We're Better Than This - A Message for Pentecost

Today is Pentecost Sunday - one of my favorite Sunday's of the year. Pentecost celebrates the outpouring of God's Spirit on the followers of Christ. It celebrates the presence of God among God's people and the power of God for his people.

Pentecost draws on four images from Hebrew history, communicating four truths.

The first image is the Shekinah presence of God. At Sinai, the people were instructed to construct a Tabernacle "so that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8). When the Tabernacle was completed, "the glory of the LORD filled" it (Exodus 40:34). God's presence, symbolized in a cloud, filled the Tabernacle. It became the place where God dwelt among his people, where heaven and earth were united. That same experience was duplicated when Solomon dedicated the Temple, replacing the Tabernacle (1 Kings 8:10). Now, at Pentecost, God's presence (symbolized in the wind and fire, Acts 2:2) comes to dwell among the followers of Jesus. They/we become the Temple where God dwells in the midst of God's people, where people heaven and earth are united, where people encounter God. 

The second image relates to the Jewish festival of Pentecost. That festival celebrated the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. At that first Pentecost, God gave the Spirit to do what the Law could not do. The Law could tell us what to do and how to live, but it could not give us the power to do so. (See Romans 8:3-4.) The Spirit guides us into the truth Christ taught (John 14:26) and empowers us to live that truth. Through the Spirit, the law is written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33), that is, God's character is ingrained within us. The Spirit transforms our hearts and minds so that we can live the ways of God.

The third image is of the anointing with the Spirit. In the Hebrew scriptures, chosen individuals were said to be anointed with the Spirit to do God's work. This anointing is the meaning behind the word Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek). In the Hebrew scriptures, prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with the Spirit. The prophet Joel spoke of a time when God's Spirit would be poured out on all people - men and women, young and old, slave and free - so that they could do the work of God (Joel 2:28-29). Peter identified Pentecost as the fulfillment of that day (Acts 2:16-18).

The fourth image is the Old Testament story of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) where men no longer spoke one language. The diversity of languages, that is, the inability to communicate, led to the scattering of the people and the creation of different peoples. Pentecost is a reversal of Babel. Through the power of the Spirit, the apostles were able to speak in languages other than their native language (Acts 2:4) so that the good news of Jesus could be communicated to all people. The healing and reuniting of the nations is possible as the Spirit draws us together in Christ. The healing of the brokenness of the nations is possible as the Spirit teaches us and empowers us to live the ways of God Jesus taught.

I need to hear the great truths Pentecost proclaims. God lives in us and among us. The Spirit transforms our hearts and minds, empowering us to live the ways of God that Jesus taught. The Spirit gives each of us abilities to use in ministry so that all have something to contribute to the work of God (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). The Spirit overcomes the brokenness and divisiveness of the world, bringing all together in Christ as the Church.

I need to be reminded of these great realities today. You see, I am grieving. My heart is heavy. My spirit is weary. I grieve what is happening in our nation this week. I grieve the brokenness and division that is being played out. I feel powerless and defeated by what I see.

I have not posted about the week's events. I have not known what to say. I have no words. Yet something deep within (the Spirit?) pushes me to speak, to say something, to speak out - as a follower of Jesus, as a so-called spiritual guide, as a human being, as a white man who grieves alongside of his black brothers and sisters.

The words that come to mind are "We're better than this."

We're better than the seemingly non-ending parade of black deaths at the hands of some police officers and white vigilantes.
We're better than the blatant racism that fuels that seemingly non-ending parade.
We're better than the blind patriotism that demands unquestioned loyalty to the police (or the military or the flag or the president) without also demanding accountability that ensures justice for all.
We're better than riots in the streets filled with destruction and looting (again).
We're better than riot squads, tear gas, rubber bullets, and snipers on roof tops with which we greet the rioters.
We're better than the judgment passed on the rioters because of the inability to understand, much less feel, their pain and the anger that grows out of it.
We're better than rednecks toting AK 47's, waving Nazi and Confederate flags, being allowed to storm state houses and shut down state governments.
We're better than the systemic racism and white privilege to which we turn a blind eye.
We're better than the "offense" we take at such realities being called to our attention.
We're better than the condemnation we heaped on those who attempted to call our attention to these realities before there were riots in the streets.
We're better than the us-them polarization that divides our nation (and The UMC), that pits one group against another.
We're better than the tribal thinking that views anyone who is not like us in skin color or language or nation of origin or religion or politics or economic status or sexual orientation as "other" who is to be feared and who has no place in our nation.
We're better than the arrogance with which we judge those not like us.
We're better than the rigid, close-minded positions we take that refuses to hear, much less honor, other positions.
We're better than the hateful, demeaning attacks we launch against anyone who does not agree with us.
We're better than the conspiracy theories and fake news we swallow hook-line-and-sinker because they reinforce what we already think and don't require us to change.
We're better than the refusal to heed the findings of scientific research that inconvenience us and questions our lifestyles.
We're better than the fear-driven, self-serving spirit out of which we react to the "other" and to the events surrounding the "other."

Is this what makes America - or any other nation or any people - great?

We're better than this ... aren't we?

I want to believe we are better than this, but it seems we are not better than this. But we can be. The message of Pentecost gives me hope that we can be better than this - through the power of the Spirit.

Merciful God, may it be!

You Will Receive Power - Ascension Sunday 2020

"You will receive power" (Acts 1:8).

Jesus promised us, his followers, power ... God's power ... power through the indwelling Spirit. "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" (Acts 1:8). (That promise was fulfilled at Pentecost. More about that in next week's blog.)

We humans like power. Power makes us feel capable and strong. It means we have the strength to do and to achieve. It makes us feel in control. And we humans like to be in control ... which is why we like power and hate being powerless.

Being powerless makes us vulnerable. It equates to being out of control. Being powerless means someone else or something else has power over what happens to us. Every experience of fear is fundamentally an experience of feeling powerless (being vulnerable, at risk). The level of anxiety with which we live is directly tied to the degree of powerlessness we feel. Few things create as much angst and anxiety in us as feeling powerless.

Thus, Jesus' promise of power speaks to something deep within - that for which we long (power), that which we fear (powerlessness).

What is this power Jesus promised?

Jesus promised us the power of the Spirit ... the power the Spirit gives ... God's power ... and, thereby, a power beyond our own. The Spirit empowers us to do what we cannot do in our own strength. The Spirit empowers us to do what Jesus taught (John 14:12). The Spirit empowers us to live the ways of God. The Spirit empowers us to love as Jesus loved.

We experience the Spirit's power at the point of our powerlessness. (Sit with that thought a minute.)

And that creates an emotional bind for us. We don't like being powerless. We fear it. We resist it. We fight it. But acknowledging our powerlessness (need) opens the door to the Spirit's power. It puts us in a position to receive. It puts us in a position for the Spirit to work. It puts us in a position for the Spirit to empower us to do what we cannot do in our own strength.

Understanding this spiritual reality-we experience the Spirit's power at the point of our powerlessness-leads us to embrace two spiritual practices so that we might experience it in our lives.

First, it invites us to treat our experience of powerlessness as a call to prayer. Rather than fearing and fighting our powerlessness, we allow it to prompt us to turn to the Spirit for the power to do what we cannot do in our own strength. Recognizing our anxiety and/or fear prompts us to claim God's promise "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). It calls us to still our hearts and minds, placing ourselves in a position to access the Spirit's power. (My book The Fruit of the Spirit: the Path That Leads to Loving as Jesus Loved describes how to still our hearts and minds in the midst of anxiety - what Paul calls self-control and I call self-management.)

A second spiritual practice is the cultivation of a spirit of glad dependency. This spirit moves beyond the self-sufficiency we so value (and its underlying arrogance). It embraces the limitations that are inherent to our humanness. It accepts the challenges life brings. It expresses a deep trust in God's grace and faithfulness. The spirit of glad dependency trains us to live in partnership with the Spirit. (Daily meditation is one way to cultivate the spirit of glad dependency.)

Living in harmony with this spiritual reality-we experience the Spirit's power at the point of our powerlessness-impacts the way we use the power God has given to us. (Our power has many forms: ability, knowledge, wealth, experience, achievement, position, standing, the right to choose or free will.) 

Our default inclination is to use our power for the good of "me and mine." That includes using our power against those we view as "other." Partnership with the Spirit trains us to use power the way Jesus used power: to serve others. The Spirit moves us beyond our default self-oriented nature by transforming our hearts and minds, ingraining the servant spirit (the mind of Christ, Philippians 2:5-11) deep within us.

"You will receive power" ... God's power ... power through the indwelling Spirit (Acts 1:8). But the power we receive is not power to do whatever we please or power to get our way or power to control others or power to control what happens. Rather, it is power to manage ourselves. It is power to live the ways of God that Jesus taught. It is the power to love as Jesus loved.

More on A Better Way of Reading the Bible

In my last two blog posts, I have asserted that we need a different way of reading the Bible—one that moves us beyond our default what-I-already-believe way of reading it, one that helps us know God and the ways of God, one that helps us hear God’s word for us today. This blog continues that line of thinking. It is adapted from a chapter in the book I am currently writing, The Plumb Line of God: Aligning Our Hearts with the Heart of God.

The Bible is not the final authority for discerning spiritual truth or determining God’s will. It is a vital part of the process, but it is not the ultimate authority. We cannot just say “The Bible says!” The Bible is not the final word on any issue for the simple reason the Bible must be interpreted. It is not enough to know what the Bible says. We must go beyond what the Bible says to what the Bible means.

 Knowing what the Bible means is the task of interpretation.

Interpretation is necessary because …

·        the Bible comes out of an ancient, prescientific, Near Eastern context that was significantly different from our post-modern, Western context. Our Western thinking has been shaped by the Enlightenment with its emphasis on reason and scientific inquiry. Thus, when we read the Bible, we naturally read through these Western lens. We overlook the prescientific, Near Eastern orientation found in every part of the Bible. We fail to understand the biblical authors’ use of story to communicate truth. As a result, we often focus on the facts of the story and miss the truth the story was designed to communicate. We ask questions the text does not answer—questions that lead to speculation while leading us away from the truth the author intended to communicate.

·        of the dual nature of scripture. The Bible has both a human component and a divine component.  In seeking to discern what the Bible means, both components—the human and the divine—must be considered. Interpretation involves distinguishing between what is human and what is divine. The human component means some of the things we read in the Bible are cultural and not necessarily of God. 

·        of the diversity of thought found in the Bible. The Bible does not contain one, consistent understanding of God or of historical events. Instead, it reflects diverse understandings that are often at odds with one another. It also reflects a progression of understanding, moving from a limited, culturally-shaped understanding to a fuller understanding. Some parts of the Bible reflect the cultural thinking of the time period rather than the revealed character of God. 

The failure to understand and respect the ancient, prescientific, Near Eastern nature of the Bible allows us to read our beliefs into the Bible while missing the truth the biblical authors were attempting to communicate. Failure to recognize and honor the dual nature of the Bible leads us to mistake cultural practices and time-bound perspectives for eternal truth. Failure to recognize the limited understanding of certain parts of the Bible will lead us to give equal weight to every part of the Bible and to every verse in the Bible. As a result, we treat partial truth as though it were the full truth, mistaking cultural understandings to be the will of God. 

Every time we read the Bible, we interpret it. We all pick and choose what to believe and what to follow. We recognize some things in the Bible are cultural practices that are not applicable to us today. Even though these practices are what the Bible says, we do not understand the Bible to mean we should do them today. We are interpreting. We are determining what the Bible means for us today.

The issue, then, is how well do we interpret. Understanding what the Bible means calls for our best thinking. It calls us to recognize and respect the prescientific, Near Eastern perspective from which the Bible was written. It calls us to deal with the human dimensions of the text so we can recognize the divine dimensions. Understanding what the Bible means requires us to think theologically, allowing God’s character and God's ways to shape how we think and what we believe. It calls us to follow the example and teachings of Jesus. Understanding what the Bible means calls us to explore scripture with an open mind, always open to more truth than we already know. It calls for a teachable spirit, recognizing that our understanding of truth is always limited, never complete and full.

Failure to bring our best thinking to the task of interpreting scripture means we fall back into our default what-I-already-believe way of reading scripture. The failure to think theologically results in us holding onto our old, pre-Christian ways of thinking. In other words, studying the Bible doesn’t change us significantly. We are simply a religious version of our former selves. Our lives and lifestyles reflect little significant difference from our previous life—or from those around us, for that matter.

The Bible is not God's most complete self-revelation. God’s fullest self-revelation was in Jesus of Nazareth. Thus, the Bible must be read and interpreted through the lens of Jesus and the character of God which he embodied. The life and teachings of Jesus is God’s final word on any issue. 

A Place for You

In last week's blog (Their Eyes Were Opened, May 3, 2020), I suggested we need a different way of reading and understanding scripture. We naturally read through the lens of what we already believe, looking for validation of our beliefs and values and positions on moral issues. Such was the way the two disciples, walking to Emmaus, had read their scriptures. In doing so, they had missed the truth of what scripture said about the messiah. So Jesus had to teach them what the scriptures said about the messiah and the messiah's work. He taught them to read scripture through a different lens. As a result, they experienced God's work in their own lives.

Today's gospel reading from the common lectionary - John 14:1-14 - illustrates how our what-I-already-believe way of reading scripture prevents us from seeing the truth scripture is teaching.

"I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:3). Jesus' words are commonly understood as a reference to heaven. The text is understood as Jesus assuring us of a place in heaven for us when we die. (How often have you heard this text and this understanding used at a funeral?) This understanding views "my Father's house" (verse 2) as a reference to heaven. "I will come again" (verse 3) is understood as a reference to the second coming of Jesus. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (verse 6) is understood to mean believing in Jesus is a prerequisite for going to heaven.

But a careful reading of the full text indicates Jesus was speaking about something other than going to heaven when we die. Jesus was actually teaching a greater reality than heaven!

"My Father's house" is a reference to family relationships. In Jesus's patriarchal culture, to speak of my father's house was to speak of being a part of the father's family. Thus, "my Father's house" speaks of relationship rather than location (i.e., heaven). Thus, in this text, Jesus was talking about relationship with God. A recurring theme is John's gospel is that Jesus came from the Father and was going to the Father. So when verse 3 speaks of "where I am there you may be also," Jesus was speaking of being with the Father. He specifically says this in verse 28, "if you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father." Jesus was speaking of preparing a place for us in relationship with the Father as a beloved child. He was teaching us to live in relationship with the Father as he did - "there you may be also." Verse 6 speaks of coming to the Father, i.e., having a relationship with the Father. Verses 7-9 speak of knowing Jesus as the means of knowing the Father.  This knowing is not an intellectual knowing about the Father (i.e., facts about God) but a knowing by experience - by living in relationship with Jesus. "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (verse 9). To know Jesus is to know the Father.

In this great text, Jesus was talking about preparing a place for us in relationship with God. The place he prepared is as a beloved child who lives in relationship with God as Father and shares God's life - here and now, on earth, NOT in heaven after we die.

Because we live in relationship with the Father, we share God's life (eternal life) here and now. We do the works Jesus did, "even greater works than these" (verse 12). Because we live in relationship with the Father, we are able to ask in prayer and receive (verse 14). We are able to keep Jesus's commandments (verse 15), specifically the commandment to love.

This here-and-now relationship with the Father is experienced through the indwelling Spirit (verse 16-17). The Spirit abides with us and in us (verse 17). "I will come again" (verse 3), rather than being a reference to the second coming, refers to the gift of the Spirit . "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you" (verse 18). The means by which Jesus comes to us is the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit, Jesus lives with us and in us. In the Spirit, both Jesus and the Father indwell us. "We will come to them and make our home with them" (verse 23). The relationship (place) Jesus prepared for us is complete: God lives in us through the Spirit and we live in Christ.

Because of this relationship, the Spirit (Helper or Advocate) empowers us to do the things Jesus did (verse 12). The Spirit teaches us everything Jesus taught about God and the ways of God (verse 26). Through the Spirit, we experience God's peace (verse 27). Through the Spirit, the life of Christ flows through us, bearing fruit (chapter 15). We are able to love one another as Jesus loved us (John 15:12).

Our what-I-already-believe way of reading scripture causes us to miss spiritual truth the scripture teaches. In doing so, it causes us to miss the life God has for us. Even more, it causes us to miss God.

Thank you, Father, for the place you have made for us in your heart. Help us to prepare a place for you in our hearts. Come, Spirit. Teach us to live as beloved children of God, doing the things Jesus did, loving as Jesus loved.

Their Eyes Were Opened

"Their eyes were kept from recognizing him" (Luke 24:16).

This phrase described Cleopas and his companion (wife) as they walked the seven mile journey from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus on the afternoon of resurrection Sunday. (Their story is the primary resurrection story in the gospel of Luke, Luke 24:13-35.)  As they walked along, discussing all that had happened, Jesus joined them ... but they did not recognize him. "Their eyes were kept from recognizing him."

The text does not tell us what kept their eyes from recognizing him. The story guides our speculation: the mind-numbing shock of Jesus' crucifixion, their heart-wrenching grief over Jesus' death, their crushed hopes and disorienting disappointment, their struggle to make sense of the women's vision about angels, their speculations about the missing body, their questions about how to rebuild their lives without the hope Jesus stirred in their hearts (24:18-24). The story doesn't tell us what blinded them to Jesus' presence. It simply relates the fact. Jesus was present but they did not recognize him.

While the story does not tell us what kept them from recognizing Jesus, it does emphasize their lack of understanding of scripture. Three times, the text speaks of Jesus helping them understand his suffering and death in light of the teaching of scripture (24:25-27, 32, 44-47). Perhaps that lack of understanding was the blinding factor. They had not expected him to be crucified. Thus, when he was killed, they didn't expect to see him again. They thought of him as dead, not alive.

It seems to me, their experience reflects our experience. Their story is our story.

We, like them, do not recognize Jesus because we, like them, do not understand the truth of scripture. We misread scripture. We read through the lens of what we already believe. In doing so, we naturally look for what we already believe, using scripture to validate how we think. This way of reading scripture puts God "on our side" and makes us "right." It leaves us unchanged. We also read scripture through me-oriented lens.  We interpret it from how we want things to be or how we believe things should be. That's how the disciples interpreted what the scriptures said about the messiah. This way of  reading scripture makes us the ultimate authority. It creates God in our image.

This way of reading and understanding scripture is normal. But while it is normal, it creates a major problem: it blinds us to God. We miss God just as the disciples we kept from recognizing Jesus. We miss God's presence just as the disciples did not recognize Jesus' presence. We miss God's work just as the disciples did not recognize what God was doing in Jesus' death and resurrection.

If we are to recognize Jesus, a different way of reading and understanding scripture is needed.

That different way of reading and understanding scripture, the Emmaus story reminds us, comes through revelation. In the story, Jesus taught Cleopas and his companion the scriptures. In our stories, we are taught by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10-13). The Spirit uses scripture to teach us the things Jesus taught (John 14:25-26). As a result of the Spirit's teaching, our thinking is transformed. It reflects the ways of God (what Paul called "the mind of Christ," Philippians 2:5). And our lives are transformed. They reflect the grace and forgiveness of Jesus, the servant spirit of Christ.

Scripture is the record of what God has revealed about the Divine Self. Its purpose is to help us know God and the ways of God. Its truths are to shape how we think and, thereby, how we live. The truth of scripture shapes us.

The Emmaus story ends with the statement "then their eyes were opened and they recognized him" (Luke 24:31). May our eyes be opened so that, in recognizing Jesus, our lives may be shaped by him.