If Only…

John 18:28-38

We can have all the information in the world, all of the emails and letters and TV broadcasts and newspapers and magazines and spreadsheets and campaign ads and tweets and, yes, blog posts, but at the end of the day we may be left asking the same question that Pilate asked of Jesus. Jesus said, “’For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’” (John 18:37b-38a). I can imagine Pilate smirking as he said it, as if he had heard that sort of thing before. After all, everybody claims to have the truth in some shape or fashion.

Years ago, just as the internet was becoming more common, a woman who regularly visited the church I served approached me with an email she had received. The email claimed that members of the board of directors of Proctor and Gamble were Satan worshipers and that the CEO of the company has said so publically. The woman was aghast at the news and wanted to know what I thought about it. I tried to explain to her that even though she had gotten the item off of her computer it didn’t mean that the story was factual. That particular rumor had been going around for some time.

“What is truth?” It’s a question that we all must wrestle with constantly. It is so easy to accept what we want to believe. There is no such thing as a compassionate conservative; all liberals are out to destroy the country. The president is a socialist; his main rivals are idiots. The denomination to which I belong willingly ignores the Bible; anyone who disagrees with me is filled with hate. I hear variations on these comments on a regular basis and they make me sad. Jesus spoke the truth when he said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (15:12). Love is what Jesus wants; not hate or apathy or disdain or disinterest, but love. And this love is true because Jesus died for it. If we could only begin there, with the love of God, and reorient our lives accordingly. If we would only let go of the falseness of life. If only…

Prayer: Lord God, help us to hear your truth and to embrace it even as we seek to embrace one another in love. For it is in Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen.

NOTE: Beginning on February 25, I will be including blog posts each Saturday written by "guest bloggers" who will offer their insights on the readings for that particular day. I deeply appreciate the willingness of these folks to share their time and talents with us. Be sure to stop by on upcoming Saturdays to see what they have to say.

Freeing Barabbas

Mark 15:1-11

Jesus stood before Pilate, accused of wrongdoing by the religious elite. According to our gospel reading for today Pilate would customarily release a prisoner according to the wishes of the people. Pilate wondered if the people would like to have Jesus released, “But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead” (Mark 15:11). Barabbas was a murderer and a rebel who had been jailed during a recent insurrection and stood in stark contrast to Jesus. But because of the crowds it was Barabbas that Pilate released.

While the vast majority of us will never commit murder or insurrection, there is a rebellious streak in all of us. How often we “release” that aspect of our personalities instead of the goodness that God seeks from us all! Where we could be of great comfort to others we too often think only of ourselves and our own needs. When there is something that needs saying we have a habit of remaining silent, and when we should be quiet we sometimes say too much. “Serve the Lord with gladness; come into his courts with praise,” is what we should say. Too often, though, our murmuring sounds more like “free Barabbas!” We need to make better choices, and we need to allow ourselves to be led by God and not by the culture around us.

Prayer: Lord, help us to serve you by serving others and thus to bring glory to your name. Amen.

Forging a New Community

Luke 23:1-12

The portion of Jesus’ passion contained in Luke 23:6-12 is unique to this gospel. One line from that story is particularly interesting. “That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies” (Luke 23:12). It would appear that in their contempt for Jesus these two men found a reason for friendship, for a new community of sorts.

This got me to thinking about the various communities in which I am engaged. One is the neighborhood in which I live, of course. But there are other ways of identifying me, some of which serve group with others. I tend to support a political party which puts me in one sort of community. I am a minister which gives me another. I am of a particular race, gender, socio-economic standing, and age all of which give me communities with which to relate. The schools I have attended give me communities. And I am on Facebook and write this blog, each of which create electronic networks for me. It would be virtually impossible for me to live without connections, without some sort of community. Pilate and Herod found a basis for friendship in their shared disdain for Jesus. I do not knowingly associate with anyone so avowed anti-Christian. But there are groups, communities, if you will, whose purposes are contrary to the call to discipleship and faith. And while I do not advocate isolation or separatism, I do believe we need to carefully examine our habits and our relationships to see what they say about us, about our faith, about our devotion to God.

The church, the body of Christ at work in the world, can be both the most fulfilling and the most frustrating of all communities. Within the context of faith men and woman are trained, encouraged, sent forth, and asked to share from their resources in support of the church’s work. But no group of people is perfect, and when the church demonstrates its fallibility it can be very disheartening. Still, the church is the best sort of community with which to participate because it is the only one truly established by God to do God’s will.

So let’s enjoy our relationships and celebrate the imperfect community we have found in Jesus Christ. Let’s be united in our efforts to serve, not in our desire to ridicule or tear apart.

Prayer: Lord, bring us together in your love and help us to find community in your fellowship. In Jesus’ name. Amen.