waiting in silence

For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall never be shaken.

How long will you assail a person,
will you batter your victim, all of you,
as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence.
They take pleasure in falsehood;
they bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse. Selah

For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah

Those of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
Put no confidence in extortion,
and set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
For you repay to all
according to their work.

Psalm 62; NRSVue

We live in a noisy, restless (see CEB) world. Humans act as if everything depends on them, as if they’re in the place of God. Lip service might be given to God, but at best only to help them achieve their lofty goal. When it comes right down to it, they function as their own god, with maybe some help from God on the side, when and if they need it.

Those of us who have faith would not imagine ourselves to be atheists. But what if when all is said and done, we largely function as practical atheists? We act as if all depends on us. This takes place on an individual level in our individualistic western mindset, and also on other levels. If we just have it together and do the right thing, if we just get the right people on city council, if we vote for the right candidates on the local, state and national levels, if we elect the right president. And if we don’t? Then all “goes to hell in a handbasket.”

Scripture, certainly the psalms takes seriously what we do. As the psalm ends, “For you repay to all according to their work.” But where does our confidence lie? In the US, we have money with the words, “In God we trust.” But actions can belie that, words blanketed out with the panicked thoughts that unless we get it right, unless we do it, unless we get the right people elected, unless we have the right ones on court, etc., then we’ll be lost. Nothing about God in that, even if they say it’s all about God. Force by laws or even physical force is not out of the equation. How much of God is really in this?

But what about the rest of us who despise such religious undertaking? Are we any better? After all, we might well imagine that we have to battle back, that we have to do all we can, get the right people elected, get the right laws in place, hopefully better laws and policies. And yet, for what good might be in such thoughts, we act as if it all depends on us and how the election turns out. For all practical purposes God is either out of the picture, or there just to help us succeed.

But what if for starters at the beginning we drop all of that? What if we commit to wait on God in silence ourselves and with others? What if we’re committed to not only letting God get a word in edgewise now and then, but have the floor at all times, the first and the last word, and everything in between?

For the psalmist here, as well as in many other psalms, it’s not like life isn’t challenging and even threatening at times. Even so, the call is to wait in silence, to wait, to do so in silence, our hope only in God. To pour out our hearts to God. Not wavering from the commitment to act in nothing more than God’s will and all God provides.

life is not for the faint of heart: the need for courage

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me
to devour my flesh—
my adversaries and foes—
they shall stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war rise up against me,
yet I will be confident.

One thing I asked of the LORD;
this I seek:
to live in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the LORD,
and to inquire in his temple.

For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will set me high on a rock.

Now my head is lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the LORD.

Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!”
Your face, LORD, do I seek.
Do not hide your face from me.

Do not turn your servant away in anger,
you who have been my help.
Do not cast me off; do not forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
If my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will take me up.

Teach me your way, O LORD,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they are breathing out violence.

I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!

Psalm 27; NRSVue

Pressed all over the pages of Scripture, and evident in life is the basic need for courage. Life is not for the faint hearted.

The psalmist takes courage in God in the midst of dangers along with the difficulties, disappointments, and even disasters that life can bring. This is all good news. We can and must take courage in God in spite of things, not because of them. Our confidence should not be and ultimately is not in our circumstances. There’s not a one of us who likes difficulties. None of us sign up for that. On the other hand, simply to live as a human on this planet, in civilization as it is, in many places is to face severe challenge. Though people can live privileged lives beyond the imagination of most of us, so that they may be shielded from much of this, even they cannot escape death, nor unexpected trouble.

We have to move on, no matter what, look squarely on what is in our face, and in the midst of all of that, find our help in God. We do so as we can see from Psalm 27, as those entirely devoted to God, seeking God’s face. We do it in service of something much bigger than ourselves.

Therefore we’re to wait for God, be strong and take courage, “be stouthearted,” a nice rendering in the NABRE. Believing that we will indeed see God’s goodness in the land of the living, for the good of all.

what is hanging in the balance now?

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And

“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust their lives to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.

1 Peter 4:12-19; NRSVue

Wherever you are as an American on the political spectrum here, you’ll have grave concerns about the past, present and future. We have lived in a privileged existence, and it looks like that is under great stress at this time. One thing most Americans agree on is that democracy itself is at stake here. There is even a so-called Christian disdain against democracy, aligned to some extent with the Christendom of the past, focused on implementing a “Christian” order. That is another subject in itself.

Another matter is just where our priorities should lie as followers of Christ, Christians in that sense. We now live in a different setting in America compared to those who lived at the time of Peter’s writing. Rome was then in charge with no ands, ifs or buts about it. In the rule of Caesar, there was no representation of the people. Now we have that, and as Christians we do well to advocate for what we consider to be good. We still have that freedom at the moment, but the problem now is that everything seems more than less partisan in the limited two-party system here.

What has happened in my lifetime since the 1960s and gaining momentum from the 1980s and 90s up to the present day is a culture war which initially was a reaction to the government telling a Christian institution that it could no longer bar Blacks from its spaces. That was the basis of the founding for the “Moral Majority.” After a few years abortion became the issue which they found united and gave momentum to their cause. The fallout from this race based, abortion, religious freedom platform has been great. There is little to no incentive to work with the other side on issues like abortion, and all kinds of other issues. We’re at a place now where there’s one side spurred on by Christians who want to take over entirely, be the ones in charge, with others in line according to that. So it’s a challenging time since there are a host of Jesus-followers and others who are opposed to that.

What is hanging in the balance now? I think for us as Christ-followers, it’s a time of purging, salvation for us in that sense. What does our faith tell us about the good we ought to be doing? Where do our priorities lie? Is it about our own protection and freedom? Or is it with the values which Jesus taught us: to love our neighbor, to be the neighbor when anyone is in need. To welcome the stranger, the refugee. To advocate for fairness for all. To stand against racial and gender discrimination, particularly right now against the transgender community. To stand against war and the destruction of innocents such as is happening in Gaza, both Israel and Hamas utterly failing in their use of horrific violence.

So all of that and more are important to us as Christ-followers. We won’t be uniform exactly in how we think and approach such matters. But there are certain things that forever should mark us. We don’t advocate force of any kind. We rather appeal by words, and mainly by works, by what we do. We are willing to stand with those who are considered the dredge of society, in the way, a nuisance or even danger which needs to be pushed to the side, cancelled, even eliminated. We stand for the humanity of all. We look for solutions to problems, not imagining there will be perfection in such in this life but pushing toward that ideal.

With that, what do people see in us? Democrats? Republicans? MAGA followers? Patriotic Americans? You fill in the blank. Rather, shouldn’t they be seeing people who are not known as any such, but rather as Christians in the sense of which Peter talks about above? Followers of Jesus, as Jesus taught and lived in the four gospel accounts? Yes, that. That alone is our identity from which we live. There’s no doubt that we all have our opinions on political matters of this world. But we are in allegiance to one Lord, Jesus. Our following of him means that all peoples are embraced as those whom God loves. We continue on in that way, expecting difficulty, maybe even suffering. But the only way we’re to live in this life as followers of Jesus.

avoiding burnout (in for the long haul)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2; NRSVue

I’m a morning person and ordinarily get tired by evening, frayed at the edges, ready to turn in. They say in my own way of expressing it, that the brain wears down by the end of the day, and with proper rest is rejuvenated at the start of a new day. That lines up with my own experience, how I feel, though I enjoy evenings when I feel quite well. Ironically, I can wake up after the night’s sleep after that, and not feel well. Exceptions to the rule.

There’s no doubt that the wear and tear of a day and of a lifetime can make a difference we don’t want. And we read about burnout in all kinds of vocations. The demands, difficulties, disappointments, discouragement and more pile up and we can feel pressed down under it all.

There’s no greater or we can say more challenging call than that of following Jesus. If we think it’s just an individual call to us, then that makes it not only all the more challenging, but next to impossible. There might be exceptions dues to extreme situations, but we were never meant to live this life alone. With the good, that has been one of the not good, even great curses of the Enlightenment modernistic heritage we have inherited as westerners and Americans, the overemphasis on individualistic autonomy and freedom. No, we’re not meant to pull up our bootstraps and make it on our own. We need others, we need each other along the way, a community. And this is no less true “in Christ” in which we live as Christ’s body in the world, each part having their function and calling, but not independent of the whole.

The writer to the Hebrews expresses our life together in terms of a marathon race. It’s not a sprint, although there may be those instances when we need to run hard. But it’s more like a well-paced, wise, thoughtful run in which we take the long view. We’re in this life of faith for the long haul, so we have to “run” accordingly. That means we’re going to have to look to Jesus, eyes fixed on him, get rid of what weighs us down and the sin which is never far from us, and keep on keeping on. Day after day, hour after hour, even minute after minute.

We want to do those things which are helpful to us in this. I listen a lot to classical music, which is just something I’m used to after doing so for many years. My wife and I go on daily walks (when the weather permits). We enjoy nature and special places (not enough, the latter). I enjoy coffee in the morning. And just to be in Scripture in all simplicity, for some time now returning again and again to the book of James. And in most simple prayer.

My own goal is to get better at this. I think I am doing better than in the past, though most of that is in the awareness that yes, I need to slow down, do this in community in Jesus, and keep on doing the very basics required to run this marathon well. Still learning and grateful to be doing so. With a good wife fully committed to this, also.

what is life? and the American dream (part two)

He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith! And do not keep seeking what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that seek all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke 12:22-34; NRSVue

Yesterday we considered Jesus’s parable of the rich fool, which precedes this passage. It’s good, even important to consider that with what follows. Hoarding in significant part is tied to a sense of insecurity. It seems natural to do so when one sees the possibility of economic fallout up ahead or has experienced that. Probably many of those who came out of the Great Depression here in the US were known for their thrift and conservative spending, not bad things in themselves, along with hoarding for not a few. That might merely be a part of one’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), certainly nothing to condemn anyone over.

At the same time, all of us must be wary of just where we put our confidence. If it’s in the capitalist free market, then there can never be full assurance that all will be well. A good community in the heart of love for one’s neighbor as oneself, will at least see to it that all are taken care of, that no one is left behind. Ultimately Christ-followers believe one’s trust should be in God. But that does not at all alleviate the necessity of peoples doing what they can to help each other.

None of that is diminished in the least in what Jesus says above, yet it was in a setting in which Rome’s rule was galling, debilitating for the average person and family living in Judea and Gallilee. The vision of God’s rule/kingdom that Jesus brought in harmony with the Old Testament prophets cast a vision in which all are taken care of, no one is left behind. In the meantime, while that vision is beginning to be seen and realized, Jesus’s disciples are to totally trust God, that God as their Father(/Mother) will take care of them, will meet all of their needs. That indeed, even “the kingdom” is theirs. And that they’re to be generous in the very same way that God is generous to them.

God’s goodness is everywhere. And we are recipients of that. We’re to seek that first, a goodness that is for all. Where our heart as followers of Jesus is supposed to be.

genuine love

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7; NRSVue

I like the song and the band, “All You Need is Love”, the Beatles. And surely there’s some measure of good from creation in the love to which they’re referring to. I also think Christians too often downplay the love people of other traditions have toward each other, as if it somehow doesn’t measure up. Paul puts our feet in the fire, because he’s talking to Christians, to the Corinthian church, and by extension to all of us who name the name of Christ. “The love chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13 makes it plain that if all is not inspired and driven by love, it’s worthless. But what marks this love? What does genuine love look like?

In what’s quoted from 1 Corinthians 13 above, we see genuine love described. The marks of it are what we find in the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (verses 22-23). That’s in a communal context, and indeed that’s where love is played out. It’s good to love in theory, but “where the rubber meets the road,” in practice, is where it actually counts. 

Love is characterized by a commitment to goodness both as the end and the means. If it’s not good either way, then it’s not love. The end never justifies the means. If I imagine I can bring someone into what is good by what in actuality is not good, I err. At the same time, if I imagine I can do good things apart from goodness itself, I completely miss the mark. True goodness is love, or we could say goodness is a fruit of love. Love in the heart will be evident in our lives both in the good we do as well as the bad we don’t do. Again, as Paul puts it here, this time from the Common English Bible, love “is patient, love is kind, it isn’t jealous, it doesn’t brag, it isn’t arrogant, it isn’t rude, it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints, it isn’t happy with injustice, but it is happy with the truth. Love puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things.”

Embodied perfectly, love is Jesus and Jesus is love. We turn to the gospel accounts: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to begin to see and understand that. All that follows and all that we are individually and more basically as Christ’s body in the world are to be marked with a growing awareness and practice of that. I am not myself apart from others, especially of Christ’s body in the world, and Christ’s body is itself through Christ. So this is a Christ-centered love, a love that is thoroughly human in the way that God intended in creation and is now restoring in new creation. Jesus came not to make us better religious people, or Christians, though if any of that can help, all well and good. Jesus came to make us better human beings. And the love Paul talks about here is central, at the heart of that.

reaching a moral consensus in the real world

When gentiles, who do not possess the law, by nature do what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, as their own conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them on the day when, according to my gospel, God through Christ Jesus judges the secret thoughts of all.

Romans 2:14-16; NRSVue

Dr. James Grier, one of my professors at the seminary I attended was quite gifted intellectually. I remember him musing about coming breakthroughs in reproductive science which would bring difficult ethical issues and questions with it. I am thinking it was with reference to the IVF issue that is in the news today. He might have gone on to say, or maybe this was another time, but of the need to work on arriving to a moral consensus in which people can live together, with the inevitable agreeing to disagree elements in it. Some of my thought added here to whatever Dr. Grier said at the time. I took vociferous notes from him, quite philosophical and challenging in a way which wonderfully stretched us all.

But this gets me to think about the world in which we live today, and specifically the United States where I live. I am wondering what Dr. Grier would think about this present moment. What we see in front of us is a zero-sum game insisted on by one side, and a push for democracy within law, which is to honor the ideal that all humans are created equal, under the influence of the Enlightenment in which religious authority did not have the final word, something like that on the other side. There’s a lot more that goes into that, but I’m neither qualified to go there, nor is this the point of this post. What Paul may have been getting at from the passage above might speak volumes into the conflict we see today. And as I always did, I take what I remember of Dr. Grier’s words quite seriously as well.

What is the point of life? What is life? I think to get to the heart of the matter on that, we have to turn to the gospel accounts, to Jesus. His parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) speaks volumes on that. We need the whole of that before we even begin to consider Paul and all that follows. I am speaking here logically, not to say that we can’t read all such simultaneously. But it’s important I think to get steeped in Jesus’s coming, his teaching and all that was involved in that, certainly including his death and resurrection. Only then will we really begin to understand what follows, the gospel Paul expresses as dependent on as well as something of a fulfillment of that.

So yes, I am thankful for Dr. Grier’s concern, the part he said he was playing with other people in our area to work on arriving to a moral consensus, inclusive of all, at least of the spectrum of various religious and other traditions. Necessarily agreeing to disagree on details*, but something which all can live with, surely an inevitable part of living together in the real world. Not about finding the lowest common denominator, but the highest common denominator in which we’re all to live.

*I certainly would not agree with Dr. Grier on some important issues today, nor did I agree with his Calvinism back at that time. But Dr. Grier’s concern as expressed here in working hard to learn to live well together in the midst of those differences should be taken all the more seriously since he was willing to take a humble, knowledgeable stand on issues. In the end, we humans are limited, and we should not imagine otherwise, while at the time endeavoring to grow in understanding and in living well with all others.

perspective on poverty and wealth

Let the brother or sister of humble means boast in having a high position and the rich in having been humbled, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is the same way with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away.

James 1:9-11; NRSVue

It doesn’t matter where you live, whether in a war torn, famine ravaged place in Africa, with little to nothing to make it through during a North Korea winter, or not having enough to eat with no affordable healthcare in the wealthiest nation in the world, the United States. Abject poverty is bad. With that we see homelessness, totally unnecessary, but part and parcel of capitalism, which prioritizes money over people so that it’s almost like a contest to see who can get the most at the expense of many others.

For most of us, we’re somewhere in between. Many struggle from week to week and month to month to make ends meet with little set aside in the case of an emergency. They are then subject to predatory lending, just another staple of the “rugged capitalism” which is more and more taking its toll. The stock market continues to rise (at this point), stockholders are happy, but workers on whose backs the money is made often don’t have a living wage and so try to work two or more jobs, and add to that, not affordable healthcare being the case for many as well, unless they press through the complicated hoops of the US health system, even after that, tough. A mockery of neighbor love, of justice.

But again, to try to speak of people in between, many will have to watch their money all the time, while some live in relative comfort, with a cushion and along with that tax breaks the poor don’t have, to make life predictable and aside from its normal stresses, manageable. Then the very few who have more than they could ever spend at least on themselves. And all such people meeting together in the name of Jesus as church. Or even those who do not. It seems like James in the above passage is speaking to all.

The poor should rejoice because they are rich as God’s children, God’s loved ones. Ironically with less money, they have less concerns of others stealing them blind. After all, what will the thieves get? But like the poor widow Jesus referred to, they can still give more than all the rich people together, as they trust in God to provide.

On the other hand, the rich can rejoice because they are merely stewards of all that God has given them. They know their time is limited, that they exist to love their neighbor, that while they’re to take care of their own, they’re also to watch out for the poor, for those in need, to help wisely where they can along with others. To try to get to the root of the problem which is inevitably systemic, not stop at giving handouts which too are important.

Rich and poor together can rejoice and glory in the God who gives life to all. Naked they came from their mother’s womb and naked they’ll return. They brought nothing into the world and they’ll take nothing out. The wise remember this, and pray, think, plan and act accordingly.

More to meditate and act on from the book of James.

take hold of everything available to you

His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust and may become participants of the divine nature. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with excellence, and excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For anyone who lacks these things is blind, suffering from eye disease, forgetful of the cleansing of past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

2 Peter 1:3-11; NRSVue

There are few things more frustrating to me than a passive religion and faith. That being said, I was faithfully instructed just recently from no less than Walter Brueggemann in my reading that there is a form of what I might call passiveness risking cheap grace necessary in waiting on God (The Prophetic Imagination). This is not a self-help endeavor, something we can work up and do ourselves. God is in it or it’s nothing at all in terms of what it’s laid out to be in Scripture. So yes, there’s that vitally important aspect of waiting through faith and prayer. But there’s also the equally important aspect we see in this passage from 2 Peter. God has given us all we need in Christ, yes. But we must take hold of it, period.

Notice what we’re to “support [our] faith with.” Excellence, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, mutual affection, and love. We can say this is both in individual as well as communal terms. In the world in which this letter was written, community was a part of life and frankly a priority that it isn’t in our current day. They were together in a kind of mutual dependence which became a mutual grounding. Nowadays for those who profess faith in Christ, this is at best hit and mostly miss. People find a “good” church to get a good sermon, maybe some other good things on the side (like the worship music they like, and of course coffee, me included in the latter) and then go home. Maybe the church will press for small groups. And if it’s a small enough church, there might be some visiting afterwards. But by and large we just don’t have that same ethos or experience today. It’s much more like living in an individual existence, at the most tied together in families, but individualism so dominant that it’s mostly about everyone doing their own thing.

I say all that with the danger of losing sight of the wonderful list of what we’re to support our faith with, because we’re understandably coming to a place for many in which church is becoming more and more just a nice option. And ironically, where churches that are in danger of no longer being true churches (Revelation 2-3) are given to a community united in something other than what Peter was talking about here.

We can’t do this only by ourselves. Not. For example, how do we support our faith with mutual affection, or for that matter, love by ourselves? And given that, we can see the other things on the list: excellence, knowledge, self-control, endurance and godliness at least as much in communal as in individual terms.

We have to take hold of all that God gives us in Christ. That’s the only way we’re going to make it. And not only make it as in surviving, but actually coming to thrive and in the end gain the grand entrance Peter refers to above.

we’re in this together

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

Acts 1:12-14; NRSVue

After Jesus’s ascension, the apostles with some others gathered together for ongoing prayer. One might imagine that Jesus just wanted a bunch of followers or apprentices just like him, who would walk around and teach and heal. But it turns out that Jesus’s presence on earth now is in a body, the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12). We’re really not meant to go it alone, in fact that is not in the cards. We’re in this together.

When Jesus chose an apprentice, he didn’t just choose one. Twelve to be exact. And what was to be formed through their witness? The church which Christ promised he would build (Matthew 16). Yes, it consists of individuals who must each make up their own mind to follow in faith and baptism, correct. But if that faith and baptism does not result in ongoing, regular mutual participation with others, then it’s not the faith seen and described in Scripture.

It is hard for us to break away from our hyper-individualized existence. After all that’s what life is all about in our culture: individual freedom. Everyone is responsible only for themselves; each one has to look out for themselves. And if one chooses to help another, that’s solely from the individual freedom they have to do such. It is often said that helping others should be strictly voluntary and not mandatory. And the idea is that it’s an individual endeavor.

And that way of thinking can even spill out into churches. We think and therefore operate as if we’re just a bunch of individuals each doing our own thing who just happen to gather together to have that reinforced. That it’s an individual spiritual endeavor, and it’s all up to “me and Jesus” with maybe just a little help from our friends now and then if necessary. That’s it.

That might be an overstatement meant to make a point, but we really little appreciate just how important it is for us to understand that we’re never meant to live in isolation. Oh yes, we’re not to do good works or pray to be seen by others (Matthew 6). And yet we also encourage and stimulate each other through our faith and through being an example of love and good works. But we can do that only together.

Jesus definitely is present with us as individual believers. But that seems especially so where two or three are gathered together in his name (Matthew 18). Unfortunately, we’re so used to isolation and guarding our individual space and freedom that we prefer to be alone and go it alone. Or at least I can speak for myself. But we’ll find over and over again that God is present in the midst of God’s people in a way in which God is present nowhere else. That we need each other, people need me and I need them. That we’re in this together. Simply the way it is in Christ.