The Gift of the Spirit

 

The Gift of the Spirit

Numbers 11:16-30

            Christians celebrate Pentecost as the birthday of the church.  Some denominations make a bigger celebration than others, but all recognize this as the day the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples.  From this point on the New Testament refers to them as apostles—messengers—rather than disciples. 

            This is not the only place in the Bible where God’s Spirit is given to God’s people.  One of the most interesting occurrences happens during the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites.  They have left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea.  The Egyptian army has been destroyed.  God has given Israel a set of laws to live by, and instructions for building a place to worship (the tabernacle).  Construction is complete, Aaron has been consecrated high priest, and the Levites have been set aside as the priestly class.  Their calling is to serve in the tabernacle and assist Aaron in his duties.

            Early in the wilderness story Moses’ father-in-law comes to visit.  He sees that Moses is overburdened with caring for the people, and suggests a solution.  Men of outstanding ability should be appointed to help solve the easy problems, so that only the thorniest issues will be brought to Moses.  The system is put in place, it works beautifully, and Moses is no longer overwhelmed.

            In the fourth book of the Torah, Numbers, God tells Moses to choose seventy worthy elders to further help him bear the burden of the people.  Moses does so, and takes them to the tabernacle, where God takes some of the Spirit that has been given to Moses and gives it to the seventy.  Immediately they begin to prophesy. 

            Back in the camp, two men who were supposed to be with the elders but somehow got left behind also begin to prophesy.  You can imagine what a stir that caused.  Place yourself in the camp and imagine what your reaction might have been.  If you see yourself alarmed and puzzled, you are probably reacting just as the Israelites must have done.

            One young man had the presence of mind to run to the tabernacle and tell Moses what was happening.  Joshua, Moses’ chief assistant, wanted to stop them, but Moses refused.  Instead, he said, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!.”

            Amen!

            This is what Joel prophesies.  God will pour out God’s Spirit on all of God’s people, and they will prophesy.  Peter quotes Joel in his Pentecost sermon.

            One problem we might have with this story is a misinterpretation of prophecy.  We tend to think of prophecy as telling the future, and that is a part of it; but prophetic utterances may also be ecstatic praises to God.  I believe this is what happened that day at the tabernacle and in the Israelite camp, and what Joel meant.

            Moses understood what a difference the gift of prophecy would make if given to all God’s people.  It is a gift we should desire for ourselves.  To be so attuned to God that words of ecstatic praise come from our mouths would, I believe, have a profound effect on the world.  True, it would take some getting used to, and people might doubt our sanity or our truthfulness, but what a way to proclaim the power of God!

            May God grant each of us—all of us—the gift of the Spirit, that we might praise God with all our being and with all our words.

Give Me the Simple Life

 

Give Me the Simple Life

Luke 2:1-5

            From September 15, 1965 to April 27, 1971 you could turn on your TV and watch Eva Gabor and Eddie Albert combine the typical sitcom husband-wife battle with a city/country disagreement.  The show was called Green Acres, and pitted Albert (a New York City lawyer fed up with the big city rat race) against Gabor (his socialite-loving wife).  The majority of the humor in the show came from Gabor who could not—would not—adapt to life on a farm.

            Six seasons is a pretty good run for a sitcom, although I have to admit it never caught on with me.  Part of the problem I have with most sitcoms is that the jokes never change; the characters never develop.  I can laugh at the same situation just so long before I want to move on to something else.

            A 1945 song, Give Me the Simple Life expressed the same sentiments.  The problem with these—and other songs, TV shows, movies based on this concept—is that the people we see/hear performing them are all pretty rich and living in (for the most part) big cities or their suburbs.  They may talk about living simply, but few if any of them would actually do it.

            My wife and I are both only children.  She grew up on a farm in East Texas; I grew up in New York City.  Today we live in a house we could never afford if it was in an urban setting. Instead we live well outside the suburbs.  We jokingly tell people that being brought up as the only child in our family conditioned us to need plenty of personal space.  The truth is, we like our privacy.  Still, it would be difficult for us to claim that we’re living simply.

            We know Jesus was born into a simple way of life.  His father was a carpenter, a blue-collar worker.  His mother was a housewife.  They lived in a small village.  His friends were the children of fishermen, farmers, and other working-class families.  He never lived in splendor and wealth, never earned or inherited a fortune, never lived the high life.  As an adult he became an itinerant preacher, supported by friends, traveling from place to place on foot, often—we can imagine—sleeping rough and eating what he could find.

            In Philippians Paul describes Jesus as the King of glory, surrounded by the splendor of heaven, which he gave up to become human and assume the role of a servant.  In the early years of the Christian religion many of Jesus’ followers chose to live the simple life, moving to the desert and becoming hermits, or giving up the world for life in monasteries or convents.  Many still make that choice today.

            What are we to do?  Should we give up everything to live simply as did Jesus and these desert fathers and mothers?  Should we renounce all we have to lead a monastic life?

            God does not call all of us to sell our possessions to follow Jesus, as the rich young ruler was asked to do.  Instead, I believe God calls most of us to live in the world and to dedicate all that we are and all that we have to God’s service.  We are called to adopt an inner simplicity.

            Ernest Hemingway said, “The man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without.”  This sounds to me like a good life-plan.  The more fervently we seek to know God and commit our lives to Christ the more we will learn what’s important.  We’ll find ourselves letting go of what we no longer need—and that may not always be things.  It could be thoughts, ideas, habits, states of mind that we lay aside in order to develop a simpler lifestyle within.

            Dag Hammarskjold once wrote, “If only I may grow:  firmer, simpler—quieter, warmer.”

            May that be our prayer today.

Good Advice

Good Advice

Proverbs 3:1-6

            It’s no secret that I love the newspaper comics.  I have a collection of some of my favorites on a corkboard in my office.  Trouble is, I’ve run out of space on the board and I keep finding new ones. 

            One of my favorites over the years has been Family Circus, drawn by Bill Keane.  Actually, the first Bill Keane is no longer with us.  I understand his son Bill (the Billy of the cartoon) is now responsible for the drawing.  What a blessing it must be to inherit something so successful and carry on your father’s work!

            A recent Sunday installment of Family Circus is about success.  Young Billy asks his father, “Do you think I’ll ever be a success, Daddy?”  The father answers, “Sure!” then gives him some wonderful advice.  Success isn’t a destination, he says, but a journey.  “If you only find success at the end of the road it’s too late—the journey’s over.”

            Too many people strive for some final success.  “If I only get there,” they say, “I’ll be fulfilled.  I’ll have all I want, be all I’ve ever dreamed of being.  I’ll have reached the top.”

            As someone has said, too many people spend their lives climbing the ladder of success only to find it was leaning against the wrong wall.  What a condemnation!

            Bill Keane’s advice to his son?  “Enjoy all your successes—right now, today, tomorrow…” 

            Young Billy sees himself wandering the road of life along the dotted line that is always used in this cartoon to represent someone walking, this time with little starbursts along the way. 

            “Yeah,” Billy says, “I like it.”

            We would do well to listen to Bill Keane.  God gave us this life, this world to enjoy.  God expects us to stop and smell the roses, and to grow a few roses of our own along the way.

            Many years ago I took a class in grad school.  The professor often divided us into groups to discuss the topics he (very briefly) expounded upon.  One night, at the end of class, he told us to go home and look at the change points in our lives—times we had been moving in one direction only to find ourselves suddenly pointed in an entirely different direction—and be prepared to share them with a partner.

            It was an interesting assignment, and one that proved valuable, then and often since.  It’s easy to see successes when we look at our lives that way.  We also see what we thought of as failures at the time recognized as successes when seen through life’s rear-view mirror.  It’s a good way to check up on blessings you might have missed the first time through.

            The writer of Proverbs had some good advice for his son.  We find it throughout the early chapters.  No matter what age we are, or what gender, we would do well to thoughtfully read the words the author addressed to “my son.”  Some of these words will be familiar: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart…” for example.  Others will not be so well-known, but are worth reading and remembering.

            Our lives are journeys, with many stopping places and side roads, and with no firm ending point.  Along the road we need to enjoy all our successes.  We also need to heed all the good advice we hear, to store it in our memories for future occasions.  We never know when it will come in handy, when we will need to call to mind the words of people like our parents, Bill Keane, the author of Proverbs, and many other sources. 

            Happy trails, fair winds, and safe harbors.

Passing the Test

Passing the Test

Philippians 1:18-26

            “Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished:  if you are alive, it isn’t.”

            Some of you may remember Richard Bach as the author of popular books from the 1970’s including Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah.  He is also the author of the above quote.

            Soldiers in the Roman army understood when they went into battle that they were to come home carrying their shield or on it.  There was no third choice.  They had taken an oath to Caesar.  They were committed to fight for him and for Rome.  If they were Roman soldiers they had to be all in.  It was an all or nothing career.

            Few of us have a career that is that demanding.  We may work in a profession such as law, medicine, education, or engineering.  We may work for a large corporation or a small business.  We may work in retail or wholesale.  We may be government employees, or self-employed.  Under normal circumstances none of these careers demand that we give our all.  Even if our work demands that we are all in, that phrase means less than it did to a Roman soldier.

            In the first century no person was more committed to his work than the apostle Paul.  As a Pharisee he was an untiring persecutor of those who had chosen to follow Jesus Christ.  We read in Acts 9:1 that he left Jerusalem for Damascus “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.”  He was all in, doing everything possible to eradicate what he saw as a scourge on Judaism.

            On that Damascus Road he encountered the risen Christ in a vision so powerful that it changed the direction of his life; but it didn’t change his fervor.  The man who had been all in to punish Christians now became one.  And what an advocate for Christianity!  He spent the rest of his life traveling the roads to many cities in far-flung countries, spreading the gospel.

            When he wasn’t traveling, and preaching, and suffering the slings and arrows of those aligned against him, he was writing.  His letters became the first writings to be part of the canon of Scripture we call the New Testament.  We may not agree with everything Paul wrote, but much of the theology that makes the Christian church what it is comes from his hand.

            Near the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Philippians he talks about his career—his “mission on earth” to use Richard Bach’s words.  Paul says he would like nothing better than to be united with God in the eternity God has planned for him.  He says, “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  He anticipates the wonder, the fulfillment of being united with Christ.  Yet he knows he still has work to do here. 

            Of course, we know it isn’t Paul’s decision.  He will live until his time comes to die.  He sees the necessity of remaining here to minister to the churches he started and to others who look to him for guidance: “But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”

            Here is where he echoes Bach: “If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.”  He knows that as long as he remains on earth he has work to do.  His mission isn’t over.  Indeed, right up to the end, while he was imprisoned in Rome, he continued his ministry:  witnessing, writing, encouraging, challenging.

            “Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished:  if you are alive, it isn’t.”

            Paul passed his test.  Will you pass yours?

When Did "I Love You" Become "What's for Dinner?"

When Did “I Love You” Become “What’s for Dinner?”

Ephesians 5:22-33

            For many years I disagreed with the apostle Paul over some of the things he said in his letters.  Through my time in seminary and in reading on my own I’ve learned that Paul most likely didn’t write all the epistles that bear his name.  Scholars far more knowledgeable than I have researched his writings thoroughly.  Many of them have decided that some of the letters were written pseudoepigraphically—a fancy word meaning written by someone else who “borrowed” Paul’s name to add importance to the writing.

            One such letter is the epistle to the Ephesians—and this makes me glad, because today’s passage is one of those over which I have most strongly disagreed with Paul.  There is no doubt that the first two verses of this passage—the ones about wives submitting themselves to their husbands—has caused many problems and much grief between spouses down through the centuries.  Many men have used this verse to give themselves permission to abuse their wives, physically, psychologically, and emotionally.  Men have believed that spousal abuse was permitted, even authorized by these words.

            Nothing could be further from the truth.  Men have no excuse for abusing their wives in any way.  Those who have done so have a lot to answer for, especially those who do it in the name of Christ.  I won’t go deeper into this issue here.  Suffice it to say no human being has a right under any system of religion, law, or custom, to abuse or demean any other human being—and this goes double for Christians.

            The problem, I believe, is that men stop reading too soon—perhaps a sign of a short attention span.  Verse 25 begins “Husbands, love your wives…”  True love prohibits abuse.  The verse continues “…as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…”  If we love our spouses as Christ loves all humankind we cannot p abuse.  We believe Christ died for all humankind so that we might have abundant life.  Abundant life does not include abuse.

            We have a friend who sends my wife cartoons from time to time.  Some that she sends are ones that we read in our daily newspaper.  We don’t mind because it’s nice to know we’re in someone’s thoughts.

            One that we do not see in our paper is The Lockhorns.  It features a couple who can’t get along.  They can’t agree on the color of the sky, or the time of day, or what month it is.  One we received recently pictures the couple with a marriage counselor.  The wife says, “Of course I believe in compromise.  Every husband should do it.”  You get the idea.

            Another recent one is set in the couple’s kitchen.  He has just come home from work, and she is busy at the stove.   She turns to him and says, “When did ‘I love you’ become ‘What’s for dinner?’”

            Wow!  Isn’t that a condemnation of a marriage!  Not that asking “What’s for dinner?” is bad, but spouses should never forget—never fail—to express love. 

            I know pastors are never supposed to use themselves as positive examples, but this fits so well I can’t resist. 

            One day I was waiting in a fast food restaurant for my wife to arrive.  When she walked through the door my face lit up.  I can’t help it.  Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was about to get lunch—but I doubt it.  One of the other patrons saw it and bought our lunch.  He said, “I’m about to get married, and I hope I’ll always feel that way about my wife.”

            “Husbands, love your wives.”  While a free lunch is a good reason, we know there are better ones.  Besides, if you love your spouse enough, what’s for dinner isn’t that important.

No Blog This Week

Ken has been on vacation this week.  His blog, Musings, will return next week.

No Poor Among You

“No Poor Among You”

Deuteronomy 15:1-11

            “We all too often have socialism for the rich and rugged free market capitalism for the poor.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

            Contrary to popular belief, capitalism is not enshrined in the Bible.  We cannot claim God has blessed this land because of our capitalist economy—such as it is. 

            King is right. It isn’t the poor who petition governmental bodies for tax breaks, but the rich.  The poor lack access to government officials.  They don’t have the money to pay lobbyists.  They can’t make significant contributions to election campaigns.  They have no advocate in the halls of Congress, or state legislatures, or city or county legislative bodies, or access to presidents, governors, county executives or mayors. 

            Who will speak for the poor?  No one with enough visibility.  No one with a strong enough voice.  No one with enough power to call attention to their needs.

            In the musical, Fiorello, Fiorello La Guardia runs to represent New York City in congress.  In order to fight the dominant political machine which has run New York far too long he takes his campaign directly to the people.  In one of the songs he sings we hear the line “poor hard-working poor.”  These were the people who needed to be heard and represented.  He won their votes—and the election.

            As a fellow New Yorker I’m proud to say that in congress and later as mayor, LaGuardia never forgot who elected him.  His reputation for honesty and fairness make him a legend in the city to this day.

            But he is an exception.  We know that most politicians are more concerned with their party’s agenda, and even more concerned with raising money to keep themselves in office, than they are with helping those who most need their help.

            God understands the problem of the poor.  That’s why a solution was built into Torah given to Israel at the beginning of their wilderness years.  As Israel was preparing to enter the promised Land, Moses called the people together and reviewed the commandments God had given them in the wilderness.  The beginning of Deuteronomy 15 contains God’s instructions concerning the poor.  The main point?  “There shall be no poor among you.”

            God understood the problem of generational poverty.  Once a person—often through no fault of his/her own—sinks into poverty, it can become impossible to rise out.  All too often the poor lack the wherewithal to get back on their feet, so generation by generation they fall deeper into poverty until it becomes a way of life.  They know nothing else.  They have no way of changing their circumstances.  They accept their fate and struggle just to get by.

            God’s idea was that poverty shouldn’t last more than seven years.  Every seventh year all debts were to be cancelled, and everyone got a fresh start.  Sounds ideal, doesn’t it?

            There is no proof Israel ever followed this commandment.  By the first century, when Jesus walked on the earth, there were the rich, who kept getting richer, and the poor who became more and more oppressed.  (Sound familiar?)  Part of Jesus’ message was condemnation of the rich who kept the poor in generational poverty.

            In Deuteronomy 15:4-5 Moses says God will bless Israel “if only you will strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God.”  Israel didn’t, and suffered long periods of domination by other nations.  Whether this was God’s doing or the result of their own corruption, the result was the same.

            This should be a warning to us.  God favors the poor, and will eventually come to their aid.  Let’s not be found on the wrong side of history.