At Any Convenient Time

Deuteronomy 4:9-14

If you are familiar with Simon and Garfunkel, you will probably recognize the words to their song “A Hazy Shade of Winter.”

Ahhh, seasons change with the scenery

Weaving time in a tapestry

Won't you stop and remember me

At any convenient time…

God’s words to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy also deal with the passing of time. But God makes a much stronger claim on the people. “…Take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life…” (Deuteronomy 4:9). God’s actions are not to be considered “at any convenient time”, but at all times. “Make them known to your children,” says God, “and your children’s children” (4:9).

Too much is lost in the “busy-ness” of life. Even things that we consider important can become dim and disjointed recollections if we do not hold fast to them. This is even the case in our relationship to God. “What have you done for us lately?” we may ask, not in a snooty way, but because we simply don’t remember. “Take care,” God warns, “and watch yourselves closely…”. God does not forget us; we have got to do a much better job of remembering God and what God has meant to us. Otherwise we may be tempted to stray after lifeless idols or to live with no focus and no purpose. God wants better from us, because God wants better for us. “Take care,” God says. Don’t ever forget.

Prayer: Lord, help us to remain focused on you and to live according to your will for our lives, so that we may experience all of the grace you hold out to us. Amen.

Having a Purpose

2 Corinthians 4:1-12

Few passages have influenced my ministry as much as this one has. I can still remember reading these words while in seminary and having a sense of real purpose. “Therefore,” says Paul, “since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God…For we do not proclaim (or preach) ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:1-2, 5).

Yesterday I talked about the competence for ministry that we receive from God. I quoted a professor of mine who said that only God can make us good enough to carry out God’s will. In today’s reading Paul seems to take that notion a step further. Even when things are not going well, when we are challenged or encounter difficult situations we remain faithful and full of hope. Why? Because the ministry in which we are engaged comes to us from God. It is a gracious gift that provides shape and purpose to our living. We have a place to fit in and a job to do. In response to this gift we, in turn, are called to reject all manner of falseness, all manipulation or deceit and to remain truthful about God’s word, that which we proclaim in Jesus Christ.

We have a purpose. There is a reason for us to get up in the morning and to embrace each new day. As God’s people we are blessed with a message of salvation and grace, one that need not be adapted or adjusted. It is simply to be shared. How will you live our your purpose today? How will you go about sharing the good news? It’s worth thinking about.

Prayer: Lord, your word is truth. Help us to share it with the world openly and with conviction. Amen.

On Being Competent

2 Corinthians 3:1-18

At a worship service on the day I was to graduate from seminary, The Rev. Dr. David Bartlett made a profound observation. “You are all good,” he said of the students gathered, “but only God can make you good enough.” That comment has stuck with me over the years in part because it is so freeing. Ultimately it is not up to me to succeed in the ministry. If I do it is because God has given me the talents and the skills to do so. Only God can make me—or any of us—good enough to do what God is calling us to do.

Paul would agree. “…(O)ur competence is from God,” he writes, “who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of the spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:5-6). God had called Paul and his fellow believers to a new form of ministry, one based on the new thing God was doing in Jesus Christ. But God had also given them the tools they needed to succeed in the tasks at hand. Only God could make them good enough.

Nor is this claim reserved for ministers. It applies to all who seek to answer God’s call in their lives. Whatever it is that God has sent you to do, whatever role it is that you play, whatever part of the whole you represent, it is only God who can make you competent to carry it out. For this reason we do not lose heart. God’s grace abounds, and by that grace God’s ministry is accomplished, not because we ourselves are able to do so, but because God alone has made us good enough.

Prayer: Lord, help us to do that which you have called us to do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Peddlers of God's Word

2 Corinthians 1:23-2:17

“For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many;” Paul writes to the church in Corinth, “but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence” (2 Corinthians 2:17). When I read these words I am struck with two images. The first, having to do with “peddlers of God’s word” is of a paid spokesperson appearing in a TV commercial for some product. This person may or may not use the product they are speaking about, but they are willing to “peddle” it because that is their job.

This is not Paul’s approach to sharing the gospel. Paul is more like the prophet Isaiah who “saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty…” (Isaiah 6:1). Standing in the presence of God and the entire heavenly court, the prophet received his commission to share God’s word with the people. It was not a “job” for Isaiah, it was a calling. He had been chosen and set aside for this particular purpose, just as Paul, centuries later, would receive his call on the road to Damascus. No, Paul was not a paid spokesperson, he shared what he believed, what he knew to be true, what he had learned from God and from others in the faith. And it was in this capacity that he was speaking to the Christians in Corinth.

There are days when I, as a minister, feel a little like a paid spokesperson. But it is on those occasions when I can share my faith as a believer and not as a church professional that I feel the message really come alive for me. How about you? Do you share the gospel like someone earning a paycheck, punching a clock, and dreaming of the moment when you can leave and get back to your life? Or are you motivated by your faith in God through Jesus Christ to share the good news as though it were the most important thing you could possibly do? If you say yes to the first question, you need to reconsider what it means to be one of God’s people. But if you said yes to the second, even if you have to struggle with the challenge, you stand in good company, the likes of Isaiah and Paul, not peddlers, but believers.

Prayer: Lord, keep us from “peddling the word” and help us instead to share freely and fully the joy of the gospel. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Yes Is the Answer

2 Corinthians 1:12-22

In his song “Mind Games” John Lennon, the former Beatle, sings, “Yes is the answer, and you know that for sure. Yes is surrender, you gotta let it go.” What Lennon was saying was that the way to peace and reconciliation is through positive actions, affirmations, putting the other first. I think he was right, but only to a point.

Here’s how Paul said it: “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who we proclaimed among you…was not ‘Yes and No’; but in him it is always ‘Yes.’ For in him every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes’” (2 Corinthians 1:19-20). For Paul it all comes back to the promises of God which are always fulfilled. Indeed, Jesus is God’s way of saying “Yes” to the world in all of its pain and suffering, all of its sin and apathy. It is not an affirmation of the way things are, but a challenge to live to a higher standard, to do it God’s way. Are we forgiven? In Jesus Christ, Yes. Has death been defeated? In Jesus Christ, Yes. Is there reason for hope? In Jesus Christ, Yes. Is God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven”? In Jesus Christ, Yes. In the mean time we are to embrace the “Yes” of God as disciples of Jesus Christ, and live toward peace and reconciliation as best we can. That’s the part John Lennon got right.

In the days ahead, as you engage in conversations at work or school, as you respond to difficult circumstances or are confronted by conflict, give thought to what God’s “Yes” might mean in those situations. And then live that “Yes” as a disciple of Jesus Christ. By God’s grace we will find “Yes” really is the best answer.

Prayer: Lord, help us to live as your people, expressing your divine love to the world and sharing the grace of your gospel. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

When It's Good to Cling

Ruth 1:1-14

Normally I think the message of scripture challenges us to move ahead in faith, to accept the new thing that God is doing and to be open to signs that the reign of God is at hand. If this is true then we have an interesting situation in our reading from Ruth today. After the death of her husband and both of her sons, Naomi urges her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, to return to their families of origin for she can do nothing for them. Orpah, though saddened, is willing to go. “Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her” (Ruth 1:14). This should come as no surprise, even the first time we read it. If Ruth had left Naomi and gone home to her Moabite family the book would either not exist or would be called something besides Ruth. But beyond that what does this say to us about faith?

First of all, though she “clings” to Naomi, we should realize that Ruth has chosen a scarier path than the one Orpah has taken. Ruth has no way of knowing how things will work out for her in Judah, how she will be received, what she will do. So even in clinging to what she “knows”, she is really accepting what she doesn’t know. Secondly, Ruth’s actions constitute a profound sense of family and community. When she married Naomi’s son Ruth obviously committed herself to his way of life. Even in his death she is determined to remain a part of his family, which in this case is Naomi. And finally, this understanding of community pushes Ruth to think beyond herself to the needs of Naomi. By remaining with the older woman, Ruth indicates a willingness to care for her and to stand beside her.

Sometimes we cling is to idols, those things that we place between ourselves and God. It may be our history, our way of doing things, our own limited perspectives. Ruth was doing none of that. By holding fast to Naomi she was showing a willingness to go where God would lead her. This is exactly what Abram did when he accepted God’s call to leave his father’s house and follow the Lord’s leading. It was a scary proposition. If we are going to cling to anything let it be the new thing that God is doing in our lives, the direction that God is taking us, the community of faith that surrounds us, all the while looking beyond ourselves to bigger picture. This is when clinging is a good thing to do.

Prayer: Lord, help us to let go of what we don’t need, the clutter of our lives, and to embrace the new thing you are doing. Help us to live in community, showing compassion for others. Amen.

All in the Family

1 Timothy 5:1-25

“Do not speak harshly to an older man, but speak to him as to a father, to younger men as brothers, to older women as mother, to younger women as sisters…” (1 Timothy 5:1-2). I think it would be easy to overlook this bit of advice without taking it seriously. After all, it makes good sense. Who could quibble with it? But the truth is that family members are not always so kind in the way they speak to one another. In moments of frustration or anger words between parents and children or among siblings can become pointed and unkind, even in the most loving of situations.

But one of the most important aspects that families can offer is accountability. Family is a place were we can be honest with one another but do so in love. You can treat a total stranger with indifference and never see them again. You can act ugly with friends and neighbors and then isolate yourself. But with a family there is always a connection, always a reason to take up the conversation again. It can be tricky, of course. Families are complicated. But so is a community of faith, in case you haven’t noticed. Sometimes we need to get a point across that is unpleasant. Thinking in terms of long-standing, on-going relationships should add balance and maturity to how we interact.

The words from 1 Timothy may sound simple, but like so much of scripture there is a profound depth here. Passages like this one should not be passed over lightly.

Prayer: Lord, help us to live and act with openness and love, within our families, communities, and beyond. In Jesus’ name. Amen.