The Greatest of These

 The lyrics of John McCutcheon’s “Children of Abraham” got me thinking about 1 Corinthians 13 and James 2:17. The lyric was simple:

Faith without measure

Hope without end

It is love will make the nations bend. 

Paul was clear the love is greater than faith or hope. James was convinced that faith without works - love in action- is dead.

Even when our faith, our trust in God, wavers,  we can act with love. Even when hope is gone, we can act with love.

He was teaching...

In next Sunday’s  lectionary there is a story from Mark’s account of the Good News about Jesus teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. As I was discussing the story in a Zoom meeting with colleagues I noticed that the Greek word that was translated as taught might be better rendered as was teaching.

That might seem to be unimportant but I think Mark’s choice of the Greek tense wasn’t accidental. For Mark Jesus’ teaching was ongoing. It didn’t happen just once; it happened all the way to Calvary and beyond. It is still happening.

Over the years there have been moments when it was clear that there were lessons I needed. Most often they came when I saw something in Scripture that I hadn’t noticed before, but there were times when something a friend said delivered  the lesson that I needed.

Some of those lessons took years for me to receive. When I was in first grade I was asked to read a sentence that included the word nowhere. When I read it as now here my classmates laughed. If they hadn’t laughed I would probably not have remembered that moment. Years late as I thought about that moment I saw that the memory contains an important lessen.  I need to be now here or I will be nowhere. If I don’t pay attention I will miss what Jesus wants to teach me.

Discipleship

In the Preface of his Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "In times of church renewal holy scripture naturally becomes richer in content for us."

It seems that Bonhoeffer didn’t see church renewal in the same way that many of us do. It certainly wasn’t about programs to attract new members or the revision of liturgical texts to make them more relevant. Church renewal meant, chiefly, the renewal of Christian’s discipleship, of our obedience in following Jesus. It meant, in Bonhoeffer’s case, the obedience that had led him to reject the unholy alliance between the Nazi regime and the German Evangelical Church, a rejection which led to his execution in April 1945.

While the shape of Bonhoeffer’s obedience might seem obvious nearly seventy-six years after his death, it probably didn’t seem obvious to many of his contemporaries, including some in the Confessing Church, and the shape of our obedience today may not be obvious. Knowing, not what would Jesus do, but what Jesus wants us to do takes discernment.

Often Christians think that discerning a call to action should begin by looking inward. I think a better way to start is by looking outward to see signs of what God is already doing. We are called, I am convinced, to share in God’s mission in the world. The church does not have a mission; God’s mission has a church. So we are to look outward, seeking the signs of God’s mission, and only then look inward to see what gifts and passion we offer for the mission.

Cancel Culture

Some of conservative friends complain to me about cancel culture, which they see as a major threat. Recently they have cited some business decisions as terrible examples of the left’s attempts to stifle speech. The earlier of two recent examples was Amazon’s decision to stop hosting Parler. The second was the decision by some retailers to stop selling My Pillow products.

Speech is never really free. It always comes with costs, consequences. (When I was first ordained I decided to stop using certain words, knowing that I would not always be aware of who could hear me. That minor display of wisdom may have saved me from serious trouble.) The consequences of allowing Parler to be used in planning and carrying out an  insurrection might reasonably include having to find a new host. The consequences of spreading lies about an election might well include losing customers.

I don’t want to stop you from speaking but I don’t have to do business with you. 

Being Beloved

On Sunday we will be remembering Jesus' baptism. In all of the accounts in the synoptic Gospels these words are spoken about Jesus, you are beloved. 

Some years ago, at the baptism of a parishioner, I said that those words have been spoken about each of us, all of us. Whether believe it or know it or want it we are loved by God, extravagantly and without exception. 

Without exception? 

Yes, and that challenges me to accept that people I don’t like, people with whom I disagree, people who hate me and want to hurt me - all of them are beloved. 

When I pray Compline as I go to bed each night I often pray for Donald Trump, one of God’s beloved. Although my prayer might not always be heartfelt, I pray that Donald would know that he is beloved, that what matters most is not winning, but being loved and loving others.