Psalm 112:1-9

“It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice. For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever.” vss. 5-6

Life goes well with people who are righteous and generous, their love of justice and mercy will be remembered forever. That’s the way it’s always been, the psalmist assures us, and that’s the way it will always be. Some would call this ancient observation a universal truth, a guide, which if followed, could bring unity and harmony to men and women in every land. Yet, even though this wisdom has been available for millenia, people have always seemed disinclined to put it into practice. Instead we have worshiped power and acquisition, and that’s never been more true than in our time. We cut corners, abandon truth-telling, embrace the most outrageous lies, and seem willing to sacrifice the bounty of the earth at the altar of profit and riches. And it’s not that we’re being asked to live in poverty–the psalmist assures his readers that they will be blessed with wealth. There are material blessings for righteous living. We don’t have to worry about missing out on a thing when we stand up for justice and make provision for the poor. The Lord does take care of us, and there is plenty of stuff for all, but only if we make generosity the cornerstone of our livelihood. Living by the golden rule does not mean that those with the gold make the rules!

Thought for the Day: What is the connection between wealth and power?

Isaiah 58:6-9a

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your  house?” vss. 6-7a

In the last couple of weeks authorities have been conducting homeless counts. Volunteers scatter across the Valley and seek out the people living in the streets, parks, river beds, and alleys. Initial reports indicate that the numbers are increasing. Too many people, for one reason or another, can’t find affordable housing. Imagine Isaiah being asked to write a guest editorial in the Arizona Republic on the problem. What would he say? It’s not hard to figure out. “Share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house.” Could that be a solution to the problem? Of course! There is plenty of room in our big empty houses to take in the street people. Would we be willing to do that? Of course not! It would be too scary for most of us. These people are addicts, mentally unstable, dirty, and dangerous–or so we believe. In reality every one of them is a beloved child of God with a sad, sad story, and rather than help them, we’d rather they just went away. It is true that there would be many difficulties with Isaiah’s solution–but there are ways of getting the homeless into adequate housing, and it’s our responsibility as their brothers and sisters to make it happen!

Thought for the Day: What are some myths about homelessness?

Isaiah 58:1-5

“Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers.” vs. 3

The prophet lived among people who had carefully preserved all the trappings of religiosity. They worshiped regularly and kept all of the prescribed fasts. Their external piety was beyond approach–yet God remained remote to them. So the prophet tells them in no uncertain terms that their faith practices are self-serving and have nothing to do with what God desires. His words were echoed by Jesus and deserve to be regularly proclaimed from the pulpits in every Christian congregation. We too fall in love with the externals of faith, regularly worshiping, reading scripture, praying, and maintaining a pious attitude in the course of daily living. And at the same time many of us support the oppression of workers and defend the privileges of the rich. Under our watch the number of homeless people is steadily increasing and for many the number one concern is keeping them out of the public view. Admittedly these are difficult issues and simple solutions elude even our best efforts, but there is no way that we can even imagine that we can separate our Sunday behaviors from the concerns of those who live in poverty. God is blessed more by our work with asylum seekers than by any of our fasting and praying.

Thought for the Day: Why are so many reluctant to help the poor? 

Matthew 5:7-12

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” vs. 11

Most servants of Jesus have the expectation that they will be appreciated and loved as they walk in his way, especially if they treat others with kindness and maintain a spirit of humility in their interactions. So they wonder why he implied in this beatitude that at least some of his followers would be reviled and persecuted. That’s not anything that we aspire to–we would in fact much rather be liked by everyone. The problem arises because Jesus, like the prophets before him, expected that the faithful would do justice and proclaim liberty to those who were oppressed. If it weren’t for that expectation Christians could easily float under the radar in carrying out their mission. But the “do justice” part of our call virtually guarantees that we are going to offend people. The rich and the powerful will always act to defend the status quo. They want the systems that have brought them wealth to continue to function even when they mean the continuation of poverty and oppression. It has been said that “no good deed goes unpunished,” and we’ve seen the explosion of that kind of harassment in this new age of demonic social media. Those trying to do the right thing, i.e. do justice, quickly catch the attention of internet trolls and falsehoods of every kind are leveled against them. And Jesus says to them, “Blessed are you! Your reward will be great!”

Thought for the Day: What’s scary to me about “doing justice”?

Matthew 5:1-6

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” vs. 3

When Jesus looked over the motley crew he’d gathered as disciples during his first weeks of ministry he knew he didn’t have the cream of the crop. He begins his teaching by describing them as poor in spirit. Not only had they been gathered from the lower classes of their society, they likely weren’t known for their spiritual riches either. They may have appeared to be tough, but on the inside they were searching for a connection to God that had eluded them, probably for all of their lives. But Jesus loved them and offered a special blessing–undeserving though they might be, they would inherit the kingdom of heaven. There are many among us who have similar feelings. When we look around in our congregations and faith communities it may appear that everyone else has their spiritual ducks in a row. Of course we’re only seeing the externals–we have no knowledge of their core, but that gives us no consolation. All we know is that our spirits are impoverished and we’re a mess on the inside. And Jesus says, “Blessed are you poor in spirit–you are a part of my kingdom, and I’m going to use you to do wonderful things in this world.” The less we have to brag about spiritually, the more there is for the Spirit to do. And before long, in spite of our poverty, we are producing fruit in abundance.

Thought for the Day: Which of the beatitudes is my favorite?

1 Corinthians 1:14-18

“For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.” vs. 17

Pastors who can preach with eloquence are highly prized in our congregations, and if they can throw in a dash of humor they are exalted. The best of them have their sermons live-streamed into multiple settings so that even more folks can be enthralled by their well-honed and polished deliveries. Such pastors take pride in their craft and love it when people say their sermons are the heart of the worship experience. Now all that would be fine if the Church were just another human organization, but it’s not! Paul knew that and seems to take pride in his lack of eloquence. He didn’t want people following him, he wanted them to focus their eyes on the crucified Christ. The good news wasn’t about Paul, it was about Jesus! Now obviously there are some subtleties involved here. No pastor is called to be an inept preacher–lack of eloquence does not guarantee that Christ will be seen! And perhaps what people in the pews crave even more than eloquence is authenticity! They want a preacher in whom they can see the power of the incarnate Word and who consistently points to Jesus. And ultimately people do know the difference between self-glorification and glorifying God. And when preachers know the difference, blessings abound!

Thought for the Day: What is an authentic preacher?

1 Corinthians 1:10-13

“Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.” vs. 10

The news that Paul had gotten from Corinth after his departure was disheartening. Because members of the congregation had come from different cities and had come to faith through the influence of a variety of preachers, they had become divided. They felt closer connections to particular leaders than they did to the Lord Jesus Christ and their unity was being threatened. It was a dismaying surprise to Paul, but something that is very familiar to us. Even though all believers cherish the scriptures and proclaim allegiance to Christ, the Church has been tragically splintered by partisanship and sectarian differences. The result has been an ongoing competition for members and an abandonment of mission. Since members of congregations do have diverse backgrounds and religious preferences, we can understand the divisions. We prefer worshiping with those who have similar convictions, and when there are disagreements sometimes it’s easier to leave than stay. But how much better it is when our communities hold unity as their highest value, and are determined to use their diversities as a strength for mission. There really is only one Church. How much better it is when that unity is reflected in our mind and purpose.

Thought for the Day: Would it be easy or hard for me to leave my congregation?

Psalm 15

“O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart;” vss. 1-2

In the psalmist’s world there were standards that went beyond mere obedience to the law. Certainly the Torah was honored and people tried to live according to its precepts, but such behaviors didn’t even come close to what was expected of God’s holy people. It was more a lifestyle than adherence to a set of moralisms. That’s been a notoriously hard principle for the followers of Jesus to get their heads around. We tend to focus on extraneous pietisms that have little or nothing to do with the blameless living the psalmist outlines. Ironically it’s not hard to identify the folks he has in mind. They stand out in our communities of faith, not because of their drinking, swearing, or smoking habits, but because they do what is right and can be counted on to speak the truth in every circumstance. They’re not rumor-mongers or slanderers, and they generously share their wealth with others without asking for anything in return. And they’re not living that way so that they can punch their tickets at the pearly gates; all they’re wanting to do is walk in the light of the Lord, and spread love to the unlovely and the unlovable. It is these who are the salt of the earth. If only we all would walk like them!

Thought for the Day: I wonder if I’m living a blameless life.

Micah 6:6-8

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” vs. 8

Sometimes folks act as though they’re confused about how they ought to live out their lives on this blue orb. On one hand this is understandable. There are a bunch of options out there and it’s not always easy to choose among them. But if we have even the slightest interest about how to walk in the way of the Lord, there’s no mystery at all. Micah puts it so plainly that not even fools could misunderstand.And he’s not just making this up! This is the consistent witness of the prophets all along–but it’s Micah who manages this magnificent summary, and it’s his verse that thousands of folks have committed to memory. Many even have the needlepoint version hanging on the walls of their homes. And when we can get our acts together and actually begin living as the Lord desires by doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly, our environments are transformed. Certainly there will be obstacles. We regularly get off track and lose focus in the face of cultural considerations and our personal desire for wealth and power, but prophets like Micah haven’t gone away. They’re still around and regularly call us back to the basics. And oh, what joy is ours when we actually find ourselves obeying!

Thought for the Day: What’s my “go to” bible verse?

Micah 6:1-5

“O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!” vs. 3

The prophet Micah was very aware that Israel had not been acting in a way that was pleasing to the Lord. In this passage he imagines the Lord taking the controversy to the mountains and, in a court-like setting, presenting the case. In Micah’s vision the Lord sounds like a parent scolding beloved children. Some of us recognize the tone of the confrontation. We’ve done the same thing: beside ourselves with anger we recount all the wonderful things we’ve done for this ungrateful child. And when the child stands silent with head bowed we demand a response. “Answer me!” we shout, and because there is no adequate answer, the conversation ends. The hope in such situations is that there would be a change in behavior, and that’s likely what Micah hoped would happen with Israel. There are times in our lives when we need challenges from those who love us. Even when we live in Christ and trust in the forgiving word of Jesus, there will be times when chastising words are exactly what we need to hear. Sometimes our behaviors are reprehensible and only an “Answer me!” demand can pierce our stubborn hearts. It’s important though to remember that in Christ such exchanges take place in a context of love, and the last word will always be “I love you!”

Thought for the Day: How has the “answer me” tactic worked for me?