from terror to peace

O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.
My soul also is struck with terror,
while you, O LORD—how long?

Turn, O LORD, save my life;
deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.
For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who can give you praise?

I am weary with my moaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
My eyes waste away because of grief;
they grow weak because of all my foes.

Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
The LORD has heard my supplication;
the LORD accepts my prayer.
All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror;
they shall turn back and in a moment be put to shame.

Psalm 6; NRSVue

There’s not a one of us who doesn’t like to feel well, and not a one of us who likes to feel bad. That however does not line up with the human predicament in this life. Yes, we have those feel-good experiences, but more often than not, they are too few and too far in between. Well, I’m sure I don’t speak for everyone, but I’m guessing I speak for the majority of us, and certainly for myself. We do cherish those time of refreshing rest and as our faith grows, probably the experience of such grows along with it. Yet when it comes right down to it, I often find that I’m needing to manage my emotions, keep them under my hat, to myself, shared many times with my wife, but in the discipline more and more towards the goal of keeping them more between myself and God, asking for prayer along the way when need be.

The psalmist is experiencing almost as it were, violent attacks inside if not out. Shaken with terror, languishing, bed no place of rest. Internal suffering due to external threatening circumstances. It seems they had flesh and blood enemies. That translates directly in our day for the many who suffer at the hand of authoritarian regimes which are a law to themselves. And even where I live in the United States, too many languish in places of little or no hope, victims themselves of an unjust system.  For a person like me who lives in privilege compared to most on the planet, the enemies cited here would be spiritual. Yes, I believe in a power of evil that would undo creation, in fact, as it were, make something quite the opposite of such, all in rebellion against God. One sees evidence of such in different reigns of terror, as well as devasting war and violence, right up to the present time. But if we have eyes to see, we’ll see this evil at work in far more subtle ways. One can go back to Jesus as portrayed in the four gospels, stay in that for a good length of time, and that will help one discern this power at work in supposedly good ways in the world at the expense of what is really good. Jesus as God coming to be and restore our full humanity, helps us simply discern this as humans and then act, something akin to “the good Samaritan.” Note too in the psalm that the terror the psalmist experiences is ultimately turned back on their enemies.

I’m glad for God’s faithfulness in helping us, just as the psalmist notes. There is hope or assurance that God has all things in hand, that God sees, that God understands, that God will act, in fact is acting. All a matter of faith, yes, but in a reality that not only includes all the hard stuff, but the great answer even now in this present existence, with the promise of what’s yet to come.

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.

sleeves rolled up with a heart to work

So we rebuilt the wall, and all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

Nehemiah 4:6; NRSVue

Nehemiah is a most interesting book, written in a different time. Walls for large cities were important for protection. And in that era unlike now, God’s people were confined to one land, one space, as a national entity. It was supposed to be a nation set apart as God’s light to the world, but whether in God’s will or not, had a fighting force from the beginning, and eventually became more or less amalgamated with the other nations so that its light as to God’s will for the nations was all but snuffed out.

Yet God’s work went on as we see in Nehemiah. We compare and contrast the book like everything else with the revelation given to us of Jesus in the four gospels. That said, we can learn a lot from this book.

And one of the main points is the importance of having a heart to work together for a common, good cause in God’s will. Nehemiah was troubled and became the leader of a movement to rebuild broken down Jerusalem. As a good leader, he oversaw the project, and was able with the help of God and others to thwart hostile opposition to the work.

We all have our humble part as part of the community of faith in God’s work in the world. And whatever we do, it should be related to that. We live in houses or have responsibilities related to providing for our families, and all of that should be connected with God’s will and work in the world. God will give us wisdom as we endeavor to have our minds set in that direction. With hearts to do our part in God’s redemptive, saving, freeing work in the world.

God is with us *in the midst of trouble*

 

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar; the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice; the earth melts.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Come, behold the works of the LORD;
see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations;
I am exalted in the earth.”
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Psalm 46; NRSVue

Looking at “trouble” in the psalms from the NRSVue translation helps us see that it is mirrored there in all the complexity of life. Sometimes, maybe even oftentimes in our experience, God seems absent in the midst of trouble (Psalm 10:1). The psalms are faith filled in the real world, running through the gamut of human experience.

Jesus tells us that in this world we will have trouble, but that he has overcome and is victorious over the world (John 16:33). That is only in Jesus’s victory, not in the victory of Christendom or Christianity as we too often see it today, or any day. Once again, we turn to the pages of Scripture to find out what Christian is supposed to mean, beginning with the four gospel accounts. The trouble Jesus speaks of is actually more in line with persecution, or as the NET puts it, “trouble and suffering.” To really follow Jesus will never be to fall in line with empire or the dictates of the state, though we comply insofar as that does not violate our allegiance to Christ.

In trouble we often are in lament and lament is a most neglected yet powerful place and even source of faith for the faithful. There’s really no end to the help we can get from Scripture, but we have to be in it, together in community as well as in our individual daily lives. Psalm 46 pointing to God’s saving help in the midst of trouble.

 

following the Lamb in empire/the world system

A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth. Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his heads. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to deliver a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a scepter of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days.

And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven proclaiming,

“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Messiah,
for the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.
But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.
Rejoice then, you heavens
and those who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
for the devil has come down to you
with great wrath
because he knows that his time is short!”

So when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had delivered the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. Then from his mouth the serpent poured water like a river after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon was angry with the woman and went off to wage war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.

Revelation 13:1-7; NRSVue

This is plainly not only apocalyptic, but figurative language. We can’t take it entirely literally, but we had better take it seriously.

Revelation is a book that is an encouragement as well as instruction to Christians on how to live as faithful followers of Christ in empire. Specifically, in that time, the Roman empire, but for any day, the world system which has values that not only don’t align with the values of Christ but are in direct opposition to them.

There are depictions or characterizations of Jesuses and Christs out there who are not the real Jesus Christ, not even close. Then some which might be closer, yet don’t pass muster. We have to get back to the four gospel accounts and let them speak for themselves, carefully avoiding some of the ways that the church or Christendom have either misinterpreted or acted contrary to them.

We as followers of Christ should anticipate being barraged with accusation. We also need to be aware of just where our victory lies. Of course in Jesus Christ, but not just in him, but in our following of him, yes, in the way of Christ. It’s not at all enough to confess Christ, make the right confession. We have to follow in the way of Christ, the way he has made possible. The blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony, not clinging to our lives even in the face of death.

read the Bible through Jesus (not Jesus through the Bible)

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see, for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. Yet for all their joy they were still disbelieving and wondering, and he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised, so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Luke 24:13-49; NRSVue

Of course, any passage is best read in its entirety. I highlight much of the above passage in keeping with the point I want to make here.

Jesus reveals himself and is revealed in the breaking of the bread, we can say in celebrating Communion and more fundamentally related to what Communion is all about, Christ’s body, the church. When we are gathered, Christ is present with us by the Spirit in a way that occurs nowhere else. I cannot receive from another member of Christ when I’m alone, nor can another member of Christ receive from me. The point here is that the meaning of any passage in Scripture is best discerned together.

We don’t understand Jesus through the Bible, but we understand the Bible in light of what the Bible gives us about Jesus. The Holy Spirit accompanies that, both our work together at interpreting Scripture, as well as our witness from that in Christ.

What too often is more or less the case, the Bible is read as if it’s a flat book. We apply sections of it, and I must point out here that this is quite selective, but there are portions of the Old Testament that we take out of context to justify violence, just for one example. Doing that lends itself to misreading places in the New Testament by importing violence into them. An easy example of this is importing the book of Joshua into the book of Revelation. There’s no doubt that we should learn from every page of the book of Joshua. But we have to read Revelation as it is. And essential to that equation, we have to read Jesus as given to us in the four gospel accounts: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, to understand his fulfillment of Scripture, of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, as well as properly understand all the Scripture which follows the gospels. When we do, that will cast into question some of what we read in the Old Testament, especially in its meaning for us today.

In the morning and evening prayers in the back of our hymnal, Voices Together (985, 987), we read a Psalm first and interspersed with songs and hymns we have the Gospel reading followed by the Old Testament or Epistle reading. In liturgies of the church, there’s commonly a different order: the Psalm, the Old Testament reading, the Epistle reading, and then the Gospel reading. It’s like the Gospel is always the climax of the readings, and that’s good. But what’s better, at least for our purposes and the point made here is to start with Jesus, the Gospels, and read the rest of Scripture through that understanding. That will save us from calling fire out of heaven on our enemies and help us to find the great good in all of Scripture, all through the eyes and spirit of Jesus.

when the message seems overwhelming (or even underwhelming)

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Mark 16:1-8; NRSVue

The gospel according to Mark’s ending is most interesting. There are scholars to this day who disagree on this. From what I’ve gathered, some believe a longer ending was lost, and the intermediate and longer endings of Mark were added to make up for that. I certainly am not qualified to venture even a guess, but I will stick to what we see in our Bibles which reflects the overall consensus that the book ends as quoted above (see NET footnote in link above for further explanation). Mark does seem to be abrupt, in fact one might say it ends the way it begins and even is throughout.

We will let Mark’s gospel account of this event stand on its own, without referring to the other gospels: Matthew, Luke and John. There are other things to consider here, and we always do well to read it all carefully and thoughtfully. But I wish to touch briefly on one thing: the way the message came across to the two women. It is more than apparent that they were not only taken by surprise but found this news overwhelming. For some reason it not only did not connect with them, but we might well imagine, even seemed to threaten them. They were certainly thrown off course.

As the CEB Study Bible tells us, “The women shouldn’t be surprised to find an empty tomb (see Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34)…The man assures them that Jesus’ body has been raised” (note on Mark 16:6). The Lord had repeatedly told the disciples that after soon suffering and dying, he would be raised. The women were surely not out of the loop. The “terror,” “amazement” (NEB: “dread”; NET: “bewilderment”), and being “afraid,” suggests being overwhelmed. We could say underwhelmed as well for them at that time, because this message brought no comfort or joy to them.

What about us? I often hear Scripture read and discussed, or read it myself, and sometimes I’m very moved, but other times, not at all. Life can still seem overwhelming, what is read not connecting and maybe even adding a heavier weight to what I’m already carrying. If we’re going to consider what the ending of this gospel might be suggesting to us today, we need to think about our experience and how what we read, indeed the profession of our faith seems to make little or no difference at times. We hear or read it, and that’s well and good. But if that’s the end, period, not well and good at all.

Mark’s gospel leaves us hanging. Again, from the CEB Study Bible, on 16:8: “The chapter ends abruptly. Some scholars think Mark wrote an open-ended Gospel on purpose…” The original readers/hearers along with us know what followed. So we can find purpose in the unexpected ending, to help and encourage us when we find the promise of the gospel either overwhelming, or indeed underwhelming to us.

finding the sweet spot

The heavens are telling the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth
and their words to the end of the world.

In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens
and its circuit to the end of them,
and nothing is hid from its heat.

The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the LORD are sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can detect one’s own errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless
and innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 19; NRSVue

Depending on a good number of things, people will find their sweet spot in different places. What do I mean by “sweet spot?” That place where one is most alive, we might say, most themselves, what God intended and intends for them.

This doesn’t mean that when people find this, it makes life easy. Life is what it is, challenging both externally with what happens, and internally with how we process it all. The external challenge seems greater today than at any point in my lifetime. Internally we not only react, but we have to process it in a way that is healthy to ourselves and others. That’s not easy, either, but necessary.

The psalmist lived in difficult times, too. And two places they look: God’s creation, and God’s Word. Somehow they get settled through both. It’s in terms of response as well as finding one’s footing and fulfillment.

I’ve been a Bible person much of my life, I personally don’t think all that good at that, but I’ve stayed in it. If I could do only one thing, I suppose it would be to have Bible in hand, maybe a good study Bible along the way, a cup of coffee, and classical music in the background. One thing I haven’t been consistent at is getting out in nature, in God’s creation. Not enough of that, though I have seen some of it.

Don’t underestimate the power of nature. Just getting out on the beach to enjoy the sand, the vast lake or ocean, the sky in all its glory, the birds, the breeze, the peace that comes with that, can do one a world of good in a short time. And then there’s places where there are trees, marshes, hills, mountains, etc. I’m not a nature guide, but I know there’s nothing like nature to fill one with a sense of awe and wonder, or at least to help ground one in a healthy stillness and peace.

The Bible seems to be an old, crusty, outdated book to many. And it definitely has not only its odd features, but sometimes seems lost itself, at least to me. The only intended way to make sense of it is to see and measure it according to the life, teaching, works, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Each part has to be taken seriously on its own, but we have to come to see it all in the light of Jesus as revealed first in the four gospel accounts, and then what follows.*

If one is a novice to the Bible, to start in Genesis and read straight through to Revelation is commendatory, especially if you make it all the way through. I would recommend starting in the gospels. To make it simple, just read it through as it is in our Bibles: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Or maybe in more of a logical order: Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. Mark, Matthew, John, then Luke followed by Acts would be another logical approach. All the rest of Scripture must be seen in the light of those four gospels.

An essential is easily lost in all of this for us who live in an individualistic world. This psalm is actually meant to be read to, or read and heard by God’s people together. We have limited ourselves by making everything an individual endeavor and have lost an untold amount in the process. The appreciation of God’s world and Word is by far best appreciated in community and especially community in and through Jesus. Yes, we need those times alone, too. I highly value some solitude. But Jesus is especially present in the communion of people gathered together in his name. We will be blessed in ways we didn’t recognize at the time, when we make community in Jesus an ongoing priority in our lives.

Where do you find your sweet spot? I don’t think it always has to be in nature and Scripture, though where you find it will be related to both. Nature, we could say includes what comes natural to us, what makes us tick, what we have a knack for and more than interests us.  God’s Word is evident everywhere, if we just develop an ear for it.* In both, extended out in vast, limitless ways, we can find our sweet spot, a continued endeavor from the gift of God.

*Nonviolent Word: Anabaptism, the Bible, and the Grain of the Universe, by J. Denny Weaver and Gerald J. Mast

note, too, related to this post, The Strange New World Within the Bible, a sermon by Karl Barth which he delivered in 1917

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.

the fight we’re in (and not in)

I myself, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you but bold toward you when I am away!— I ask that when I am present I need not show boldness by daring to oppose those who think we are acting according to human standards. Indeed, we live as humans but do not wage war according to human standards, for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. We are ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.

2 Corinthians 10:1-6

This is the beginning of one of my favorite parts of Scripture, 2 Corinthians 10-13. Some scholars have seen it almost as an addition or like a separate book from what precedes it. 2 Corinthians is one of my favorite books or letters of Scripture. I like what other scholars argue, that 10-13 actually goes well with the rest.

It’s really hard to transport a passage written in a different time with frankly a different ethic among Christians. Back then it would easily mean something quite different than what it seems to mean in too many quarters today. Just go to media and look at the pictures and rhetoric. Violence, violence, violence, and I’m not only referring to the destructive words, but at least symbols of action. “God and guns” are often paired together. Because of that, when we go to Paul, it’s hard to imagine that he’s much different. But in reality, he was entirely different, his gospel and teaching with the other letters of the New Testament, rooted in the life and teaching of Jesus as set forth in the four gospel accounts.

Even so, Paul’s words here do seem quite heavy handed. It was a different culture, the gospel breaking through but not yet changing a patriarchal culture, a difficult task any place and time. Just the same it was NOT cultic mind control, nor was it control of any kind. There’s a voluntariness beginning in the commitment of baptism which is basic to faith in and the following of Jesus, certainly such in community so that there’s an accountability each one to the other, the leaders having special responsibility in that.

Paul was about persuasion, clearly evident in his letters and in Acts. He used good sense (see Philemon), but he was not into psychological manipulation of others. He spoke the truth unvarnished and plainly, both in weakness and in love. It was the Spirit which made the difference through the message spoken and lived out of Christ crucified.

Instead, what we’re seeing today and for some decades now, and probably off and mostly on in history is Christians engaging in the methods and machinations of the world. Political power and control, what ends up amounting to political idolatry. What is baffling is how the Christians who talk the most about demonic possession and discerning that are the ones who are among those most caught up in what is quite the opposite of Paul. They and others follow a long line of sad examples dating back to the time of Constantine. But the church fathers who preceded that drawing from Jesus and the rest of the New Testament are quite the opposite.

Prayer. Scripture, the Word, the heart of that: the gospel. Community in Jesus, of learners, doubters, and followers together in the love of Christ which is never coercive. A grace which gives us space and enables and helps us to choose what is good, to love all others in the way of Christ. That was what Paul and those with him, the apostolic band were all about. Yes, humble participation in politics for the good of everyone especially on the local level, along with state and national, etc., surely included.

It’s necessary to say what they weren’t about. It definitely wasn’t physical coercion, following certain “super” charismatic leaders which we see Paul in confrontation with in 2 Corinthians 10-13. It’s not about some heavy handed top-down authority imposed on everyone. It’s not about thinking anyone human is so wonderful or great. All stuff Paul was encountering. No, none of that. And we could add more of what it is and isn’t.

That’s what we as Christ-followers in community and individually have to hone in on, give ourselves to. Realizing that there will be real world consequences in doing so, meaning we’ll have to walk carefully in wisdom. Our goal and passion, to be centered in Christ, to see that Christ-life growing and maturing among ourselves, and from that in good works of love often in collaboration with others in the world.