December Week 2

Virtue: Humility
Resolution: I choose to honor others above self.

Human Story: Henri Nouwen (1932-1996)

The society in which we live suggests in countless ways that the way to go is up. Making it to the top, entering the limelight, breaking the record- that’s what draws attention, gets us on the front page of the newspaper, and offers us the rewards of money and fame. The way of Jesus is radically different. It is the way not of upward mobility but of downward mobility. It is going to the bottom, staying behind the sets, and choosing the last place! Why is the way of Jesus worth choosing? Because it is the way to the Kingdom, the way Jesus took, and the way that brings everlasting life.
-Henri Nouwen, (1932-1996)

From the time Henri Nouwen was five years old, he felt the closeness of God in his life, a desire to be with and to know Jesus.  Born in Nijkerk, Holland, on January 24, 1932, he felt called to the priesthood at a very young age. According to Nouwen, he felt that two voices were speaking to him: one saying, “Henri, be sure you make it on your own—make something of your life; find a good career and be sure I can be proud of you.” As well as another voice saying, “Henri, whatever you are going to do, even if you don’t do anything very interesting in the eyes of the world, be sure you stay close to the heart of Jesus; be sure you stay close to the love of God and never lose touch with your vocation.” Throughout his life, Henri felt the tangible tension and struggle between those two perspectives.

Henri Nouwen became an internationally renowned Catholic priest and author. He wrote over 39 books on the spiritual life, which sold over 8 million copies in over 28 languages. Nouwen was also a respected professor and beloved pastor. He famously taught at the University of Notre Dame, and the Divinity Schools of Yale and Harvard. He also reached out to thousands through leading Eucharistic celebrations, lectures and retreats all over the world. 

However, Nouwen felt that his true home and his most valuable vocation came when he accepted the invitation to leave Harvard and become the priest at the L’Arche Daybreak community near Toronto. L’Arche Daybreak is one of over 100 communities founded by Jean Vanier where people with developmental disabilities live full-time with assistants. Many people in the L’Arche community are rejected and outcast in the world. But L’Arche embraces everyone, handicapped members and assistants, reminding all that God loves us in our brokenness. “L’Arche exists not to help the mentally handicapped get ‘normal,’ but to help them share their spiritual gifts with the world.” (Nouwen).

Nouwen spent the last ten years of his life living and ministering in the L’Arche Daybreak community.  This accomplished author and former professor devoted his energies to those whose IQs and disabilities placed them on the margins of society. And, in doing so, he felt that the love of God became more concrete, transforming and real to him than ever before. “These broken, wounded, and completely unpretentious people forced me to let go of my relevant self—the self that can do things, show things, prove things, build things—and forced me to reclaim that unadorned self in which I’m completely vulnerable, open to receive and give love regardless of any accomplishments.” – Henri Nouwen

Lesson: Philippians 2:3-11 (NIV)

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:6-11, considered an early Christian poem, is the centerpiece of the book of Philippians. Everything Paul says in the book revolves around it. It is also one of the most common texts used when describing the incarnation of Jesus, which we naturally ponder this time of year. The Son of God, perfect and good in every regard, became a human being. Humans can be nasty creatures. We’re stinky and our bodies make strange noises. We eat food and it leaves our bodies as excrement. Our bones ache, our muscles get sore, our breath stinks, our teeth stain and our wounds get infected and filled with pus. Jesus, the glorious and all powerful second Person of the Trinity, entered into this nastiness with us. And if entering into this nastiness with us wasn’t enough, he voluntarily made himself even lower by dying in one of the most humiliating and brutal ways the world has ever seen. The stair-step nature of this poem, with Paul describing a descent of Jesus going lower and lower, only to ultimately be elevated, is obvious.

There are subtle echoes in this passage to the Adam story from Genesis 1-3. The word “likeness” jumps out, as God states in Genesis 1:26 “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…” Yet another echo to those early chapters of Genesis is found in Philippians 2:6, where Jesus did not consider equality with God as something to be used to his own advantage or “grasped.” Our minds should immediately be taken back to the Garden, where Adam and Eve saw that the fruit was “pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom” after the serpent tells them eating this fruit will make them “like God.” (Genesis 3:5-6) From the very beginning humans have been trying to grasp equality with God. Yet here is Jesus, God in the flesh and equal to God, having every right to use that to his own advantage, but making himself nothing. Humans (mistakenly) strive for equality with God. Though we would like to think we’ve learned from our past mistakes of trying to be like God, we still try to build a life where God is not needed, and where we define good and evil on our own terms.

The point of this passage is not merely to philosophically ponder the mysteries of the incarnation. No, the point Paul is making is that followers of Jesus need to let this same kind of thinking that dominated Jesus’ mind also dominate ours. Humility is honoring others above self. The incarnation is a beautiful example of that. During this season of expectation, let that attitude direct our thinking.

Remembrance

One: God of all Creation
All: What do you require of us?
One: to do justice
All: seeking peace & reconciliation, standing with the marginalized and forgotten
One: to love kindness
All: showing compassion and unconditional caring for those in need
One: to walk humbly
All: following in the steps of Jesus, lifting up not the work of our hands but the power that sustains our service.
www.churchofthebrethren.org

Challenge

1. Commit Philippians 2:6-11 to memory.

2. The English word "humility" stems from the same root word in Latin that is related to humus (not hummus). Humus is an organic component of soil formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant material. Find a way this week to appreciate simple aspects of nature that we take for granted—even things we depend on for life or sustenance. Maybe it is possible to beautify a desolate or forgotten area no longer in its prime.

Reflection

In a culture driven by productivity, how can you balance the tension of setting and achieving goals personally, academically, or professionally while keeping a posture of humility and preferring others?

Consider Henri Nouwen’s great joy in working with people with severe special needs. He said he learned more from the L’Arche residents than his Harvard students even though many were unable to care for themselves or communicate with him. What do you think these friends taught him? When have you learned from people who were very different from you? 

Further Growth

2021: 3rd Sunday in Advent

Old Testament: Zephaniah 3:14-20
Psalm: Psalm 85
New Testament: Philippians 4:4-9
Gospel: Luke 3:7-20

2020: 3rd Sunday in Advent

Old Testament: Isaiah 65:17-25
Psalm: Psalm 126
New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
Gospel: John 3:22-30

December Week 1

Virtue: Humility
Resolution: I choose to honor others above self.

Human Story: Mother Teresa (1910 - 1997)

Shane Claiborne wrote the following after a summer experience in Calcutta:

People often ask me what Mother Teresa was like. Did she glow in the dark or have a halo? She was short, wrinkled, and precious, maybe even a little ornery--like a beautiful, wise old granny.  But there is one thing I will never forget—her feet were deformed. Each morning during Mass, I would stare at those feet. I wondered if Mother Teresa had leprosy. But I wasn’t going to ask, of course. One day a sister asked us, “Have you noticed Mother’s feet? We nodded, curious. She said, “Her feet are deformed because we get just enough donated shoes for everyone, and Mother does not want anyone to get stuck with the worst pair, so she digs through and finds those. Years of wearing bad shoes have deformed her feet.” That is the kind of love that places our neighbors’ needs above our own.

This messenger of God’s love was born on August 27, 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia. She was baptized Anjezë Gonxha. From the day of her First Holy Communion, a love for souls was within her. At the age of eighteen, moved by a desire to become a missionary, Gonxha left her home to join the Sisters of Loreto, in Ireland. There she received the name Sister Mary Teresa after St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Soon after, she departed for Calcutta, India where she would discover her life’s work. Sister Teresa taught at St. Mary’s School for girls in Calcutta for twenty years. In 1946, Mother Teresa received her “inspiration,” her “call within a call” as Jesus’ love for others took hold of her heart and became the driving force in her life. Two years later she dressed in a white, blue bordered sari and passed through the gates of her beloved convent to enter the world of the poor choosing to live in the slums. She visited families, washed the sores of children, cared for an old man lying sick on the road and nursed a woman dying of hunger. She started each day in communion with Jesus and then went out, rosary in her hand, to find and serve Him in “the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for.”  After some months, she was joined, one by one, by her former students and the Missionaries of Charity was born. 

The whole of Mother Teresa’s life bore witness to the joy of loving. Her actions reflected the greatness and dignity of every human person, the value of little things done faithfully with great love, and the surpassing worth of friendship by God. On September 5, 1997, Mother Teresa’s earthly life came to an end. Fifteen thousand people attended her funeral. Her tomb quickly became a place of pilgrimage and prayer for people of all faiths, rich and poor alike. That same year, Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity numbered nearly 4,000 members and were established in 610 foundations in 123 countries of the world. Mother Teresa left a testament of unshakable faith, invincible hope and extraordinary charity. Her response to Jesus’ plea, “Come be My light,” made her a Missionary of Charity, a “mother to the poor,” a symbol of compassion to the world, and a living witness to the thirsting love of God.  

Humility is the mother of all virtues; purity, charity and obedience. It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent. If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. If you are blamed you will not be discouraged. If they call you a saint you will not put yourself on a pedestal.  – Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Lesson: Luke 14:7-11 (NIV)

When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this person your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

Honor. It is a game humanity has played for ages. We try to gain honor, seeking to be esteemed higher in the eyes of our peers. It is only natural to want others to think highly of us, to be placed on the pedestals of human minds. This was especially so in ancient cultures, much more so than in our world. Honor was more important than life itself. The opposite of honor is shame. When shame came upon an individual or family, it required drastic measures to earn honor back.

Humility is looking to increase the honor of others above the honor of self. Despite humanity’s goal to elevate the self, our text here tells us true honor in the eyes of God is the elevation of the other. Jesus tells us to start low. He tells us right at the beginning, wherever we go, make ourselves the least important person in the room. In 1st century Palestine, when a host would have a party, there was often a “place of honor.”  It would be like the head of the table having an individual sit directly beside them, positioned in a way that those present knew that person was important. It was the most coveted seat. Jesus tells us not to wiggle our way to the front. Stay in the back, behind the scenes, out of view. In doing this, our host will lift us up in His kingdom, which is paradoxical. There may be no earthly fame or recognition, but the consequences of our humble posture will last for eternity.

Remembrance

A prayer for the First Sunday of Advent

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

From the Book of Common Prayer 1976 edition; p. 211

Challenge

Mother Teresa said, “I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them. It was an order. To fail would have been to break the faith.” How can you serve “the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for?” Ask God to show you one specific way to love and serve others during this Advent season.

Reflection

Look back at the photo of Mother Teresa’s feet. What does this image make you feel? What might it be like to choose the worst shoes over and over again?

 What are practical ways we can make ourselves the least important person in the room? What would change if we tried to do this more often?

Further Growth

2021: 2nd Sunday in Advent

Old Testament: Malachi 3:1-5
Psalm: Psalm 126
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 4:1-21
Gospel: Luke 3:1-6

2020: 2nd Sunday in Advent

Old Testament: Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm: Psalm 85
New Testament: 2 Peter 3:8-18
Gospel: Mark 1:1-8

December Introduction

December: Humility

Humility – a modest, low, or accurate view of one’s own importance;

Advent is the first season of the Christian church year. Defined, advent means “the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.” During the Christmas season, we celebrate the arrival of the most notable person in history, Jesus—the Son of God.

If you did not know the story of Jesus, and you relied only on your imagination to picture the arrival of the Son of God, what would you picture? You might think of a grand, mighty display of power, angels, trumpets, and a triumphant entry. You would think of a welcome fit for a king.

As we know, it wasn’t quite like this for Jesus’ arrival. Jesus left all of the comforts of heaven--His home--and stepped into our humanity in the most vulnerable way. He came as an infant. He came with ultimate humility. 

So, the advent we celebrate in December is Jesus. Our notable one, our Savior, arrived with humility. May we show up this month, too. May we arrive in our homes, jobs, celebrations, and even the most ordinary things full of humility.

December: Liturgy

Leader:  Father God, we recognize the power and authority that You alone hold. Thank You for modeling for us how to employ power in a healthy way. You exemplified this through humbly sending Your Son to earth.

People: You must increase; we must decrease.

Leader:  Son of God, we thank You for the model of your incarnation, for coming to live among humanity. We welcome You here today and seek to imitate Your humility.

People: You must increase; we must decrease.

Leader:  Spirit of God, our great Comforter, Your silent, invisible, yet powerful presence is awe-inspiring. We desire to hear Your gentle voice and experience Your peace that passes understanding.

People: You must increase; we must decrease.

November Week 5

Virtue: Community
Resolution: I choose to journey with other believers to participate in the mission of God.

Human Story: Motilon Tribe, Columbia

The Motilon, or Barí as they call themselves, are an aboriginal tribe in the oil rich region of Columbia, South America. The Motilones are known for their indigenously run schools, literacy programs, medical clinics, and missionary outreach to surrounding tribes. This is astounding since, prior to 1960, this tribe was known for killing oil company employees. “The Motilones did not care for each other in any deep way. Each man was responsible for himself, and his family, and no one else.” (Bruchko, p.134) What brought about this change to make the Motilones into a cooperative and supportive community? In short, Jesus brought about the transformation.

In 1962, a 19-year-old from Minneapolis set out to find the Motilones and bring the gospel to them. Bruce Olson, or Bruchko as they called him, spent four years gaining the trust and learning the language of this tribe, and he learned about their history and legends. The Motilones believed that at one time they had a close relationship with God. But after they were deceived by the false prophet, God was “beyond the horizon,” out of man’s reach. They tried to call on God in a variety of ways to no avail. Bruchko became very close friends with the son of one of the tribal chiefs. One day as they discussed this legend about God being over the horizon, Bruchko told “Bobby” that Jesus is the way to restore fellowship with God. After a personal encounter with Jesus, Bobby “tied his hammock strings to Jesus” and learned how to “walk Jesus’ trail.”

After a while Bobby had an opportunity at a tribal ceremony to share Jesus with the others in his village. After hearing Bobby, “no one rejected the news about Jesus. Everyone wanted Him to take them over the horizon.” (Bruchko, p. 153) Their hearts and attitudes transformed as they began to show love and concern for others in their tribe, not only in their own village but in other villages too. A written language was developed and schools began to teach children and adults how to read and write. Books of the new testament were written down in the Barí language to be read and studied. Bruchko worked with outside agencies to provide medicine and equipment for newly established medical clinics. All of this was not without its difficulties. There were times of extreme disease, death, danger, and attack by those wanting to develop the land for oil companies. Through all the ups and downs, Bruchko lived with the Motilon people for around 30 years.

Different tribes in the area had been the focus of other missionaries who expected the tribal converts to wear western clothes and use proper table settings when eating. This caused division within the tribe and made Christianity unappealing to those who hadn’t been saved. The beauty of the “Motilone Miracle” as Bruce Olson calls it is that Bruce never asked them to conform to his or anyone else’s idea of Christianity. He simply presented them with Jesus and helped them follow the trail Jesus laid out before them. 

References: Bruchko by Bruce Olson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motilon
https://www.brandeis.edu/ethics/events/past/tellingthestory/panel1.html

Lesson: Romans 12:3-13 (ESV)

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them… Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 

Within the body of Christ everyone has gifts that contribute to the needs of others. As a church body we shouldn’t expect everyone to have the same function, but rather we should urge others to use the gifts they have. As we appreciate and encourage the giftings of others and love one another by serving them according to our gifting, the body of Christ grows in joy, patience, and genuineness.

When we try to live on our own, in only our own abilities, we are incomplete. But when we live in community with one another, what is lacking in each of us is filled to overflowing by others. Let’s be a community of faith that celebrates the contributions of each individual. 

Remembrance

Let him who cannot be alone beware of community…
Let him who is not in community beware of being alone…
Each by itself has profound pitfalls and perils. One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair.
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer Called to Community: The Life Jesus Wants for His People

Challenge

Pay attention to the giftings of others in your church community. Encourage someone this week by letting them know you have noticed their contribution to the body.

Reflection

If man is to survive, he will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and between cultures. He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life's exciting variety, not something to fear. ― Gene Roddenberry

Further Growth

2021: No 5th Sunday in 2021.

2020: First Sunday in Advent

Old Testament: Isaiah 64:1-9a
Psalm: Psalm 80
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Gospel: Mark 13:24-37

November Week 4

Virtue: Community
Resolution: I choose to journey with other believers to participate in the mission of God.

Human Story: St. Clare of Assisi (1194 – 1253)

Born Chiara Offreduccio to a wealthy family in the Italian town of Assisi, St. Clare is known for forsaking all the worldly pleasures that could have rightfully been hers. Instead, she chose to live a life of poverty and service. Clare was very pious from a young age, but at 18, after hearing Francis of Assisi speak during a church service, Clare decided that she should enter the religious life. Her father wished her to marry instead, so Clare secretly left her home at night, and went to meet with Francis and some of his followers. In a small chapel, Francis exchanged her fine clothes for the plain clothes of a nun’s habit as well as cutting her hair for her entry into a Benedictine convent. Her father attempted to forcefully remove her, but she refused to leave, and so he relented.

Francis provided a small section of his home church, San Damiano, as a place for her, her sister, and others who wished to live apart from the world in simplicity and service to the Lord. There she formed the Order of the Poor Ladies and, at only 21 years old, became their first abbess. The Ladies, or Clares as they later became known, lived in a community of extreme austerity, devoting themselves only to prayer, work in the convent, and service to each other and those in need in the community. This type of ascetic life seems overly extreme by modern standards, but to Clare it was necessary to create a community wholly apart from the world and completely devoted to living as examples of Christ, in humility serving “the least of these.” 

Clare herself was first to serve where needed, whether it was caring for the sick and needy that came to the convent or washing her fellow sisters’ feet as they went barefoot performing their various duties. Although Clare was in a position which would have provided her with some measure of comfort, she worked tirelessly for the good of her order and the surrounding community, and even to St. Francis himself, who often turned to her for advice and encouragement due to her steadfast devotion.

Clare’s love for her community was so great and her faith so strong, that twice when Assisi was under siege from an invading army, Clare’s actions led to those armies fleeing. One account says she stood before the invaders bearing an element of the Eucharist and caused retreat. Another says she gathered the Ladies together telling them, “Don’t be afraid. Trust in Jesus.” She prayed “I beseech you, dear Lord, protect these whom I am now unable to protect.” Miraculously, the army left without attacking the city or convent. Clare even had to stand against the pope who, thinking he knew best how the Ladies should live, tried to change the rules of Clares order. Clare was adamant that her sisters live in the life of self-sacrifice they chose. Faced with such determination, Pope Gregory IX (and Pope Innocent IV after him) gave the Clares official permission to continue as they had. Long after her death, the town of Assisi, and the Order of Poor Clares still hold St. Clare as one of the highest examples of love and devotion to Jesus Christ and to community.

Resources:
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-clare-of-assisi/
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04004a.htm
https://cloisteredlife.com/poor-clares

Lesson: Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV)

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Our participation in the mission of God requires that we be in communion with other believers; we cannot do it alone. Our lesson this week reminds us of the importance of gathering together. It is in that gathering and journeying together, where we find encouragement and accountability to live as those who mirror Christ. For this reason, it is hard to overstate the importance the New Testament gives to gathering and being a part of the body of Christ. As the writer of Hebrews indicates, our meeting together is where two great elements of Christian life are brought together: love and good works.

The central vocation or calling of the Christian life is to love God with all that we are and love our neighbors as ourselves. As we are anchored in a thriving community of faith, we are equipped to live out this two-sided vocation. In our fellowship with others, we find friends who will “bear our burdens” (Gal 6.2), encourage us, and “build us up” (1 Thess 5.11).  Through an authentic sharing of life, we too love others by bearing with them and we can truly “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Rom 12.15). And as we gather together, we are able to emulate the first disciples by attending to the teachings of Christ and the apostles, through table fellowship, and by earnestly praying for one another (Acts 2.42). It is in that gathering together that God has called and enabled a diversity of fellow believers “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph 4.11-12). Indeed, we need each other if we are going to attain mature faith, which faith is secure, grounded in love for God and others, and oriented to participate in Christ’s work of “making all things new” (Eph 4.13-16; Rev 21.5).

The witness of the New Testament is clear: we are enabled to live out our calling to love and do good works only through sincere connection to the Spirit-empowered community of faith. This is why our fellowship with other believers is essential to our work as ambassadors of Christ carrying out the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5.18-20). And, so, we resolve to “choose to journey with other believers to participate in the mission of God.”

Remembrance

We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ, rather it means becoming the image of the beloved, an image disclosed through transformation. This means we are to become vessels of God's compassionate love for others. ― St. Clare of Assisi

Challenge

Saint Clare lived a life of simplicity which allowed her to serve the needs of others. The spiritual discipline of simplicity encourages us to remove those things that hinder us. Once these hinderances are eliminated, we are able to better recognize and respond to the needs of those around us. Think about the clutter in your life and make steps this week toward reducing or eliminating one of these hinderances. Here are some possibilities:

• Physical clutter in your home (too much stuff – clothes, books, mail, paper, photos, etc.)

• Too many commitments/activities

• Attitudes of pride, selfishness, control, etc.

• Spending beyond your means

Reflection

I do believe in simplicity. It is astonishing as well as sad, how many trivial affairs even the wisest thinks he must attend to in a day; how singular an affair he thinks he must omit. When the mathematician would solve a difficult problem, he first frees the equation of all encumbrances, and reduces it to its simplest terms. So simplify the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real. — Henry David Thoreau

Further Growth:

2021: First Sunday of Advent

Old Testament: Zephaniah 14:1-9
Psalm: Psalm 50
New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Gospel: Luke 21:25-33

2020: Book of Common Prayer Proper 29

Old Testament: Ezekiel 34:11-20
Psalm: Psalm 95
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46

November Week 3

Virtue: Community
Resolution: I choose to journey with other believers to participate in the mission of God.

Human Story: Julie Martinez

Julie Martinez has been a missionary for 24 years in Honduras, Chile, Zambia, and Cambodia. She has now returned to the states – where she serves with an international organization working with orphans.  Julie has experienced both great joy and deep tragedy while serving others. This is Julie’s story:

The following is a poem that tells my faith journey in a very succinct form.

I’m Julie.  I used to do drugs.
How I got there, why I left there is the story of my life.
But it is not the whole story. 

I’m Julie.  I was married, but now I am no longer married.
How I got there, why I left there, is also the story of my life.
But it is not the whole story. 

I’m Julie. I am a missionary and a mom of two wonderful children.
How I got to those places is the story of my life too.
But it is not the whole story. 

I’m Julie.  I’m a sinner, saved by glorious grace.
That is the larger and more important story.
Only God, in His amazing love, knows the whole of it.

Life can be extremely challenging. Mine has been. I am not a stranger to hardship or difficult places, but neither am I a stranger to God’s great and marvelous grace nor His boundless love, which He has lavished upon me. I have been profoundly influenced by a number of verses. Romans 12:20 is one of them. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” This verse spoke to my heart and mind in a profound and powerful way when I was 17. As a result, I was completely delivered from drug use as a teen.

Isaiah 61:1 is another pivotal verse in my life. After learning some very hard truths about my husband and his destructive choices, watching him walk away from his family, I experienced firsthand the healing power of God and His ability to bind up the brokenhearted.  I came to understand how He can and does fill the empty places of my life.

Eugene Peterson in The Message translates John 1:14 as “The Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood.” It became a standard for me as I lived out a call to missions. The greatest impact I have ever had upon anyone is when I lived my life for and with others.  I have lived in some very remote areas of the globe and in those places, I am known as Mom Julie. My point is I am known and known well. My flaws are known but so is my love for Jesus.

Our redemption is never for ourselves alone; it is always for the sake of others. God has led me literally all over the world. He has helped me navigate my life—including the unavoidable places of deep pain and hardship. His provision has been boundless, His love endless. He extended great grace in my life and allowed me to extend grace into the lives of others.

Lesson: John 1:14a (The Message)

The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.

Jesus chose to give up His perfect community in heaven to move into our messy neighborhood on this earth. The NIV says that He “made his dwelling among us.” Why would Jesus come to earth and live as a human being? The most obvious reason is in order to become our Savior by dying for our sins and reconciling our relationship with the Father. But another reason He lived as a man was to show us how to live in community. John 17:32 records a prayer that Jesus prayed for all who would choose to believe in Him. He prays that all believers will be brought into complete unity. You can’t have unity unless you first have community. Do you have a place like Julie, where you “are known and known well?” It’s reminiscent of the theme song to Cheers:

Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to be where you can see,
Our troubles are all the same;
You want to be where everybody knows your name.

Community doesn’t mean everyone has to be the same. Community is actually richer when there is a diversity of experiences, thoughts, ideas, gifts, and talents. A community is where each one uses his strengths to help others and seeks to encourage everyone else to do the same.

Acts 2:46 says “everyday [the believers] continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” So, not only did they worship together, they also ate meals together. In essence, they shared life together just like Jesus did when he was on this earth.

Remembrance

Love Song, Haskell Miller

The love we give each other
Is that which builds us up.
We live in one another;
We share a common cup.
Our loves are each a whisper
Of one sweet voice divine,
And when we sing together
The chorus is sublime.
Glory be to the Father,
To the Son,
And to the Holy Spirit.
As in the beginning,
So it is now
And so it evermore shall be.

Challenge

Julie’s human story says that she is known and known well. Are you in a community where folks know you well? What can you do to foster or even create such a community?

Reflection

There was a farmer who grew excellent quality wheat and every season he won the award for the best grown wheat in his county. One year a reporter from the local newspaper interviewed the farmer and learned that each spring the man shared his seed with his neighbors so that they too could plant it in their fields.
“How can you afford to share your best wheat seed with your neighbors when they are entering their crops in the competition with yours?" the reporter asked.
“Why that's very simple,” the farmer explained. "The wind picks up pollen from the developing wheat and carries it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior wheat, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of all the wheat, including mine. If I am to grow good wheat, I must help my neighbors grow good wheat."
The reporter realized how the farmer's explanation also applied to peoples' lives in the most fundamental way... Those who want to live meaningfully and well must help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

Further Growth

2021: Book of Common Prayer Proper 29

Old Testament: Daniel 7:9-14
Psalm: Psalm 93
New Testament: Revelation 1:1-8
Gospel: John 18:33-37

2020: Book of Common Prayer Proper 28

Old Testament: Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18
Psalm: Psalm 90
New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10
Gospel: Matthew 25:14-30

November Week 2

Virtue: Community
Resolution: I choose to journey with other believers to participate in the mission of God.

Human Story: St. Basil (330 – 379)

St. Basil the Great was born to a prominent Christian family in Caesarea Mazaca of Cappadocia.  His grandmother, father, mother, and four of his nine siblings would all become saints of the church. He was raised around deeply spiritual and very wealthy individuals. His father was a lawyer and member of the Roman aristocracy. After following in his father’s footsteps by studying law, he returned home to pursue a career as a teacher of rhetoric.

This trajectory, however, would not last long because soon after returning to Cappadocia, he was baptized. He described his experience:

Much time had I spent in vanity, and had wasted nearly all my youth in the vain labor which I underwent in acquiring the wisdom made foolish by God. Then once upon a time, like a man roused from deep sleep, I turned my eyes to the marvelous light of the truth of the Gospel, and I perceived the uselessness of “the wisdom of the princes of this world, who come to naught.” … Then I read the Gospel, and I saw there that a great means of reaching perfection was the selling of one’s goods, sharing them with the poor, giving up all care for this life, and the refusal to allow the soul to be turned by any sympathy to things of earth.

He traveled to visit some of the monastic movements that were developing in different parts of the world— Palestine, Syria, and Egypt. He then returned to family property in Annesi where his mother and sister had set up a convent as a place of solitude and prayer. Basil joined them in these endeavors. When he would go out into the cities, he could not help but notice the difference between the peace of Annesi and the chaos of the cities. His biographer says,

Although Annesi was an isolated and peaceful place, the world outside was in a period of profound social and theological upheaval. Economic factors such as heavy taxation of the lower classes… and the increasing concentration of land in the hands of wealthy absentee landlords were sharpening the distinctions between rich and poor.

This disparity caused another significant turning point in Basil’s life. He decided to bring his monastic principles back into community to attempt to bring inner peace. Soon after he was ordained a priest and began serving a local parish, a famine struck Caesarea. This tragedy finally caused Basil to find his voice, and he became an advocate for social justice in the church. Basil formed the “Basiliad,” a place for those experiencing hunger or sickness to receive care. He was a master fundraiser, convincing his wealthy Christian friends to invest in the project for the poor and sick. Many historians regard this endeavor as the first true “clinic” or health care center.

Basil believed that the church should live together in community with one another, not allowing any to suffer as long as there were means to provide a solution. May the church today learn from the passion of Basil and be bold in vision and dedication to live in true community with our neighbors, especially those who are suffering.

Lesson: Luke 10:25-28

"Christ and the Rich Young Ruler" (1889)
by Heinrich Hofmann

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."

This passage was one Basil often quoted. He particularly felt drawn to the part “love your neighbor as yourself.” Basil called this part of the verse, “the mother of the commandments.”1 He firmly believed that if your neighbor had less than you, then it was your responsibility to sacrifice your own abundance for that person. If you were hungry, you would want someone to provide food for you. If you were thirsty because of drought, you would want someone to provide water. For Basil, this commandment became his vision of the kingdom on earth. This led him to give away his fortune and build his Basiliad so that people could survive the famine. He believed deeply in community, resulting in his radical care for others.

Sometimes, it seems that the modern-day church can take the sting out of challenging Biblical passages. This watering down of Christ’s teachings hinders our participation in full community with others. We, at times, re-interpret scriptures like loving your neighbor as yourself in order to temper the impact it could have on our lives. Basil was able to remove the tendency to lessen the weight of scripture, and he allowed it to be felt full force in his life. This ability to take seriously the challenges presented in scripture led him to a life of care for others, especially those who had been left out of community or those who were suffering.  

Reference: 1 In Times of Famine and Drought, 7

Remembrance

The bread which you hold back belongs to the hungry; the coat, which you guard in your locked storage-chests belongs to the naked; the footwear mouldering in your closet belongs to those without shoes. The silver that you keep hidden in a safe place belongs to the one in need. Thus, however many are those whom you could have provided for, so many are those whom you wrong. -   Saint Basil

Challenge

• Read again Basil’s quote in the remembrance section. What do you have that could be someone else’s provision?

• St. Basil was very good at asking his friends to engage with those who were suffering in their community. He rallied massive support for his clinic called the Basiliad. This week find a non-profit in your community that is doing work for those who are suffering and make a financial donation. If you can’t make a donation, ask if there is a way to volunteer.

• Ask a friend to participate in the above challenge with you.

• Do some research on St. Basil and the Basiliad to see if you are inspired in any further ways by his story.

Reflection

Are there certain areas of your life where you are too comfortable? Where could you care more for others? Do you truly love your neighbor as self? These are all very challenging questions to consider this week.

Further Growth

2021: Book of Common Prayer Proper 28

Old Testament: Daniel 12:1-13
Psalm: Psalm 16
New Testament: Hebrews 10:31-39
Gospel: Mark 13:14-23

2020: Book of Common Prayer Proper 27

Old Testament: Amos 5:18-24
Psalm: Psalm 70
New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13

November Week 1

Virtue: Community
Resolution: I choose to journey with other believers to participate in the mission of God.

Human Story: Dorothy Day (1897-1980)

Dorothy Day was a leading Christian social activist of the 20th century. More than most, she saw the human dignity in others - especially the less fortunate - and was a bastion for peace, equality, and authentic community. In her early twenties, prior to professing any type of creedal faith, Day was a leader in the suffragist movement's National Women's Party (aka: The Silent Sentinels). In 1917, the Silent Sentinels became the first group in in history to picket the White House, demanding that President Woodrow Wilson sign a constitutional amendment that would extend voting rights to women. They were met with fierce opposition despite being nonviolent in their protest. Many women (including Day) were beaten and jailed. The nineteenth amendment ultimately gave women the right to vote in 1920. 

In 1927, at the age of 30, she converted to Christianity; and in 1932, she co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement (CWM) with Peter Maurin. The CWM promotes Catholic teachings and confronts societal injustices. It is now world-renowned for its commitment to feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, rejecting violence, working for peace, and providing dignity and justice to the marginalized. Out of this inspiring movement have since been borne hundreds of "hospitality houses" across the globe that are still providing help for the needy.

A byproduct of the CWM was the corresponding newspaper The Catholic Worker, of which Day was chief editor until her death in 1980. Day was a journalist and wrote for virtually her entire adult life. It was perhaps her autobiography The Long Loneliness that has reached more people than any of her other writings. In it Day writes,

The final word is love... To love we must know each other... and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone any more... We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.

Day wasn't being ethereal, academic, or sentimental in her conclusion here. She was an integrated person whose entire life oozed with direct service to the poor and in authentic community with people that society had rejected.

For these reasons and many more, when Pope Francis became the first Pope to address the United States Congress in 2015, he chose to mention Day as one of four exemplary Americans who helped build a better future in America.

Lesson: 1 John 4:20, 3:14-17 New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

4:20 Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.

3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

LOVE and HATE... both words are loaded with such great meaning but are so often overused that we don't really even feel the weight of them sometimes. Then we are reminded by this passage: IF we "hate" others (specifically, our "brothers and sisters" who are fellow believers in Christ), then we cannot truly love God, we cannot abide in God's love, and we do not possess eternal life.

Perhaps some forms of hate have tried to creep into your life, so let's examine what that might look like. Obviously, violence, destruction, and harm toward others is implied by this word hate, but it is far more than that. Apathy, self-centeredness, deceit, and gossip all fit the description too. Hate can be (and often is) an action, but it can also be a thought or an intention. Let us not miss the opportunity to see these forms of hate as inhibitors to our relationship with God.

What, then, does love look like? What is clearly NOT being referred to here is love that is romanticized. Instead, this passage implies kindness, empathy, generosity, self-sacrifice, and putting others who are in need above your own self-interest. These are the kinds of love that connect us to God and bear witness that we have a relationship with the Divine. How have you practiced these things lately? Or not? May we be on guard daily to make sure our thoughts and intentions are filled with love - especially toward our brothers and sisters. 

Remembrance

A prayer from the Church of the Province of the West Indies

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, the privilege is ours to share in the loving, healing, reconciling mission of your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, in this age and wherever we are. Since without you we can do no good thing:
May your Spirit make us wise;
May your Spirit guide us;
May your Spirit renew us;
May your Spirit strengthen us;
So that we will be:
Strong in faith,
Discerning in proclamation,
Courageous in witness,
Persistent in good deeds.
This we ask through the name of the Father.

Challenge

Hatred is a common attitude of human experience. Even back in biblical times it was said, “love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” (Matthew 5:43) But Jesus said to “Love your enemies.” (Matthew 5:44) Do you feel hatred, irritation, or impatience toward someone else? If so, the first step away from hatred is to pray for that person. Write down that person’s name and pray for them each day this week. At the end of the week, compare your attitude about that person with how you felt about them at the beginning of the week.

Reflection

Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than they love the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their personal intentions may be ever so honest, earnest and sacrificial. God hates this wishful dreaming because it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. Those who dream of this idolized community demand that it be fulfilled by God, by others and by themselves. They enter the community of Christians with their demands set up by their own law, and judge one another and God accordingly. It is not we who build. Christ builds the church. Whoever is mindful to build the church is surely well on the way to destroying it, for he will build a temple to idols without wishing or knowing it. We must confess he builds. We must proclaim, he builds. We must pray to him, and he will build. We do not know his plan. We cannot see whether he is building or pulling down. It may be that the times which by human standards are the times of collapse are for him the great times of construction. It may be that the times which from a human point are great times for the church are times when it's pulled down. It is a great comfort which Jesus gives to his church. You confess, preach, bear witness to me, and I alone will build where it pleases me. Do not meddle in what is not your providence. Do what is given to you, and do it well, and you will have done enough.... Live together in the forgiveness of your sins. Forgive each other every day from the bottom of your hearts. -  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Further Growth

The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist by Dorothy Day
Loaves and Fishes: The Inspiring Story of the Catholic Worker Movement by Dorothy Day
The Reckless Way of Love: Notes on Following Jesus by Dorothy Day
Called to Community: The Life Jesus Wants for His People a compilation from 21 various authors

2021: Book of Common Prayer Proper 26

Old Testament: Isaiah 1:10-20
Psalm: Psalm 32
New Testament: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12
Gospel: Luke 19:1-10

2020: Book of Common Prayer Proper 26

Old Testament: Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Psalm: Psalm 119:1-16
New Testament: Hebrews 7:23-28
Gospel: Mark 12:28-34

*apocryphal text

November Introduction

November: Community

Resolution: I choose to journey with other believers to participate in the mission of God.

The letter to the Hebrews encourages us to always be mindful of how we can encourage one another in love and good works and to be committed to meeting together for this purpose (Hebrews 10:24). The Christian life is one lived out in common fellowship with other Christ followers. Indeed, to have been called by God into fellowship with Christ and the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 13:14) is to have also been called by God into communal citizenship and family membership in God’s kingdom (Ephesians 2:19). As we live out this calling, we mirror the early church’s way of life, who devoted themselves to community and fellowship (Acts 2:42)—to journeying with other believers. When reading the New Testament, it is hard to miss the importance and centrality of community in the Christian life.

As we seek to be more closely conformed to the image of God’s Son, we will naturally desire to build and participate in community. Our resolution, liturgy, and reflections this month help give us purposeful attention to developing a commitment to community. This commitment isn’t just about our edification but also our call to carry out with fellow believers, as a unified body, the work of God in the world. As you read the human stories and lessons, take time to purposefully engage the remembrance, challenge, and reflection with friends and/or family. Perhaps, if you don’t already, let this month be a start for growing in faith with others. Look for ways to participate in the mission of God as a fellow sojourner in the Way.

November: Liturgy

Leader: Heavenly Father, You have called us into fellowship with Your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit as the bedrock of our communion within the church.

People: Father, empower us to live in union with Jesus and the Spirit.

Leader: Jesus, You call us into fellowship with other believers that we might be partners with You in the mission of God. 

People: Jesus, empower us to stir up one another to love and good works.

Leader:  Holy Spirit, You empower us to live in love and unity that we might be a light to the darkness.

People: Holy Spirit, empower us to be ministers of reconciliation.

October Week 5

Virtue: Creativity
Resolution: I choose to reveal the beauty of God according to my strengths and gifts.

Human Story: G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

Dale Ahlquist, president of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, says that G.K. was one of the greatest writers and the greatest thinker of the 20th century. This is high praise indeed and difficult to quantify. How do you measure such statements? Ahlquist suggests by the sheer quantity of writing and by the influence of those writings.

G.K. was a prolific writer who composed over 100 books, contributed to over 200 other books, hundreds of poems, five plays, five novels, 200 short stories, and over 4,000 newspaper essays. He wrote on a plethora of topics: literary criticism, social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology.

The quantity of works is astounding, but the quality of the work is even more impressive. His work Everlasting Man was influential in converting a young atheist named C.S. Lewis. His novel The Napoleon of Notting Hill inspired Michael Collins to lead a movement for Irish independence. His essays were influential in the life and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi who lead a revolution in India. The list of famous literary figures who attribute inspiration to Chesterton is unending. T.S. Eliot said, “G.K. deserves a permanent claim on our loyalty.”

He was not highly educated and was, by all accounts, a very disorganized, fun-loving, and eccentric figure. He rarely lost a public debate due to his disarming humor combined with quick wit and vast knowledge of topics. He wrote to defend the common man, the poor, and his Christian faith. He did this in a way that didn’t repel but attracted people to his faith.

I also have a personal testimony of the power of Chesterton’s writing. I went through a season of deep faith crisis. It was a disconcerting time for me. I had accepted Christ as a child but over time had become disillusioned with church, and my questions about faith had superseded my blind trust in the things people had taught me about God. I had read, prayed, talked to people, researched, and ultimately felt like I was spiritually spiraling out of faith. I remembered hearing about Chesterton and his book Orthodoxy as a creative defense of faith. I picked it up and went to Starbucks to read, hoping for some inspiration. This book is about his own journey of trying to find God in many different ways but ultimately returning to orthodoxy. That day one hour turned into four hours as I had found someone who seemed to understand my own journey. It felt like the heavens broke open and the presence of Christ flooded my soul. I wept (yes in the middle of Starbucks) and began my own journey back home to orthodoxy.

Chesterton is the ideal candidate to represent creativity in this guide. He used his creative abilities to defend the poor and the Christian faith but in a way that simultaneously drew in the intellectual and wealthy while even bringing laughs and light-heartedness. May we, as believers, seek to use our own strengths in a creative way to represent our faith well.

Lesson: James 3:13-18

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

In this passage, James, the half-brother of Jesus, is encouraging the readers of this letter to view wisdom in a more creative way. The audience evidently considered themselves very wise, but their wisdom was not impacting their everyday lives. They claimed to be “good” but were not demonstrating this goodness toward others. They knew the right things but still held on to envy, jealously, and misplaced ambition. G.K. Chesterton once humorously said, “The word 'good' has many meanings. For example, if a man were to shoot his grandmother at a range of five hundred yards, I should call him a good shot, but not necessarily a good man.”

This quote demonstrates both the creativity of Chesterton and the truth of this passage. We, as believers, cannot claim to be wise and good but continue in patterns of behavior that don’t produce good results. If we continue to be jealous and ambitious about selfish things, the end result is “disorder and every vile practice.”

If, however, we are truly wise, we can work toward an end result of righteousness. Those who are truly wise will demonstrate that in some specific ways: gentleness, being open to reason, full of mercy, demonstrating good fruit. These ways of thinking and behaving will lead to peace instead of disorder. The characteristic of being “open to reason” is something that Christians aren’t usually known for. It is a characteristic that Chesterton nurtured throughout his life, and it caused him to be winsome. It takes creativity to maintain an orthodox stance on Christian belief but to also remain open to wisdom. This is the balance that James seems to be referring to with the idea of wisdom. Wisdom is having the right knowledge, but also being able to interact with others in a way that achieves peace.

When we are tempted to dismiss others because we are jealous, intimidated, or disagree with their opinions, we can ask God how to be “open to reason.” How can we creatively engage these types of people in a way that is winsome instead of combative? This can be difficult, but James also says that if we lack wisdom, we can ask God and He will give it to us. May we have the wisdom to creatively engage culture in a way that is compelling.

Remembrance

Read or listen to “By the Babe Unborn” poem by Chesterton.

Challenge

1. With both the virtue of creativity and the story of Chesterton in mind, the challenge this week is to write 2 or 3 journal entries about some things that are happening in culture. Choose something that interests you that you think needs a good Christian response. Try to think creatively about how we, as believers, should respond to that particular situation. Don’t write with the expectation that you will share this publicly, but just to engage in a creative thought process.

2. Choose some of G.K. Chesterton’s writings to read this week.

Reflection

Some G. K. Chesterton quotes to reflect upon –

Do not be so open-minded that your brains fall out. 

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.

You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.

Humility is the mother of giants. One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.

It has been often said, very truly, that religion is the thing that makes the ordinary man feel extraordinary; it is an equally important truth that religion is the thing that makes the extraordinary man feel ordinary.

Further Growth

2021: No 5th week in October.

2020: No 5th week in October.

October Week 4

VIRTUE: CREATIVITY
RESOLUTION: I CHOOSE TO REVEAL THE BEAUTY OF GOD ACCORDING TO MY STRENGTHS AND GIFTS.

Human Story: Madeleine L’Engle (1918-2007)

When we wrestle with questions, doubts, and fears, it is as if “we have been groping along in the darkness. The creative act helps us to emerge into the light” (Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith & Art, 112). Madeleine L’Engle wrote these words about creativity after a well-seasoned career as an author, which includes having received the Newberry Award for A Wrinkle in Time (1962) amongst other awards in her repertoire. L’Engle’s works are known and cherished for not avoiding the difficult and uncomfortable questions and aspects of faith, as she artfully crafted literature that not only gave her an outlet to grapple with and process uncertainty, but also granted her readers a space to do so as well. L’Engle insisted that art in any form “helps us to know that we are often closer to God in our doubts than in our certainties, that it is all right to be like the small child who constantly asks: Why? Why? Why?” (113). For L’Engle, the gift of creativity was designed for the very purpose of exploring, questioning, and making sense of God and life. And the act of creating was to become most fully alive – to have a way to tolerate the “what ifs” and “whys” and “how comes” that populate daily living.

“All life is a story, a story unravelling and revealing meaning. Despite our inability to control circumstances, we are given the gift of being free to respond to them in our own way, creatively or destructively” (105). Responding to life in love is the nature of divine creation; we have the opportunity and privilege to respond in the same manner. Madeleine L’Engle’s literature and life exemplify faith’s dependence on an active and creative response to the unpredictable elements of one’s life story.

Lesson: Mark 9:18, 20-29 (ESV)

… “So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”… And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

There are many healing stories throughout the gospels in which Jesus interacts with the sufferer by both questioning them about what it is they want and also about what it is they believe, specifically in terms of who Jesus is and what they believe Jesus can do for them. This case is no different in that regard, but it is different in the candidacy of the father’s statement of faith in that he openly declares his desperate hope that it is possible for his son to be healed but also acknowledges how difficult it is to hold on to such belief! In fact, this father is probably the most honest character in Mark’s gospel. Throughout the book the disciples constantly declare with certainty Jesus’ sovereignty but when challenged, they deny him. The father in this story at least tells it as it is – he believes, and he also disbelieves. His faith is not blind, he is not ignorant of his situation – he came to the disciples in good faith, but they did not have the faith to heal his son. And so, when brought to Jesus (for he and his son were brought, rather than him going to Jesus on his own accord), the father did not come with the certainty that other sufferers seemed to inherently possess. He came with enough desperation to at least ask. Jesus, however, does not turn the man and his son away because of his unbelief, and even though he admonishes the man’s statement of “if you can,” Jesus has compassion (the very thing the father asked for). There are times when our faith may be great and strong, but there are also times where our faith may be uncertain and desperate. It is a comfort to know that we can cry out “I believe; help my unbelief!”, and it is enough. 

Remembrance

“The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean –
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down –
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Challenge

Do something this week that is a different type of creativity for you. Here are some examples. Choose one or two (or more):

• Write a haiku about your favorite person.

• Make a terrarium.

• Make a card for someone and send it with love. It can be really a simple collage with stamped lettering or a little watercolor.

• Try drawing or writing something with your non dominant hand.

• Make a deck of scripture cards.

• Think of your own creative idea and do it.

Reflection

Unless we are creators we are not fully alive. What do I mean by creators? Not only artists, whose acts of creation are the obvious ones of working with paint or clay or words. Creativity is a way of living life, no matter our vocation or how we earn our living. Creativity is not limited to the arts, or having some kind of important career. -  Madeleine L’Engle

Further Growth:

2021: Book of Common Prayer Proper 25

Old Testament: Jeremiah 14:1-10, 19-22
Psalm: Psalm 84
New Testament: 2 Timothy 4:5-18
Gospel: Luke 18:9-14

2020: Book of Common Prayer Proper 25

Old Testament: Exodus 22:21-27
Psalm: Psalm 1
New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Gospel: Matthew 22:34-46

October Week 3

Virtue: Creativity
Resolution: I choose to reveal the beauty of God according to my strengths and gifts.

Human Story: C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)

C. S. Lewis is one of the most well-known, popular, and influential Christian writers of the 20th century. He was a professor of English Literature at Oxford University and Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University. He wrote more than 30 books and countless essays. While many of his writings were academic, political, or social criticisms, he is known best for his fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia and his apologetic books like Mere Christianity. Lewis’ first love was in storytelling. He had been enamored with fairytales, myths, and legends from his childhood. Despite becoming an atheist during his youth, Lewis found something beautiful in the mythologies and fantasy novels he read as a boy. It was this mysterious beauty and long late-night talks with friends, like J. R. R. Tolkien, that eventually led to Lewis’ belief in God and his faith in Jesus Christ, which he called “the true Myth.”

During the tumultuous 40s and 50s in England, he found it his duty as both an intellectual and Christian to present the truth, beauty, and hope of the Gospel to culture in the most reasoned way he could. He spoke on national radio and wrote many of his books during this time. While most of his works focused on reasoned arguments for Christianity, he felt drawn to the use of stories. He had an amazing gift to use language and imagery to draw his readers into his works. In this way, he could engage both the mind and the heart of his readers.

In his stories about Narnia, Lewis uses beautiful images, like beaches of a mysterious island, a forest caught in perpetual winter, or an ancient castle overlooking the sea. He couples those images with beautiful names like Cair Paravel, Aslan, Bism, and even Puddleglum. Then Lewis fills this world with characters both fantastical and familiar. Like Mr. Tumnus, the kindly faun Lucy Pevensie meets when she first enters Narnia, who despite being a legalist informant helps Lucy escape and is punished for it. Then there is Eustace Scrubb, that truly irritating person, who has to go through a physical ordeal (being turned into a dragon on the outside to match his inside) and who has to rely on Aslan to take him through the painful process of stripping away the dragon on the outside to become a better version of himself. Or the swashbuckling mouse Reepicheep who, in the beginning of his story is so quick to take offense at his honor, later freely bows before Aslan and finally gives all he is to find the land which Aslan rules. And then Aslan the Lion, who sacrifices himself to break a curse placed on his land. Through these beautiful stories, Lewis wished to remind us that the Gospel was not just reasonable, but also beautiful; that imagination, as well as reason, were tools God gave for us to find truth. As Lewis put it, “I think that all things, in their way, reflect heavenly truth, the imagination not least.”

Resources:
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
The Chronicles of Narnia (books 1-7) By C. S. Lewis
Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet - C. S. Lewis, A Life by Alister Mcgrath
C. S. Lewis A Biography by Roger Lancelyn Green and Walter Hooper
Christian Reflections by C. S. Lewis (edited by Walter Hooper)

Lesson: Psalm 19:1-6 (NIV 1984)

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is hidden from its heat.

Read through the passage again and really take time to ponder the creativity of the words. Write down your thoughts.

Every day and night the glory of God is on display for all people to see. Think about how the heavens speak through sight, sound, smell, and feeling. Their communication knows no boundaries except the willingness of the receiver. 

God uses this creative description to portray not only His glory but also the second coming of Christ. When Jesus comes forth from His pavilion, nothing will be hidden from experiencing His presence.

Remembrance

Book of Common Prayer 14. For church musicians and artists

O God, whom saints and angels delight to worship in heaven: Be ever present with your servants on earth who seek through art and music to perfect the praises of your people. Grant them even now true glimpses of your beauty, and make them worthy at length to behold it unveiled for evermore; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Challenge

1.     Think of an occasion from your childhood or early life. Write down an account of this story using imagery and descriptive words.

2.     Read or listen to The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. https://newheadway.weebly.com/uploads/4/3/3/6/43369237/388453_1411397848.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUK7IcrRt6o

Reflection

No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond. -       C. S. Lewis

Further Growth:

2021: Book of Common Prayer Proper 24

Old Testament: Genesis 32:3-8,22-30
Psalm: Psalm 121
New Testament: 2 Timothy 3:14 — 4:5
Gospel: Luke 18:1-8

2020: Book of Common Prayer Proper 24

Old Testament: Malachi 3:6-12
Psalm: Psalm 96
New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Gospel: Matthew 22:15-22

October Week 2

Virtue: Creativity
Resolution: I choose to reveal the beauty of God according to my strengths and gifts.

Human Story: Church Art

Biblical narratives, characters, and Christian motifs have inspired countless works of art throughout Christianity’s history that for the most part tell a story – the story of God with us. From the beginning, symbols such as the crucifix and the fish (the ichthus- a Greek acronym for “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior”) were used to reveal followers who made Christ a part of their own life’s story. Symbols quickly turned into paintings, frescos, mosaics, icons, sculptures, literature, dance, music, and even cathedrals. Each of these contain a message that the artist seeks to share with the viewer: a teaching, an expression of worship, or a means to understand or work through the difficulties of life and faith. Each piece beckons both the creator and viewer to participate in the story of God. One has only to walk into a cathedral to see the beautiful depictions of Christ’s life on stained glass, the purpose of which was to teach the story of Jesus to those who could not read. Another example is listening to Handel’s Messiah, which can cause one’s soul to soar heavenward. Art expressions have enabled many humble and great artists (which includes every person) to make sense of faith within one’s own contexts. The different depictions of the Good Shepherd narrative pictured throughout this lesson are evidence of how God transcends culture into one’s own life and situation. Throughout history art has largely been an avenue for a greater inspiration and experience with God.

While faith inspires creative expression and thought, it also inspires action! Our creativity is not limited to producing pieces of art but is also expressed in the act of creating a life that shares the story of a creative and loving God. As Christians we fashion our individual lives in a way that reflects the God we believe in, but we also play a part collectively in creating the type of world we live in. How we live is itself a form of art that shares the message of God. Faith longs to be expressed and shared, and so it enters into our creative venues over and over again. No matter how many times the same story is told, it will be uniquely told and heard because each person uniquely creates, understands and expresses. May we be storytellers of a God who loves life.

Lesson: Matthew 16:13-16 (NIV)

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

“Who do you say I am?” Imagine Jesus asking this question to His disciples in a very intimate moment of stillness between the bustling activities of the day. As the reality of who He is begins to sink in amidst the different theories surrounding Jesus’ person, this declaration of who Jesus is becomes one of the pivotal parts of the gospel. While Simon Peter is the one who gives his answer, it is this answer that Christians repeatedly give: “You are the Messiah (or Savior), the Son of the living God.” It is this question that Christ asks us each day as we wake up, as we interact with others, as we work and play, and as we go to sleep. It is our answer to this question that informs how we go about living life! Like the disciples, we are surrounded by various theories on who Jesus is. There are some who say Jesus is a particular race, some who say Jesus is a Republican or a Democrat, some who say Jesus supports capitalism, socialism, or what have you. Jesus can quickly become who we want, rather than who He is, because it suits our advantage or preference. Jesus is asking us to reveal who He is not only to others but also to ourselves. This requires putting aside misconceptions and seeking the living God, who came for the life of the entire world.

How do you picture Jesus? Who do you say that He is?

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Remembrance

Be Thou My Vision by Audrey Assad

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art

High King of Heaven, my victory won
May I reach Heaven's joys, O bright Heav'n's Sun
Heart of my own heart, whate'er befall
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all

Challenge

Reflect on a specific bible story or attribute of God. Think of a creative way to express your feelings about that. Paint a picture, write your thoughts in a journal, write a song or poem, form clay into a shape, dance or sign before the Lord. Worship God through your creativity.

Reflection

The concentration of a small child at play is analogous to the concentration of the artist of any discipline. In real play, which is real concentration, the child is not only outside of time, he is outside himself. He has thrown himself completely into whatever it is that he is doing. A child playing a game, building a sand castle, painting a picture, is completely in what he is doing. His self-consciousness is gone; his consciousness is wholly focused outside himself… When we are self-conscious, we cannot be wholly aware; we must throw ourselves out first. This throwing ourselves away is the act of creativity. So, when we wholly concentrate, like a child in play, or an artist at work, then we share in the act of creating.       - Madeleine L’Engle

Further Growth

2021: Book of Common Prayer Proper 23

Old Testament: Ruth 1:1-19a
Psalm: Psalm 113
New Testament: 2 Timothy 2:1-15
Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

2020: Book of Common Prayer Proper 23

Old Testament: Isaiah 25:1-9
Psalm: Psalm 23
New Testament: Philippians 4:4-13
Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14

October Week 1

Virtue: Creativity
Resolution: I choose to reveal the beauty of God according to my strengths and gifts.

Human Story: Fred Rogers (1928 – 2003)

In February 1999, Fred Rogers was accepted into the Television Hall of Fame. As he stood on stage before a crowd of actors, writers, and directors, he said:

I feel that those of us in television are chosen to be servants. It doesn’t matter what our particular job, we are chosen to help meet the deeper needs of those who watch and listen – day and night...(Life) is the greatest mystery of any millennium, and television needs to do all it can to broadcast that, to show and tell what the good in life is all about…We all have only one life to live on Earth. And through television, we have the choice of encouraging others to demean this life or to cherish it in creative, and imaginative ways.

If a person asked you to write down some of the most creative people in the world, who would they be? Leonardo da Vinci, Wolfgang Mozart, or Isaac Newton would probably find their way to the top of the list. But someone who might not initially come to mind certainly deserves a spot, Fred Rogers. While on a visit home from college, Fred took note of the television sitting in the living room of his parents’ house. Fred realized the great potential that television had for broadcasting positive messages to old and young alike. Initially he had planned to continue on to seminary after college, but instead he got a job at NBC working on music programs. He realized that commercial television was not for him and moved to Pittsburgh to begin the first community-supported educational television programming in the country. Still feeling very strongly about becoming an ordained minister, Fred took classes at seminary on his lunch breaks and eventually was ordained with a special charge to serve families through television. To combat what he saw as destructive and demeaning children’s programs, in 1968 “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood” first appeared on air and thus began Fred’s life work to use television to broadcast a message of hope, peace, and love.

In the gospel of Mark, Jesus said that the greatest commandments were to love the Lord your God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. Who is your neighbor? Through 31 seasons and 895 episodes, Mr. Rogers used his immense creativity to teach us that our neighbors were those who share our home, our community, our country, and our world. For him, each person was made in the image of God and deserved a chance to discover that Truth about themselves. He taught us how to help others and ourselves to do just that. Fred composed all the music and storylines and was the voice of all the puppets in the “Neighborhood of Make-Believe.” With songs like “What Do You Do?,” “The Truth Will Make Me Free,” and “It’s You I like,” he helped us navigate our feelings of anger, sadness, and embarrassment. Through his characters on the show, he discussed very difficult issues like death, war, divorce, and disability. He let children and adults see how beautiful life is despite all the darkness. He taught that each person has value, even if they don’t feel like it. 

Resources: https://www.misterrogers.org/about-fred-rogers/
Rogers, Fred. The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember

Lesson: Mark 12:30-31

‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.

You’ve likely heard it said before that the Christian mission can be summed up in this phrase: “Love God; love others.” To some people, this may sound oversimplified, while to others, it hits the nail on the head. According to Jesus, these are the two greatest things we can attempt to do while on this earth – these are the ways that we will bring change for the Kingdom of God. And yet, in order to truly accomplish what Jesus is commanding here, we must redefine what the term “neighbor” means to us. Our friends are our neighbors, the people who live near us on a street or in a subdivision are our neighbors, our family members are our neighbors, and yes, even those that we label as outcast, unattractive, displeasing, or enemy are our neighbors. What Jesus is asking here is pretty extreme if you think about it. It’s not easy to love anyone as much as we tend to love and serve ourselves. It’s not easy to give up our own sense of comfort, safety, and pleasure to meet the needs of others, and yet that’s exactly what we are called to do for the sake of Christ with all of our neighbors.

Scripture is pretty clear on the topic of love and what it takes to show love to others. For an extensive definition of love, you can read 1 Corinthians 13. On top of all the descriptors for love found there, scripture also tells us that love is sacrificial (Romans 5:8), love seeks good for others (Romans 13:10), and love stems from a deep place of being loved (1 John 4:19). Love, Jesus says, is how the world will know that we are His disciples (John 13:35).

We love God, and yet we cannot physically see Him. We love others, our neighbors, because they are the physical representations of God in this world that we encounter every single day. May we choose to notice them, name them, and love them well.

Remembrance

Look and Listen by Fred Rogers

If you will look carefully,
Listen carefully,
You will find a lot of things carefully.
Look...and listen.

It's good to
Look carefully.
Listen carefully.
That's the way you learn a lot of things carefully.
Look...look and listen.

Some things you see are confusing.
Some things you hear are strange.
But if you ask someone to explain one or two,
You'll begin to notice a change in you.

If you will
Look carefully.
Listen carefully.
That's a way to keep on growing carefully.
Look, look, look, and listen.

Challenge

Make a list of people or groups of people who are your neighbors that you have neglected to reach out to before. Then, choose 2-3 names from that list and provide some sort of kind gesture (i.e. send a kind note, bake a treat, give a phone call, make a donation, physically meet a need, etc.). Notice how widening your scope of who your neighbor is impacts your worldview.

Reflection

Think about Fred Rogers’ quote: The more I think about it, the more I wonder if God and neighbor are somehow One. Loving God, loving neighbor – the same thing? For me, coming to recognize that God loves every neighbor is the ultimate appreciation. Is loving God and loving your neighbor the same thing?

Further Growth

2021: Book of Common Prayer, Proper 22

Old Testament: Habakkuk 1:1-13, 2:1-4
Psalm: Psalm 37:1-17
New Testament: 2 Timothy 1:1-14
Gospel: Luke 17:5-10

2020: Book of Common Prayer, Proper 22

Old Testament: Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm: Psalm 80
New Testament: Philippians 3:14-21
Gospel: Matthew 21:33-44

October Introduction

October: Creativity

Resolution: I choose to reveal the beauty of God according to my strengths and gifts.

For many people in the Northern Hemisphere, October marks the time when the fullness of autumn arrives. As the nights lengthen and the air cools, people take this time to celebrate the end of the hard work of the harvest with festivals and turn to more creative pursuits while spending additional time indoors. It is also accompanied by the changing of the leaves. Each year, just when the nights are lengthening and nature is preparing for the winter months, the greens change to bright oranges, reds, and yellows. Autumn colors remind us of the Heavenly Father’s infinite creativity. 

In Genesis 1:1, God’s first recorded act is creative. It is an outflowing of His power, glory, and love. And we who are created in His image not only share in this creative nature but also reflect it. Just as the leaves reveal beauty in creation, we do the same when we use our gifts for his purposes. Being creative takes many forms, whether it is a beautiful piece of music, a stunning image on a computer screen or a canvas, a quilted or crocheted blanket, a sermon on a Sunday night, a poem, a dance, a joke, or a brilliant idea. Like all our gifts, using our creativity is a form of worship. When we create something new or something beautiful, we glorify the One who gave us the gift of creation, and we acknowledge the ultimate source of all things good and beautiful. And when we, as the Body of Christ, reflect the good and the beautiful through our creative gifts outwardly, we draw the world toward that source so that they in turn may know God’s love for them.

October: Liturgy

Leader: Heavenly Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth, all creation displays Your handiwork and brings glory to Your name. In Your wisdom You instilled within humanity the capacity for imagination and the desire to create.

People: Father, may the works of our creativity bring glory to Your name. 

Leader: Lord Jesus Christ, our Great Teacher and Storyteller, Your teachings touched both hearts and minds by engaging your follower’s imaginations through beautiful narratives and parables.

People: Jesus, help us to follow Your example and minister to the whole person with our gifts of creativity.

Leader: Holy Spirit, through Your inspiration human agents preserved Divine Truth in beautiful verse, song, prose, and narrative. Through You, human creativity and imagination continues to communicate the Gospel through writings, hymns, architecture, and artwork.

People: Holy Spirit, inspire us to continue in the long tradition of showing the beauty of the Gospel through our gifts of creativity.

September Week 4

Virtue: Shalom
Resolution: I choose to pursue the flourishing of myself, my community, and the world.

Human Story: Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu (1931 - 2021)

Tutu was one of the most prominent South African figures in the long road to ending apartheid. A native South African, Tutu experienced firsthand the injustice under the racist white minority rule of his country. Inspired by his faith and love for his countrymen, he played a key role in the ending of apartheid and the universal suffrage of all within South Africa. What made Bishop Tutu such a great example for those in the anti-apartheid movement was what also separated him from them the most. Tutu saw the world through the truth of the Gospel, and so his goal was not just liberation for those suffering under the racist regime or the reversal of the oppressive segregation laws under apartheid, but also eventual reconciliation and forgiveness for both sides of the conflict. Tutu described his dream for South Africa as being free of racism, where those of all ethnicities and creeds can live free together.

While his stance against apartheid and the government behind it never wavered, he also advocated peaceful rather than violent forms of protest. Tutu was openly critical of many leaders in the anti-apartheid movement, their methods and rhetoric. When anti-apartheid protests were deemed forms of terrorism by the government and were put down violently, many anti-apartheid groups responded with violence. Rather than speaking only against a government that would turn weapons on its own people, Tutu also admonished the protestors that there were better ways to bring about change.

Those in the white minority government complained that he was too radical, while leaders of the protesting groups said he was too moderate. Biographer Steven Gish said, “Tutu faced the perpetual dilemma of all moderates – he was often viewed suspiciously by the two hostile sides he sought to bring together.” Tutu’s desire was to find a third way, a middle way, toward peace and liberty for all. He spent much of his time trying to build goodwill with white South Africans, while many on the anti-apartheid side were trying to foment hate toward their oppressors. Tutu expressed his solidarity with his fellow South Africans, but he urged them not to give into hatred because that was, and still is, antithetical to the Gospel. Fortunately, thanks to Bishop Tutu’s international outreach and respect, enough pressure was placed on the South African government to begin the dismantling of apartheid. Because reconciliation was so central to Tutu’s hopes for South Africa, he was selected to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission whose goal was not only to make judgements on those guilty of human rights abuses but also to help bring about healing and forgiveness for victims and perpetrators on both sides.

Forgiving and being reconciled to our enemies or our loved ones are not about pretending that things are other than they are. It is not about patting one another on the back and turning a blind eye to the wrong. True reconciliation exposes the awfulness, the abuse, the hurt, the truth. It could even sometimes make things worse. It is a risky undertaking but in the end it is worthwhile, because in the end only an honest confrontation with reality can bring real healing. Superficial reconciliation can bring only superficial healing. ― Desmond Tutu

Resources:
Rabble-Rouser for Peace: The Authorised Biography of Desmond Tutu. By John Allen
Desmond Tutu: A Biography. By Steven Gish
Desmond Tutu Biography, https://www.biography.com/political-figure/desmond-tutu

Lesson: 1 John 2:9-11 (Amplified Version)

The one who says he is in the Light [in consistent fellowship with Christ] and yet habitually hates (works against) his brother [in Christ] is in the darkness until now. The one who loves and unselfishly seeks the best for his [believing] brother lives in the Light, and in him there is no occasion for stumbling or offense [he does not hurt the cause of Christ or lead others to sin]. But the one who habitually hates (works against) his brother [in Christ] is in [spiritual] darkness and is walking in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

The letter we call 1 John was written to believers. In our lesson passage John is emphatic that walking in the light – that is walking with Jesus – and hating other believers is incompatible. If you hate fellow believers, you have been blinded by what is evil and false. However, those who love other believers walk in the light. Lest you think that John just made this up, let’s see what Jesus said: “I give you a new command: Love one another.” (John 13:34) Jesus addressed this to His disciples, and if we claim to be His followers, then this command is for us as well.

What does it mean to love one another? Three key components to showing love are forgiving others, accepting others, and honoring others. Desmond Tutu’s life demonstrated all three of these aspects as he navigated the turbulent political waters of his country. Loving others, not just those who are like us, demonstrates a shalom that seeks the best for others and allows them to flourish. 

Remembrance

Let There Be Peace on Earth by Jill Jackson and Sy Miller sung by Vince and Jenny Gill

Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me
Let There Be Peace on Earth
The peace that was meant to be 

With God as our Father
Brothers all are we
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony. 

Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now.

With ev'ry step I take
Let this be my solemn vow
To take each moment and live
Each moment in peace eternally

Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me

Challenge

Like Tutu, we should work toward good for all people. Is there a relationship in your life or in your community that is in need of repair? What can you do to bring shalom (peace) into this relationship? Pray and ask God how it can begin with you.

Reflection

A very important but difficult piece of renewing relationships is accepting responsibility for our part in any conflict. If we have a relationship in need of repair, we must remember that the wrong is not usually all on one side, and we are more easily able to restore relations when we look at our contribution to a conflict.           

- Desmond Tutu, The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World

Further Growth:

2021: Book of Common Prayer Proper 21

Old Testament: Numbers 11:4-6, 10-17, 24-29
Psalm: Psalm 19: 1-14
New Testament: James 4:7—5:6
Gospel: Mark 9:38-48

2020: Book of Common Prayer Proper 21

Old Testament: Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
Psalm: Psalm 25
New Testament: Philippians 2:1-13
Gospel: Matthew 21:28-32

September Week 3

Virtue: Shalom

Resolution: I choose to pursue the flourishing of myself, my community, and the world.

Human Story: St. Olympias the Deaconess

Olympias was born in 4th century Constantinople to wealthy and politically connected parents. Her parents both died when she was very young, and she inherited their fortune. She later married a man named Nebridius who was the Prefect of Constantinople. Shortly after their marriage Nebridius died and left Olympius as a childless widow, which was an unfortunate position for a woman in that time. She, however, rejected all subsequent proposals of marriage and determined to commit the rest of her life entirely to Christ. Olympius was a young woman who had experienced both wealth and heartbreak – a life of comfort and also hardship.

She had been discipled by St. John Chrysostom and had a deep relationship with Christ. Chrysostom was exiled from Constantinople but continued to support her through letters. After her husband passed, she decided to give away her fortune. She used her money for several projects that would bring peace to her community. She built a convent for hurting women which grew to include close to 200. She supported churches and initiatives for the poor across the entire region. She helped the orphan and widow. One of her more radical decisions was to free all of her family slaves, and one historiographer noted, “Her slaves, whom she released, wore beautiful clothes and lived with more comfort.”*

Olympius was a woman determined to bring about shalom – peace and flourishing for others. Many who would have experienced her hardships of parents dying at young age and her husband dying in the months after the wedding would have become cynical or bitter toward the Lord. She could have spent her massive fortune in unhealthy and selfish ways. Instead she chose to bring peace into her chaotic world. She was radical, especially for her time, in her shalom (peace bringing) initiatives. It was not popular to create a safe space for hurting women in that day. It was not commonplace to free slaves and then treat them with more dignity than self. These things certainly upset the cultural norm.

In our effort to establish Shalom, we will sometimes be called to care for people in selfless ways, maybe even in some radical ways that people don’t understand. May we be able to sustain our faith through tragedy and heartbreak like Olympius. May we know the God who gives lavishly and generously. May we seek to be a safe space for the vulnerable and hurting. May we be shalom bringers – bringing God’s kingdom to earth.

*https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2013/07/the-life-and-struggles-of-saint-olympia.html

Lesson: Isaiah 32:16-20

The Lord’s justice will dwell in the desert, 
his righteousness live in the fertile field. 
The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; 
its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. 
My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, 
in secure homes, 
in undisturbed places of rest. 
Though hail flattens the forest 
and the city is leveled completely, 
how blessed you will be, 
sowing your seed by every stream, 
and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.

Isaiah was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah. He spoke this message of judgment to the leaders: your rebellion will come at a cost. If they persisted in their idolatry and oppression of the poor, the main superpower of the day (Assyria, then followed by Babylon) would come and defeat Judah and carry them into exile.

Isaiah’s prophecy was contingent. The leaders could turn from their ways and God would relent, using them as his carriers of blessing to all nations. The concept of being purified by fire was introduced early in Isaiah 6. Painful things may happen, but the result is shalom, flourishing, and a new Jerusalem. The Hebrew word “shalom” occurs 267 times in the Old Testament. In the book of Isaiah, it occurs 30 times, second only to Jeremiah. When researching references of shalom, it is obvious that it does not simply mean the absence of conflict, which is the modern use of the word “peace.” Rather, the connotation is flourishing, security, resting, safety, and blessing. But shalom cannot take place with oppression. The weakest members in society were not being taken care of during Isaiah’s day, as they often are not today, and in fact they were being exploited. Shalom often requires key individuals, like St. Olympias, to step up, call out oppression, and use their influence and resources for the flourishing of those who are hurting. The passage above beautifully shows what shalom is all about: safe flourishing homes, no conflict, serenity, confidence, rest, and blessing of resources. 

Isaiah writes beautiful poetry to create a longing for this shalom. We know that ultimate shalom will not take place until the final resurrection, when Christ returns, and heaven and earth are joined together, and God will be all in all (Rev. 21). However, we are called to provide foretastes of that ultimate shalom right now. Taking our cues from the passage above, asking how you can help your neighbors and community have safer homes, less conflict, more quietness and rest, and more blessing of resources is a great place to start.

Remembrance

Olympius and Chrysostom corresponded via letter and many of those letters still exist. Below is one section of a letter that demonstrates Chrysostom’s encouragement to Olympius and her efforts to bring about Shalom.

Do you see the abundance of resource belonging to God? His wisdom, His extraordinary power, His loving-kindness and care? Be not therefore dismayed or troubled but continue to give thanks to God for all things, praising, and invoking Him; beseeching and supplicating; even if countless tumults and troubles come upon you, even if tempests are stirred up before your eyes let none of these things disturb you. For our Master is not baffled by the difficulty, even if all things are reduced to the extremity of ruin. For it is possible for Him to raise those who have fallen, to convert those who are in error, to set straight those who have been ensnared, to release those who have been laden with countless sins, and make them righteous, to quicken those who are dead, to restore lustre to decayed things, and freshness to those which have waxen old. For if He makes things which are not, come into being, and bestows existence on things which are nowhere by any means manifest, how much more will He rectify things which already exist.

Reference: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1916.htm

Challenge

1. Research non-profits in your community. If you are not familiar, begin to explore organizations that are doing justice work in your community. Contact the organization to see if there are ways that you can assist based upon your availability and resources. https://www.taxexemptworld.com/organizations/cleveland-tn-tennessee.asp

2. Think about people in your community who are doing healthy justice work. Choose 2-3 people who come to mind and write them a note of encouragement and thank them for being people of shalom who are bringing about flourishing in the community.

3. This week pray the Lord’s prayer every day with intention and focus on the phrase “let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” As you pray that portion be open to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you as you consider parts of your community that do not feel like heaven. What issues do you think would be unacceptable to Jesus? Make those things a matter of prayer and possibly action.

Reflection

A society concerned with shalom will care for the most marginalized among them. God has a special concern for the poor and needy, because how we treat them reveals our hearts, regardless of the rhetoric we employ to make ourselves sound just. -        Randy S. Woodley

Further Growth

2021: Book of Common Prayer Proper 20

Old Testament: Wisdom 1:16—2:1 *
Psalm: Psalm 54
New Testament: James 3:16— 4:6
Gospel: Mark 9:30-37

* apocryphal text

2020: Book of Common Prayer Proper 20

Old Testament: Jonah 3:10-4:11
Psalm: Psalm 145
New Testament: Philippians 1:21-27
Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16

September Week 2

Virtue: Shalom

Resolution: I choose to pursue the flourishing of myself, my community, and the world.

Human Story: Sallie McFague (1933 – 2019)

When thinking about people who have exemplified living a life of shalom, Sallie McFague may not be the first to come to mind as her life’s work has been directed toward writing for and teaching in the academic field of theological ethics. But like so many other authors and teachers, her influence reaches far beyond the recognition of her name as her readers and students have embraced her ideas and continue to share and live them. 

McFague was one of the first to draw Christian attention to the wellbeing of the earth’s ecosystem as a part of God’s desired shalom for the world. Her argument pulls upon the significance of Jesus Christ (the divine incarnate) living in the material world, bridging the gap between a love for God and a love for all that was created by God. She writes, “There is only one world, a world that God loves. Since God loves it, we not only can but should. In fact, loving the world (not God alone), or rather, loving God through the world, is the Christian way” (Life Abundant, 2001, 13). Loving this world by taking care of the environment as well as seeking to improve the lives of other people is a natural outcome of faith in a loving God. For McFague, the Christian faith is one that seeks the wellbeing of others, as God has from the beginning of creation; and thus, in the face of suffering (both environmental and human), the Christian faith is an act of advocacy, which is an act of love unhindered, empowering, and healing. As God’s agents, the church is designed to be a movement of active shalom-makers, those who seek to restore human dignity and the integrity of creation by pursuing the flourishing and wholeness of life for the sake of the whole world. Thus, shalom becomes reality only in how God’s people are even now displaying it.

Lesson: Isaiah 11:6-9 (ESV)

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

“We are paradise-haunted creatures who yearn for the kingdom of God,” McFague says (Theology That Matters, 2006, 212). This is certainly what Isaiah 11:6-9 is saying with this picture of the predator and the prey, the strong and weak, the dangerous and the unassuming living together in peace, harmony, safety, and mutual wellbeing. The knowledge of the LORD leads away from hurt and destruction and makes way for shalom, redefining what it means to flourish.

For one, this passage shows that the knowledge of the LORD removes the vicious cycle of feeling the need to become the oppressor by fighting, killing, or destroying the lives of others in order to protect oneself, one’s family, and one’s own lifestyle. Indeed, there is a freedom in the LORD that gives security without the need to build barricades of self-defense. This freedom allows one to open up and see the needs of others as being just as important as one’s own needs, as this security is rooted in love (in God) rather than in fear.

For another, the knowledge of the LORD heals the breach between the oppressor and the victim, not casting one or the other away or restricting one’s ability to live over the other’s, but allowing both to coexist in harmony. Here the wolf dwells with the lamb, the lion eats straw like an ox, and the child is safe among them. The oppressor no longer needs to live oppressively, the victim no longer needs to live victimized – the past continuously finds healing and restoration in the present.

Lastly, this passage shows that a critical component to shalom and life within the knowledge of the LORD is self-control (a fruit of the Spirit, no less!). Shalom can only come to us if those with power live with restraint and gentleness, not only in regard to harming others physically, but also in terms of not taking more than we need from others or from the earth. We are capable of fostering paradise and bringing the knowledge of the LORD (the kingdom of God) to the world when we practice self-control, such that, rather than living out of selfish gain, we live in selfless giving; rather than hurting, we heal; rather than destroying or laying waste, we create, grow, cultivate, build, and empower.

Remembrance

A Hymn by Frances R. Havergal
Listen: Instrumental Version or Contemporary Version

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to thee
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of your love;
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only for my King;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as you shall choose. 

Take my will, and make it thine
It shall be no longer mine;
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for thee.

Challenge

How can you promote paradise now? Is it through relationships with other people? Are there specific people or communities that have been left out, oppressed, or neglected with whom you could intentionally share God’s shalom? Since the wellbeing of all life depends on the earth’s wellbeing, what is one change you can implement to make the earth a healthier place? (recycling, using reusable containers, treating your property with care to increase its longevity, plant trees, food, vegetables, etc.)

Reflection

In what place or circumstance do you most find yourself in a feeling of shalom – flourishing, peace with God, others, self, and creation? What can you do to help others find a similar state of shalom?

Further Growth:

2021: Book of Common Prayer Proper 19

Old Testament: Isaiah 50:4-9
Psalm: Psalm 116-1-16
New Testament: James 2:1-18
Gospel: Mark 9:14-29

2020: Book of Common Prayer Proper 19

Old Testament: Ecclesiasticus 27:30-28:7 *
Psalm: Psalm 103
New Testament: Romans 14:5-12
Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35

* apocryphal text

September Week 1

Virtue: Shalom

Resolution: I choose to pursue the flourishing of myself, my community, and the world.

Human Story: Bryan Stephenson

In a 2012 TED Talk, Bryan Stevenson stated: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Stevenson has made it his life work to bring our world into more close alignment with the moral arc of justice. As he says, “We all have a responsibility to create a just society.” His work is a paradigm of restoring the world to “the way it’s supposed to be”—that is, to a state of shalom.

After graduating from Harvard School of Law in 1985, Stevenson began his law career working for the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, GA. In his early work and life experience, Stevenson noticed the great need for those dedicated to racial reconciliation and justice. This would inspire his founding of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). EJI is a “nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons.” EJI’s and Stevenson’s work for shalom goes beyond the penal system and engages many areas of racial injustice. Grounded in his Christian faith, Stevenson is a powerful model for us of one committed to being a minister of reconciliation. This drive seems to be inspired by a couple of ideas that should inspire us too.

The first idea is that all humans are inherently valuable and their identity is more than their bad actions. As Stevenson declares:

I’ve come to understand and to believe that each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done. I believe that for every person on the planet. I think if somebody tells a lie, they're not just a liar. I think if somebody takes something that doesn't belong to them, they're not just a thief. I think even if you kill someone, you're not just a killer. And because of that, there's this basic human dignity that must be respected by law.

Based on this conviction, Stevenson has fought long legal battles to free men, women, and children from life sentences or capital sentences who have been found guilty based on their race, gender, or disability.

The second idea is that we need an honest, clear-eyed view of the world and history that is conditioned by hope before we can aptly minister reconciliation—the truth is intrinsically connected to restoration. EJI’s work on the legacy of lynching in America and the recently-opened lynching memorial—The National Memorial for Peace and Justice—in Montgomery, AL embodies this commitment to truth. According to EJI, “avoiding honest conversation about this history has undermined our ability to build a nation where racial justice can be achieved.” We must face this dark history head-on, but we do so with hope. Stevenson teaches that Americans must own up to our history of racial injustice and that “we cannot not let the worst moments of our nation’s history define us.” Stevenson reminds us: "Hope is your superpower. Don't let anybody or anything make you hopeless. Hope is the enemy of injustice.”

Resources:
Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
Equal Justice Initiative: www.eji.org

Lesson: Amos 5:10-15

There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil. Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

Amos was a shepherd and fig-tree farmer from Judah (the southern kingdom) who lived near the border of Israel (the northern kingdom) in the 8th century BC. During this time, Jeroboam II, king of Israel, had many successes in battle and generated much wealth for his kingdom, but he did not spend it wisely. Idolatry and injustice were rampant in the northern kingdom. Amos witnessed and heard of these injustices, and he discerned God’s call to be His mouthpiece to the powerful unjust leaders of the northern kingdom of Israel.

Our text comes from the section (chapters 3-6) in Amos’s writings that is a collection of poems to Israel and its leaders. Amos is furious at how the wealthy were treating the poor, selling them into debt slavery and then denying them legal representation in court. Amos is quick to remind his listeners of their history, how they were rescued from slavery in Egypt and called to seek justice and righteousness. They were called to be a kingdom of priests to all nations, and their responsibility will now result in a greater punishment. There should be right relationships between people regardless of social class.

Here 3,000 years later, we still struggle with such. Our public schools are segregated by socio-economic status (SES). Our neighborhoods, cities, and suburbs are separated by SES. Access to power and decision making is segregated by SES. And how many houses of worship have a diversity of social class? Right relationships with “the others” are impossible without daily life together. Daily connections with others bring about a community that advances justice and righteousness for all.

Remembrance

“The Kingdom is Yours” - Common Hymnal: Listen or Watch

Blessed are the ones who do not bury
All the broken pieces of their heart
Blessed are the tears of all the weary
Pouring like a sky of falling stars

Blessed are the wounded ones in mourning
Brave enough to show the Lord their scars
Blessed are the hurts that are not hidden
Open to the healing touch of God

The Kingdom is yours, the Kingdom is yours
Hold on a little more, this is not the end
Hope is in the Lord, keep your eyes on Him

And blessed are the ones who walk in kindness
Even in the face of great abuse
Blessed are the deeds that go unnoticed
Serving with unguarded gratitude 

And blessed are the ones who fight for justice
Longing for the coming day of peace
Blessed is the soul that thirsts for righteousness
Welcoming the last, the lost, the least

Oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh
Blessed are the poor in Spirit
Oh-oh Bienaventurados los pobres en Espíritu
Oh-oh Blessed are the pure in heart Oh-oh

Blessed are the ones who suffer violence
And still have strength to love their enemies
Blessed is the faith of those who persevere
Though they fall, they'll never know defeat

Challenge

1.     Consider reaching out to someone you know who has spent time in the criminal justice system or who knows someone who has. Ask them questions about their experience.

2.     Consider reading or listening to Bryan Stevenson’s “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.”

Reflection

Reflect on Bryan’s quote: “We all have a responsibility to create a just society.” What is your role?

Further Growth:

2021: Book of Common Prayer Proper 18

Old Testament: Isaiah 35:4-7a
Psalm: Psalm 146
New Testament: James 1:17-27
Gospel: Mark 7:31-37

2020: Book of Common Prayer Proper 18

Old Testament: Ezekiel 33:1-11
Psalm: Psalm 119:33-48
New Testament: Romans 12:9-21
Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20

September Introduction

September: Shalom

Resolution: I choose to pursue the flourishing of myself, my community, and the world.

John Wesley (18th century Anglican pastor, missionary, and theologian), reflecting on the Fall in the third chapter of Genesis, notes four arenas of broken relationality: between God and humans, between humans and humans, between a human and self, and finally between humans and creation. It does not take much reflection to affirm this idea in the real world. We know all too well the harms humans visit on creation, the suffering caused by people upon other people, the internal disequilibrium we face, and the estrangement from God we feel. The virtue of shalom is the habit of working to repair this brokenness, alienation, and division. It is the resolution to choose to pursue the flourishing of myself, my community, and the world.

In his book on sin, theologian Cornelius Plantinga Jr. offers a powerful and motivating explanation of shalom:

The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom…In the Bible shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight—a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as the creator and savior opens doors and speaks welcome to the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things are supposed to be.

-       Not the Way it’s Supposed to Be, 10.

Shalom is not merely a state of existence but also a way of living in the world. Those who aim to take on the habit of shalom work to be people who partner with God’s redemptive work in the world and make things “the way they’re supposed to be.” Our central Christian call to be ministers of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5.17-21) is to be agents of shalom, working to turn back the effects of the Fall and bring flourishing to all arenas of relationality.

September: Liturgy

Leader: Jehovah Shalom, You created the world to be a place of Shalom consisting of peace and flourishing.

People: May we seek to establish Your peace in our world.

Leader: Prince of Peace, You taught us to pray for Your Kingdom to be on earth as it is in heaven. 

People: May we be Kingdom bringers in our culture.

Leader:  Holy Spirit, You were sent to be the comforter and the confirmation of the possibility of God’s peace with humanity.

People: May we experience this peace and be confident in God’s love for us.