Sermon: Above, Beside, and Within (2026)

Delivered at St. Mark United Methodist Church in Greenville, South Carolina on May 31, 2026, Trinity Sunday

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Comments are always welcomed.
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Above, Beside, and Within

Audio Version

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.  When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.  And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:16-20 (NRSV)

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

From “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!” by Richard Heber

The Disciples have trekked from Jerusalem to Galilee.  A few days earlier, Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary visited the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth, who had just been brutally and wrongfully executed by crucifixion.  To their surprise, they watched as an angel descended from heaven and rolled the stone away, revealing the tomb to be empty.  Seated atop the stone, the heavenly messenger told them that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead and then instructed them to tell the Disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee.  As the two women ran to tell the Disciples the good news, they encountered the risen Jesus Himself, who repeated the angel's instruction to tell the Disciples to meet Him in Galilee.¹

The Disciples ascend a mountain in Galilee, and they find Jesus alive and well, just as the two Marys had told them.  They fall down and worship Him, though some of them are not quite sure that they can believe what they are seeing.  Jesus says to the Disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.  And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”²

In the Gospel of Matthew, the earthly ministry of Jesus is bookended with references to the three Persons of the Holy Trinity.  Shortly before Jesus began His public ministry, He went to the Jordan River to be baptized.  As He emerged from the water, the heavens were torn open; the Holy Spirit took the form of a dove and descended upon Him; and a Voice from heaven was heard, proclaiming, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”³  The Son, at His baptism, received the power of the Spirit and the blessing of the Father.  As we just heard, Jesus ends His earthly ministry by commissioning the Disciples to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”⁴

Today, the first Sunday after Pentecost, is Trinity Sunday, a day set aside for remembering that God has been revealed to us in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Though we can read about all three Persons of the Trinity in the Bible, the word trinity is found nowhere in our holy scriptures.  The first recorded use of the word trinity to describe God is in the writings of the second-century theologian Theophilus of Antioch.⁵  A creed was formalized around the Trinity at the First Council of Nicaea in 325, and this creed was revised at the First Council of Constantinople in 381.⁶  The Nicene Creed states, “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.”  The creed continues, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father.”  The creed goes on to state, “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.”⁷

Something that makes the Trinity particularly difficult to explain is that it is so easy to say something heretical, something contrary to the established teachings of the Church.  For example, one might think that, if the Father is God, and if the Son is God, and if the Spirit is God, then perhaps God takes different forms at different times.  This idea, known as modalism, is generally regarded as a heresy because it denies that the Trinity is three distinct Persons.⁸  With that in mind, one might think that, if the Father is not the Son, and if the Son is not the Spirit, and if the Spirit is not the Father, then maybe we actually worship three distinct Gods.  This idea, called tritheism, is also considered a heresy⁹ because Christianity is a monotheistic religion.  Though we speak of a Triune God, we agree with our Jewish brothers and sisters, who daily proclaim, Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Eḥad¹⁰ (“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one”).¹¹

Explaining what the Trinity is not seems to be a lot easier than explaining what the Trinity actually is.  The Trinity is a mystery and a paradox.  God is one, yet somehow, at the same time, God is three.  Perhaps it would be simpler to consider the Triune God's relationship with humanity and to consider the ways humanity has experienced the Triune God.


God Above Us

The Trinity reminds us that God is above us.  The parental title of the first Person of the Trinity, the Father, reminds us that God is our divine, loving Parent and that we are all children under God's authority.  God is our Creator and our Provider: God gave us life and every blessing we enjoy in life.  In the words of one beloved hymn, “All I have needed thy hand hath provided.”¹²  God is also our sovereign Lord and the Ruler over all creation.

When I say that God is above us, I mean not only that God reigns above us but also that God is above our intellect.  God says through one prophet, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, / nor are your ways my ways... / For as the heavens are higher than the earth, / so are my ways higher than your ways / and my thoughts than your thoughts.”¹³  When Job wants to argue with God, God says to him, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? / Tell me, if you have understanding. / Who determined its measurements – surely you know! / Or who stretched the line upon it?”¹⁴  The psalmist David reflects on God's complete knowledge of him and on God's continuous presence with him and says, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; / it is so high that I cannot attain it.”  He reflects on how carefully and thoughtfully God knit him together and proclaims, “How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! / How vast is the sum of them! / I try to count them – they are more than the sand...”¹⁵  Indeed, our knowledge of the divine is but a drop in an ocean.

One of the Ten Commandments forbids the creation of idols or images of gods to worship.¹⁶  Some would go so far as to say that it also forbids images of the one true God, since such images cannot adequately represent God.  In the Book of Exodus, it could be inferred that the golden calf the Israelites wrongly worshiped in the wilderness was created to represent the God “who brought [them] up out of the land of Egypt.”¹⁷  I wonder if the same commandment might also apply to our mental images of God.  If we finite humans cannot fully comprehend an infinite God, then we would do well to hold our own conceptions of God with humility and with an open hand, lest we become guilty of creating idols in our minds.  The French philosopher Voltaire once observed, “If God has made us in his image, we have returned him the favor.”¹⁸

Ultimately, God is a mystery.  I think that maybe the mystery and otherness of God can be frightening to us.  C.S. Lewis writes that the fear of God is less like the fear of a tiger and more like the fear of a ghost.  If a tiger was in the room, we would be afraid because of what we know about it, but, if a ghost was in the room, we would be afraid because of what we don't know about it.¹⁹  The latter kind of fear is not a totally inappropriate response to God, for we must never let ourselves think that we've figured God out.  That said, I think the conflicting messages we hear about God can be a source of anxiety.  Some people speak only of God's grace, mercy, and love, while others speak primarily of God's anger and judgment, and the two groups often seem to be at odds with each other.  Whom shall we believe?


God Beside Us

What if the infinite God decided to describe God's self in a way that we finite humans can understand – or perhaps I should say, in a Word we can understand.  What if God somehow left behind the glory of Heaven and took on human flesh and blood to walk beside us?²⁰  What if, in the words of Eugene Peterson, God “moved into the neighborhood” with us?²¹  This is essentially what we learn from an ancient Christian hymn found at the beginning of the Gospel of John.  In it, we read,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...  
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth...  
No one has ever seen God.  It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made Him known.²²

The Greek term translated into English as word is logos,²³ which could also be translated as reason, logic, or order.²⁴  It is this word logos that John uses to describe second person of the Trinity, the Son, who is made known to us in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is God Incarnate – God in the flesh.  Brian Zahnd, one of my favorite preachers, likes to say, “God is like Jesus.  God has always been like Jesus.  There has never been a time when God was not like Jesus.  We have not always known what God is like – but now we do.”²⁵  When we are confused and frightened by the conflicting messages we hear about God, we are invited to look to Jesus and see what God is truly like.

The Church teaches us that Christ is fully God and, at the same time, fully human.  In the Gospels, He is called both Son of God and Son of Man.  In Christ, we see that God is fully capable of empathizing with us, for we know that God has actually walked a mile in our shoes.  In Christ, we know that God has experienced the beauty, the messiness, and even the pain of being human.²⁶  To say that Christ is fully human is to say that He entered fully into the human experience, but it is not to say that He is just like us.²⁷  According to the creation poem at the very beginning of the Bible, God created humanity in God's own Image.²⁸  To be human is to bear the Image of God, but the divine Image we bear has been distorted by our sin.²⁹  Christ, who perfectly bears the Image of God, came to Earth as part of a divine plan to save a broken creation, and part of His mission was to show us how to be fully human.  Interestingly, in the Common English Bible, whenever Jesus would refer to Himself as the Son of Man in other translations of the Bible, He calls Himself the Human One, reminding us that He is the one who is truly human.


God Within Us

In the Gospel of John, Jesus said to the Disciples, on the evening before He was arrested, tried, and crucified, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.”³⁰  Different translations of the Bible use different words to describe the divine Presence the Father will send on the Son's behalf.  The New Revised Standard Version uses the word advocate; the older King James Version uses the word comforter; and the more recent Common English Bible uses the word companion.  The original Greek word used to describe this Presence is paraklētos, which describes someone “called to one's side.”  Alternately, it could mean “counselor,” “intercessor,” or simply “helper.”³¹  Jesus told the Disciples that this “Paraclete” will dwell within them.³²  He was referring, of course, to the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told the Disciples that the Holy Spirit will remind them of everything He has already taught them and that the Holy Spirit will continue to teach them.³³  He later said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth...”³⁴  Jesus, by His own admission, did not teach the Disciples everything they needed to know, but He promised them that the Spirit would continue to teach them after He returned to the Father.

The Holy Spirit will empower the Disciples to do what Jesus commissions them to do.  In the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus says to the Disciples just before He ascends to Heaven, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”³⁵  Ten days later, while the Disciples are gathered together in their meeting place, they hear the sound of a mighty wind.  Suddenly tongues of fire appear in the room and land upon each of them.  The Disciples then run into the street, speaking languages they did not previously know, and a crowd of people from many different nations gathers around them to hear their message.³⁶  That day of Pentecost, which we commemorated last Sunday, is sometimes called the “birthday of the Church,” and the same Holy Fire that appeared that day has mobilized the Church ever since.


The Image of God

If human beings do indeed bear the Image of God, then perhaps the Trinity teaches us not only who God is, but also who we are.  When Jesus taught the Disciples to pray, He taught them to address God as “our Father in heaven.”³⁷  We are all beloved children of the Father; the Son provides us the definitive example of what it means to live into our identities as children of God; and the Holy Spirit empowers us to do so.  Perhaps the Trinity also reveals something about who we are collectively.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus prayed that those who follow Him may be one with each other as He and the Father are one.³⁸  The Trinity is three Persons yet one God.  Similarly the Church is many individuals yet one “body.”

St. Paul uses some fascinating metaphors in his letters to describe the Church.  He writes that the Church is the Body of Christ, meaning that individual followers of Christ work together like parts of a body, of which Christ is the head.³⁹  In the words attributed to St. Teresa of Avila,

Christ has no body now on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours.  Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out on the world.  Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good.  Yours are the hands with which He is to bless His people.

Paul also writes that the Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, for the Spirit of God dwells within us and among us.⁴⁰  As the Church, we are commissioned by Christ to carry on His work by making disciples and passing along His teachings, and we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do what we have been commissioned to do.


The Trinity teaches us that, though God is ultimately beyond human comprehension, God is, by no means, distant from humanity.  As Jesus says to the Disciples, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”⁴¹  God reigns above us as our Creator, Lord, and Parent in ways we cannot even begin to understand.  God came to walk beside us, stepping into our experience and showing us how to live.  God dwells within us, guiding us, empowering us, and sustaining us day by day.  The Trinity also teaches us who we are.  We are children of the Father who are empowered by the Spirit to become more like the Son and to carry on His work in the world.

Thanks be to God.


Notes:

1. Matthew 28:1-10
2. Matthew 28:16-20 (NRSV)
3. Matthew 3:13-17 (NRSV)
4. Matthew 28:18-20 (NRSV)
5. Wikipedia: “Trinity”
6. Wikipedia: “Nicene Creed”
7. Quotes were taken from the Nicene Creed as printed in The United Methodist Hymnal.  no. 880
8. Wikipedia: “Sabellianism”
9. Wikipedia: “Tritheism”
10. Wikipedia: “Shema”
11. Deuteronomy 6:4 (NKJV)
12. From “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” by Thomas Chisholm
13. Isaiah 55:8-9 (NRSV)
14. Job 38:4-5 (NRSV)
15. Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 (NRSV)
16. Exodus 20:4-6
17. Exodus 32:1-5
18. Wikiquote: “Voltaire”
19. C.S. Lewis.  The Problem of Pain.  ch. 1
20. Philippians 2:5-7
21. John 1:14 (The Message)
22. John 1:1, 14, 18 (NRSV)
23. Blue Letter Bible: “Logos”
24. Wikipedia: “Logos”
25. Brian Zahnd.  “God Is Like Jesus.”  BrianZahnd.com, 08/11/2011.
26. Hebrews 4:15
27. Peter Rollins.  “Salvation for Zombies.”
28. Genesis 1:27
29. Kenneth L. Carder.  Living Our Beliefs: The United Methodist Way.  2009, Discipleship Resources.  ch. 4-5
30. John 14:15-16 (NRSV)
31. Blue Letter Bible: “paraklētos”
32. John 14:17
33. John 14:25-26
34. John 16:12-13a (NRSV)
35. Acts 1:8 (NRSV)
36. Acts 2:1-11
37. Matthew 6:9 (NRSV)
38. John 17:20-23
39. 1 Corinthians 12:27-28, Colossians 1:18
40. 1 Corinthians 3:16
41. Matthew 28:20 (NRSV)

The image featured in this sermon is public domain.

Introspection: Another Cowardly Disciple

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Another Cowardly Disciple

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.  All who want to save their lives will lose them.  But all who lose their lives because of me will find them."

Matthew 16:24-25 (CEB)

Oh my soul, Oh my Savior
Peter denied You three times
I have denied You more

From "What Have We Done?" by Kings Kaleidoscope

For the last couple of years, during Holy Week, I read about Jesus' fateful "last week" in Jerusalem.  From Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday, I read about Jesus' triumphal entry into the city, clash the religious institution, Last Supper with the Disciples, arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection from one of the Gospels.  Last year, when I read about these events from the Gospel of Luke, I kept the politics of the time and region in mind.  This year, when I read about these events from the Gospel of Matthew, I read through a more religious lens.

I read about the actions of Jesus in Jerusalem, particularly His cleansing the temple and His theologically battling with the religious leaders, as an assault on the religious establishment of His day.

On the day after Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the joyous shouts of the people who traveled with Him, He barged into the temple, turned over the tables of the people exchanging currency, and turned over the chairs of the people selling animals for sacrifice.  He said, "It's written, My house will be called a house of prayer.  But you've made it a hideout for crooks."¹  Jesus' actions were essentially a protest against the corruption of the religious institution.  By comparing the temple to a "hideout for crooks," Jesus was saying that the religious leaders were not promoting scriptural justice but were instead harboring injustice.²

The next morning, Jesus was hungry.  He found a fig tree, but, when He looked for figs, He found nothing but leaves.  He cursed the fig tree, and it immediately withered, to the amazement of His disciples.³  That fig tree was symbolic of the religious institution of Jesus' day.⁴  In Jesus' eyes, both were outwardly beautiful but essentially fruitless.

Later that day, the religious leaders confronted Jesus over the stunt He pulled in the temple, asking Him where He received the authority to do what He did.  Jesus didn't answer their question.  Instead, He responded with a series of parables that suggested that the religious leaders were hypocritical, derelict in their duty, and utterly disinterested in what God was doing.  The religious leaders struck back by asking Jesus a series of loaded questions, hoping to trap Him with His words, but He evaded their traps with His brilliant answers.  Finally, in front of His followers, He launched into a screed about the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.⁵

Sometimes, when we read the biblical story, the biblical story reads us back.  Naturally, I read about Jesus' actions as an attack on the religious system of His day, because I have problems with the religious system of my day.  In my eyes, much of American Christianity is rotten to the core.  So many Christians in America seem to care more about supporting certain political interests and less about actually carrying on the work of Christ.  The Gospel story, which is meant to be liberating and life-giving, is twisted and weaponized against people.  All that said, I don't do very much to combat the corruption of Christianity in America.  I either address such matters on this blog so vaguely that nobody really knows what I mean or subconsciously keep my readership small so that I don't have to face pushback.

Later that week in Jerusalem, Jesus, knowing that He would soon be arrested, tried, and crucified, went to a place called Gethsemane to pray.  He prayed, "My Father, if it's possible, take this cup of suffering away from me.  However - not what I want but what you want."⁶  Jesus didn't want to face the suffering that awaited Him, but He wanted to do God's will.  On Maundy Thursday, as I reflected on this prayer, the thought occurred to me that Jesus would not have to face this "cup of suffering" if He had not rocked the proverbial boat.  Jesus did what He did that week, knowing that it would cost Him His life.  Were His actions really worth it?

The next day, on Good Friday, I read about Jesus suffering, death, and burial, and I began to lament my lack of courage.  I have problems with the religious institution of my day, but, unlike Jesus, I don't have the courage to flip over proverbial tables and call out the liars, grifters, and political shills who lead churches.  I'm afraid of facing the consequences of speaking my mind.  On Good Friday, I found myself another cowardly disciple afraid to take up his own cross, not unlike the ones who abandoned and denied Jesus when He was arrested.⁷

"Then he cursed and swore, 'I don't know the man!'" (Mt 26:74a)

On Easter Sunday, I read about the Resurrection.  One morning, a couple of days after Jesus was crucified, two women visited His tomb and learned that He had been resurrected from the dead.  They encountered the risen Jesus, and relayed instructions to His disciples to meet Him in Galilee.⁸  When the Disciples met Jesus atop a mountain in Galilee, He said to them, "I've received all authority in heaven and on earth.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I've commanded you.  Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age."⁹

Jesus' commissioning the Disciples put things into perspective for me.  Jesus did not tell the Disciples to keep flipping tables.  He told them to go and make disciples.  If I am indeed a disciple of Jesus, then I need to be using my spiritual gifts to make and strengthen other disciples and not looking for a fight.  That said, there may very well come a time when I am required to take a stand, as Jesus did and as His first disciples eventually did, and at that time I will need to be courageous.  As Jesus said, "All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me."¹⁰

May God give us all the clarity to do what God has called us to do and the courage to do what we are required to do.


Notes:

1. Matthew 21:1-13 (CEB)
2. Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan.  The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem.  2006, HarperOne.  p. 49
3. Matthew 21:18-20 (CEB)
4. Borg and Crossan, p. 56
5. Matthew 21:23-23:36
6. Matthew 26:36-39 (CEB)
7. Matthew 26:56b
8. Matthew 28:1-10
9. Matthew 28:16-20 (CEB)
10. Matthew 16:24 (CEB)

The Denial of St. Peter was painted by Gerard van Honthorst around 1623.

Perspective: Believing and Praying

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Believing and Praying

My future is in your hands.
Don't hand me over to my enemies,
to all who are out to get me!
Shine your face on your servant;
save me by your faithful love!

Psalm 31:15-16 (CEB)

God, You know where I've been
You were there with me then
You were faithful before
You'll be faithful again
I'm holding Your hand

From "Let the Waters Rise" by MIKESCHAIR

One of the classes I had to complete in order to be certified as a Lay Speaker in the United Methodist Church was a class on leading public prayer.  In this class, I learned about a particular type of prayer called the collect.  In such a prayer, a petition to God is preceded by a statement about God and followed by a reason for the petition.¹

Consider the following collect written for the third Sunday in Eastertide:

Almighty Father,
who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples
with the sight of the risen Lord:
give us such knowledge of his presence with us,
that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life
and serve you continually in righteousness and truth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.²

In this prayer, the petition is made to God that the presence of the risen Christ be made known to the gathered congregation.  The rationale for the petition is that God resurrected Christ from the dead and that seeing the resurrected Christ gave His first disciples hope and joy.  The reason for the petition is that experiencing the presence of the risen Christ will provide the congregation the spiritual strength and sustenance they need to better serve God.

The collect shows us that what we ask of God is directly connected to our theology.  Generally speaking, when we pay close attention to a prayer, we can learn something important about the person who is praying, specifically what the person believes about God.


Many of the psalms in the Bible are attributed to David, the shepherd who became a military leader and then later became the most beloved king of Israel.  Like a number of the psalms associated with David, the thirty-first psalm is a prayer for help in a perilous time.  Evidently, David has found himself in dire straits.  The psalm begins,

I take refuge in you, Lord.
Please never let me be put to shame.
Rescue me by your righteousness!³

When I encountered this psalm recently, I observed that the psalmist apparently believes at least four things about God.


First, David believes that God is protective of God's children.  He prays,

Listen closely to me!
Deliver me quickly;
be a rock that protects me;
be a strong fortress that saves me!
You are definitely my rock and my fortress.
Guide me and lead me for the sake of your good name!
Get me out of this net that's been set for me
because you are my protective fortress.⁴

To David, God is like a rock behind which he can take cover and a fortress in which he can take refuge.  Such imagery can be found throughout the Psalms.⁵  David goes on to pray,

How great is the goodness
that you've reserved for those who honor you,
that you commit to those who take refuge in you -
in the sight of everyone!
You hide them in the shelter of your wings,
safe from human scheming.
You conceal them in a shelter,
safe from accusing tongues.⁶

According to David, God shelters God's children in the same way that a mother bird shelters her young with her wings.


Second, David believes that God is faithful to God's children.  He prays,

I entrust my spirit into your hands;
you, Lord, God of faithfulness -
you have saved me.⁷

David's use of the past tense might lead us to believe that the occasion that inspires this prayer is not the first time David has asked God for help in a perilous time.  He later prays,

Bless the Lord,
because he has wondrously revealed
his faithful love to me
when I was like a city under siege!⁸

Trusting that God is faithful involves remembering what God has done in the past.  Scholar John Goldingay notes in his commentary on this psalm that remembering God's previous acts "keeps those events in the awareness of the people praying and thus makes it more possible for them to hold on as the waters rise."⁹  David evidently sought help from God in the past and received it, so he trusts that God will help him again in the present.


Third, David believes that God is attentive to God's children; otherwise, he might not bother asking God for help.  James L. Mays writes in his commentary on this psalm, "The psalm has been called a model of a prayer that is confident of being heard.  This confidence informs the prayer from start to finish; to pray this psalm is to be led into and instructed in this confidence."¹⁰  David prays,

I rejoice and celebrate in your faithful love
because you saw my suffering -
you were intimately acquainted with my deep distress.
You didn't hand me over to the enemy,
but set my feet in wide-open spaces.¹¹

David goes on to pray,

When I was panicked, I said,
"I'm cut off from your eyes!"
But you heard my request for mercy
when I cried out to you for help.¹²

Goldingay suggests, "People praying are invited to believe and declare that God has heard their prayer even when there is yet no evidence, to urge one another to believe that this is so, and to take courage accordingly."¹³  The defining story of David's people is the Exodus, in which God hears the cries of the long-oppressed people of Israel and sends Moses to liberate them.  David trusts that God hears his cries in the same way that God heard the cries of his oppressed ancestors.


Finally, David believes that God is sovereign.  He prays,

My future is in your hands.
Don't hand me over to my enemies,
to all who are out to get me!
Shine your face on your servant;
save me by your faithful love!¹⁴

To trust that God is sovereign is to trust that God has the final word in all matters.  For David, trusting that God is sovereign means trusting that God is the one who truly determines his future and not the people who are seeking his life.  He ends his prayer,

All you who are faithful, love the Lord!
The Lord protects those who are loyal,
but he pays the proud back to the fullest degree.
All you who wait for the Lord,
be strong and let your heart take courage.¹⁵

To trust that God is sovereign is also to trust that God will eventually set all things right.  David trusts that people's faithfulness to God will not go unnoticed by God and that wrongdoers will inevitably have to face the consequences of their wrongdoings.


What we believe about God determines how we pray, and, at the same time, how we pray reveals what we believe about God.  David believes that God is protective, faithful, attentive, and sovereign, so he turns to God for protection in perilous times.  What does the way you pray reveal about your beliefs about God?


Notes:

1. Wikipedia: "Collect"
2. "Collects and Suggested Canticles and Refrains (Daily Prayer)."  The Church of England Website.
3. Psalm 31:1 (CEB)
4. Psalm 31:2-4 (CEB)
5. Joel B. Green, William H. Willimon, et al.  The Wesley Study Bible (NRSV).  2009, Abingdon Press.  p. 672
6. Psalm 31:19-20 (CEB)
7. Psalm 31:5 (CEB)
8. Psalm 31:21 (CEB)
9. John Goldingay.  The Old Testament for Everyone (Kindle Edition).  2020, Westminster John Knox Press.  p. 2835
10. James L. Mays.  Psalms (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching) (Kindle Edition). 2011, John Knox Press.  loc. 2914-5
11. Psalm 31:7-8 (CEB)
12. Psalm 31:22 (CEB)
13. Goldingay, p. 2836
14. Psalm 31:15-16 (CEB)
15. Psalm 31:23-24 (CEB)

The photograph of the desert boulders was taken by Ken Kistler and has been released to the public domain.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Perspective: The Bad Shepherd

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

The Bad Shepherd

I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  When the hired hand sees the wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away.  That's because he isn't the shepherd; the sheep aren't really his.  So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them.  He's only a hired hand and the sheep don't matter to him.

John 10:11-13 (CEB)

Arm me with watchful care
As in Thy sight to live
And now Thy servant, Lord, prepare
A strict account to give!

From "A Charge to Keep I Have" by Charles Wesley

Today is the Fourth Sunday in Eastertide, a day sometimes called Good Shepherd Sunday.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."  He goes on to say, "I am the good shepherd.  I know my own sheep and they know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.  I give up my life for the sheep."¹  On this day, we remember who Jesus is as humanity's Good Shepherd.  Among other things we remember that Jesus laid down His life, as a good shepherd does, to liberate humanity from the power of sin and death when He endured crucifixion.

The twenty-third psalm is attributed to Jesus' ancestor David, who shepherded his family's sheep before he was anointed to become his people's next king.  In this beloved psalm, a shepherd imagines himself as a sheep, and he imagines that God is his shepherd.  The psalmist proclaims that God, his shepherd, provides everything he needs.  He proclaims that, as shepherd, God leads him to "grassy meadows" and "restful waters."  He proclaims that, when he must "walk through the darkest valley," he is not afraid, because God, his shepherd, is there to protect him.²  In the same way that sheep are totally dependent on their shepherd, we are totally dependent on God.

This psalm, which describes God's care for humanity, has something to teach us about human beings, who bear God's image.  It teaches us that, when we find ourselves in any place of authority, not unlike a shepherd, we are called to lead, provide, or protect in accordance with the authority entrusted to us.

Perhaps, on Good Shepherd Sunday, we would do well to remember that not all shepherds are good.

The prophet Ezekiel was among the people deported to Babylon the first time the Babylonian Empire attacked the Kingdom of Judah.  Occasionally he was called to speak out against the people in authority among those who remained in Judah.  On one occasion, God commanded Ezekiel to "prophesy against Israel's shepherds."³  God told Ezekiel to say to them,

The Lord God proclaims to the shepherds: Doom to Israel's shepherds who tended themselves!  Shouldn't shepherds tend the flock?  You drink the milk, you wear the wool, and you slaughter the fat animals, but you don't tend the flock.  You don't strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the injured, bring back the strays, or seek out the lost; but instead you use force to rule them with injustice.⁴

In other words, the people in charge used their positions of authority not for the benefit of the people who depended on them but rather for their own benefit.

When people in positions of authority fail to do the jobs entrusted to them, bad things happen to the people who depend on them.  God told Ezekiel to say to the "shepherds" who failed to care for God's people,

Without a shepherd, my flock was scattered; and when it was scattered, it became food for all the wild animals.  My flock strayed on all the mountains and on every high hill throughout all the earth.  My flock was scattered, and there was no one to look for them or find them.  So now shepherds, hear the Lord's word!  This is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, without a shepherd, my flock became prey.  My flock became food for all the wild animals.  My shepherds didn't seek out my flock.  They tended themselves, but they didn't tend my flock.⁵

When shepherds fail to lead, provide, and protect, their flock essentially becomes a buffet for predators.  When the kings of Israel and Judah failed to lead their people well, their kingdoms were attacked by larger empires, and their subjects were taken into captivity.

According to Jesus, "the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."  By contrast, the bad shepherd neglects the lives of his sheep as he seeks to enrich and glorify himself.  As we remember what Jesus, our Good Shepherd, did for us, His sheep, may we remember that not all people who seek positions of authority truly have other people's best interests at heart.  May we who are in positions of authority faithfully do what we have been trusted to do by leading, providing, and protecting to the best of our ability as our positions require.


Notes:

1. John 10:11, 14-15 (CEB)
2. Psalm 23:1-4 (CEB)
3. Ezekiel 34:1-2 (CEB)
4. Ezekiel 34:2-4 (CEB)
5. Ezekiel 34:5-8 (CEB)

The photograph of the flock of sheep was provided by the Agricultural Research Service and is public domain.

Easter Perspective: Al----le-lu-ia!

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Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Al----le-lu-ia!

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won't perish but will have eternal life.  God didn't send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

John 3:16-17 (CEB)

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

From "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" by Charles Wesley

On Sunday mornings, I typically attend the early, "more contemporary" worship service at my church.¹  Both of the Sunday worship services at my church are mostly the same, but the things that make the service I attend "more contemporary" are that there is a band instead of a choir and that the pastors tend to dress more casually.  Last week, on Easter Sunday, the contemporary service I attended had something in common with a traditional Methodist Easter service: the service began with the singing of the Easter hymn commonly titled "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today."

This beloved Easter hymn was written in 1739 by Charles Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist movement.  That same year, it was published in the Wesley Brothers' hymnal Hymns and Sacred Poems with the simple title "Hymn for Easter Day."  At some point, a refrain of "Alleluia" was added after each line of the hymn so that it could be sung to a tune commonly associated with Easter.²

Previously I pointed out that, in the early Methodist movement, hymns were used to teach theology and doctrine.  Since I wrote about the theology reflected in Charles Wesley's famous Christmas carol "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" around Christmas, I thought that, since it is now Eastertide, I would also write about the theology reflected in Wesley's Easter hymn.


The hymn begins with a call for all of creation to praise the resurrected Christ with shouts of Alleluia!

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!³

The theological meat of the hymn begins with the second verse, in which Jesus' resurrection is compared to a victory in battle.

Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

According to Wesley, through the Crucifixion and Resurrection, Christ won a decisive battle and completed "love's redeeming work."  To "redeem" something is to buy it back or to save it.  One definition of the word redeem is "to liberate by payment of a ransom."⁴

In the Letter to the Hebrews, one early Christian theologian compares Christ to an empathetic High Priest for all of humanity.  Referring to the Incarnation, Christ's becoming human like the other children of God, the writer states,

Since the children share in flesh and blood, [Christ] also shared the same things in the same way.  He did this to destroy the one who holds the power over death - the devil - by dying.  He set free those who were held in slavery their entire lives by their fear of death.⁵

By becoming human, dying, and rising from the dead, the Son of God defeated death and liberated humanity from the fear of death.

The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus show us that the worst thing that could happen to a person is not the end of the person's story.  As some Methodist pastors like to say, "The worst thing is never the last thing."⁶


As we sing the third verse of the hymn, we not only continue to celebrate Christ's victory but also begin to brazenly mock death.

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

In case such mockery makes you feel a bit squeamish, I would like to point out that the Church has a rich tradition of taking jabs at death.

In the First Letter to the Corinthians, as St. Paul explains the implications of the Resurrection of Christ, he mocks death by quoting two of the Hebrew prophets.⁷  He writes,

And when the rotting body has been clothed in what can't decay, and the dying body has been clothed in what can't die, then this statement in scripture will happen:

Death has been swallowed up by a victory.
Where is your victory, Death?
Where is your sting, Death?

... Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!⁸

A few hundred years later, St. John Chrysostom echoes Paul's words in his famous Easter Sermon.  He proclaims,

O death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?
Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!⁹

Even now, Christians regularly mock death without even realizing what they are doing.  Crucifixion was the most inhumane form of execution employed by the Roman Empire, so the cross was originally something that struck fear into people.  Nowadays, Christians brandish crosses throughout their churches and wear crosses on their person as jewelry, as if the cross is a symbol of life and hope as opposed to a symbol of fear and death.


The fourth verse of the hymn reminds us that, as the Body of Christ, we follow Jesus, our Head, on the path of death and resurrection.

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Following Christ in this way can be understood both literally and metaphorically.

In a literal sense, the resurrection of Christ gives us the hope that someday we too will be resurrected after we die.  St. Paul writes, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, that Christ is "the first crop of the harvest of those who have died."¹⁰  In other words, the resurrection of Christ will be just the first of many resurrections.  Paul continues, "Since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came through one too.  In the same way that everyone dies in Adam, so also everyone will be given life in Christ."¹¹

Death and resurrection are also a metaphor for sanctification, which is what Charles Wesley's brother John called "going on to perfection."  In the Letter to the Colossians, we read,

You were buried with [Christ] through baptism and raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.  When you were dead because of the things you had done wrong... God made you alive with Christ and forgave all the things you had done wrong.¹²

In the words of theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."¹³  Following Christ, we are crucified and buried as the people we have been, and we are resurrected as the people we are becoming.


The fifth verse reminds us of certain truths about Jesus.

Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

The Letter to the Philippians includes what is thought to be an early Christian hymn about the incarnation of Christ.  The first half of this hymn, which is commonly called the Christ Hymn, tells us that the Son of God divested Himself the power and glory of divinity to take on frail human flesh.  He lived His life as a servant and died the death of a criminal.¹⁴  The second half of the hymn reads,

Therefore, God highly honored him
and gave him a name above all names,
so that at the name of Jesus everyone
in heaven, on earth, and under the earth might bow
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.¹⁵

Christ descended from heaven, to servanthood, to a criminal's death, and then God resurrected Him from the dead, raised Him back up to heaven, and gave Him a seat of authority at God's right-hand side.

This verse ends with a reminder of something Jesus says about Himself in the Gospel of John.  Before He raises His friend Lazarus from the dead, He says to Lazarus's grieving sister Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die.  Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die."¹⁶


The sixth verse reminds us of the abundant, eternal life available to us.

King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!

In the Gospel of John, we read that, on the evening before Jesus is arrested, He prays a high priestly prayer on behalf of His current disciples and all disciples who will come after them.  He begins His prayer,

Father, the time has come.  Glorify your Son, so that the Son can glorify you.  You gave him authority over everyone so that he could give eternal life to everyone you gave him.  This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent.¹⁷

The abundant life Christ offers us is eternal in not only duration but also depth, and integral to this abundant life is knowing the God who loves us and knowing Christ whom God sent to save us.


Eastertide is a roughly fifty-day season that begins with Easter Sunday.  If you observe Easter, dear reader, may you take some time in these fifty days to contemplate what the Resurrection of Jesus Christ means to you personally at this time in your life.

Notes:

1. https://www.trmethodist.net/sundays
2. Wikipedia: "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today"
3. Lyrics from "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" are presented in this perspective as they appear in The United Methodist Hymnal, published in 1989 by The United Methodist Publishing House.
4. Wiktionary: "Redeem"
5. Hebrews 2:14-15 (CEB)
6. This saying was made popular by United Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton, who adapted it from the words of writer Frederick Buechner.
7. See Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14.
8. 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, 57 (CEB)
9. https://anglicansonline.org/special/Easter/chrysostom_easter.html
10. 1 Corinthians 15:20 (CEB)
11. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 (CEB)
12. Colossians 2:12-13 (CEB)
13. Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  The Cost of Discipleship (translated by R.H. Fuller and Irmgard Booth).  ch. 4
14. Philippians 2:6-8
15. Philippians 2:9-11 (CEB)
16. John 11:25-26 (CEB)
17. John 17:1-3 (CEB)

The photograph of the stained glass window at Saint Elizabeth Catholic Church in Columbus, Ohio was taken by Wikimedia Commons user Nheyob and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Introspection: Won't You Be My Mirror?

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Comments are always welcomed.
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Won't You Be My Mirror?

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their hard work.  If either should fall, one can pick up the other.  But how miserable are those who fall and don't have a companion to help them up!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (CEB)

You say I am loved when I can't feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And You say I am held when I am falling short
When I don't belong, oh, You say I am Yours

From "You Say" by Lauren Daigle

In early 2021, I read The Authenticity Project by Claire Pooley.  In this novel, a series of people find themselves in possession of a notebook which is also titled The Authenticity Project.  Each person who finds this notebook is invited to read what other people have written about themselves, to write something authentic about herself or himself, and then to leave the notebook in a public place for someone else to find.¹

What becomes clear over the course of this novel is that the people who attempt to write authentically about themselves in the notebook do not see themselves the same way that other people see them.  Usually they are too fixated on their pain or their flaws to see themselves clearly.

This novel helped me to realize is that people cannot truly speak authentically about themselves without having other people to act as a mirror, because people simply cannot see themselves clearly.  If one does not have such a mirror, then one's self-image will be incomplete at best and inaccurate at worst.  There are people in this world who act as if they think they are gods among mortals, while there are other people who act as if they think they are the scum of the earth.  Both of these kinds of people could benefit from someone who would act as a mirror.

Not long ago, I watched an episode of the television drama Numb3rs, in which Don Eppes, one of the show's main characters, tells his younger brother Charlie, another main character, that he sometimes finds him intimidating.²  What is ironic about this revelation is that Don is an FBI agent, while Charlie is a mathematics professor.  One would not expect a tough FBI agent to find a geeky mathematician intimidating.

I remembered that, years ago, a friend of mine described me as "intense."  I did not know what she meant at the time, but I've started to wonder if she was politely trying to tell me that I was intimidating.  If you've ever seen me in person, then you know that I'm not intimidating physically.  Of course, there are other ways to be intimidating.  When I was in school, I flaunted my intelligence every time I had an opportunity.  I had to be noticed for something, after all.  I've also started to wonder if maybe I subconsciously give off intimidating or intense vibes because I often feel inadequate.

Maybe, in some sick way, I'm just flattering myself by thinking that other people might think I'm intimidating.  If I had to choose between being perceived as intimidating and being perceived as pathetic, I would choose the former, though I know that neither is a good thing.  The truth is that I have no idea how other people see me, since I cannot see myself through other people's eyes.  Most of the time, I'm not even sure I really want to know how other people see me.  Furthermore, my self-image is likely inaccurate, since I tend to be overly critical of myself.

As I noted last week, my Sunday school class discusses current events.  A couple of months ago, we discussed an article on Christian influencers, people who share their faith through social media.  At one point in our discussion, I mentioned that, though I've never wanted to share my faith in the way I was taught at the fundamentalist Christian school I attended, I've struggled to figure out how to effectively share my faith.  Most of my ministry takes place within the walls of a church, and, though I share my faith on this blog, a majority of the people who read it are, as far as I can tell, people I know through church.

A friend of mine in the class told me that I wasn't giving myself enough credit.  He said that, in settings like our Sunday school class, I equip other people to better share their faith.  He said that he personally has learned things from me that have helped him to share his faith.  What my friend reflected back to me that Sunday morning helped me to see that I'm doing more than merely preaching to the proverbial choir.

There is an African philosophy known as Ubuntu.  It can be summarized, "A person is a person through people," or it can be summarized, "I am because we are."³  As humans, we are a lot more dependent on one another than we often want to admit.

We cannot see ourselves, so we need people who will act as a mirror for us.  We need to be somewhat selective regarding whom we allow to reflect ourselves back to us, since people don't always have each other's best interests at heart.  We need trustworthy people who will show us the good in ourselves when we become our own worst critics and will kindly bring us back to reality when we become too big for our britches.  We need to be part of a loving community.


Notes:

1. Claire Pooley.  The Authenticity Project.  2020, Penguin Books.
2. "Frienemies."  Numb3rs, created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, season 5, episode 10, Scott Free Productions, 2008.
3. Wikipedia: "Ubuntu philosophy"

The photograph featured in this introspection was taken by Anna Shvets, and it is used courtesy of Pexels.com.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Perspective: A Religion for the Oppressed

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Comments are always welcomed.
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A Religion for the Oppressed

Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been raised.  On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read.  The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from the prophet Isaiah.  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to preach good news to the poor,
to proclaim release to the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to liberate the oppressed,
and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down.  Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him.  He began to explain to them, "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it."

Luke 4:16-21 (CEB)

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you away

From "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield

The Sunday school class I help lead at my church discusses current events in light of the Christian faith.  Not too long ago the class read and discussed a news story that mentioned a vibrant and growing underground church in a nation where Christianity is essentially illegal.  We considered the question of why the Christian faith seems to thrive in such places.  I do not have a definitive answer to this question, but I do have a theory.

I suspect that, in a nation where people do not have the freedom of religion, people probably do not have much freedom in general.  In other words, people in such nations are oppressed.  I believe that Christianity thrives when it serves the oppressed.  Furthermore, I believe that Christianity was always meant to be a religion for the oppressed.

Consider the Gospel story.  Over two thousand years ago, Jesus of Nazareth was born into an oppressed group of people, namely the Jewish people.  He ministered to His own people and to people of other nations, teaching them to love their neighbors, giving them hope, and healing those in need of healing.  One day, Jesus was brutally and wrongfully executed by His people's oppressors, namely the Roman Empire.  A couple of days later, He was resurrected from the dead.  He was then raised up to Heaven and revealed to be both the Son of God and the true Lord of this world.

The Gospel story would naturally be compelling to people suffering with a proverbial boot on their necks.  It offers them the hope that their oppressors are not truly in control and the hope that the worst thing that their oppressors could do to them would not truly be their end.  It might even inspire them to boldly take a stand against their oppressors.

The Gospel story has the power to save people.

Everything good in this world has the potential to become corrupted, and sadly the religion inspired by the crucified and risen Jesus is no exception.  Ever since the days of the Roman emperor Constantine, the Christian church has made compromises with the powers that be, trading its prophetic power for political influence.¹  The religion for the oppressed becomes a tool of oppression.  The story with the power to liberate people from their fear is twisted into a message intended to control people with fear.  "Believe what I tell you to believe and live how I tell you to live, or else you will suffer forever and ever," people hear.

The separation of church and state is necessary for maintaining the integrity of the church.  A religion that partners with an oppressive government will inevitably become a tool of oppression.  The church will never reform the state with such a partnership, but the state will most certainly hijack the church.

The Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus offers a way of life for people who follow Him,² begins with a series of blessings for certain people.  Jesus blesses "the poor in spirit" and "those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake," promising that the Kingdom of God is for them.  He also blesses "those who mourn," promising that comfort is on the way.³  Jesus is blessing people who are oppressed either by circumstance, by loss, or by other people, perhaps their government.  Jesus also blesses the gentle, the just, the merciful, the pure-hearted, and the peaceable.⁴  Jesus blesses the kind of people who would minister to the oppressed.

If Christ blesses people who are oppressed and people who would minister to the oppressed, then the religion that bears His name must be a religion for the oppressed and not a religion for their oppressors.  A religion for the oppressed offers people hope amid their oppression.  A religion for oppressors has nothing good to offer anyone.  It can only give people the false assurance that, if they support their oppressive leaders, they are in the right and numb their consciences to the suffering of their neighbors.

If you fear that Christianity is in decline where you live, consider how the religion is currently functioning in your society.  Is it serving the oppressed, or is it serving their oppressors?  Is it liberating people from their fears, or is it instilling fear into people?


Notes:

1. Wikipedia: "Constantinian shift"
2. Matthew 5-7
3. Matthew 5:3-4, 10 (NRSV)
4. Matthew 5:5-9

The Sermon on the Mount was painted by Carl Heinrich Bloch in 1877.

Perspective: An Unacceptable Loss

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Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

An Unacceptable Loss

You have heard that it was said, You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.  But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who harass you so that you will be acting as children of your Father who is in heaven.  He makes the sun rise on both the evil and the good and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous.

Matthew 5:43-45 (CEB)

Hello, it's Me
I couldn't sleep
I was just counting sheep
And I'm missing you

From "Bring You Back" by Paul Alan

In the Gospels, Jesus tells a story about a shepherd who has one hundred sheep in his care.  At one point, the shepherd realizes that one of the sheep is missing, so he leaves the ninety-nine others where they are and searches for the lost sheep.  When he finds the missing sheep, he rejoices as if the sheep he just found means more to him than the ninety-nine sheep that did not go astray.¹

The Parable of the Lost Sheep is found in both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke.  Perhaps the most significant difference between the two versions of the parable is the context in which Jesus tells it.

In the Gospel of Luke, we read that one day Jesus overhears some religious leaders criticizing Him for associating with so-called "sinners."  He tells them the Parable of the Lost Sheep, along with two other parables, to help them to understand why he fellowships with the people they ostracize.²  Jesus concludes the Parable of the Lost Sheep, saying, "In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes both heart and life than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to change their hearts and lives."³

Jesus associates with so-called "sinners" because, unlike the religious leaders, He is unwilling to write them off as "lost."

In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that one day, when the Disciples ask Jesus "who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven," He calls a child to sit with them and tells them that, if they want to enter the kingdom of heaven, then they need to become like the child.⁴  Next, using some very strong language, Jesus warns the Disciples to take care that they do not do anything that might lead a child of God down a destructive path.⁵  Then, He tells them the Parable of the Lost Sheep to highlight how important all of God’s children are to God.  He concludes the parable, saying, "In the same way, my Father who is in heaven doesn’t want to lose one of these little ones."⁶

In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus follows up the Parable of the Lost Sheep by giving the Disciples some instructions for reconciling with someone in their faith community who has wronged them.⁷  Though we typically think that these instructions are for confronting wrongdoers in a faith community, I would like to suggest, given their placement in the Gospel, that their purpose is ultimately to repair fractured relationships between followers of Jesus.

Jesus does not want His followers to "lose" anyone through either their actions or their inaction.

In either context, one lesson we can glean from the Parable of the Lost Sheep is that, in the same way that the shepherd in the parable is not willing to write off any one of his sheep as lost, we must never write off a fellow child of God as lost.  We must not write off a person as lost if they fail to live up to our standards, and we must not write off a person as lost if they have personally offended us.  A wayward child of God is still a beloved child of God.


Notes:

1. Matthew 18:12-13; Luke 15:4-6
2. Luke 15:1-32
3. Luke 15:7 (CEB)
4. Matthew 18:1-3 (CEB)
5. Matthew 18:6-7
6. Matthew 18:14 (CEB)
7. Matthew 18:15-17

Le Bon Pasteur was painted by James Tissot in the late 1800s.

Introspection: Do Something!

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Do Something!

I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 (NRSV)

I don't know what's right and what's real anymore
And I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore
And when do you think it will all become clear?
'Cause I'm being taken over by the fear

From "The Fear" by Lily Allen

I would like to share more introspective writing this year, but, as I noted previously, I don't really feel like I have anything especially good to share about my life at this time.  Furthermore, as I also noted previously, if I have grown weary of the disappointment, bitterness, and self-pity that tends to infect my personal writing, then I cannot help but think that you would not want to read it either.

All that said, lately I've started to wonder if those of you who have been reading my introspective posts for a while want to ask me, "If there's so much you don't like about your life, then why don't you just freakin' do something about it?"

It's a good question.  So why don't I just freakin' do something?

There's a simple answer: fear.

If I don't like my job as a computer programmer, then why don't I quit my job, go back to school, and become a teacher, which is what I think I really want to be?

The truth is that I'm afraid of making a big mistake.  Though I don't love my job, I don't hate it either - at least I don't hate it every day.  Even on the days I do hate my job, I still take pride in the fact that, because I work at a local technical college, I am using my programming skills to make a positive contribution to my community.  Also, I have a lot of benefits beyond a monthly paycheck, including health insurance, a lot of vacation time, and the possibility of retiring with a pension.  I fell into a pretty sweet deal, and I'm afraid of giving it all up for something I don't even know I'll find more fulfilling.

I'm also afraid of getting in over my head.  I didn't especially enjoy writing papers when I was in college, and I have no idea how I would ever write a master's thesis, much less a doctoral dissertation.  Also, though I've taught some ten-hour classes for my church district, I have no idea how I would ever plan and teach a semester-long class.

If I'm lonely, then why don't I reactivate my dating profile and start swiping right?

The truth is that I'm afraid of rejection.  I'm afraid that, if I start swiping right, no one will swipe right on me.  I'm afraid that, if someone, for some reason, does actually swipe right on me, she will inevitably get to know me too well and realize she can do a lot better.  Maybe, deep down, I'm also afraid of change.  Maybe I'm afraid that I really will meet someone who loves me and accepts me, that we'll actually hit it off, and that I'll eventually find myself in a life that is nothing like the crappy yet comfortably predictable life I've always known.

There is a lot I don't like about my life, but I'm hesitant to do anything about it because I'm afraid.  Unfortunately, there is no figurative silver bullet that kills fear.  The only way to defeat this monster is to confront it head-on and to overcome it.

There is an old nursery rhyme about some children who are "going on a bear hunt."  As the young hunters look for bears, they encounter a series of obstacles in their path, including tall grass, a river, and finally a dark bear cave.  Whenever they meet an obstacle, they realize that they "can't go over it," that they "can't go under it," that they "can't go around it," but that they "got to go through it."¹  All these things are especially true about the obstacle of fear.

I have a personality that makes me a lot more adept at longing for the things I think I want in life than actually working for them.  If I want a better life, then I will have to take action, and, to take action, I will have to overcome my fear.  I can't go over it.  I can't go under it.  I can't go around it.  I can't shoot it from a distance with a magic bullet.  I will have to go through it.


Notes:

1. https://allnurseryrhymes.com/going-on-a-bear-hunt/

The photograph of the animal cave is used courtesy of PickPic.com and is understood to be public domain.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Perspective: Faith Is...

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Faith Is...
(a Reflection on Hebrews 11:1-12:2)

So then, with endurance, let's also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.  Let's throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up, and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith's pioneer and perfecter.

Hebrews 12:1-2a (CEB)

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

From "What Faith Can Do" by Kutless

Faith is, in the words of one thinker, "the reality of what we hope for" and "the proof of what we don't see."¹

Faith is trusting that there are realities beyond our perception.

Faith is living in such a way that our lives continue to speak long after we die.

Faith is trusting that what we do actually matters.

Faith is going against the grain of the world around us.

Faith is taking a journey into the unknown.

Faith is working for something greater than ourselves, something that might not be completed in our lifetimes.

Faith is considering that more is possible that what we have been led to believe.

Faith is not being content with the world as it is but daring to dream of a better world.

Faith is trusting that God will provide a way for us when what is required of us seems impossible.

Faith is believing that there is a bright future.

Faith is doing what is right even when it is not legal.

Faith is choosing a more difficult life, perhaps one lived in solidarity with the suffering.

Faith is refusing to be enslaved to the anger of other people.

Faith is listening for God's call and acting upon it.

Faith is trusting God to provide a way for us where there is none.

Faith is showing up where God has called us and trusting God to help us succeed.

Faith is refusing to conform to the surrounding culture.

Faith is doing things we once thought were impossible.

Faith is never giving up.

Faith is costly at times.

Faith is taking the baton handed to us and running in a race that started long before we were born and will continue long after we're gone.

Notes:

1. Hebrews 11:1 (CEB)

The photograph featured in this perspective is used courtesy of FreeImages.com.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.