase, a Scripture, a song, and so forth to weave into your thoughts for a week. Listen to God’s voice as you play the phrase over and over in your heart.

REFLECTION: What kind of ripples might (or have) come about from practicing meditation? How could your daily routine change by the transformation taking place in your soul? What areas of your life - home, school, nature, community, world, job, paying bills, and so forth - connect in a new way based on your spiritual formation journey and the practice of meditation?

RESOURCES: See the NCPC Daily Soul Tending Primer for meditation fodder.

For those interested in their continual formation as disciples of Jesus, but are having a hard time finding time to meet for a face-to-face study, now NCPC has an new opportunity for you. We are offering an on-line course in “Soul Tending”!

You can check out the NCPC blog for the weekly readings and questions that will cover classic and ancient Christian life practices. The textbook, which participant are strongly encouraged to purchase (scholarship available) is Soul Tending  by Beverly Burton (Author), Drew Dyson (Author), Kenda Creasy Dean (Introduction) and published by Abingdon Press (ISBN 068703079X ). Cost on Amazon is $11.70. The postings will be adapted from this text.

Over the course of 15 or so weeks, there will be posting that focus on various spiritual practices which focus on strengthening a particular aspect of our overall Christian life. One will focus on internal practices, like meditation, forgiveness, and bible study. The second posting will focus on external practices, like alms giving, singing from the soul, acts of justice and reconciliation. The third posting will focus on communal practices, like common worship, confession and forgiveness in community, and spiritual friendship.

Participants are encouraged to post comments and their answers to questions. This stimulates conversation, and we all grow as a result.

Check back soon for the first series of postings which will cover meditation, alms giving, and sacraments.

Peace,

Christian

Below is a recent sermon from the Rev. Paul Burns, who is pastor of our sister church, Priestlake Presbyterian Church (USA) in Nashville, TN.

August 10, 2008

Matthew 14:22-33

Genesis 37:1-28

Jacob does not do his son Joseph any favors by loving him above his brothers. He seals his fate, by giving him a physical reminder of his preferential love: a fancy robe. Every time his brothers saw Joseph in this robe, they were reminded that their father loved him more, and they hated him for it.

But Joseph doesn’t help his case much either. Perhaps he is naïve or just plain ignorant of his position of privilege in the family. But he has this dream where it appears that his brothers will bow down to him. A prudent person would keep that kind of dream to himself, but not Joseph. He adds fuel to his brothers’ fire by telling them.

And if that isn’t enough, when he has a second dream where it appears that even his father and mother will bow to him, he tells them again. Even after his brothers berated him for telling the first dream, he tells the second dream. This kid is asking for it. And, yes, he gets it. You heard the story.

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard someone say, “I don’t believe in organized religion.” It seems to be a growing sentiment here in America, even in the Bible belt. People have been turned off by the Church. I’m not telling you something you don’t know.

Every church in country is trying to address this very problem. I can’t tell you I’m going to give you the magic answer either.

So what’s the problem?

Let’s look again at Joseph. Joseph is loved by his father and he knows it. He wears his coat proudly. Nothing wrong with that. But it alienates his brothers. To make it worse he perhaps unwittingly proclaims his superior position by sharing the dreams where they all bow down to him.

The church can be like Joseph. We know God loves us. God has chosen the church. The church is the bride of Christ. We are special blessed and favored.

I remember a pastor I worked with at the hospital for a summer. Anytime I asked him how he was doing he would answer, “Blessed and highly favored!” Nothing wrong with saying that, but it does lead a person to wonder who he is favored over. To be favored, means that there are others who are less favored or not favored at all. In Presbyterian terms, to be chosen seems to mean that there are those who are not chosen.

Recently it was reported that Presbyterians have the highest per capita income of any other denomination. It would seem that we have been blessed and highly favored. There’s nothing wrong with having good income, but if we say that God has blessed us in this way, it may seem that it means that God has withheld blessing from others.

If we say we are chosen by God or we are saved by God’s grace, then it would be easy for a person not in the church to draw the conclusion that God has withheld grace from them. And just like Joseph’s brothers those outside the church become alienated. We wear our salvation proudly, like Joseph’s coat. Nothing wrong with it. But people could get the wrong idea.

Joseph’s dream of superiority is another problem that the church must safeguard against. The church has a long history of domination. It has strayed and continues to stray from the model of Christ of servant leadership. It can become very apparent by how we do evangelism. We stride into the communities of the “unchurched”, a word that has replaced the antiquated word “heathen”, and we seek to enlighten people with the light of Christ.

Now, we don’t do anything wrong. In fact, we are trying to do what Christ chose us to do. But something gets lost in perception. It’s easy to come off as “look how special I am”. I’m blessed and highly favored, how about you?

And what about people whose lives are marked by tragedy and poverty? Do they feel blessed and highly favored? Many people look at the church’s lack of action, they see churches that are only about self-help and not about serving the poor, and they say what good is the church? And like Joseph’s brothers they are angry, and they can either direct their anger towards the Father for his preferential love or they can hate the one with the fancy coat on. It’s easier to hate the one with the coat.

And so many people in the world do not like the church. And I’ll be honest. Some times I don’t like the church either. We seem to cause more problems than we solve sometimes. A lot gets lost in perception. What we must recognize to live as a chosen one, is what it means to be chosen. To be chosen, does not mean superiority or domination. It means humility and service. God puts the church and each one in it in the position to serve others.

We are not here to be bowed down to. We are here to do the bowing down. Joseph finally realizes this. As Joseph had risen to the heights of leadership in the Egyptian government, his brothers had become very poor. They came to him to seek his forgiveness for the evil they had done to him. And his brothers fell down before him just like the dream. Joseph wept and said these words, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear, I will provide for you and your little ones.”

He did not make his brothers feel less than him. And he did not raise himself up. “Am I in the place of God?” he said. In other words, we are all less compared to God. He received them with love and kindness and pledged to provide for them.

In the end, while Joseph may have been preferred by his earthly father, his heavenly Father loves them all. He chose all 12 brothers to be the first of Israel. Each brother represents an equally chosen tribe of Israel. And God promises that all of the tribes, even the lost will be returned and restored. Each of them shall receive a fancy coat.

Let us remember, that we are here to serve others. And let us remember that the people we serve are in no way inferior to us, they are not less or more loved by God. They are no less or more chosen than we are. And in the end, all God’s chosen shall be returned and restored. Let us receive people with love and kindness. Let us not wear our salvation as an emblem of achievement or favored-ness. But let our salvation be seen in the way we live.

Below is an article I came across today that I thought was pertinent for us as we continue to seek God’s will and formulate our strategic plan.

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How Responding to People’s Needs Hurts the Church

by Elizabeth I. Steele

Defining the church’s ministry by responding to people’s needs is a common notion; but, because of the blurred line between want and need, no matter how much we speak of needs or perceived needs, it puts the church in the position of being defined not by its faith or history but by people’s wants. This trivializes the church, its mission, and its outreach. It eviscerates the heart of the church’s message and cuts the church off from its identity as the people of Christ. But the attitudes engendered in people who come to congregations expecting the church to make meeting their needs (or, more likely, their wants) a priority also harms the church. Simply put, when we say the church is to meet people’s needs, many people personalize that message. They hear, “If I go to church, those folk will take care of me.” In selling the church as a place where people’s needs are met, we draw people for whom there is, at least in their perception, an implied promise that if they come to the church it will provide them with what they think they need. The measurement of a congregation then becomes personal: “Is it meeting my needs?”

These needs are not limited to the basic needs of food, safety, and shelter. In all but the poorest congregations, members tend to meet those needs on their own. More often people turn to the church for emotional and spiritual well-being. They envision the church providing what they think they need to ensure contentment and satisfaction. Their confusion between needs and wants means their attitude often becomes not “Is this congregation meeting my needs?” but “Is this congregation giving me what I want?” They come believing the church will have as its priority, in terms of time and effort, taking care of whatever they feel is important. They require the church to respond to them personally. They believe it is the church’s job to listen to them, act on their ideas, and support their beliefs. Other aspects of the congregation’s life, other things it might be doing, are strictly secondary to the parts that impact them directly. So, if their concern is children’s ministry, they aren’t interested in outreach to singles or empty-nesters. If their interest is in traditional music, contemporary hymns or a praise service will be deemed unimportant. At best, they will treat such activities with disinterest. At worst, they will see such endeavors as detractions from their concern that should therefore be eliminated.

What happens when these people feel their needs are not being met? That is, what occurs when they do not get what they want? They believe the church is letting them down. It is failing to do as promised, which they see as a breach of contract. In response, they may leave, or they may challenge whatever is happening and whoever is in charge until the promised care-taking and attention are provided.

A Sense of Entitlement

Jesus said, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). He also said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 14:24). Christian faith has always been about giving, not receiving. Those who expect the church to respond to their needs—no matter what—frequently have little interest in doing for others. They came to be cared for, so they see being asked to help others as changing the rules. The signs of declining commitment noted by many pastors—lower rates of worship attendance, pledging, and other forms of participation—indicate this emphasis on receiving. So do the requests, ranging from minor to impossible, that people feel free to make of congregations and the often extreme reactions they have when a congregation does not do as they desire. The underlying thinking appears to be this: The church is supposed to care for my needs, so I can ask whatever I desire of the church. It does not matter whether or not the congregation knows me, nor does the difficulty of my request matter. I do not need to cooperate or be flexible. It is the congregation’s duty to respond, giving me what I want the way I want it.

A Source of Disruption

Churches include people who are not only troublesome and disruptive but who also feel free to attack, diminish, and destroy church leaders, including and especially pastors. A portion of the blame for such disruptive conflict must rest with the needs definition of ministry. As mentioned above, when people believe the church is to care for their needs and it is not doing so, they feel free to become increasingly disruptive until they get what they want. The same expectations for personal response are applied to church leadership: If I believe the congregation is to care for my needs, then so are the congregation’s leaders. They are to visit me when I want to be visited and stay away when I don’t. They are to share my concerns and interests, make sure the kinds of programs I want are available when I want them, and design worship to include the kind of music I like. The expectations are even greater for pastors: Pastors should preach sermons I approve of. Their prayers should be neither too long nor too short and should cover the topics I consider important. They should be available whenever I want them.

No one can meet such expectations for every member of the congregation. Sooner or later the congregational leadership will disappoint someone. When that happens, the disappointment is again treated as a breach of contract. The church is failing to do what it is supposed to do and the disappointed member feels free to challenge the guilty leaders until they capitulate.

Misplaced Loyalties

One of the ironies is that, while some pastors are attacked no matter how much they do, others are defended despite misconduct. Indeed, there are almost always members strongly championing their pastor even in the face of extensive evidence of egregious misconduct. Part of this is the natural denial of grief. When misconduct is first discovered, it is hard to believe. As the evidence mounts, however, the support continues. Because the needs mentality encourages people to measure pastors by what they personally receive, it encourages such misplaced support. Just as it does not matter what a pastor is doing for others if my needs are not being met, so it does not matter what a pastor is doing to others if my needs are being met. Misconduct thus becomes unimportant when it does not affect me directly.

Changing Our Language

“Need” is an elastic term. Many congregational ministries could be placed under it. If the needs aren’t physical, they are emotional or spiritual. The problem with the idea of ministry as responding to people’s needs is not in what congregations do but in how people come to think about the church. It reduces the church to a service provider whose clients/recipients are free to complain whenever they are dissatisfied. Lost is the idea of people being and becoming the church. Lost is the understanding of the church as a community of faith whose members struggle together to draw closer to God and to express that closeness in how they live and interact with the world.

To counter this, a shift in thinking is called for, and this shift must be reflected in our language. There are other, richer ways of speaking about ministry and mission than just talking about needs. Congregations that move beyond that language find that their self-understanding expands. As a denominational representative, I worked with one congregation that had been through a disastrous two-year pastorate. As we talked, I asked them who benefited from their existence and how. They answered solely in terms of trying to respond to community needs—providing a preschool to help young families, and helping the homeless who came to their door. We then spoke of what tied them together as a church. They spoke of shared bonds of fellowship and growing together in faith, of the importance of worship in their lives. The word “need” was never mentioned. I pointed out they had just described two different kinds of pastors, and that pastors whose primary emphasis was responding to community needs used their time differently than those whose primary concern was nurturing a community of faith. As we reflected on the priorities of a pastor focused on needs, one of the congregants spoke up, “That’s what we just got rid of,” he said. From this conversation and others, the congregation came to realize that the center of their life was not to respond to community needs but to be a community of faith. They changed their self-description and pastoral expectations. They still have the preschool and feed the homeless, but now they do it as an expression of their life as a community of faith.

Looking at spiritual gifts is another way to move beyond the “needs” mentality because it reminds people that they have much to give. One congregation I worked with as an interim pastor had a twelve-week new members’ class. From the very first session, new members were asked how they would share their gifts. At the last session they were not only asked to fill out a financial pledge card but also to complete a spiritual gifts inventory and describe where and how they would be involved in the life of the congregation. The whole twelve-week program was designed to remind them that they were becoming participants in the church, not just recipients of it.

Reclaiming the language of call is another way to inspire a new awareness of purpose. As an interim minister, I often introduce congregations to Fredrick Buechner’s comment, “The place where God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” The wonder is how much this quote changes congregations’ understanding of mission. They stop trying to duplicate what another congregation does well and begin to consider what they can do. They stop looking for someone to tell them what to do and start generating ideas themselves. Best of all, ministry moves from being something they are supposed to do to being a celebration of their own call.

Adapted from “How Responding to People’s Needs Hurts the Church“ from the Spring 2008 issue of Congregations magazine.

SCRIPTURE READING:

James 4:1-17 (The Message translation)

Get Serious

1 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. 2 You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it. You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? 3 And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way. 4 You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. 5 And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” 6 And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.” 7 So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. 8 Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. 9 Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. 10 Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet. 11 Don’t bad-mouth each other, friends. It’s God’s Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk. You’re supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it. 12 God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others?

Nothing but a Wisp of Fog

13 And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” 14 You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. 15 Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.” 16 As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. 17 In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.

MEDITATION

The other day while cleaning house, I had a revelation. Our souls are like my house – they attract dirt and grim constantly. How does this ugly stuff keep coming back? No matter how often I clean, the dust comes bake and the tumbleweeds of Borzoi fur still collect in the corners. Sometimes I wonder is it worth it. Would it be too bad of a thing to just let it go …to give up or coast. But then there is always within me that within a weeks time can’t stand it any longer and I break down and clean house.  For our souls, resentment is like that dust and grim and dog hair tumbleweeds.. You may have thought you dealt with a conflict and bad feelings by ignoring it …it will take care of itself. Then you see someone ‘ya haven’t seen for a while and unforgiveness and resentment come back like a magnet to your soul. Selfishness, anger, irritability, cutting responses that can shut out people comes rolling out of us.

In church we have conflicts. As mentioned in the first part of the letter of James, the church is not perfect; it is a hospital for sinners. But you would think we could keep the infection down in the hospital; does it in real life? Where do the conflicts come from? It’s not because you’re a Republican and she’s a Democrat. It’s not the issues that stand between you. Look at the first part of chapter four. “Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?” The problem we have with each other is on the inside.

Even if we are following Jesus, we still will find ourselves attracted to or victims of the moral, physical and spiritual dirt and grim of the world, the very world in which we have been sent to share God’s message of love. When it comes to times of conflict, if we are not attentive and mindful of keeping God in the center of what is happening, we revert back to old ways. As the tag line on someone’s email reminded me lately: “Christian aren’t perfect, just forgiven” and God working hard to reconciling all the relationships involved. Thus is why we pray to God as our Lord taught us: “Lead us away from temptation, deliver us from evil.”

The temptation to fall into evil ways, or go counter to God’s desire for our life, is overwhelming if we do not stay focused on God and the way of life God is offering to us in our daily living. Our default, as James mentions a couple chapters back when it comes to equality and recognizing we all are created equal in the image of God, when times get rough is to go into survive and thrive mode. We will seek control and manipulate, we will want to people please than God please, and we will not be able to make commitments and sustain meaningful relationships. So we may find ourselves going from job to job always putting the fault and the blame on someone else. Or we may find ourselves going through a series of relationships because we don’t have the ability to commit and experience intimacy. It is the pattern of coasting. We coast in our relationships, we coast in our careers, we coast in our faith. We can’t allow these patterns to be established! It is why this is hard work. Discipleship, God’s Way in Christ Jesus is not for the faint of hearts or for those who are looking for cheap grace. God’s Way is not a lifestyle; it is Life itself if we really want it. And that is where our personal relationship Jesus comes in.

Do you know what Jesus does? Jesus breaks the power of that pattern in your life. When you come to God, the power of that pattern has been broken. But now it is our responsibility to replace those old patterns and responses with new patterns and responses. Shifting from a self-centered lifestyle to a God-centered way of life takes a lifetime of daily habits. Do you not take a bath more than once a week? Do not cleanse at least your hands more than once a day? With the dirt that clings to my soul it is a daily process of work to keep clean. Undeniably, when Michael Jordan retired he was the best basketball players. Someone once said to him, “Michael, I wish I could shoot like you.” He looked over and said, “No you don’t. If you did, you would be out here on the court 12 hours a day practicing.” We are called to practice our faith – faith and works – loving God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and others as we love our very self. And we are also called as a community in Christ to hold each other accountable to that great command. As the motto from the ancient Aesop’s fable goes, “United we stand, divide we fall.”[1] So it is with the Body of Christ.

Brothers and sisters, whenever you see water, remember your baptismal vows and live them every moment of your life. . . especially in times of difficulty and crises, in times when you just want to give up and play dirty. That is not the way of God, that is the way of death and destruction…not only for others, but also your own very self.

[1] The Four Oxen and the Lion

SCRIPTURE: James 3:1-18 (The Message translation)

 When You Open Your Mouth

1 Don’t be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. 2 And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. 3 A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. 4 A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. 5 A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. 6 A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. 7 This is scary: You can tame a tiger, 8 but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. 9 With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. 10 Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can’t go on. 11 A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? 12 Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?

Live Well, Live Wisely

13 Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. 14 Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. 15 It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. 16 Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats. 17 Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. 18 You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

MEDITATION

The Christians in James’ congregation had problems trying to live out this moral law to love our neighbor as ourselves. Specifically, James listed three problems that his church had as they tried to live out this moral law of love. What does it mean to you’re your neighbor as yourself and you do not care take of the widows and orphans? Christians neglected the widows and orphans; Christian people did not care of the widows and orphans in their midst. We find the same problem in the book of Acts; that is, people were not taking care of the homeless and hurting people in the book of Acts. And so James said, “Religion which is pure and undefiled is this: it is to care for widows and orphans in their suffering and to remain unstained from the world.”

A second problem that James noticed, as his people were trying to live out the moral law of loving your neighbor was yourself, was this: The Christians in his congregation were showing favoritism to rich people who were coming into the church. The richer Christians were ignoring the poorer Christians and were not being generous at all to the poor. One Christian said, “I have faith,” and the next Christian said, “Well, I have charitable love.” So James finally said, “Faith without works of charity is dead, just as a body without a soul is dead, so faith without works of love is dead.” You cannot separate faith from charitable love.

There was third problem that James noticed in his congregation. You are to love your neighbor as yourself. This is the royal law, the perfect law, the law of love. But what does this mean in terms of the tongue? This theme is found in chapters one, three and four. It is one of the most dominant themes in the book of James.

I would like for you to try an experiment with me.  We are going to exercise choice, make a decision and then watch the power of our words cause a physical reaction … thousands of neural circuits will be engaged as we do this.Repeat after me… “I love you.” Now repeat my words again… “I hate you.”Do you see? — We are entrusted with a great power here. We are given a gift that can create or destroy. We can build up or tear down with this gift. Do you remember that one of the strongest warnings Jesus ever issued has to do with the matter of how we use our speech?  Listen carefully: “I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter…”  Matt. 12:36 Why is this issue so important to Jesus, and to his brother James?  The fact is, our power of speech is very close to the issue of our being created in the image of God.  Word is powerful.  It is by the power of the Word that God created the universe.  When God said, “Let there be…” there was!  It is the Word become flesh that brought us salvation.  The author of the letter to the Hebrews says, The Word of God is living and powerful — it is sharper than any two edged sword.”  [Heb. 4:12] We can draw people to the love of God with our speech or we can turn them off.  We can set the course of a child’s life with a careless word and turn a young person around with a positive nourishing word. Brothers and sisters, as we are called to participate in God’s mission of the world, our words are powerful tools in God’s hands as God creates, redeems, and reconciles all things to God’s self.  

Remember, when words spew out of our mouths with out great thought or care it is like trying to get the toothpaste back into the tube after it has spewed all over the bathroom sink. Be mindful, and listen to God to who gives us words, especially in the most stressful and anxious times, and let us not be quick to speak out so we may be more creative in the Spirit of God than destructive and contrary to God’s desire.

THE READING (James 2, The Message translation)

The Royal Rule of Love

1 My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. 2 If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, 3 and you say to the man in the suit, “Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!” and either ignore the street person or say, “Better sit here in the back row,” 4 haven’t you segregated God’s children and proved that you are judges who can’t be trusted? 5 Listen, dear friends. Isn’t it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world’s down-and-out as the kingdom’s first citizens, with full rights and privileges. This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. 6 And here you are abusing these same citizens! Isn’t it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind? 7 Aren’t they the ones who scorn the new name—”Christian”—used in your baptisms? 8 You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: “Love others as you love yourself.” 9 But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it. 10 You can’t pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God’s law and ignoring others. 11 The same God who said, “Don’t commit adultery,” also said, “Don’t murder.” If you don’t commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you’re a murderer, period. 12 Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. 13 For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.

Faith in Action

14 Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? 15 For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved 16 and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? 17 Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? 18 I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.” Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove. 19 Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? 20 Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands? 21 Wasn’t our ancestor Abraham “made right with God by works” when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? 22 Isn’t it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are “works of faith”? 23 The full meaning of “believe” in the Scripture sentence, “Abraham believed God and was set right with God,” includes his action. It’s that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named “God’s friend.” 24 Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works? 25 The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn’t her action in hiding God’s spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? 26 The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.

MEDITATION

As we celebrated our country’s Independence Day this past Friday, and I was working on today’s meditation illuminated by the brilliance of fireworks, I thought about James’ teaching on the Royal Rule of Love and the first few lines of our Declaration of Independence from English rule. This document influenced of Abraham Lincoln, who viewed the Declaration as an ideal for which the nation should strive, especially as expressed in Jefferson’s famous preamble: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” By the way, of the 56 signers, a quarter of them were active Presbyterians, including John Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minster and president of Princeton, all responding out of our Christian tradition’s understanding of humanity and democracy.  

The first evident truth our Declaration brings forth is that God created all men, or people, equal. As a country, we have been struggling with this, as seen in our history around civil rights for women and anyone who is not a white, Anglo-Saxon, protestant land-holding man. The philosophy that backs this statement of the Declaration even to this day has a hard time being lived out by “We the People”. There seems to be something in our human nature, perhaps the desire to survive and thrive, that we sometimes forget all people were created equally in the image of God, as Genesis teaches. In fact, the whole Bible shows how humanity has struggled with this reality of God’s design and desire. This is what is at the heart of James’ letter today, and rooted in Jesus’ Royal Rule of the Scripture, the Rule of Love…Love God with all your heart, mind and strength, and loves others as you love yourself…and show it.

In his autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi wrote that during his student days he read the Gospels seriously and considered converting to Christianity…he was drawn by the unconditional love and God’s desire for relationship. He believed that in the teachings of Jesus he could find the solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India. So one Sunday he decided to attend services at a nearby church and talk to the minister about becoming a Christian. When he entered the sanctuary, however, the usher refused to give him a seat and suggested that he go worship with his own people. Gandhi left the church and never returned. “If Christians have caste differences also,” he said, “I might as well remain a Hindu.”

Some of you may be thinking, “Great history lesson, Pastor, but what does this all mean for me?” It means we all have a few question to ask ourselves about what we believe and what we do with our lives’ how does our beliefs (core values and understandings) reflect in our lives, and our lives reflect what we believe. First, what does it mean to “love” as James teaches, as Jesus teaches? What do you call it when you more than like someone, when you deeply respect and honor them, value them with every bit of your being, and willing to back them up or even put yourself in harms way to protect them? How do you show someone you respect, honor, value, and got there back no matter what? Would you do this just for anybody or are you selective? According to James, if we claim to follow Jesus and claim our name as a Christian, do we get to chose who we respect, honor, value, and advocate for out of God’s love? Can we profess our faith in God with our lips alone and not follow it up with what we do, and vice versa?

The answer to that last question I think was well demonstrated once by an old Scottish fisherman. He painted the word “faith” on one oar of his boat and “works” on the other. He was asked his reason for this. In answer, he slipped the oar with “faith” into the water and rowed. The boat, of course, made a very tight circle. Returning to the dock, the boatman then said, “Now, let’s try ‘works’ without ‘faith’ and see what happens. The oar marked “works” was put in place and the boatman began rowing with just the “works” oar. Again the boat went into a tight circle but in the opposite direction. When the boatman again returned to the wharf, he interpreted his experiment in these strong and convincing words, “You see, to make a passage across the lake, one needs both oars working simultaneously in order to keep the boat in a straight and narrow way. If one does not have the use of both oars they make no progress across the lake nor as a Christian.

Intro to the Reading (from The Message):

When Christin believers gather in churches, everything that can go wrong sooner or later does. Outsiders, on observing this, conclude that there is nothing to the religion business except, perhaps, business - and dishonest business at that. Insiders see it differently. Just as a hospital collects the sick under one roof and labels them as such, the church collects sinners. Many of the the people outside the hospital are every bit as sick as the ones inside, but their illnesses are either undiagnosed or disguised. It’s similar with sinners outside the church. So Christian churches are not, as a rule, model communities of good behavior. They are, rather, places where human misbehavior is brought out in the open, faced, and dealt with. The letter of James shows one of the church’s early pastors skillfully going about his work of confronting, diagnosing, and dealing with areas of disbelief and misbehavior that had turned up in congregations committed to his care. Deep and living wisdom is on display here, wisdom both rare and essential. Wisdom is not primarily knowing the truth, although it certainly includes that; it is skill in living. For, what good is truth if we don’t know how to live it? What good is an intention if we can’t sustain it? According to church traditions, James carried the nickname “Old Camel Knees” because of thick calluses built up on his knees from many years of determined prayer. The prayers is foundational to the wisdom. Prayer is always foundational to wisdom.

Scripture Reading: James 1

 1I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello! 

 2-4Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

 5-8If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

 9-11When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer! Prosperity is as short-lived as a wildflower, so don’t ever count on it. You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that’s a picture of the “prosperous life.” At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing.

 12Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.

 13-15Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.

 16-18So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.

19-21Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

22-24Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.

 25But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.

 26-27Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

The Meditation:

This letter was written by James, the brother of Jesus, when the Christians were being persecuted under Saul, who would then become Paul, and when there was a great famine throughout the Roman Empire. The ‘religious piety’  we read in the first chapter has been used in the past in ways to manipulate Christians, and for some of us today it may point to the very reasons why we might love Jesus, but hate organized religion.

With that said, there is still a word for us to hear from James. . . God can still redeem this letter for our lives and faith journey today. His piety may seem extreme to us, but what can we learn from his man’s perspective of prayers and his caring for the least of society? Start with the question one of my colleagues asked over lunch this past week: “If all the churches in the world were to burn down tonight and the religion was condemned or outlawed, would here still be a Church? Would there still be followers of Jesus? Why?  [Faith is more about people and relationships…at the root of all the lists of sins found in the Torah – about relationships…mercy, justice, compassion, hospitality, and humility in all our interactions with creation.]

One of the greatest ways we can reflect God’s passion for life giving relationships is to share the one invaluable thing God has given us in life…time. All of our time is limited – we are born and we know we will physically die (and pay taxes). It is what we do with our time that will bring joy not only to ourselves, but to others and to the heart of God. One of the ways we give of our time is by listening…and that can be down right difficult. Have you ever listened to someone but their words went in one ear and out the other?

In the first section of our reading from James, the underlying loving word is for us to Listen…even in times of great pressure and high anxiety. James says that even in the worst of times God is there working to redeem the situation and reconcile it to God’s very self. . . and if God is love, as the Apostle John says in his letter, then we can take comfort that God is there to help. And if we need help, James says open that line of communication up. . . send God a prayer text message or spiritual email (PRAY). Then don’t give up listening for God’s response. . . remember, God speaks to us in thousands of ways…many times through the loving relationships we have with others (take the time to look, listen, and talk). Don’t let fear master you because history has show that those who are overwhelmed with fear tend to make choices that in the end destroy relationships. Listening and prayer is at the heart of this religion James is writing about. “Lead with your ears and flow up with your actions.”

For James, the Christian religion that he understands and that God nurtures is a practical art of listening deeply to God’s heart then responding…and if we are interested in knowing where God’s heart is, look to Jesus, or even the core teachings of Judaism found in the first five books of the Bible. God’s heart points toward relationships, and living our daily lives in ways that shows that we care, our hearts, are also where God’s heart is, which may including thinking about our relationship with creation, our relationship with those who are marginalized in society, our relationship with the economics…in all of our relationships, how can we show mercy, justice (sound ethical decisions), compassion, hospitality and humility?