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Posts Tagged ‘mercy’

Giving Up Circumcision

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 15:5
Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”

Circumcision was one of the most important signs or acts that a Jewish man did. It went way back and it was sacrosanct. And yet, here was Jesus turning something else inside out. I mean, at this point in all the conversions, there were even Pharisees who had become believers. The Pharisees were taught to obey the law to its “nth” degree. And yet, here was Paul, who had also been a Pharisee, saying that gentile believers did not need to be circumcised just because Jewish believers were circumcised. That’s huge!

The question that comes to my mind is how many customs and traditions have Christians developed over the years that are just like circumcision? For some it’s baptism of a certain type, for others it’s speaking in tongues (or other manifestations), for others it’s going to church, for others it’s communion specifics, for others it’s designations of priest or pastor to sanctify various things, for others it’s certain social issues, for others it’s sexual orientation, for others it’s certain types of prayers… you get my point.

If God pours out the Holy Spirit on someone who does not match our rules and customs, what then? Is it any different from giving up circumcision?

Jesus turned the Jewish world upside down… but I think Jesus is still turning worlds upside down.

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Do you have an appointment?

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on November 11, 2009| 1 Comment »

Acts 13:48b
“…all who were appointed for eternal life believed.”

My husband is totally annoyed by telephone marketers. We have put ourselves on all the “don’t call” lists and yet, every once in awhile, it still seems as though a few get through. If they do call and it’s Mike that answers the phone, he yanks their chain a bit and asks them, “do you have an appointment?” It really throws them off their game. And in the end, he tells them that he does no business on the telephone unless they have an appointment. I am waiting for the industrious sales person who actually writes Mike and requests an appointment.

When we lived in Atlanta, we had a friend who was very interested in Calvinism, Armenianism and predestination. I am not a good one to explain the nuances but I do know that there are many people who hold to the idea that only those who are “predetermined” or “chosen” will accept Christ. While others, believe that anyone can be saved. Some denominations are known to follow along these lines, Presbyterians are generally Calvinistic while Methodists are Armenian.

Certainly, this scripture fragment seems to imply that only those who were appointed for that time accepted the message that Paul and Barnabas preached.

But here’s my answer to all of this… an appointment can be for today or it can be for tomorrow. Just because someone’s appointed time is not today does not mean that he/she will not have another appointment with Christ in the future. It is not for us to judge. I believe I missed some of my appointments with the Lord and surely, my life would be different today had I accepted Christ in a meaningful way as a teenager or in college.

Now, I know that the Calvinists take it the next step and say that the appointment they are talking about is the “ultimate appointment.” In other words, everyone who is chosen by God in advance will eventually find God. Since God is sovereign, no one can really resist God. We have free will but, really, God can hit the override button at any time.

So, in the end, because I agree with that one key part, that God is sovereign, I believe God can override any destiny … any destiny. There are none who need to live out their lives separated from the grace, peace and love of God.

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Seeking Redemption

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 10:43
“…All the prophets testify about him [the Messiah] that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” [Peter speaking to the gentile family of Cornelius]

My daughter is in English 12 and apparently, most of these classes are reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (a wonderful book in my estimation) and I was looking forward to discussing it with her. What was striking to me was her lack of mercy… in the sense that she and her class spent a lot of time discussing the lead character’s flaw/mistake and how he spent the rest of the book “seeking redemption.” In her mind, there was no true redemption possible: his boyhood friend was dead and gone. That was his burden to bear.

Two things came to mind as we were talking. First and foremost, of course, as a believer, is that this is the whole point of the Messiah, Christ Jesus, the great redeemer. No sin is too great that it can’t be covered by the blood and promise of the Christ.

But secondly was the realization that very few teenagers have experienced something in their lives, so horrible, so wrenching that they would need to search with all their hearts for the peace of forgiveness and redemption. They cannot imagine making such a huge mistake that someone would die or be permanently injured or lost. There is no room for true mercy and grace.

I am also reminded of an old friend whose husband broke their marriage covenant and had an affair. She, too, was unable to extend forgiveness or grace. And all I could think was that someday it would be she, herself, who might face her own unthinkable sin or crime. Then she would be the one who needed redemption.

In fact, we are all capable of great sin. We are fooling ourselves to think that we couldn’t act selfishly in the face of difficult circumstances.

Naturally, people may also act nobly. I am not saying that we, as humans, always choose the evil way. There are many who have lost their own lives or lived sacrificially. But I think they are able to do this because they have faced the truth of themselves.

For many years, I have never felt comfortable praying the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” I just couldn’t identify with this concept of calling myself a sinner… what had I really done so bad.

But now, the longer I am a follower of Jesus, I see the truth within. I am no better than any other. My sin is no less than another person’s sin. Even Paul bemoaned this state in Romans 7:19, “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

Oh yes, I am in need of a redeemer. I am in need of forgiveness and mercy and grace every day. My sin is too great for me to carry alone.

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A Gift Cannot Be Bought

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 8:18-19
When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Poor Simon… he just didn’t get it. Here he had been following Philip and the other new Samaritan believers around and he was happy as a clam. That is, until Peter and John show up and take the next step… praying for the Holy Spirit to come upon those new believers.

Something dramatic must have happened. We are not told what. It could have been the speaking in other tongues as with the disciples, it could have been tongues of fire or wind or just an outpouring of great power. We will never know. But we do know that Simon the former sorcerer was impressed and all his old habits and desires and power came into play. Everything in him was saying, “gotta have it.”

He did not realize that this laying on of hands was a gift. It was a gift that came with devotion. It was a gift that only the Giver could choose to give or not give. And so, Simon made a mistake and lusted for it.

I have made Simon’s mistake. I have coveted the giftings of others. I have wished for the ministries of others. I have dreamed of God using me as a healer or a prophet. I have inwardly negotiated for more power.

God forgive me.

The old ways die hard. One of my besetting sins is a desire for fame. Generally, I have that well covered by grace. But there are days when it slips out like a little demon and sits on my shoulder spouting long monologues about recognition, notoriety, success and fans! Like the love of money, fame corrupts the soul.

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.

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Akeldama

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 1:19
And all the residents of Jerusalem became acquainted with the facts [about Judas], so that they called the piece of land in their own dialect–Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.

The Field of Blood was also called the Potter’s Field because some believed it to be the same place that Jeremiah visited the potter. “So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” [Jeremiah 18:3-4]

Akeldama was used as a burial ground for “foreigners,” for strangers, and for betrayers. This is one of the hardest truths in the Bible for me: some people are destined for evil, some are destined to be buried in the Field of Blood, some are destined to be a marred pot.

God integrates evil into our lives and from these experiences, we grow, we change, we adapt, and we learn. These are the hard lessons of life. But what of the one who is the tool of evil?

Is there a moment in that life when he/she has a choice? Can this destiny be aborted by faith? Can the one turn and cry out for mercy? Or is the the mercy extended only after the fact? Is it forgiveness that brings a destiny of evil around to hope?

I don’t know the answers.

From my few years working with a potter’s wheel, I know a pot can be re-fashioned with the same clay… but only up to a point. Eventually, the clay becomes hard, unwieldy and unusable. Usually, a potter will not throw out the clay until it’s hopeless.

Keep me pliable today. Give me mindfulness toward those who struggle with their destinies, that they might turn before Akeldama becomes an unavoidable fate.

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Letter of the Law

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on June 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 8:4-5
“…and [they] said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

This is a very familiar passage from scripture where Jesus thwarts the efforts of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees who want to trap him into speaking against and/or breaking the law. If they could catch him publicly, they could justify arresting him, etc.

They probably didn’t know that Jesus had already said and taught: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” [Matthew 5:17] But he was a teacher, a rabbi, who was teaching a “new way.”

Jesus never denied that the woman caught in adultery should be stoned. It was, indeed, the law. He was known for his words of mercy, grace and forgiveness and they expected him to “forgive her.” Instead, this became an excellent example of how the law can look through the lens of mercy. Jesus tells the crowd that the punishment can begin, but should begin with that person who is without sin, that person who has not broken any of the laws. There were none. The crowd dispersed and the letter of the law was not exacted. The woman was given a chance to change… Jesus did not release her without first telling her to “leave your life of sin.”

For me, one implication here is that her sin would eventually kill her if she persisted… the law would be fulfilled.

But the greater message is that many of us are still in a crowd looking, with righteous indignation, for sinners to get their just reward. We must be more careful; the fulfillment of the law may look different than we expect.

Jesus put sins and lawbreaking into one great big pile. One sin was no worse than another. Breaking a “little law” was no different than breaking a “big law.”

Today, help me see others with the eyes of Jesus. Help me think first before I act. Help me to consider more carefully the behavior of others and ask myself, “how would I hope to be treated” if I was doing the same thing? Help me temper my tendency to judge others with the mercy of Christ.

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Eye of the Needle

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on June 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Matthew 19:24
“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

That’s us, the rich man. I don’t think we want to hear that, but it’s true. I’m reading Rob Bell’s “Jesus Wants to Save Christians,” and found a list of disturbing facts. Here are just a few:

  • The U.S. consumes 20 million barrels of oil a day. (Next in line is China, 5.6 million barrels a day.)
  • America controls 20% of the world’s wealth with only about 5% of the world’s population.
  • Every 7 seconds, somewhere in the world a child under age 5 dies of hunger while Americans throw away 14% of the food we purchase.
  • Nearly 1 billion people in the world live on less than one American dollar a day.
  • More than half of the world lives on less than $2 a day, while the average American teenager spends nearly $150 a week.
  • 40% of people in the world lack basic sanitation while 49 million diapers are used and thrown away in America every day.
  • 1.6 billion people in the world have no electricity.
  • Most people in the world do not own a car; one-third of American families own 3 cars.
  • One in seven children worldwide has to go to work every day just to survive.
  • Americans spend more annually on trash bags than nearly half of the world does on all goods

I’m only saying: we’re the rich man. All of us. So, how will you get through the eye of the needle to enter the Kingdom of God?

I am counting on the mercy and grace of Christ. That’s it. There is no other way.

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