Supporting One Another

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions...Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. (Romans 14:1,4 NRSV)

It’s really easy to judge one another. It is something I have personally struggled with and it can be very unhealthy - both for you and for your relationships with others. It’s even easier to be judgmental when we hold strongly to the truth in which we claim to see what God has chosen and expects of the world.

Throughout the history of the church - the history of God’s people - not everyone has been on the same page; not everyone has had the same strength and clarity in understanding God’s truth and love. Some have struggled greatly with what God may be asking of them. Some (or many) turn away from God because they can’t find a way to allow God to be a part of their lives.

It’s always nice to be reminded that this isn't a new phenomenon. The struggles of the church today to connect aren't really new. In Paul’s letter to the Romans (quoted at left) it is clear that the church of that time wasn't unified and always in agreement. Christians of that time also struggled with faith and how to make it a central part of their lives. 

Paul tells the readers of his letter to “accept.” The “disputable matters” are not to be a source of conflict and disagreement. They were told to let God sort that out. We hear that reminder as well - that God is the master to which God’s servants will answer. 

We also hear words of encouragement. For those who are weak, the Lord will act. The Lord will “make them stand.” Even their weak faith will be enough. For us, we are asked to accept them into our community and learn with them. That’s even easier than judging. 

Binding and Loose-ing

Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."  (Matthew 18:18-20 NRSV)

We are very good at tying ourselves into knots. We’re good at holding onto things that end up weighing us down, tying us to the past - or to things we really need to let go to be healthy and focused disciples of Christ.

The passage  at left comes as Jesus is speaking to his disciples about forgiveness and how they reconcile with one another. Forgiveness in any relationship is a real challenge. We are much better at holding on to our anger or pain than we are at telling someone they are forgiven and moving forward with them.

Jesus tells the disciples to do everything possible to bring forgiveness to a broken relationship and then makes it clear that God is involved in that forgiveness or continued brokenness. Whatever happens here is not far removed from heaven and God is involved. When we fail to find away to loose what needs to be loosed than we are denying the work of God - a work that was done to bring forgiveness to the world.

Jesus goes on to remind the disciples of his never ending presence. Wherever the disciples gather, God is among them. Whenever the disciples can find agreement, God will act. Of course we know that God doesn't always act the way we’d like or expect, but even in those circumstances, the reminder remains that God is with us - especially when we gather in a community of faith.

When Jesus talks about forgiveness, he is very clear that it happens between people who find a way to be in community together. We need one another to help us find forgiveness and restore relationships that have been broken.

We can tie ourselves up in knots over what has happened in our past, or we can loose one another for the work that God has placed in front of us - sharing the love and forgiveness of God to a world in need.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not be so tied to past brokenness that I can’t move as God has called me.

Stumbling Peter

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." -Matthew 16:22-23 (NRSV)

The words spoken in the verses from Matthew are part of a larger conversation happening between Jesus and his disciples. As is often the case the disciples simply don’t understand what is going on - the greater picture of what God intends to do in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

When questions arise for the disciples it is usually Peter who gives those questions voice. Peter is the one who puts himself out there for good or ill. He was the one who stepped out of the boat. He was the one who tried to interpret the transfiguration. And in this passage, he is the one who doubts - who questions Jesus’ pronouncement that his journey is one that leads to the cross.

Peter is so helpful for us because he provides a way for us to enter into the story of Christ and the cross. His voice is so often the one that raises the same questions we may be afraid to ask. His response to what is happening is so often the way we respond - often exactly the way we respond. He fights. He flees. He denies. He questions. Sometimes he gets it right.

In the passage at left his question comes in the form of a denial that Christ might be something other than he (Peter) expects him to be. All that Jesus says about what will happen challenges what Peter thinks so he responds with denial, saying that “shall never happen.”

We often respond the same way. We expect God to do what we expect and what we think we need. Jesus’ response to Peter teaches us what we have to remember about God. God doesn't think the same way we do. We always come to God with our own perceptions and concerns. They aren't the same as God’s. Our concerns don’t set the path God takes, but instead are sometimes a stumbling block for us.

When we try to fit God onto our path - into our plan and expectations - we stumble. We don’t leave room for what God is really going to do. Thankfully, God does it anyway and the power of Satan and death is broken. That’s good news. That’s what God does despite our failure and doubt.

Community in Christ

 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. (Rom 12:4-5 NRSV)

Perhaps more than any other expression of God’s church, a military chapel community represents the diversity of faith contained in unity with Christ. Each week we come together for worship as Christians from a diverse background, with a diverse set of experiences. 

There are several challenges that come with this diversity. We don’t all understand the gospel in the same way. In each of our faith journeys God has spoken to us in different ways, calling us to understand specific passages differently. 

In our specific community here at CLDJ, we have the added element of constant change. Some of us are here for four months or less, others are here for almost a year, and still others have been here for multiple years. 

In reality, this level of diversity is both a challenge and a blessing. Sometimes we are challenged by understandings of faith that run counter to how we have personally experienced God and God’s Word. These challenges to our own faith can make us nervous and uncertain. They can make us question parts of our faith that we never thought we would question.

But those questions can be a blessing. Those questions can be the way that God chooses to move us along our faith journey toward a deeper understanding of how God is acting in our lives. Anselm, an 11th century monk, coined the phrase, “faith seeking understanding” as a way to describe the journey that we are travelling. We support one another on that journey as we bring new perspectives together into a community that can explore deep questions. We live and work in a desert that can seem harsh and lacking life. But it does not have to be a lifeless time in your faith journey. You can use this time to seek a new kind of nourishment for your faith as you experience and grow through the diversity we bring to one another. Through that diversity, we remember that we are one body gathered around the cross.

Where is Justice?

Note: After a break for my R&R, I return to Djibouti and my weekly reflections. 

This is what the LORD says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my  salvation is close at hand and my  righteousness will soon be revealed.-Isaiah 56:1

Isaiah’s words at the left offer a really straightforward command to us. “Maintain justice and do what is right…” The challenge is finding a way to do that when all around you seems to conflict with these words of encouragement.

They are words of hope and promise as we remember that maintaining justice and doing what is right is possible because of God’s salvation - a salvation that is very close to us. But that promise can be forgotten when all we see is so much injustice and wrongness.

I admit that I don’t follow the news really closely. Sometimes it’s hard to follow when there seems to be no sign of any good news. Often the problem is finding a reliable news source that I trust. All the news outlets are accused of having one bias or another and it becomes difficult to find the truth in what is being reported.

Even when you only pay attention to the headlines (you can usually find at least a hint of unbiased truth by just reading that much), there is more than enough injustice to go around:

• Ethnic violence in Africa
• Violent extremism in all parts of the Middle East and elsewhere
• Religion based persecution in Iraq
• Race based conflict in the heart of the US

The list can go on and on. We live in a world that struggles to find justice. In the midst of that reality we, as Christians, are called to maintain justice and do what is right. We are told not to be conformed “to the pattern of this world” (Romans 12:2)  so we can’t be sucked into the injustice we face every day.

Whatever your news source, look for the injustice in what you read and figure out how you are personally going to stand against it. Look around you in your daily work and find ways to seek the justice that the world can’t seem to find.

God’s righteousness will be revealed as we do what is right. The world needs us to do it.

An Undivided Heart

Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name. I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and glorify your name forevermore. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the pit of death. -Psalm 86:11-14

The psalmist’s prayer at left is a powerful prayer of hope and thanksgiving, with just a touch of desperation mixed in. Whenever you need the words to pray - when your own words simply don’t seem like enough (although God doesn't need special language to hear our prayers) - the psalms are always a good place to turn. 

These few verses accomplish a lot and give us a grounding for our faith. It begins with a request. God, teach me how to follow. Help me worship you. There’s an acknowledgment in these words that we don’t know how to love or follow God without being shown what it means to do so. We can’t find our way to God, we need God to find us and teach us the way we are to go. 

The response to being shown the way is praise and thanksgiving. "With all [our] heart" we give God thanks for what has been done for us and for what God has shown to us. It seems like a simple response, but it asks much of us. It’s not easy for us to give all of our heart to anything or anyone. Think about all the ways we make other things more important than God; and I’m not just talking about coming to worship on Sunday. We have the opportunity to glorify God with every waking breath but we struggle to do that. Sometimes we struggle to find even one breath to worship and give God thanks.

And that’s when what God has done becomes so central to who we are. In the final verse, we are reminded that it is not through our own efforts that we accomplish anything that we are asked to do. It is because of God’s great love (other translations use steadfast) that we are delivered from the pit of death; from the consequences of our actions and in-actions. 

God always acts to draw us into God’s way and God’s truth. God’s constant, unchanging love is always working in our hearts to make us into what God has called us to be. That is a blessing to lives that often feel divided and difficult. God’s love is steadfast. God is faithful to us, even when we fail. For that we give God thanks.

Effective Word(s)

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11 NRSV)

God speaks and things happen. That’s the way it has always been. From the beginning of the story, God makes things happen simply by saying a word.

Through the prophet Isaiah God reminds the people of Israel that the purposes of God will be accomplished. People are changed; the world is changed when God speaks to and through God’s people. Are we taking time to listen?

We live in a world where words have a lot of power. Truth is sometimes irrelevant. Compassion is often non-existent. People use words to change the world into what they want it to be. They use words filled with hate and anger with little thought of the consequences of what they are saying. “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me” is a myth. Words have power. Our words can be used to dominate and  intimidate. Far too often our words are used to break down individuals and groups.

What if we used words full of compassion and empathy instead? What if we spoke to our brothers and sisters with words of love and hope and peace? What if we spoke to people with the Word of God in our hearts and on our minds as we try to exert a different kind of influence?

The message God gives us through Isaiah is clear. God’s Word accomplishes what God wants it to do. God’s Word goes forth and nourishes the one who speaks and the one who hears. We are good at accomplishing our purposes when we speak. If we speak words of hate, we create hate. If we speak words of anger, we make people angry. If we speak words of mistrust, we create mistrust. If we speak words of love, on the other hand, well I think you get the point.

God spoke and the world was created. God spoke and the people of Israel were freed from slavery. God proclaimed “It is finished” on a cross and we were made free from sin and death so we could be Children of God and could be God’s voice in a world filled with desperate need. Are you listening?