Paul's Authority in Galatians

It seems like periodically I'm going to try to start blogging regularly. Maybe it will stick this time. The context of my posts now will be similar to my deployment a few years ago. I write each week for the congregation I serve (Trinity Evangelical Lutheran, Taneytown, MD) and so I will share them here as well. They are meant to be reflective commentary on one of the upcoming Revised Common Lectionary Readings. I hope they are helpful for you in some way.

¹¹ For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; ¹² for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)

Saul's Conversion by Gustave Dore (http://www.gutenberg.org/
files/8710/8710-h/8710-h.htm#link095)

That’s quite a claim Paul makes! His words – the “gospel” he preaches – are not his own. They come from the revelation of Jesus Christ. Would that we all had that kind of revelation to help us know the mind of God. Would that we all clearly hear the gospel given to us with some authority and love.

Tangent: By the way, “gospel” means good news. “Gospel” refers to one of the accounts written to tell us the story of Jesus Christ, which contain (and are) the gospel: the good news of God’s love revealed for the world. It’s a fun word with a multi-layered meaning.

The challenge to hearing the gospel in its full, authoritative power – in my humble opinion – is that we too often hear the other gospel (“not that there is another gospel” - Gal 1:7). Too often, we hear our own understandings and ideas of what we’re supposed to do with the good news that God gives to us. The good news is that Christ “gave himself for our sins to set us free” (Gal 1:4). It’s good to be free, but we don’t always know what to do with our freedom. We’re stuck in our old ways that convince us that we have to earn our way into God’s love. We’re stuck in our old ways that speak a gospel that isn’t really a gospel as it makes us forget that God’s love is a gift – an act of grace that is free and without condition.

In a world that seems to live with the axiom that whoever yells loudest is right, I hope you find a way to hear the voice of God. It sometimes comes in the faintest of whispers in the most unexpected time. It is a voice that says you are loved. It’s a voice that says the good news is that Jesus Christ broke the bonds of sin and death for you. That’s what Paul wanted us to know. That’s good news for this week, and always.

God in the Darkness

For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6 NRSV)

Yesterday morning a Middletown High School senior was killed in an auto accident on her way to school. I spent the day reflecting on that reality and I want to share a few thoughts.

First, I can't imagine what it must feel like as a member of her family to know that she is gone. They will hear many attempts at encouragement and support that mean well, but perhaps will fall far short of making them feel like they can cope with their grief. My hope is that they truly know the presence of God in the love that surrounds. My hope is that they know the promise that nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. On days like these, no matter how distant my connection to the grief, these words from the end of Romans 8 ring in my head. The words ring in my head, and yet my heart aches for their loss.

I have also been remembering my own experience as a young driver, on my way to school, when I drove my step-mother's Ford Escort into the back end of an 18 wheeler. But for the grace of God and the intelligence I had to always wear a seat belt, I WOULD NOT BE HERE. My three friends and I were very lucky to escape with one relatively minor injury, not that I'm minimizing those 52 stitches, Chris! :-) As I have seen images of the accident yesterday I have been painfully reminded of the sound of impact and the experience of seeing a mass of metal in the middle of the windshield. 

It is also with no small amount of fear and anxiety that I contemplate the ongoing journey of my own 16 year old with a learner's permit. I'm grateful for the state of Maryland that requires a lot more training than Pennsylvania did 25 years ago. I'm also grateful for my wife who will be the primary driving educator in the family (see paragraph above). While I trust him and know he will be a smart driver, I can't help but worry as he is still a teenager, and we all know how easily their minds can wander. Lord have mercy, this will be hard.

In the darkness of all my thoughts of the past 30 hours, I try to hold onto the light mentioned above in Paul's letter to the Corinthians. It is a struggle to know that terrible things like this accident happen in the world and to believe that there is a God of love who did not intervene. This world is broken, and we face things we would rather not face. Some days there is a blaring beacon of hope and sometimes it's only a glimmer of a small flame, but there is light in the darkness. The God we trust is one who went into the darkest of places. Our God went to a cross to show us that there is no place in which we can be lost. The sudden death of a young woman full of life doesn't change the reality of God's love. 

It may not seem like the "glory of God" today, but it is what I have. God's love shines in this valley despite our pain. May God's peace find its way into the hearts of all those who are standing in the dark today. 

Strength When Weary

Note: I started to write weekly while I was deployed, sharing some devotional thoughts about one of the Revised Lectionary Readings. I've decided to continue the exercise. I hope you find my musings helpful. They're not meant to be an in depth study of the reading, but simply some reflections on how I heard the reading today. Thanks for reading. I hope it touches your life in some way. Comments are always welcome.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31 NRSV)

I have found myself looking for strength a lot lately. I've been home for just over three months and it has been a whirlwind of holidays, reconnecting, and...funerals. I know it's not as hard for me as it is for the families who have lost their loved ones, but it has been draining to bring a word of hope and promise over and over again in the midst of grief. 

As I've struggled with the losses of my own life, I have relied on the strength of a God who doesn't grow weary. God never fails to bring comfort and peace into my own journey. The moment my mom died I found a peace I still don't really understand, but was able to recognize. When I have felt myself growing weary and feeling faint, I know that God will find a way to bring me the strength I need. I can't imagine going on this journey without that strength renewing me and bearing me with wings like eagles. I can't imagine life any other way. 

And then I think of all those who haven't heard; all those who haven't known the love of our everlasting God. Many people haven't heard. Many people are trying to face their trials and pain without knowing that God is at work. I hope you've heard. And after you've heard, I hope you remember to share the news with someone else. 

Reaching For a Goal

Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14 NRS)

Many of us are very focused in our work. We have easily defined goals and tasks to accomplish and so it is easy to determine the best course of action to accomplish those goals. Many of us wish the rest of our lives would be so easy to quantify and define.

It’s easy to be pulled in directions we did not intend to go, or to be distracted from the purpose to which God has called us. We live in a world that puts out many ideas about what is most important, about what should be the priority in our life, about what is supposed to matter to us.

The challenge for us as Christians is to remember the purpose that truly matters - the one that God has given to us as disciples. That purpose isn’t well
respected by the world. However you think you are supposed to live out your life as a disciple probably puts you in conflict with the values of this world. It has always been that way.

Our culture has had an ebb and flow in its relationship to God and faith. That ebb and flow goes back to the founding events of Christianity and the first church. Many of Paul’s letters to early Christians were encouragement to hold fast to their understanding of faith in the midst of a world that didn’t accept what Christianity was teaching.

No matter what distracts or tempts us, Paul gives us words of encouragement that we can persevere and obtain the prize that God has offered to us. The prize is life with God and that is lived out as we remember the love that has claimed us and made us children of a loving and graceful God.

Forgetting is hard. Moving on can seem impossible. But nothing is impossible for the God who loves us.

Trying

The views reflected in this blog are my own and do not represent the views of the Department of Defense, the US Navy, Camp Lemonnier, or Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa. In other words, if you don't like it, blame me not them.

I had the occasion recently to be in a conversation about what it means to be a Christian in the midst of all the chaos of this world. What I realized during the conversation is how much I am in the midst of the messiness. I’m not really surprised by that realization. I made the choice to serve in the US Navy because I knew that this world is a complicated reality and I wanted (needed) to do what I could to address that reality. It is important to me not to get stuck living in a theological exercise – an academic exploration of what it means to be Christian – and to actually live out my faith in a way that addresses real stuff. God is not simply something about which to talk and think. God is at work in a world that is truly messed up.

It’s not getting less messed up either. We’re at “war” – again. We've begun airstrikes against ISIS in support of a Middle East coalition to end a threat. Right there we run into the common problem – or should I say problems. This is where it gets messy. This is where the academic exercise ends. Because there simply aren't easy answers when we try to respond to what this world does to itself. I don’t consider myself a militarist. I don’t think violence solves the problem.

But I’m also a realist. I have been pondering Romans 12:18 a lot lately, “If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Scripture clearly suggests that the Kingdom of God is not about power and violence, but we don’t live within the fulfilled Kingdom. That little clause, “so far as it depends on you” carries a lot of weight. There is an acknowledgment that we can’t choose peace on our own. Someone else has to be at peace with us or we can’t live peaceably.

The other idea that is a constant companion comes from Stanley Hauerwas:

“you must be willing to watch innocent people suffer for your convictions. Of course, that’s true. In the hard cases, it means it’s not just your death, it’s watching other people die, whom you might have been able to defend. Now of course, you want to try to do everything you can that would prevent that alternative. But you may have to envision that.”

Trust me that I’m not taking this quote out of context. Hauerwas was speaking about how we respond to the violence of the world. I think I can live out “turn the other cheek” when it comes to myself, but I don’t think I can stand by and watch someone else suffer or die because I think it’s more important to stick to a theological ideal.

I’ll be the first to admit that the United States has made a lot of mistakes in how we've handled our role in the world. The messes that exist have our fingerprints on them, but they didn't start when we responded to 9/11 by starting two wars. The conflicts we are now working through have existed throughout recorded history. There aren't any easy answers.

Only the Sith deal in absolutes. If you think pacifism is the only answer, then I encourage you to step away from the theoretical realm and the comfort of your western life to spread the message of nonviolent response to Somali refugees, Iraqi Christians and non-Sunni Muslims, and anyone else who is facing the danger of genocide. We have to stop arguing about ideas that really only matter if they lead to actual change in the world. It may be that the nonviolent path of Jesus is right (assuming we understand it properly), but until you're "willing to pick up a weapon and stand a post" (to add a bit of irony in a Jack Nicholson voice), then all your rightness doesn't do a damn thing for threatened and dying innocents.

Homeless Children at a Day Shelter in Djibouti

I have been accused of defending imperial aggression. I assure you that I don’t think violence is the answer. But I am determined not to live in an academic exercise about what we wish the rest of the world would be. I'm going to give everything I have to make a difference - small though it may be. And right now, that means taking care of people whose job sucks on a daily basis, living among people whose lives are in constant danger because of poverty, malnutrition, and violent extremism. It’s not an academic exercise for me. It’s what I've been called to do. All I can do is try.

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.