On the Way to Wonder

8-9 I do, though, tell the unmarried and widows that singleness might well be the best thing for them, as it has been for me. But if they can’t manage their desires and emotions, they should by all means go ahead and get married. The difficulties of marriage are preferable by far to a sexually tortured life as a single. (1 Corinthians 7: 8, The Message)

Living in a world that understands marriage to be the norm for men and women is a challenge.  My girlfriend and I had trouble renting an apartment in Los Angeles when I was a young adult because it was assumed I was wanting to live in immorality.  The tribe we worked with believed that men must have sex every month or they would develop mental illness and women needed sex every 40 days.  Woman was created to have her husband’s children.  When asked how many children a man has, he would give a number that represented his children plus one for his wife.  I was taken to a home once and introduced to a group of women.  I was asked my name, how many children I had, and the third question was if family planning was a sin.  The woman had almost bled to death on her ninth delivery and knew that if she refused to sleep with her husband, he would seek another wife and she would no longer be supported.  Likewise a common discussion was the question of satisfying husbands who were bringing AIDS home from working in the capital.  The comment, “I now know what being faithful unto death means.”

It seems to me that Paul in this brief verse endorses singleness as a legitimate social situation for a woman, no deficiencies need be assigned.  Moving from marriage to widowhood, I am facing redefining my life in new ways I have not faced since my young adulthood.

Recently I was flying to see my daughter and rewatched the charming video, “Cool Runnings.”  The coach of the first Jamaica bobsled team had cheated to win the Olympics and lost his medal.  Now later, the young driver asks his coach, “Why?”  Why cheat.  He thinks and answers.  “I was not enough, I had to win.”  The young man asks, “Couch, How will I know if I am enough?”  The coach thinks and responds, “If you are not enough without a medal, you will not be enough with it.”  I think that applies to our self identity.  If we are not enough and fulfilled without a marriage title, we will not be enough with a Mr or Mrs attached to our name.

So let us reflect.  Are you “enough” as you are and are your friends “enough” as they are or are you always finding fault with yourself and others?  Christ died for us when we were yet sinners (1 John 4:10) , with all our faults.  We love because he loved us first (we 1John 4:19). What a gift.  Thank you Lord.

1 Corinthians 7:1-6 (The Message)

 Now, getting down to the questions you asked in your letter to me. First, Is it a good thing to have sexual relations?

2-6 Certainly—but only within a certain context. It’s good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder. The marriage bed must be a place of mutuality—the husband seeking to satisfy his wife, the wife seeking to satisfy her husband. Marriage is not a place to “stand up for your rights.” Marriage is a decision to serve the other, whether in bed or out. Abstaining from sex is permissible for a period of time if you both agree to it, and if it’s for the purposes of prayer and fasting—but only for such times. Then come back together again. Satan has an ingenious way of tempting us when we least expect it. I’m not, understand, commanding these periods of abstinence—only providing my best counsel if you should choose them.

Paul now turns to answering questions that have been sent to him.  Top of the list is marriage.  Our culture that has been so impacted by Hollywood and with stories from Disney about Prince Charming and the Beautiful Princess set very high standards for our Wesern minds.  I once was in a conversation with my Sikh friends who had entered an arranged marriage.  She said to me, “You Westerners put a hot pot of soup on a cold fire and it cools off.  We put a pot of cold soup on a hot fire and it warms up.”  My daughter had a Muslim roommate in high school.  When chatting about dating and going to college, her friend very warmly said to us, “My father loves me and will arrange a marriage that will be good for me.  I do not have to worry.  I am free to focus on my studies.”  Neither of these comments is the Western approach to marriage.

Paul clearly affirms marriage in these verses.  Monogamy nor polygamy is not the point of his advise.  He condemns abuse or controlling attitudes.  He does not present marriage as a breeding place for children but points to mutual satisfaction and respect between partners as they seek to understand each others sexual drives.  The advice one of my students who had never been to school was to not play “Kona Kona.”  She was saying not to play “corner, corner.”  Don’t stand in a corner blaming your spouse for plans that went sideways.  Don’t take disagreements in the living room into the bedroom to be settled.  These seemed to me to be good advice.  Perhaps it is good advice for all relationships.  

May we strive for our relationships to be focused on the mutual good of everyone  involved.  My our relationships be based on respect for the image of God in the other. May we seek not to play “corner-corner”, scape-goating someone for faults that are not theirs.  Lord help us to honor you in our relationships.

“You are not your own; you were bought with a price.”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Let’s continue to follow Paul’s thinking as he addresses the Corinthians and his concerns for them.  He is concerned about their lack of unity.  He is concerned to hear rumors of sexual immorality that they are not willing to confront.  He is concerned that they are taking disputes to the public courts to be tried by people who do not even understand the guidelines that define morality for Christians.  As we continue to read, Paul lists a series of sinful relationships that are rejected by God and will be judged.   We don’t often hear sermons about greed, slander, drunkenness or swindling.  We might hear about the sins that are least likely to condemn us.  But Paul now continues to add, 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”  We are all sinners and we can all be forgiven, washed clean, as we turn to God.

Paul now pivots back to the sin of sexual immorality

12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body”

Paul returns to his basic thesis that we are building on the foundation of faith in God and the building that each one of us is part of is purposed for worship and prayer.  We are God’s temple and the Holy Spirit indwells us and we have no business with participating in the sins of this world.  Please understand that Paul is not saying sex is wrong for God made us sexual but abuse is wrong.

. 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.  

These last two verses are memorized by many.  Not only were we created by God but we were redeemed, bought back, through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  There is forgiveness and hope for each one of us.  

So what is our challenge as we read these verses?  It is tied up in the word “honor.”  What does honor mean to you and how does it work.  Let’s use an acrostic to dig deeper and ponder.  H is for_____, O is for ______, N is for ______, O can also be for ______, and R is for ______.  Lord help us to honor you with our bodies and with our relationships.

 5 …Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? (1 Corinthians 6:5)

In this first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul has spoken about his concern for the disunity in the church based on loyalties to different evangelists.  He reminds them that it is God, not the evangelists, that their faith is built on.  God is the foundation of faith and the “body” or temple being built with all their lives is protected by God and meant for worship.  In chapter 5 he moved to his second concern, reports of immorality among the people that the Corinthians are ignoring.  They are not only divided but they are also not living with integrity with each other.   Chapter 6 moves to his third concern.  Members are taking their grievances to local courts to be tried by judges who did not respect nor understand the guidelines of faith.

Perhaps we don’t even blink our eyes at the thought of taking a grievance to court – that’s the way things are done – but we take our grievances to court in other ways.  Grievances are often aired in the court of public opinion in the name of freedom of speech.  Another name for it is to gossip about our grievances.  

The Hatfields and the McCoys ongoing feud is the American stereotypical example that most have heard of.  What was the real cause of their dispute is not clear but grudges carried through the years and generations is still code for disagreement that has grown to a dispute that whatever court decision results, neither side is satisfied.  Paul objects and says that churches should not be like this.  We have a common foundation and we have the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Wisdom, in our churches and we should be able to sort out our differences without going to court.

So how does that apply to us today?  Maybe we are not the Hatfields and the McCoys but during elections now Republicans and Democrats sometimes avoid each other and discussions about politics.  Let us ask the Holy Spirit to shine his flashlight on our souls and reveal any grudges that we are holding that are blocking the flow of God’s love.  Lord, forgive us and help us to forgive others.

 First Reading: Proverbs 9:1-6

 1Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars.

 2She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table.

 3She has sent out her servant-girls, she calls from the highest places in the town,

 4“You that are simple, turn in here!” To those without sense she says,

 5“Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.

 6Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”

Psalm: Psalm 34:9-14

Those who seek the Lord lack nothing that is good. (Ps. 34:10)

 9Fear the Lord, you saints of the Lord, for those who fear the Lord lack nothing.

 10The lions are in want and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack nothing that is good. 

 11Come, children, and listen to me; I will teach you reverence for the Lord.

 12Who among you takes pleasure in life and desires long life to enjoy prosperity?

 13Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from lying words.

 14Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 

Second Reading: Ephesians 5:15-20

15Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, 19as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, 20giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel: John 6:51-58

[Jesus said,] 51“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  Aesop and Bread

Once, Aesop’s master was going on a journey. All the Servants, including Aesop had to carry sacks on their backs. Aesop selected a sack that contained bread. It was also the largest and the heaviest sack. The other Servants laughed at him for choosing the largest sack. All the Servants carried their sacks on their backs.  After some hours, everybody stopped for lunch. Aesop was asked to distribute bread from his sack. He distributed the bread to all and this lightened his burden by half. They all started walking again. Soon, it was time for supper. Aesop was asked to distribute the remaining bread to everybody. He did so and this emptied his sack. For the remainder of the journey, he had nothing but the  empty sack to carry. The other Servants’ loads seemed to get heavier and heavier at each step. Now they approved of Aesop’s clever decision!  

If you were going on a journey, what would you carry in your sack or suitcase?

Let us pray.  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the words of my lips be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

For four weeks we have been pondering our Gospel texts from the Gospel of John.  John does not organize his letter like Matthew, Mark and Luke.  John organizes thematically, not chronologically.  He is famous for sharing seven of Jesus’ “I am” statements that give us pictures for understanding our God incarnate.  Jesus says, “I am the bread of life,” “I am the light of the world,” “I am the door,” “I am the good shepherd,” I am the truth and the life,” and finally “I am the true vine.”  Each image challenges us on how we understand and how we relate to our God.  We focus during the Pentecost season on the meaning of our faith to our life.  Like Aesop in our Children’s sermon, we each carry a sack or a load as we walk through life.  As we have been watching the Olympics, I have pondered the hours of dedication and focus and for sure talent each competitor brings to the games.  Of course each was born with talent, and each had a “master” and support system that guided them on their journey as they worked to be ready for Paris 2024.  That’s is a given but the person’s dedication and drive are also big factors.  We too choose how we are tackling our lives and the type of loads we carry.

Today we come to the climax and summary of chapter 6 of John and John’s first identification of Jesus as the “living bread.”

Let’s stop for a minute and think about our favorite bread.  For my children the answer might be “chapatis,” a flat bread from Kenya.  It’s kind of like a tortilla or a nan but of course, we think much better. Whether we ate it with beans or greens or meat goop, the chapatis made the meal a feast.  Bread has a living quality as it expands and rises, as the aroma of its cooking wafts through the house, and as it satisfies our hunger and relaxes our whole being. We would buy fresh hot bread at Paul’s bakery but at least one loaf would never make it home as all in the car wanted a chunk.  Bread is just good stuff and Jesus compares himself to bread, not to a steak, not to apple pie, and not to a soda.  Jesus says, 

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven.”

In our children’s sermon today, did you notice that the master gave his servants a choice of what sack they would carry on their journey.  Aesop chose a sack full of bread that seemed heavy at first.  There are many kinds of bread in our world today.  All are tasty and all have lots of people that eat them.  Even so John spoke into early Christianity where there were many religions and temples to many gods.  Some of the temples had prostitutes offering pleasures and gods that offered to watch over harvest time and abundance. All gods offer enhancement to our lives and in some way make life worth living. Many might identify the Christian sack as a heavy sack because faith is seen as satisfying an angry God who is distant because of our sins.  The weight of the Law, the Ten Commandments, seems impossible to carry.  There seems to be so many rules and having an all-seeing God, watching our every move is a bit scary. Jesus does not talk about a distant God watching from heaven to keep track of our good or bad deeds but Jesus self identities as “the God who came down from heaven.”

Jesus compares himself to manna, the bread God provided for the children of Israel as they crossed the desert from Egypt to the Promised Land.  Let’s quick review that story found in Exodus 16.  The children of Israel were two months into their journey after the Red Sea.  They had not yet reached Sinai and the giving of the Ten Commandments.  In other words they were fresh on the journey of faith and discouraged.  Growing in faith is not easy.  They reached the desert of Sin (sounds a bit poetic) and were hungry.  They grumbled against Moses and Aaron, their leaders.  They had forgotten about the pain of slavery and were remembering all the tasty foods of their former lifestyle. 

 Perhaps some of you can identify!  There are those day before I became a widow, those days when the kids sat around the dining room table eating chapatis, and those days when I could jump out of bed in the morning and tackle the day. I admit I cry as I remember the good and forget the struggles.  The people blamed their leaders and so Moses took the grumps to God.  God sent quail at night to eat and the next morning the people woke to something covering the group that they called “manna,” meaning “what is it?”  They did not know the bread God was providing nor did all follow the rules surrounding it.  They were to gather only enough for each day and double on the sixth day so they could rest on the seventh day. 

Like the manna in the wilderness, God’s bread, Jesus’ words, gives us sustenance and direction for today’s challenges.  He tells us that what will sustain us is to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, with all our soul, with all our strength and with all our mind.  We are to love our neighbor as ourselves.  That’s the overview, the manna laying on the ground that we collect but how we cook it, how we digest that bread also has a personal factor. Loving our neighbor involves forgiveness, sharing, not killing.  I suspect, though, that like the lawyer we are often guilty of replying, “Is that other my neighbor?”  We question how.  We promise, tomorrow we’ll be good.  Jesus offers us bread for our soul and life but we choose and it is hard to chew and digest.

Jesus continues to clarify. Not only is he the life giving bread but he adds

Whoever eats of this bread will live forever,

Jesus is now challenging Moses and the Jewish deep spiritual reality.  The people would agree that manna was provided in the wilderness but the people knew that the conditions surrounding manna, that it had to be picked fresh each day.  We too would encourage daily devotions and the eating of God’s words.  Jesus is claiming that as we eat what he offers, the results will last into eternity…forever!  Jesus is not offering daily bread.  He is offering bread with eternal side effects.  He does not just want us to make it through the day.  He wants us to live for eternity.  He’s talking about the ripple affect.

The disciples have not yet come to the cross.  So we are not talking about salvation.  Like the Aesop story, we are talking about how we carry our load and give away the bread we have, how our daily choices in life affects making life lighter so we are more able to walk the journey with our Master.  Let’s think of an example.  

Let’s say an “other” offends me, perhaps even hurts me.  I am faced with a choice.  I can choose revenge of some sort or I can choose to turn the other cheek.  Revenge comes in many forms.  Perhaps I give the person the silent treatment.  Perhaps I choose to cut them out of my life.  Perhaps I just kill with gossip.  A choice of revenge in some way kills relationship and any potential future fades.  That choice becomes like a heavy sack on my back as I hold on to the incident and refuse to let God handle “justice.”  Forgiveness that is the manna from Jesus, the Jesus way, is just plain hard and often we have to turn to God for help.  As we chew on the perceived offense in light of our faith and are confronted with the call to forgiveness, as we turn over the situation from our platter to God’s hands, our load becomes lighter and the future we step into is changed.  We do not need to plot revenge for that is in God’s hands.  We continue to walk on the Master’s journey with the other person.  I believe that the choice to eat Jesus’ way creates ripples as the result of life’s experiences impacts the way forward and can lighten our load.

Perhaps another way to look at it is to reflect on Jesus’ invitation, “Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden, I will give you rest.”  And so we must ask ourselves if there are areas of our lives that are not life giving. If so, are we eating the bread of life or are we struggling along trusting our own strength and wisdom?  When the Master called Aesop to journey, Aesop was allowed to choose the bag he would carry.  We partner with God as we journey.  We are not robots.  Jesus is the bread of life that will strengthen us to live into eternity.  We choose to obey.

But now we come to the hard part of the passage.  Understanding Jesus as bread, as food for our soul is not so hard.  We are inspired by many people that encourage us and give us words of wisdom to live by.  We may even be willing to admit that choosing to live life Jesus’ way has eternal repercussions. Then Jesus adds an additional clause that challenges us to think.  He continues by saying,

and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Now we are down to the “meat and potatoes” of our passage today.  The people could include a new prophet in their list of heroes, especially if he would heal them and fill their stomachs with bread.  They could even flock to the river Jordan to get baptized and to try and repent of their useless deeds and so have a better life. Following Jesus would bring life because he was the living bread.  But then Jesus talked about what sounded like cannibalism — eat his flesh and drink his blood.  Today we see these words as a foreshadowing of the sacrament of communion,  We hear the words, “This is my body.  This is my blood.  Take and eat.  Drink for the forgiveness of sin.”  Christians argue about what exactly is happening.  We have fancy words like consubstantiation and transsubstantiation.  Lutherans call it real presence, a mystery.  We do not believe we are actually eating and drinking Christ.  We do not believe we are just remembering and memorializing some event.  We believe these words to be sacramental, “self evident” truths that the bread is the flesh and the wine is the blood in someway we cannot understand.  It is a spiritual given.  Forgiveness is pronounced not because of the depth of our repentance or because of the holiness of the pastor but because God said it and so it is somehow true.

  Jesus was prophesizing his death that would bridge the separation between God and all the people we encounter.  Somehow in his actual human flesh and blood, Jesus would walk through death, opening the way for us to follow.  Jesus could say he was bread that we have the choice to eat.  Even as bread strengthens our bodies, so Jesus strengthens our lives.  Even as blood flows through our bodies bringing oxygen and nutrients so to the wine flows through our souls bringing life.  When we do believe and obey what he commands, he will create life and not death.  But he is also now saying that the bread he is offering is not just for us as individuals, not just for the Jewish nation who knew Moses and David, but for the whole world. 

This is a revolutionary statement.  Jesus died not just for the Christian’s in Ukraine but also for the Orthodox Russians.  He died for the criminals on death row, the prostitutes and those who perpetuated the evils of today.  He died for the Republicans and the Democrats.  It is so easy to slip into thinking that Jesus died for me and my way of thinking but our Gospel text today challenges us to think “glocally.”  Jesus is pushing us from the truth of the local setting to the truth of the global setting.  Jesus is for the whole world.

Aesop’s Master was going on a journey.  Our Master Jesus is on a journey of creating the Kingdom of Heaven.  Each disciple has a sack to carry.  We all are called to play a part in this journey.  Aesop chose the heavy one filled with bread.  We today can also choose what we put in our sacks.  We can fill them with memories of wrongs and injustices or we can also choose to focus on God’s word.  As we do and as we live by Jesus’ teachings, the living word, we become strong.  As we give away to the whole world the love and the truth God has given us then our load becomes easier to carry and the world becomes a better place. Let us put our palms together in front of us and say,”He’s got the whole world in his hands.  He’s got the whole world in his hands.  He’s got the whole world in his hands.  He’s got the whole world in his hands.  He has you and me in his hands.”   

Let the people of God say, “Amen!”

”Taste and  See that the Lord is Good”

by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

Tomorrow the Psalm of the Day is Psalm 34.  The theme of the day is Jesus  sharing his first “I Am” statement in the Gospel of John.  Jesus says in chapter 6 , “51“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”  

The focus verse in the psalm is verse 10,Those who seek the Lord lack nothing that is good. (Ps. 34:10).  Let us soak our souls in that promise to prepare our hearts for tomorrow as we listen to Psalm 34 sung by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.  Enjoy!

The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir – Psalm 34(Lyric Video)

But I am saying that you shouldn’t act as if everything is just fine when a friend who claims to be a Christian is promiscuous or crooked, is flip with God or rude to friends, gets drunk or becomes greedy and predatory. You can’t just go along with this, treating it as acceptable behavior. (1 Corinthians 5: 11, The Message)

1 Corinthians 5 picks up Paul’s next point of clarification is he is writing to the fellowship of believers in Corinth about.  He first confronted them about their lack of unity in chapters 1-4, reminding them that they were all workers in the God’s garden but it is God who gives the growth.  They are all bricks in God’s Temple that is built on a common foundation, faith in Jesus.  They are all part of a Temple that God guards and inhabits and that functions to praise God.  Having laid that foundation of unity of purpose, he now confronts his next issue with the Corinthians.  Evidently there is sexual immorality not only existing is the church, not only tolerated, but condoned.  For sure our churches today argue about sexual immorality, what it is and to what extent it should be tolerated.  The Message translation of this chapter seems to flow smoother with Paul’s explanation.

Paul makes clear that he is talking to a group of believers and not just to people in general.  We expect sin in the world and should not be surprised.  What he is addressing is our lack of transparency and honesty with fellow believers.  We know they “are pushing the envelope” with their behavior and rather than confronting them, we tolerate the behavior possibly in the name of unity.  The reasoning is that we cannot point a finger when we ourselves are sinners.  At the beginning of the chapter, Paul specifically names sexual immorality but by the end of the chapter he broadens his comments to include all areas of our lives where we lack self control and cause disunity in the church.  That can be greed with refinances, gossip, sexual immorality and probably anything that can be divisive.  We look the other way thinking we are building unity but in reality our silence is wrong and God will judge.  Ignoring bad behavior does not resolve the problem.

Most of us would probably like to think our own behavior is ok, perhaps forgiven, and that confronting another is a really scary thought.  The question facing us today is whether we are avoiding a conflict and presenting a false face of unity or are we willing to be confronted and confront others about areas in our life where we need to grow.  We all need to grow.  Let us pray today that we will be people who can speak the truth in love and who can hear the advise we need to receive to live more abundantly.  Lord, help us care for our friends honestly.

A gentle answer turns away wrath,
    but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 15:1

Today is August 15.  Yesterday I spent a whole day in airports and airplanes, in transition from point A to point B.  I fell in bed exhausted and woke up aching.  When all else fails, a Bible reading technique is to read the proverb that matches the day.  There are 31 proverbs and 31 days in the month.  So I opened my Bible to Proverbs 15 this morning since today is the 15th!  Verse 1 was a familiar friend of mine and excellent medicine for my soul.

I had crossed international borders to visit my daughter.  Different country, different rules and procedures.  We arrived five minutes late to check in on Monday.  At the airport, the check in person was the person who pushed the person needing wheelchair assist to the gate and was then the person helping load the person at the gate.  Different country, different airline, different procedures.  The person though looked at my daughter and me on MOnday and had compassion and answered us with kind words as we tried to be kind in our confusion and need to sort our alternatives.  The person graciously offered a ticket on the flight yesterday, Wednesday.  Yesterday we were not late!!!  The agent’s kindness calmed the situation.

Yesterday I spent traveling and arrived at my destination, exhausted and needed a wheelchair assist off the plane, through baggage to curbside where a friend met me.  The person who pushed me and another elder from the plane was irate because there was some sort of mixup about who pushed who and when and the person was yelling at others he passed and calling them “idiots.”  I could feel my stomach knotting.  Another pusher probably heard the anger and frustration spewing forth and quickly changed direction to come and assist and claim me from the first pusher.  The whole atmosphere changed.

This is a small example of how my travel experiences changed because a soft answer turned away wrath, frustration.  Today I miss being with my daughter and can feel those grumpy words of grief stirring in my gut.  I read this verse and was again reminded that the words of our mouth really do impact not only our own reality as we turn our hearts to the blessings and away from the frustrations but also impact the reality of those around us.  May we as we deal with the frustrations of life, choose to focus on the God who incarnated and understands and who walks with us through the events of today.  May we not be someone who stirs us anger.  Blessings. 

14-16 I’m not writing all this as a neighborhood scold to shame you. I’m writing as a father to you, my children. I love you and want you to grow up well, not spoiled. There are a lot of people around who can’t wait to tell you what you’ve done wrong, but there aren’t many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God’s Message to you that I became your father. I’m not, you know, asking you to do anything I’m not already doing myself.

 (1 Corinthians 4: 14-16, The Message) 

Paul is writing to the Corinthians, a group of believers in the fourth largest urban center in the Roman Empire.  This is not a small, insignificant congregation.  He is writing to a power center in the Roman Empire. I”m sure he thought before putting pen to paper.  It is never easy ”to speak truth” to someone whom you consider important, possibly with power beyond yourself, and trying to say something you hope won’t break relationship.  Yesterday Paul described himself as a “Messiah misfit,” a person without power.  Today he says he is not just grumping like a neighbor, yelling over a fence.  He claims the relationship of a father wanting to help a child grow up well.  The image that comes to my mind is an aging elder who is past the prime of life, possibly comprimised by life’s limitations who is trying to speak to an upcoming young adult.  A bit intimidating!  Besides this perceived sense of powerlessness, though, he can assert that he is personally following his own advice.

The passage makes me ponder how I might address my children with wisdom I feel is necessary for them to hear to succeed and grow.  I don’t know about you but I have learned to recognize that tone of voice that comes with “Mom…” and I know they are going to say something honest to me that I need to hear. What if the shoe were on the other foot?  How would I open the conversation?  So let’s think.  Is there someone you need to speak truth to today?  It need not be negative as Paul is confronting the Corinthians about their lack of unity.  It could be a complement about growth you see but have not affirmed.  “I’ve been meaning to complement you about….”  “I’ve been meaning to push the envelope about….”   Ask the Holy Spirit to shine his flashlight on your soul for a minute and see if there is a note or phone call you need to make.  Blessings.

9-13 It seems to me that God has put us who bear his Message on stage in a theater in which no one wants to buy a ticket. We’re something everyone stands around and stares at, like an accident in the street. We’re the Messiah’s misfits. You might be sure of yourselves, but we live in the midst of frailties and uncertainties. You might be well-thought-of by others, but we’re mostly kicked around. Much of the time we don’t have enough to eat, we wear patched and threadbare clothes, we get doors slammed in our faces, and we pick up odd jobs anywhere we can to eke out a living. When they call us names, we say, “God bless you.” When they spread rumors about us, we put in a good word for them. We’re treated like garbage, the leftovers that nobody wants. And it’s not getting any better.

 (1 Corinthians 4:9-13, The Message)

Paul has painted an interesting rational for unity in the church.  We all build on the same foundation.  We are all part of the same temple.  And we all have direct access to the God of the universe and sit with him.  He protects his temple.  How could life get much better than that?  

 But now Paul adds the voice of reality.  First century Christianity was not like life of the Christians in the United States today where statistically Christians are somewhat in the majority in a country somehow built on Christian standards with freedom of religion.  Life just was not like that at Paul’s time.  He calls the believers “Messiah’s Misfits.” The Kingdom of Heaven does not work like the kingdom of this world.  Forgiveness is not what we find in courts but a plead for  justice and often revenge for the evil done.  We would like to think we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the United States but we know there is racism, inequality and poverty for many.  We do not love our neighbors like ourselves, just the people we like.  Crimes of hate are more likely to be in the news than good deeds done to improve our world.  Like Paul we feel the tension of our faith with the values of the media we live in…perhaps.

I like that term “misfit.”  It implies to me the deception of thinking something will fit to solve a problem but then discovering it just does not quite work. It is kind of like trying to work a puzzle and get the pieces to fit.  Paul’s words can be comforting because as we choose God’s ways, we do not fit with the world’s ways.  I like to call it being “stage appropriate.”  I remind myself that at my age no one is in the Olympics.  When I cut myself, I want my body to tell me it is in pain so that I can tend to it.  

Being a misfit does snot mean that we are the “wrong” fit but that we are being challenged to deal with the problem we find ourselves in.  As you face today, are there places where you feel like a “misfit.”  Let us pray for how you can be the solution and live your faith out in reality.  Blessings as you face the challenge.