Being Christian

More Than These…

In a recent discussion involving various “hot” topics, it was refreshing to listen as well as to share and receive the thoughts, facts, opinions, and understandings of all who were present. It was also enlightening and thought provoking, when the youngest one in the group, a teenager, spoke, so mild mannered, with such honesty and so lovingly. “Well, I look at it this way. Imagine…,” she continued on, explaining her thoughts and feelings on the situation, taking into serious consideration what it might be like to be in the midst of a situation, or a life, shrouded in controversy created or inflamed by the judgment of others.

In a world run by various governments and organizations with all kinds of man-made rules and regulations, there are often many hoops to jump through, complexity, dualism, complicity all around. Despite best efforts, through all the fog, it can be easy to become bound to these entities and their impositions, rather than remaining bound to God.

In Psalm 119, verses 32 through 34, it is written:

I will run the way of your commandments,
for you will broaden my heart.
Lord, teach me the way of your statutes;
I shall keep them with care.
Give me understanding to keep your law,
to observe it with all my heart.

The psalmist’s prayer is a reminder that, more important than the law, is The Way. It promises eternal life to all who are faithful to God, but what does that really mean? The Way cannot be contained or encapsulated solely in a list or in practices put into place. It is greater than rules created or handed down by human beings. More than these, it challenges each of us to be broader… having a bold heart for truth and justice for all, to take great care in how we live, and to strive to honor God’s ways and God’s voice wholeheartedly.

MoreThanThese

Your Words

Your Words
Let me hear Your words
Above all other voices
Above all the distractions in this world

Let me hear Your words
Above all of the voices
Above all the distractions in this world

For Your words bring life
And Your voice speaks promises
Lord, Your love offers more
Than anything else in this world

Your words give us life that’s never ending
Your words bring us love that never fails
Everything else will fade away
But what will remain
Are Your words

Let us speak Your words
More than ours, more than ever
Let us share Your love with all the world

The grass will wither and the flowers will fall
But the word of our God will last forever
The grass will wither and the flowers will fall
But the word of our God will last forever

Music by Third Day performing Your Words (Official Music Video). (C)2015 Provident Label Group LLC, a division of Sony Music Entertainment

 

An Homage…

Heading toward Boston, a favorite moment, for as long as I can recall, has been the moment at which the Rainbow Swash by Corita Kent, spread across a large gas tank, comes into view to the right of the highway. In my youth, I remember staring out the car window with anticipation, looking forward to seeing the splash of colors. I was too young to be aware of any controversy that may have swirled around those colors and that design.

Now much older, still, no matter the time of year… no matter the weather of a particular day, those stretches of color always seem so bright, jumping out as if for joy. So alive. Too alive to be held back or contained by a dreary backdrop of any kind.

Regardless of how something may or may not be intended, what springs up along the way can often be channeled into a source of guidance and inspiration for those following the Way. Frequently, controversy, unrest, and all that comes with it, can cause blindness to what is good, honorable, and true. Let go, and remember, nothing is beyond the grace of God.

“Love the moment and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries.” – Corita Kent

CoritaKentLove

God said: This is the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you and every living creature with you for all ages to come: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. – Genesis 9:12-13

Something to Chew on…

These days so much in life can be rather easily accomplished “on the go,” or with a simple click, press, or swipe. Convenience and moving from one thing to the next without skipping a beat, at times almost mindlessly, or without taking a breath, is more commonplace than not. One can only wonder, how much is missed or falls through the cracks along this way? Or, perhaps an even better question, how is the time saved by all that serves to make life convenient being spent? Which path am I following? And society?

We have been blessed into creation with the capacity to decipher that which is of true benefit… that which is authentic. Not only that, but we have also been graced with a deep-seated desire to be connected to and guided by Wisdom… Love… Justice as we navigate our environment. Sometimes, with convenience, we somehow become busier—having less time to breathe properly when by all accounts it seems there should be more time. It can be easy to slip away from taking the time not only to discover and recognize what we are really consuming, but also to be filled by God with all that we need to speak up, making clear what is unacceptable, refusing to look or walk the other way… refusing to support or consume garbage.

Jesus tells us to know what we are eating. In order to take and eat of the goodness of God, we must take the time to chew before we swallow. It is in the chewing, that we come to see the Truth, and through the Truth that we find the courage and wherewithal to remain firm, resolved to being faithful to God, standing up in the face of all that would serve to strike down that which is good and honorable in and through each other.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him, says the Lord. – John 6:56

Throwing Stones…

Stones

“Let the one among you who is without sin,
be the first to throw a stone at her.” – John 8:7

In the world in which we live, the above Bible verse has come to mean, to many people, it is not Christ-like to criticize wrongdoing. Is that interpretation accurate though? Is that really how Christ lived and taught? Is it true?

It is interesting how the truth is often twisted and how, throughout history, the truth, and speakers of the truth, have often been frowned upon. In the Gospel passage of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11), Jesus, champion of truth, honesty and integrity, is put in a position where the authorities (the scribes and Pharisees) are looking for a reason to “take him down” so to speak. They see Jesus as a threat. If the truth becomes known…if their manipulation and ways of holding down and misleading the faithful become known, the faithful will no longer support them and their authority will fade away. This possibility makes them focus even more on trying to suppress or manipulate the truth. They are not open to anything other than efforts to hold onto their kingdom, no matter how that might affect the faithful.

While the scribes and Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus into going against Mosaic law, so that they can arrest him and eventually do away with him, Jesus turns the tables on them. Jesus knows that their motivation is self-serving; they are not concerned about the spiritual well-being of the woman they have brought before Jesus. They are using her, and Mosaic law, to try to get what they want. They are not pointing to the law for the purpose of which the law was made and certainly not for the well-being of the woman or the larger community.

So how does Jesus respond? He calls the scribes and Pharisees attention to the fact that they are not without sin; their hearts are not pure, and they slither away. The woman is left standing alone with Jesus.

While Jesus does not condemn the woman, he does hold her accountable and tells her not to sin any more.

Oftentimes, we can confuse holding someone accountable or to the truth as being judgmental. However, we need to be able to judge situations and, at times, we are called to speak the truth, even if that means it may be in conflict with another or requires holding another accountable.

In a scripture passage prior to the passage about the woman caught in adultery, Jesus says, “Whoever speaks on his own seeks his own glory, but whoever seeks the glory of the one who sent him is truthful, and there is no wrong in him. Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” The crowd answered, “You are possessed! Who is trying to kill you?” Jesus answered and said to them, “I performed one work and all of you are amazed because of it. Moses gave you circumcision—not that it came from Moses but rather from the patriarchs—and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man can receive circumcision on a Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a whole person well on a Sabbath? Stop judging by appearances, but judge justly.” (John 7:18-24)

If we come back to the woman caught in adultery, we see that Jesus doesn’t condemn her to death, but he does make a judgment. He tells her to sin no more. He tells her to stop.

When we look at our own lives, like with everything else, we need to follow Jesus’ example. We shouldn’t throw stones, but we should judge justly. When we see people doing wrong, we are called to speak the truth and to stand up for what is just. That is a big part of carrying one’s own cross…of being Christian.

 

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area,
and all the people started coming to him,
and he sat down and taught them.
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman
who had been caught in adultery
and made her stand in the middle.
They said to him,
“Teacher, this woman was caught
in the very act of committing adultery.
Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
So what do you say?”
They said this to test him,
so that they could have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
But when they continued asking him,
he straightened up and said to them,
“Let the one among you who is without sin
be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
And in response, they went away one by one,
beginning with the elders.
So he was left alone with the woman before him.
Then Jesus straightened up and said to her,
“Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?”
She replied, “No one, sir.”
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” – John 8:1-11