November 3, 2019, 2 Corinthians 13:1-11

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I.
This week we turn to the closing sentences of 2 Corinthians. We hear Paul bring to a close (at least until he is able to visit them again) the several conversations that went on between him and the church at Corinth.

I am convinced these verses will demand our reading them more than once or twice so let’s start with a first reading. As your read it the first time, what stands out to you most. How would you characterize his words.

II.
2 Corinthians 13:1-11 (New Revised Standard Version)

This is the third time I am coming to you. “Any charge must be sustained by the evidence of two or three witnesses.” I warned those who sinned previously and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again, I will not be lenient— since you desire proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful in you. For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.

Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed. But we pray to God that you may not do anything wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. This is what we pray for, that you may become perfect. So I write these things while I am away from you, so that when I come, I may not have to be severe in using the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

III.
So what did you hear? How does Paul sound to you as he writes to this church?

Let me confess that as I read over it I heard a strong negative tone. Well, actually, I thought Paul was very harsh! Was he “unloading” on them in his final words to them? Am I reading more into his words that is actually there?

IV.
Let’s read it a second time, but wait just a moment. First, go to the end of this passage and reread these words –

Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Hold that in your mind and with that “tone,” that concern for the people, reread the entire passage.

V.
Now, spend some time noticing what you can see as truly affirming in his words. And, no less what you see as critical. You might think of it as seeing the passage in two columns, one the affirming and positive and constructive, and the second as the critical, corrective and (can we say ?) judgemental.

Who is this man that writes such to these people he has spent time with? What do you see in his heart as he writes to them?

We’ll talk more later,

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

October 27, 2019, Luke 7:36-50 – Post 3

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VIII.
Earlier this week the following quote from Dallas Willard came to my inbox. I am convinced it is the best way to close our reflections for this week.

IX.
Who deserves your blessing?

“You are really walking in the good news of the kingdom if you can go with confidence to any of the hopeless people around you and effortlessly convey assurance that they can now enter a blessed life with God.”

“Who would be on your list of “hopeless blessables” as found in today’s world? Certainly all of those on Jesus’ lists, for though they are merely illustrative, they also are timeless. But can we, following his lead as a teacher, concretize the gospel even more for those around us? Who would you regard as the most unfortunate people around you?”

From: The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God by Dallas Willard

X.
Thanks for your time spent with the Scripture this week and your hearing of Dallas Willard’s insight.

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

October 27, 2019, Luke 7:36-50 – Post 2

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IV.
Today let’s turn our attention more to the uninvited guest, the woman, and the reactions her presence and actions seem to precipitate.

Our narrator tells us she is “a woman in the city, who was a sinner” who when she learned that Jesus was at the Pharisee’s house made her way to the Pharisee’s house, with a jar of ointment she obtained from someplace. Not only did she go the Pharisee’s house with a jar in hand, but then made her way into the house, to the dinner table where the guest’s were and then placed herself “behind [Jesus] at his feet.”

And if she hadn’t broken decorum enough and pushed herself past the socially accepted way people enter another’s house, she begins to cry, let her tears fall on Jesus’ feet, wipe her hair against his feet, kiss his feet and pour oil on them. You might ask (as some at the dinner probably did), “Doesn’t this woman know how to behave around proper people”?

V.
While we do not yet see Jesus reacting, we do see the Pharisee reacting.

He reacts first to the woman by judging her a sinner (as did our narrator), and then by Jesus not reacting to the woman as the Pharisee thinks correct, and given the Pharisee’s idea of how a proper prophet should behave, he judges Jesus to lack the character and standing of a proper prophet.

Do you think the Pharisee is getting more than he bargained for at this dinner?

VI.
Now Jesus reacts by getting Simon’s attention and saying he wants to speak to Simon. And Simon gives Jesus permission to speak. All that seems very proper.

Jesus puts a question to Simon about cancelled debts and love and Simon answers correctly.

Then our attention is turned to the woman, and he directs Simon’s attention to the woman. Jesus has a few choice words for Simon about his failure as a proper host, the woman’s actions, her love and her forgiven sins.

VII.
It seems Jesus can move from being a proper guess to being an impolite guest quickly. Surely it is impolite to so criticize a host in front of guests.

But then, isn’t it the case that so often Jesus steps outside the cultural norms? Why? Because he likes breaking the rules, he likes stirring things up, he likes seeing the know-it-alls taken down a notch or two?

That might be why we would do that, or maybe not?

Or, might Jesus so want others to know the Kingdom of God is breaking in and the Kingdom is breaking down the barriers we put up that he doesn’t want to miss a chance to remind us the Kingdom is within reach of all of us.

What do you think? Could Jesus have said one day, “The Kingdom of God is like a dinner party at Simon’s house, when ….. “

We’ll talk more later.

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

October 27, 2019, Luke 7:36-50

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I.
This week’s Scripture takes us to a Pharisee’s dinner table a number of his invited guests, one of whom is Jesus, and one uninvited guest, a woman of questionable moral standing.

That could make for interesting conversation around the table. But we’re not given a report about the importance of the Torah. Instead our attention is focused on the uninvited guest and Jesus’ remarks about forgiveness and faith.

Let’s start by reading the Scripture passage slowly (several times?) and pay attention not just to words but to the actions of the people and the emotions they all bring to the table.

II.
Luke 7:36-50

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table.

And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.”

Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

“Teacher,” he replied, “speak.”

“A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?”

Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”

Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

III.
Pay attention to the Pharisee who invited Jesus to his table for a few minutes.

How does he act toward Jesus? How does he act toward the woman? What are the differences in how he relates to each? Why? Does the way he relates to each give you any clues to how he respects, or disrespects or values or discounts either? What do you think gives rise to how he sees each and how it changes during the course of this incident?

Spend some time with the Pharisee now and when we get back together we’ll move on to other items in the narrative.

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

October 20, 2019, Luke 7:1-10 – Post 2

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VI.
I am a little later getting back to you than I intended, but let’s take a couple of moments now to continue our reflection on this passage, a few questions and see what speaks to us.

VII.
What do we learn about the Centurion?

(1) He has a slave near death he wishes to be healthy again. (2) He had heard something about Jesus, and probably that “something” included information about Jesus healing people. (3) He build a synagogue. Does that speak to generosity? (4) Jewish elders told Jesus he “loves our people.” So he values his slave highly and loves the Jewish people. Does that suggest he is willing to disregard the usual culture and class distinctions that separate people? (5) He had a firm grasp of the meaning of authority (and I think we can say “power” also) at least as it pertained to giving and receiving commands. (5) When he sends word to Jesus that feels himself unworthy for Jesus to enter his home, would you count that as humility or something else?

What else would you want to call to our attention?

VIII.
And in his amazement Jesus tells the crown following him to the Centurion’s home, “… not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

In what did Jesus see this great faith?

An action of the Centurion? An attitude of the Centurion? In this love for some people? In his show of generosity? His hope/belief that Jesus could/would heal his slave?

All of these or none of these?

IX.
What is it that we use the word “faith” to describe or name? A set of theological ideas, a creed, a relationship. Is it the same as belief or trust or something different?

And I wonder how this Centurion came by his faith. How, or where, or when did his life, his actions, his work lead him to such a faith?

And that leads to one more question – How does faith come to maturity in us? What happens for us day by day that can give rise to a maturing faith.

X.
As I have spent time this week with the Centurion and Jesus one thought has impressed me.

I have come to suspect that when we hear Jesus’ remark about the Centurion’s faith and think that refers simply to the Centurion’s confidence that Jesus can heal the slave, we miss something. Notice all we are told about the Centurion. Could it be that all this is in view as Jesus sees faith in this man? His faith is something that inhabits his whole being, his whole way of living, is lived out in all his relationships?

That makes me wonder how deeply rooted and lived out faith has become for me.

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

October 20, 2019, Luke 7:1-10

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I.
This week we turn our attention to a Roman army officer, a Centurion. A person of responsibility in the military forces that were occupying Israel. A man who could demand respect not only from those under his command but also from those whose land he and his army were occupying.

And this man of authority sends word to Jesus asking for Jesus’ help.

Let’s read the brief account.

II.
Luke 7:1-10 (New Revised Standard Version)

After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

III.
As you read over the passage a few times look for all you can learn about the Centurion.

For instance, he asked for help from Jewish leaders, he was generous (maybe), he could get others to do his bidding – among other things.

What stands out most to you about this man.

And, from what you learn of this soldier, does that come by what you hear/read him say or what others say of him?

IV.
Do you agree with Jesus that you find “faith” in this man?

What kind of “faith”?

How do you think he comes by this “faith” that Jesus seems to so highly regard?

V.
That’s probably too many questions for a Monday, but I want us to try to look deeply at the Centurion.

I’ll be back later, as we continue to spend time with the Centurion, his “friends” and with Jesus.

Charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

October 13, 2019, 1 Kings 17:7-16 – Post 3

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IX.
Before we leave our travels with Elijah, let’s take a few minutes to retrace his steps.

First we find him in King Ahab’s court speaking to Ahab, The Lord’s word that a drought will come.

Then it seems with the same sense of assurance that The Lord’s word has come to him, he is called to leave the court and go east where he will find water at a certain Wadi (can we call it a creek bed?) and even have food provided to him by ravens.

Scripture reports, “So he went and did according to the word of The Lord …”

X.
He finds water there, and food, and later a dry creek bed.

It seems he has been on track in understanding what The Lord calls him to say and do, even to the point of the predicted drought having come.

“Then … “ – so many times there is a “then.” Sometimes we may be ready for it, sometimes we may not be ready.

The creek bed is dry. For how long before “ … the word of The Lord came to him … “ we are not told. Did that time pass in a flash or did that season linger long enough to make Elijah ask “what comes next.” We are not offered any insight into that.

But, the word comes, and what a word it is.

“Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there … “

It’s nice when The Lord leads you to a great creek bed with good water, but what about The Lord telling you to get up, leave your home, leave your countrymen, and go to a foreign territory. Not just a foreign territory but a city in Sidon of Phoenicia.

In the command to go Elijah is also told The Lord has “commanded a widow there to feed you.”

So, The Lord first provides for Elijah’s well being with water at the creek bed and food delivered by ravens. That might make an impression, but now he is to depend on a Phoencian widow for his food? Elijah is pushed out of his county and asked to depend on someone in a foreign country who might be pressed to even provide for herself.

How much trust does The Lord expect of Elijah? How much trust in The Lord? How much trust in foreigners?

XI.
He does travel to Zarephath and arrive at the city gate. There he is not met by a woman telling him she has already heard from his God and he is invited into her home to eat with her and her son.

No, he sees a woman gathering sticks and tells her to bring him water to drink, and she sets off to bring him water. But as she is going and before she is out of earshot, he tells her to bring him some bread.

Then we hear from the widow who in no uncertain terms tells Elijah her life is not at a high point. She says she has no food prepared and in reality has only enough meal and oil for a last meal for her and her son and nothing to count on after that except starvation.

XII.
We then hear Elijah speak with the voice of faith and hope saying go ahead and do what you started to do but first make some bread for me then some for you and your son and don’t worry – “Do not be afraid” – your will not run out of food for your family.

“She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days.”

Elijah speaks hope and faith to the widow.

The widow chooses to live in that hope and faith.

XIII.
Was this journey given to Elijah to nourish his faith/trust/hope in The Lord?

Was it given to Elijah to nourish the faith/trust/hope of the widow and her household?

What journeys have you been given to nourish your faith/trust/hope?

Charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

October 13, 2019, 1 Kings 17:7-16 – Post 2

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VI.
Allow me briefly to add another thought for your reflection.

Notice in our Scripture that the city Elijah travels to is “… Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon …”

Sidon – Not a city of the Hebrews but a city of probably the Phonecians. Outside the border of the territory of the Hebrew people.

Keep that in mind.

VII.

Skip forward now to Rabbi Jesus’ occasion to speak at the synagogue in his hometown (Luke 4:16-30). After he reads the words of the prophet the people at the synagogue are said to have “.. spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.”

But then the tone in the synagogue changes from amazement to anger.

“… all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.”

What had happened? What had Rabbi Jesus said that changed the mood?

“ … the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

VIII.
What happens for us when the blessings of God, the grace of God, is given to people we think are outside the circle of God’s chosen? Or, maybe just outside the circle of “our kind of folks”?

I guess Rabbi Jesus has a way of putting the difficult questions to us.

We’ll talk later.

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

October 13, 2019, 1 Kings 17:7-16

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I.
This week we travel with Elijah as he moves from the court of King Ahab, past first a creek bed flowing with water, then through a season of drought and dry creek beds and onto Zarephath, where some of the households are preparing a meal made from the last staples in the home.

Let’s notice how he travels through these seasons and the conversations and interactions he has along the way.

II.
1 Kings 17:7-16 (New Revised Standard Version)

But after a while he wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

III.
Prior to this reading we first meet Elijah predicting a drought to King Ahab and then being directed to banks of a creek where there is running water and where ravens provide him with food.

Then the creek dries up and Elijah is directed to move on. But, he is not directed to a “land flowing with milk and honey.” He goes from one dry creek bed to a village and a widow who is near running out of food for herself and her son.

And of this widow he asks water and bread.

I know, we read, “… for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”

So Elijah got that word. Did the widow? The way I read the account, her conversation with Elijah does not start with, “I know the Lord provides all my needs. Come on home with me and have dinner with me.” I hear despair in her words. What do you hear?

IV.
Are the widow and her son brought to this place so they learn to live by faith? To trust their futures to the God of Israel?

Or … is the Prophet Elijah brought to this place of dryness so he can learn what it is to depend on God and to trust God when the world around him could give him reason to not have hope.

And Elijah has to give words of encouragement and hope to a family who thinks they are about to eat their last meal.

V.
Read over this account a few times and notice the “seasons” Elijah and the widow pass through.

What might they learn from traveling this path together?

And, as you have time, review the seasons of your life. Notice especially those seasons which in retrospect you now see were a place of learning, growing, stretching that serve you well today as you face the future.

Give some thought to that and we’ll talk later ….

Charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

October 6, 2019, Deuteronomy 4:1-14 – Post 2

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VI.
When we closed on Monday I asked for us to think about the different commands we “keep” and the different places these might arise from.

If didn’t take me long on my drive to work to notice a lot of statutes/ordinances that rule my driving down the roads as I travel to work. Speed limit signs, yield signs, do not enter, no turn on red, no passing …. How about you? How many rules do you have to obey as you drive from one place to another.

And then … at work. My job description, my work hours, how I sign in once I am at work. Yes, there is certainly a set of rules/commands that govern how I spend my time in there.

And when I get home? What are the spoken and unspoken rules and agreements that tell me how to get along with my family?

VII.
There is little doubt that we keep in mind many rules/statutes/ordinances/commands (call them what you will) that determine how we live our lives and even the positive and negative consequences of our keeping or failing to keep them.

But, many of these may apply in only one environment.

What are the commands that apply in any and all environments. Which ones can be universalized?

VIII.
On Monday I mentioned that a question or two about commandments was put to Rabbi Jesus.

In what we read as the 10th chapter of the Gospel according to Mark there is the episode of a man coming to Jesus to ask about eternal life and the Kingdom of God. Jesus first response is to name several of what we most often call the “Ten Commandments.” So, commandment keeping is a good thing according to Jesus.

How does the man reply?

That he has been a commandment keeper all his life.

Does the conversation end there? No! Jesus must have seen something in the man’s expression and heard something in his voice that betrayed the lack of satisfaction the man had in the life he was living. He came to Jesus to not just be told to keep the commandments but to ask Jesus to pinpoint what was missing in his life. And Jesus’ response to his unspoken plea? “Leave everything in your life that holds you back from walking my path and following me in the Kingdom.” (Pardon my paraphrase)

IX.
Now, go over to our chapter 12 of Mark’s recording of the Gospel, and notice Jesus giving his opinion of what are the great commandments. He does not recount any of the Ten Commandments but speaks of loving God and loving those we encounter each day and even loving our own self.

Love ? Really ? Is this part of commandment keeping? Is rote rule keeping not the full story? Does there have to be something more?

X.
Allow me to mention another couple of sentences from Scripture. This time from 2 John 1:5-6 (The Message Translation) –

“But permit me a reminder, friends, and this is not a new commandment but simply a repetition of our original and basic charter: that we love each other. Love means following his commandments, and his unifying commandment is that you conduct your lives in love. This is the first thing you heard, and nothing has changed.”

“ … our original and basic charter ….”
“ … his unifying commandment …. “

What do you think?

Is that a fair and accurate statement about the life Jesus asked his disciples to live?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}