Readings

Joshua 3:7-17 and Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37

Micah 3:5-12 and Psalm 43

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

Matthew 23:1-12

Devotion

Peace be with you!

I love older architecture from the early 1900’s. The craftsmanship of the wood trim and the elegant woodwork for the pulpit and baptismal fond is amazing and feels worthy of God more so than modern day church buildings. Oh, and the stain glass windows always take my breath away.

While doing my masters at Luther Seminary, I loved going to daily chapel. There is a big pipe organ, which just captivate us as we enter and leave chapel. My favorite part is the baptism fond with its grand size and water fountain, which you cannot miss when entering chapel. Our professors would take turns preaching in chapel; their sermons were always elegant, captivating, and true to gospel. Chapel at Luther Seminary has a special place in my heart.

Then I read the gospel reading for this week, and I find myself feeling guilty for loving Luther Seminary’s chapel and the professors so much. In Matthew 23:1-12, Jesus challenges the Pharisees and their scribes for their practices, even when the Jews give them the authority to interpret the Torah for good reason. Jesus is pointing to the Pharisees’ “Do as I say, not as I do” practices.

For Jesus, the biggest issue is that Pharisees expect to be wined and dined in their fancy robes with the highest honors at banquets and in the synagogues (Matthew 23:6). They expect to be greeted with respect in public (Matthew 23:7). Jesus admits the Pharisees speak the truth about the Torah, but their actions do not always match with what they do. For instance, there is one rabbi (or teacher) according to the scriptures, which they preach, and yet they expect to be called rabbi. Jesus points out we, even the Pharisees, are all students to God the Father (Matthew 23:8), and we have one father in heaven (Matthew 23:9) and one instructor who is the Messiah (Matthew 23:10).

Can you image the Pharisees reaction? Wait, we have studied the Torah and have been given authority to teach in the synagogues. How dare you call us students? We have done our masters and received honors for our research and our thesis papers. We deserve the title rabbi as ones who have the knowledge to interpret after doing all of our studies.

I wonder what Jesus would say about us adding “pastor” or “reverend” in front of our names and PhD, MA, etc behind our names. We use titles as a way to distinguish ourselves. I inform individuals who I meet in public that I got my MA in New Testament from Luther Seminary, so they treat me as an able adult and not as an a child or an individual who is mentally challenged. My MA title also entitles me to hold conversations with other Biblical scholars.

Maybe it is the feeling of entitlement that Jesus is speaking out against. As a college student, my marketing professors taught that learning never ends, especially since the marketing field is always changing. As a Biblical scholar, I understand there are always new and different ways to interpret Bible passages, and the meanings change over time, culture, and context. Scholars are always reading commentaries and talking to individuals to stay on top of new scholarship. So would Jesus speak out against our titles? (Please discuss through the comment box.

The second issue Jesus seems to be speaking out against is the Pharisees’ presuming expensive and fancy robes (Matthew 23:5b). Jesus seems to think the Pharisees are sticking their noses in the air and acting as if they are better than others. Jesus says the first shall be last and the last shall be first (Mark 10:31; Matthew 19:30, 20:16; Luke 13:30; Revelations 22:13).

I wonder if Jesus would speak out against our fancy sanctuaries. Would he view the sanctuaries as honoring God the Father? Or are they too showing? This leads us to the question: What do we really need to worship the Triune God? (Again, please discuss through the comment box.) In my humble opinion, all we need to worship God is Bibles, belief in the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and community of individuals share our faith and support our personal faith journeys.

Jesus said, “For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20). Therefore, a church is the individuals who gather together to worship and to honor the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The community is the church, not the building, the stain glass windows, or the African handmade communion cups. The community of believers in the Triune God is what defines a church.

In Philadelphia, the community of the Welcome Church gathers outside with just a table, communion cups, and sometimes a cross. The individuals create the church as they gather for worship. Reverend Violet Little started two years ago by going to bus and train stations to do ministry in the world. Reverend Little even provides shoes for the homeless and works with different churches to provide the homeless with a meal and a safe place to gather. The homeless feel welcome to join in the worship service, because the Welcome Church has a “come as you are” policy. In the past two years, Reverend Little has married homeless couples, seen a community of Christians form with unlikely individuals, and worked with church, which have walls, to provide meals for the homeless weekly. It is truly amazing what a community can do when the individuals rally together.

So I challenge you to go out this week and look for ways individuals worship God in public.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the ministry Reverend Violet Little does in Philadelphia. Help us to become the community of believers that can carry on the church. Thank you for your ever-lasting love for your community. Amen.

Works Cited

Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. Would Jesus speak out against our titles?

2. What do we need to worship the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit?

3. How do individuals worship God in public? How does it transform the way you want to worship

Readings

Deuteronomy 34:1-12 and Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17

Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 and Psalm 1

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Matthew 22:34-46

Devotion

Peace be with you!

As a child, I use to love spending time in our small “orchard” (by small I mean six apple and peach trees and my grandpa came out in the spring to spray them and in the fall to pick the apples and preaches) with our family dog, Daisy. My dad had cut me a short trail through the tall grass, which allowed me to go to the orchard in my wheelchair. Even as a young child, I enjoy the peace and the stability the trees gave me each time I went back there.

Psalm 1 uses the imaginary of a big tree, probably a big majestic oak tree, to God the Father’s love for us as his children. An oak tree uses it roots to reach water deep in the ground, so it can survive the harshest winters. An oak tree stays the test of time and becomes a testament to us who only live on the earth a short time.

Like oak trees, God reaches deep into the darkness and pulls at our hearts to turn us towards him. God has been our answer time and time again. So when one of the Sadducees, lawyer, ask Jesus, “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” (Matthew 22:36). Of course, Jesus understands the question is a test. Jesus answers, “The first is love your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40).

Now many Christians, including myself, believe Jesus is giving the Sadducees new commandments. But Jesus is repeating laws in Deuteronomy 6 and 19; laws the Jewish community, especially the Sadducees, should know. And by putting these laws above all others, Jesus is stating that loving God means to love others. This means following God’s commandments demonstrates love to others through our actions and relationships. And out of love we choose to follow the laws, which God gave us. Because we follow the laws, we tend to others’ well-being.

The last six commandments of the Ten Commandments give us structure to live by honoring our parents, not killing each others, keeping our relationships hold, not take what is not yours, not to lie, and to be happy with what you have (Exodus 20:12-17). And we choose to follow these laws, because we love God and each other.

Just as oak trees are grounded by their roots, we grounded by our love for God the Father and each other. This love is what keeps us grounded in our relationships and as Christians. Our life’s mission is to carry out God’s plan by being his instruments.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for loving us, even though we are broken and need forgiveness. Help us to love each other as you love us. Thank you for giving us the law and for the chance to love you, our Triune God, and each other by keeping the law. Amen.

Works Cited

Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. What does it mean to love through the law?

Readings

Exodus 33:12-23 and Psalm 99

Isaiah 45:1-7 and Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13)

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Matthew 22:15-22

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Being a Christian is difficult because we are torn between two realities: our world and God’s world. We spent our days in a society, especially if you are in America, where the word god is almost prohibited in public spaces. As Americans and Christians, we have [at least I do] a fear of offering individuals who do not believe in our Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

When questioned if we should pay taxes to the emperor (Matthew 22:17), Jesus says, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21). God understands we live in the world, and in order to survive we need the participant in the world on a sub-toxic level.

In Westmoreland, Tennessee, coaches are not allowed to bow their heads during student-led prayers before football games (Morgenstem 2011). The coaches respect the school district’s decision to have them not bow their heads during student-led prayers. However, the coaches should know that bowing their heads during any prayer is not needed to participate in the prayer. Their presence during student-led prayers still gives honor to God while still respecting the government.

In United States of America, the Supreme Court ruled the Ten Commandments could not be displayed in public schools or in Kentucky’s county courthouses, but they could be displayed on Texas’ capitol grounds. Each case of displaying the Ten Commandments is reviewed individually and determined if the purpose is religious or non-religious. The First Amendment does protect the display of the Ten Commandments on the private property. The government cannot appear to have any religious bias (Anti-Defamation League 2011). And honestly I love how we have the freedom to worship as we wish privately. I am proud to be an American who exercises her religious freedom with honor and respect.

We have all heard about the high school students not being able to pray at the graduation, so one student sneezes and they all say “God bless you.” In Texas, the State Supreme Court ruled high school students could say prayers during their graduation, if they changed it to a “statement of faith” (Ball 2011).

I am proud to be an American who enjoys her religious freedom and respect the other faith traditions. I enjoy inter-faith conversations and think they should happen more often. I also enjoy the fact that God allows us to live in the world. We are allowed to take part in our government and be involved in its decision process.

Yet God also calls us to be faithful to him. Even though we are allowed to live in the world, we are not to idolize anyone or anything but the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And the benefits of only idolizing God are amazing. First, God promises to never forsaken us, which was demonstrated to us through Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection. The world (friends, family, the government, etc) have a tendency of forsaking us during difficult times. But God promises what seems like the impossible, yet he demonstrates his loyalty and love to us on a daily basis through Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection (Schmit 2011).

Second, since we belong to God, we belong to the people of God – the body of Christ (Schmit 2011). Through our baptism, we are born into the fellowship of the body of Christ. Any alienation is due to our own fault when we turn our backs on God. And when we return, God is always there with open arms. Third, we give ourselves to the Triune God because we belong to him. We give ourselves through worship when we go to church, when we pray privately, and when we do service during our daily work. Our lives are for God’s purpose; he lives through us.

We belong to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for allowing us to be apart of the world. Help us to remember we belong to us and not to idolize anyone or anything but you. Thank you for allowing us to belong to you. Amen.

Works Cited

Anti-Defamation League. The Ten Commandments Controversy: A First Amendment Perspective . 2011. http://www.adl.org/religious_freedom/resource_kit/ten_commandments.asp (accessed 2011 йил 2-October).

Ball, Linda Stewart. Court Rules Prayers Can Be Said At Texas High School Graduation. 2011 йил 3-June. http://www.urbanchristiannews.com/ucn/2011/06/breaking-prayers-to-be-allowed-at-texas-high-school-graduation.html (accessed 2011 йил 2-October).

Morgenstem, Madeleiene. High School Coaches in Trouble for Bowing their Heads during Student-Led Prayer in Tennessee. 2011 йил 25-September. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/high-school-coaches-in-trouble-for-bowing-their-heads-during-student-led-prayer-in-tenn/ (accessed 2011 йил 2-October).

Schmit, Clayton. Matthew 22:15-22. June 5, 2011. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=10/16/2011 (accessed October 16, 2011).

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. How to you participant in the world?

2. How do you belong to God?

Readings

Exodus 32:1-14 and Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23

Isaiah 25:1-9 and Psalm 23

Philippians 4:1-9

Matthew 22:1-14

Devotion

Peace be with you!

One of my husband’s favorite movies is The Replacements, which is about a football team coach, Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman), hiring replacements during a pro football strike. Of course, the replacements are a bunch of want-to-be pro football players who missed the mark during college for whatever reason and some individuals who never played football before.

Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) is a former quarterback at Ohio State University who choked in the Sugar Bowl in 1996. Right out of college Falco was drafted by Seattle and pushed into the spotlight without preparation, which blew his professional career. Jumbo Fumiko (Ace Yonamine), a Japanese sumo wrestler, was hired as an offensive tackle. Clifford Franklin (Orlando Jones) is a stockboy at a mini mart who cannot catch anything but sure can out run anyone (The Replacements (film) n.d.).

McGinty believes in his players and works with them to make them into a real professional team. It takes the players a few games to get in sync with each other and trust their fellow teammates. Once the players became a team, the Sentinels became unstoppable and had a chance at the playoffs. Eddie Martel (Brett Cullen), the regular first-string quarterback, crosses the picket line to play the last regular season game, which leaves Falco on the sidelines (well, he does not show up).

At half-time, the score is 17-0 with little help of the Sentinels winning, because the replacements (who are the real team) are not gelling with Martel who blames them for his mistakes. A reporter asks McGinty what it will take for the team to win and he says, “Miles and miles of heart.” This causes Falco to race to the stadium, and the rest of the replacements kick Martel out of the locker room. Amazingly, with the leadership of Falco, the Sentinels win the game (20-17) and go to the playoffs.

In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus tells a parable of the wedding banquet. The king goes to great lengths to invite his friends to his son’s wedding by sending his slaves (Matthew 22:2-3). The invitees refused to come, so the king sent other slaves to remind them about the wedding (Matthew 22:4). Again, some of the invitees went about their day, while others mistreated and killed the king’s slaves (Matthew 22:5-6). This enraged the king who sent his troops to burn the homes of the ungrateful invitees.

In the movie The Replacements, the pro athletes would be the ungrateful invitees. The owners of the Sentinels wanted the pro athletes to come play for him, but they were holding out for more money. The pro athletes want for themselves.

In the Christian world, the ungrateful invitees are those of us that refuse to hear the good news. We all have days when we are deaf to good news and just want to go about our day in the world. In Jesus’ day, these individuals would be the Jews who refused to hear the good news.

The parable goes on by the king sending his slaves out yet again, but this time he instructed them to invite anyone willing to come to his son’s wedding (Matthew 22:9). The slaves gathered all sorts of individuals – good, bad, and indifferent – to fill the banquet hall. The king could finally give his son a grand wedding.

The attendees represent those individuals who listen attentively to the good news. These individuals would be the Gentiles in Jesus’ day. God sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to give the good news of forgiveness to Jews who rejected him, so he went out to give the good news to the Gentiles. The Gentiles take the good news to heart and welcome God the Father into their hearts.

Now there is one attendee that refused to wear a wedding robe (Matthew 22:11-12). The king has the individual bind at his/her hands and feet and thrown out to the darkness (Matthew 22:13). These verses are more law than gospel and are difficult to put nicely. The attendee who refused to wear a wedding robe, even the one that was provided, represents the individual who pretends to be a believer of the good news. However, God will not allow those individuals who pretend to enter his kingdom. If you only kind of believe in the good news, you will not enter the Kingdom of God. You have to believe with your whole heart in the good news in order to enter the Kingdom of God.

In the movie The Replacements, the attendee who refused to wear a wedding robe would be Eddie Martel who only wanted to play until the team had a chance at the playoffs. But the replacements did not welcome Martel into their circle. Martel felt he was better than the replacements, but in the end he was interrupting the team’s flow and was not a part of the team. Once Falco came back the second-half, the team players were able to work together again.

God is inviting us to the wedding banquet in the Kingdom of God. We just need to choose to be true Christians.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for telling us this difficult parable. Help us to be true Christians and a strong community. Thank you for inviting us to the wedding banquet. Amen.

Works Cited

The Replacements (film). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Replacements_(film) (accessed October 8, 2011).

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. What does it mean to be a true Christian?

2. Are there individuals in your life that pretend to be Christians? How do they make you feel?

Readings

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 and Psalm 19

Isaiah 5:1-7 and Psalm 80:7-15

Philippians 3:4b-14

Matthew 21:33-46

Devotion

Peace be with you!

As Americans, our lives are defined by where we have been and what we have done. The past defines who we are. As a result, we continually look over our shoulder. We want to see where we have been and what we have done as well as who has seen us. Susan Eastman uses the analogy of a runner in a race. The goal of any race is to reach the finish line. When runner looks behind him/her, he/she looses track of where he/she is going to look at where he/she has been and who is behind him/her; therefore, the runner looses track of where he/she is going.

As Christians looking back on their Jewish heritage, we look back to the Old Testament for the Ten Commandments and other laws to see how we are to live. A few of the Ten Commandments we, Christians, find easy to follow, but most of them we fall in the traps:

1. Shall not have any other gods (Exodus 20:3).

a. simple enough, we only need one God.

2. Shall not make any idols (Exodus 20:4).

a. We only need one God

b. Where we fall in the trap is when we value material items – money, computers, cars, [whatever “it” is] – more than God the Father.

3. Shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God (Exodus 20:7).

a. Again it sounds simple enough …

b. Until we get upset and slips out – opps!

4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy (Exodus 20:8-9).

a. Sweet, God the Father demands we take a day off.

b. But than the boss calls and demands you come in or he/she will fire you, so you go in. Or you need to catch up on your household work. Or your husband/wife/child(ren) needs your help. Or [whatever “it” is] that demands your time.

5. Honor your father and your mother (Exodus 20:12).

a. We never truly want to go against our parents.

b. But what if they do not value the same things? What if the disagree with our career choice? What if they say you cannot go by your best friend but you really want to? What if [whatever “it” is] that you and your parents disagree on?

6. Shall not murder (Exodus 20:13).

a. Pretty simple rule – do not harm others.

b. But your brother hit you first, and you hit him back. Or another individual seek to harm your family. Or an individual threatens to take [whatever “it” is] you have that he/she wants. Or jealousy boils over. Or [whatever “it” is] that causes individuals to harm others.

7. Shall not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14).

a. No one goes into a marriage thinking it will not work out.

b. But there are reasons – not comparable, individuals grow apart, trust issues, [whatever “it” is] – that individuals go a strain.

8. Shall not steal (Exodus 20:15).

a. Again pretty simple rule – do not take what is not yours.

b. But my friend has hundreds of [whatever “it” is] that they will not miss if I take one. I could never afford [whatever “it” is] and look it fits in my pocket or bag. Or I’ll bring [whatever “it” is] back before they notice it is gone, yet you never bring it back.

9. Shall not bear false witness (Exodus 20:16).

a. Again pretty simple – do not lie.

b. But do you really want to tell [whoever “they” are] [whatever “it” is] they just asked you about? Like, do I look fat?  Or isn’t this the best [whatever “it” is] meal you ever had? As a society, we say it is all right to tell white lies to protect an individual’s feelings. But what if you are protecting yourself?  Or you are hiding [whatever “it” is] from an individual who wants to know but the information will destroy them. Or [whatever “it” is] causes you to lie.

10. Shall not covet your neighbor’s: house, wife, slaves, ox, donkey, or anything else (Exodus 20:17).

a. Again pretty simple: do not want what others have – be happy with what you have.

b. But the Jones have a bigger house. The Smiths have a nicer car. And lets not forget the Johnson’s big flat screen television. Most of us, if not everyone, want something that we do not have.

Dang it! I do not know about you, but I know I fail to keep at least five of the Ten Commandments on any given day. I guess I should just accept I will never enter the Kingdom of God. So why should we even attempt to keep the Ten Commandments? I mean, if we cannot keep half of the Ten Commandments, why should we even be faith to God the Father?

Paul reminds us in Philippians 3:7-9 that this is the exact reason why Jesus Christ came into the world: so we can have new life. Jesus gives us a new future in his crucifixion, death, and resurrection in that we are forgiven by his grace and love.

So instead of looking to the past, we are to look to the future – a future with Jesus Christ by his forgiveness, grace, and love. We look towards the resurrection of the dead (Philippians 3:11) when we, the living and the dead, will enter the Kingdom of God.

The past says we are not able to enter the Kingdom of God because we cannot keep the Ten Commandments. As the human race, we are flawed, broken, and undeserving. But with Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, made whole, and deserving. Therefore, we are let go of our broken past and given an amazing future.

We are to press on to our new future, because Christ has made us his own (Philippians 3:12) and given us a new identity, just as God gave the Israelites a new identity when he gave Moses the Ten Commandments. The new identity Christ gives us the opportunity to press into the future, because our pasts are rewritten (Jacobson, et al. 2011) with forgiveness.

In the end, we do have a reason to believe in God the Father, because we are given a pass into heaven through Jesus’ grace. Even though we fail to keep the half of the Ten Commandments on any given day, we are forgiven on every given day, because God the Father loves us so much that he sent his only son to die for our sins.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for our new identity through Jesus Christ. Help us to press into the future as we are going to heaven through Jesus Christ. Thank you for sending Jesus to give us forgiveness. Amen.

Works Cited

Jacobson, Rolf, Karoline Lewis, David Lose, and Matt Skinner. “Brainwave 196: Lectionary Texts for Oct. 2, 2011.” Brainwave. St Paul, September 25, 2011.

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. Which of the Ten Commandments is the hardest for you to keep?

2. How do you press into the future?

 

Readings

Exodus 17:1-7 and Psalm 78:1-4, 12-17

Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32 and Psalm 25:1-9

Philippians 2:1-13

Matthew 21:23-32

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Most of us who lived the twentieth century know who Mother Teresa is and how she lived out her life. Most of us probably have a quote or two by Mother Teresa on our chosen social network(s) profile(s).

Mother Teresa dedicated her life “in her own words, ‘the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone.’” (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia n.d.). She even experienced what it was like to be poor and hungry when she followed God’s call for her to leave the convent in September 1946 and start her own missionary, which she started in 1948. Her life mission became to follow God’s call to help the “poorest among the poor” (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia n.d.).

Even when Mother Teresa struggled with her faith (like Jesus did on the cross when he said, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”), she questioned where God was, but she never abandoned her mission. Mother Teresa tended to the needs of the poor, the homeless, the unprivileged, and the forgotten; she strived to give a voice to the outsiders of societies who others forgot.

Like Mother Teresa, Jesus Christ came into the world to serve those who were forgotten – the individuals on the outside of the religious community. Jesus came to give us the good news of forgiveness – the news that we, sinners, would be able to entered the gates of heaven.

But the forgiveness comes with a cost. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we must become one with him and be like him through our words and actions. We become one with Christ when we “mirror Christ’s humiliation, service and obedience (2:1-5, 12-13)” (Eastman 2011). To me, it seems impossible because we are sinful beings. How can we become one with Christ if we are in fact sinners?

Jesus attacks the bondage and the despair, which keeps us in the darkness, through his crucifixion, death, and resurrection. Therefore, we are released from bondage and despair. Christ empties himself for our release from bondage, which separated us from God the Father before. Christ gives himself for the Father’s plan to save us from our suffering, sinful being, and despair. We are saved through Jesus.

Since we are saved through Jesus Christ, we become a united community of disciples who go out and spread the good news. By becoming one of his disciples, we become one with Christ (or like Christ) as individuals and as a community. How can we become one with Christ?

When we say and do what Jesus Christ said and did, we become like him. Our role as his disciples is to spread the good news and to be an example to others through our actions as an united community. How can be an example to others? By living as Jesus, we carry out his example. When we clothe those without clothes … when we give shelter to the homeless … when we feed the hungry … we act of Christ’s love. We are also living out God’s plan as Christ did.

As a united community, we carry out God the Father’s plan. We are united with God the Father and with each other. We cannot do anything without Jesus Christ. It is the unity that builds and strengthens the Christian community.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending Christ to empty himself for our benefit. Help us to become one with Christ and to become a unity community. Thank you for uniting us in your community to carry out your plan. Amen.

Works Cited

Eastman, Susan. Philippians 2:1-13. June 5, 2011. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?tab=1&alt=1 (accessed September 23 2011).

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Mother Teresa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa (accessed September 23, 2011).

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. How do you empty yourself as Christ did?

2. How do you live as an example to others?

Readings

Exodus 16:2-15 and Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45

Jonah 3:10-4:11 and Psalm 145:1-8

Philippians 1:21-30

Matthew 20:1-16

Devotion

Peace be with you!

The society and culture has us thinking that the harder and longer we work the more we should be paid. To us, it seems fair – the more you put out, the more you should get in return. This is how we determined those who are hard-working and motivated and those who are lazy and just want a pay check.

But then we also live in a time where unemployment is at an all time high of 9.1% as of August 2011 (Division of Labor Force Statistics 2011). We all can name individuals who are struggling to provide shelter and food for their families. We understand the struggle [maybe not well…] these individuals are facing on a daily basis.

Maybe you are one of the individuals who is desperate to find a job. You are struggling to put food on the table for your two kids, and you have bill collectors calling daily. The bank is threatening to take the house back if you do not make a payment soon. If you could just get hired at one of the ten jobs you applied for, you can pay your bills and mortgage and put food on the table. If the economy would bounce back, maybe the companies would start hiring again. But do you do in the mean time?

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells the disciples the parable of the laborers. The landowner goes out early morning, mid-morning, early afternoon, and late afternoon to find laborers to work in his vineyard. When the day was over, the landowner told his manager to call in all the laborers and to give them what he was owed starting with the last hired group to the first group.

The manager gave the men in the last group the daily wage (Matthew 20:9). Then the manager gave the next groups of men the same daily wage as the last group. When the first group went to be paid, they thought they may get paid a little extra having worked longer the rest, but the manager paid the same daily wage (Matthew 20:10). The men in the first group felt slighted and grumbled against landowner (Matthew 20:11).

The landowner reminds the men in the first group that he paid them what they agree upon when he hired them (Matthew 20:2, 13). The landowner held up his end of the deal with them, and he just decided to pay all of the men the same daily wage no matter when he hired them, which is his right. By paying all the men the same daily wage, the landowner makes all the laborers equals (Matthew 20:12).

In Matthew 20:16, the landowner says, “The last shall be first, and the first shall be last.” The last group to get hired was the first to get paid, and the first to get hired was the last to be paid. Each group was made equal to the other groups by being paid the same daily wage – no more or no less. All are equal.

The parable demonstrates how God treats all of his children as equals – he favors no one [well…maybe Jesus]. No matter if we have been Christians our whole lives or if we become Christians the last second of our lives, we are welcomed into God’s kingdom just the same. Karl Jacobson, an assistant professor of Religion at Augsburg College, writes,

“The scandal of this parable is that we are all equal recipients of God’s gifts. The scandal of our faith is that we are often covetous and jealous when God’s gifts of forgiveness and life are given to other in equal measure.” (Jacobson 2011).

God is gracious beyond our imagination. We are so wrapped up in “what is fair” that we miss the fact that God loves all of us equally. We missed God’s forgiveness is for everyone – the individual who steals gum and the individual who murders his neighbor. We are all sinners and saints at the same time. So the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.

Thanks be to God! [Because we all know if I would not get into heaven if I had to be first.]

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for treating us all as equals. Help us to remember we are no better than the individual next to us. Thank you for your unique definition of justice and fairness. Amen.

Works Cited

Division of Labor Force Statistics. Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survery. September 7, 2011. http://www.bls.gov/cps/ (accessed September 14, 2011).

Jacobson, Karl. Matthew 20:1-16. September 11, 2011. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?tab=1&alt=1 (accessed September 15, 2011).

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. Define justice and fairness.

2. What does it mean to be first?

3. What does it mean to be last?

4. How do we treat each other as equals?

Readings

Exodus 14:19-31 or 15:1b-11, 20-21 and Psalm 114

Genesis 50:15-21 and Psalm 103:(1-7), 8-13

Romans 14:1-12

Matthew 18:21-35

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Ever since the 9/11 attacks on American soil, Muslin and Christian relationships have been strangled and hassle. Whenever a new Islamic center announces plans to build in American cities, individuals have demonstrated their distrust and discomfort with their new Muslin neighbors. In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, “not welcome” was spray-painted on the new walls, and a backhoe and other equipment was set on fire. The locals felt Islam was not a religion, and the “mosque” was a disguised terrorist compound. New York City locals in Manhattan felt the new purposed mosque would symbolize a victory for Muslins (Smietana 2011).

Sure, we, as Christians and Americans, have our valid fears of Muslins because Muslins from across the world attacked and damaged us when they hit the Twin Towers. It is only human nature to protect (physically, psychosocially, and spiritually) against the individuals who attack our way of living. Our physical, psychosocial, and spiritual ways of life define us as individuals, as a nature, and as a culture.

Any American old enough to retain memories when the Twin Towers fell can probably tell you where and what he/she was doing when he/she heard the news.

I remember waking up to Amy Grant’s song “From a distance” and thinking it would be a good day as I mentally went through my schedule for the day and set goals for the day.

I was a senior in high school in my creative writing class working (or I should say struggling) to write a poem on fall as the leaves were falling. Like any other day in that class, I was in my own little world with my fingers busy typing my train of thought while my classmates were chatting away. For whatever reason, another teacher stepped in and asked my teacher to come to his room, probably to check the stock market. I continued typing about red, orange, and yellow leaves, not thinking much about my surroundings. I heard my teacher come back in and hush whispers of the Twin Towers falling.

Not knowing what the Twin Towers meant, I continued working until the bell rang and I rushed off to gym. It was in gym where I realized what was happening, though we still were not sure why or how the two airplanes flew into the Twin Towers.

The day dragged on from there as we were all glued to the images on the television, even with the principal’s plea for teachers to carry out the daily lessons. Each teacher had his/her own different but common reason to keep their television on.

I remember going to church that night and everyone sitting in their usual pews. The only difference was the missing smile on our pastor’s face. The next few days fire departments and other public service departments rushed to New York City to help with the clean up, physical and psychosocial. The death toll and the effects on our way of life were un-imaginable. By the weekend, we, as a nation, would declare war on Afghanistan and later Iraq, a war we are still fighting.

It was a day in history. A day no one of us who live with the horrid images in our minds will ever forget. A day redefined our habits and fears as a nation. We have our human reasons for fearing the Muslins. But Jesus calls us to love our neighbor.

~ Erin M Diericx, September 3, 2011

 

Yet does God want us to damage our neighbors’ property? Does God want us to seek revenge? Does God want us to not welcome our neighbors?

Paul reminds us in Romans 14:1-12 that Jesus calls to love our neighbors, even those individuals who are weak in their faith. The individuals who still hang on the Israelite’s way of life (not eating meat, observing holy days and festivals, and keeping the laws) are those individuals who Paul defines as weak in their faith, because they cannot get their minds around the new way of life, which Jesus introduces.

Yet Paul calls us to care and love one another as Jesus does. We are not to hassle those individuals who are weaker in their faith than us. Instead we are to defend the weak because these individuals honor God the Father in their own way. The individuals keep the laws and observe the holy days as a way to worship God. Paul calls us to understand the different ways to worship the Triune God, and we need to respect each other’s ways of worship. It is not our job to judge or condemn each other because that is God’s job to judge and condemn those who do not repent. We are called to love and respect each other (Hultgren 2011).

The weak and strong have a common confession, regards of their personal habits, in God the Father. God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We believe in the same the Triune God who loves us unconditionally.

God wants us to love our neighbors – those individuals we come into contact with but Paul never imaged our neighbors would be across the world. The Muslins are our neighbors – those living in United States as Americans and those living across the world.

In Cordova, Tennessee, the Heartsong Church welcomed the Memphis Islamic Center into the neighbor when they were breaking ground. When the center was not built in time for the Ramadan, Steve Stone, Heartsong’s minister, opened the church to the Muslins for their month long Ramadan for their evening prayers (Smietana 2011).

Individuals are working to build bridges between theological differences of Christians and Muslins. However, the work is making connections between the Bible and Quran, whether than glossing over or compromising over theological differences. For instance, the Bible and the Quran both refer to Jesus as the one born of a virgin, sinless, and a spirit of God. Jesus is found all over the Quran as well as the New Testament in the Bible (Taylor 2011).

Too often, we get caught up with the differences between us (or ourselves) and them (pick whatever them you want), and we forget to find the common ground. Christians and Muslins both have a great deal of respect for Jesus, the Son of God. Once we fine the common ground, we can start to understand we worship the same God, just in different ways. Just like Paul calls his readers to defend the weak, we should defend our Muslin neighbors who were not involved on 9/11 because we both seek to serve the same Lord. When we grow in our understanding of each other, we begin and continue the healing process.

Our neighbors are here for us to love (like God the Father loves us) and to grow to have mutual respect for each other.

Thanks to be God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for loving us unconditionally. Teach us to have mutual care, respect, and love for one another. Help us to forgive and love our neighbors, just as you forgive and love us. Thank you for your healing touch. Amen.

Works Cited

Hultgren, Arland J. Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2011.

Smietana, Bob. “Peace be upon Them: A Tennessee Church Welcomes its Muslin Neighbors.” SoJourns 40, no. 9 (September-October 2011): 16-18, 20.

Taylor, Aaron D. “Across the Great Divide: Christians and Muslins in the Post-9/11 World.” Sojourners 40, no. 9 (September-October 2011): 22-24, 26.

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. How do you work with your neighbors?

2. Who are your neighbors?

Readings

Exodus 12:1-14 and Psalm 149

Ezekiel 33:7-11 and Psalm 119:33-40

Romans 13:8-14

Matthew 18:15-20

Devotion

Peace be with you!

The number nine-one-one (911) has been drilled into our memory as soon as we knew our name, street address, and other important information. Nine-one-one represents a hope for those in trouble – caught in a fire, a car accident, a fight, a robbery, etc. No matter what hope was on the way – someone was on the way to help. No amount of danger was too great to take away that hope.

But a decade ago that hope and security nine-one-one gave us was taken away. We were attacked as a nation on September 11, 2001 (9/11/2001) as the Twin Towers came down as a result of terrorism. From then on, nine-one-one became a number that introduced insecurities to our general sense of safety as a nation. We labeled any Muslim, Arabic, or the like as terrorists who would attack us again. Any Muslim, Arabic, or the like were robed of their freedoms as Americans because others who looked like them attacked us.

Airports added security to the point that some individuals refuse to fly, because they feel their privacy is opposed. Individuals are hassle towards the Muslim, Arabic, or the like and took away their freedoms as Americans, because their counter-parts in other nations attacked us, including them, as a nation and as Americans.

It has taken a decade to mend the relationships that United States citizens have with the Muslim, Arabic, or the like citizens, and the trust issues are still there. This is what Paul is talking about when he says owe no one nothing but love (Romans 13:8).

When we love each other, we are fulfilling the Ten Commandments and the laws. We are building relationships with others as well as God the Father where love is the foundation of these relationships.

Paul names four laws from the Ten Commandments (Romans 13:9):

1. You shall not commit adultery;

2. You shall not murder;

3. You shall not steal;

4. You shall not covet (to want anything or anyone that is not yours).

When we commit these acts, we break relationships because we loose the trust, loyalty, and compassion individuals had for us. We loose it all with one act.

However, when we keep the above four laws, we continue to build the bonds with the individuals who we are in relationships with. We end up caring about others’ interests and their well-being. This love is held in the highest regard in any relationship; especially the relationship individuals have with God the Father.

Paul calls us to be awake (Romans 13:11). The world may try to get us to conform to its ways, but we are to live through the good news of Jesus Christ and follow his law to love each other and be in a community. As Jesus’ disciples, we are a community demonstrating God’s love through our actions by the way we live.

Salvation has been here since Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection for the forgiven of sins; salvation is yet to come on the Day of Judgment. These two statements seem like they contradict each other, but they are both true because salvation is two-fold. We already have salvation through Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection, which gives us the forgiveness of sins and the ability to enter heaven, even though we are sinful beings. The second fold of salvation will come on the Day of Judgment when we are allowed to enter heaven (Hultgren 2011).

When we keep the commandments and love our neighbor who is anyone we come into contract with, we are sharing God’s love and deepening our relationships with each other and God the Father. By doing so, we are living out the good news of Jesus Christ and are in fellowship with each other.

As a Christian community, we are to support each other as we renew our faith and remember our baptism on a daily basis. We are forgiven as a community as we remember our baptisms and take part in Communion. We are all forgiven and receive salvation through Jesus.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for your commitment to love us, even though we are sinners. Help us to remember our baptisms and the honor of taking Communion. Thank you for your grace. Amen.

Works Cited

Hultgren, Arland J. Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2011.

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. Who is your neighbor?

2. How do you express love to your neighbors?

Readings

Exodus 3:1-15 and Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b

Jeremiah 15:15-21 and Psalm 26:1-6

Romans 12:9-21

Matthew 16:21-28

Devotion

Peace be with you!

This week we are looking at what a Christian community should look like according to Paul. What does it mean to be a community of Christians?

For some of us, the Christian community is the church where we have fellowship with other Christians. In our minds (conscious or not), we define strike boundaries of where we interact as a Christian. Some of us understand the Christian community to be where the good news is welcomed with open hearts. The individuals who welcome the conversation around the good news are affirming of one’s faith and will continue to deepen one’s faith.

But what if Paul is defining the Christian culture, not just a community?

Paul starts Romans 12:9-21 with the commandment gave to his disciples: to love one another. The commandment seems simple enough – hate no one but love all – but what does it mean to love everyone?  We are called to hate what is evil (Romans 12:9a) – anything the Devil sends our way and to resist the bad in the world.

We are called to love one another with mutual affection and with mutual respect (Romans 12:10). We are called to give ourselves to each other and to the Triune God. What does this mean? Paul takes the rest of this passage to answer this question.

We are called to pray for and with those individuals who are suffering – physically, psychosocially, and spiritually. Whenever I see a car accident or hear the sirens of an ambulance, I pray for those individuals who are physically injured, for those doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and EMS’s who are knowledgeable to help the physically injured, and the family and friends who are worried about the physically injured. There are several individuals who are affected by a car accident or when an individual has serious medical issues. It takes the whole community to help an individual who is suffering.

Take for instance the national tragedy of 9/11. It took the lives of several individuals who had responsibilities to others. A mother died leaving behind two young children. The husband needs babysitters for his children, so he can keep his job and keep providing for his children. The husband needs friends to vent and release his frustrations to, so he can be the best father possible. The husband needs a pastor who can give him the gospel and remind him the Triune God loves him and his children.

New York City needed aid from across the nation to put out the fires and clean up the mess, which took years. Individuals who survived the attacks and saw the Twin Towers fall need a community where they can talk about their fears and losses. There were thousand of individuals who were directly affected by the Twin Towers falling. Anxieties were heighten as individuals began to understand what was going on. Pastors and social workers made themselves available to provided emotional and spiritual support to those individuals who needed it.

As individuals came to New York City to help out, others who lived there provided hospitality and food. Those individuals did not get along otherwise were working together to help New York City regain its integrity and self worth in the world. New York City would not stop being the great city it is just because it was attacked. It would keep going.

The whole nation needed a community to understand how the Twin Towers could fall and to make the statement that the United States would continue to fight for its freedoms. As President Brush said we were going to war, young men and women enlisted and went overseas to protect our nation.

In a national tragedy, like 9/11, it takes a community to get the nation back on its feet. As Christians, we are experts at building community and helping those in need. We are called to provided shelter to those individuals who homeless or are travelling. We are called to bless those individuals who wrong us, which I admit is difficult most of the time, but deep down these individuals are hurting too.

We are called to rejoice and weep with each other. Celebrate the joy with the family members and friends reuniting with the victims in the Twin Towers; comfort the individuals who lost loves ones when the Twin Towers fell. Everyone needs someone else to celebrate or weep with when they get any kind of news. No one should be expected to handle any kinds of news – good, bad, or indifference – on their own. It takes a whole community to absorb and respond to a tragedy and a miracle. As a community, we share good news and bad news, and we share the responsibility to overcome any news.

Within the Christian culture, we strive to build healthy community where no individual is more or less important than to the next individual. We do not fight or judge each other, but we, as Christians, work together to build a community. We help each other, so no one has to feel alone.

We, Christians, are a community where individuals share in the rejoicing and weeping.

Thanks to be God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for being our center in our Christian community. Help us to keep strengthening our community by working together and being each others’ support. Thank you for sending Jesus Christ to show us what true love looks like. Amen.

Works Cited

Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. How do you build community?

2. How do you share in your rejoicing?

3. How do you share in your weeping?