Romans 15 – Bearing the weaknesses of brothers and sisters

Romans 15:1-2,7 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. 2 Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification… 7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.

We have a responsibility to look out for those who are being trampled upon, those who are forgotten, those who are in need. Each of us has a responsibility to “bear the weaknesses” of those around us.

Christianity is not an individualist faith. Christianity is not just about my relationship with God. Christianity is about the family of God. I am to care for my brothers and sisters; I am to care for my potential brothers and sisters. More succinctly, I have some responsibility for everyone I meet. I am not ultimately responsible for their choices and circumstances; but, I am responsible for bearing some of their weaknesses.

Filed Under Bible Study | Leave a Comment 

Romans 13 – Rambling thoughts on Christians and governments

Romans 13:1-2 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

Is this a command all Christians are to follow? Is it true that God establishes our leaders and authorities? Are Christians forbidden to oppose authority?

Many Christians I know take this passage to be an instruction that Christians are to obey, honor, and serve their government. Many Christians use this passage as a basis for “Just War Theory” and for political activism.

As with any passage of the Bible, we need to be sure we are reading Romans 13:1-2 in context. Paul’s argument here is a continuation of what he began in the previous chapter when he wrote: “Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Reading Romans 13 in the light of Romans 12 it seems that the correct understanding of 13:1-2 is that we, as Christians, have less interest in the kingdoms of earth than we have in the Kingdom of Heaven. If our rulers are treating us unfairly, so what? We have a God who will car for us. If we have a government that overtaxes us, so what? It was all God’s to begin with. We are not to be conformed by the customs, powers, and authorities of this age.

Rather than being concerned about the rulers and authorities of this age, we are to be concerned with loving God, loving our neighbor, and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I would argue that none of those things can be done through politics and none of those things can be done through government.

Romans 13:1-2 is not a call to blindly support our government; rather, it is a call to let the powers of this earth do their thing. If they are not contradicting Jesus, let them have their way. We are called to work in the service of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Filed Under Bible Study | Leave a Comment 

Joshua 17 – Caring for those in need

“However, Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. They came near before Eleazar the priest and before Joshua the son of Nun and before the leaders, saying, ‘The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.’ So according to the command of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers.”

The takeaway I get from this story is that the Lord was more concerned with caring for all of the people than with conforming to the social norms. God’s goal is to take care of God’s people, society can figure itself out.

Filed Under Bible Study | Leave a Comment 

Psalm 9 – My God, my enemy

The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, and You have uprooted the cities; the very memory of them has perished. But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, and He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity. The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble; and those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Evil has perished, is perishing, and will perish in the future at the hand of our righteous God. The inherent evil in our world will perish. The systemic evil in our societies will perish. The evil we allow in our hearts will perish. But those who know the name of the Lord and put their trust in that name will not be forsaken as the destroyed cities of the enemy were forsaken.

God is a God of justice. God enabled the bringing about of justice in the past. God will bring about ultimate justice in the future. But we live in the present and are called to be God’s agents of justice in our world. “The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed. A stronghold in times of trouble”. We are to be examples of Christ to the world around us. If we are not being a stronghold for the oppressed and troubled then we are perpetuating evil and we make ourselves an enemy of the Lord.

Filed Under Bible Study | Leave a Comment 

Psalm 7 – There is no one righteous, not even one?

O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; for the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.

If this is going to be your prayer you should make sure that you are actually among the righteous. Most of us think we are righteous. Most of us think we are pretty good people. Most of us think we have a better understanding of God than the people we disagree with. I would suggest that it is better to focus on God trying our hearts and minds than to focus on God bringing the wicked to justice.

Filed Under Bible Study | Leave a Comment 

Exodus 5 – Oppressed or oppressor?

When you read the story of the oppression of the Hebrew people under the direction of Pharaoh and his foreman, who do you identify with? If you are like most people I know you identify with the oppressed Hebrews. But in the real world are we the oppressor or are we the oppressed? Do our actions cause the suffering, disempowerment, and belittlement of other human beings?

I would argue we (North American) Christians are more likely to be playing the role of the Egyptians than the role of the Hebrews. It would be good to spend some time considering ways we may be complicit in human suffering, ways we may be enabling human enslavement, ways we are disempowering humans, ways we are entertained by human belittlement. Then we need to focus on ways to correct these behaviors.

Filed Under Bible Study | Leave a Comment 

Genesis 38 – Defend the defenseless

This passage in a nutshell: Judah has three sons. Tamar marries the oldest son Er who does some unspecified evil in the Lord’s sight and the Lord takes his life. Tamar then marries the second son Onan so that Er might have a descendant. However, Onan does not want his child to be Er’s descendant so he sleeps with Tamar, but commits coitus interruptus. The Lord sees this as an evil thing so he kills Onan as well. Judah then promises Tamar his third

It seems that Joseph learned his lesson from when he was younger. When he is interpreting dreams his focus has shifted from what he can do and how he will be blessed to what God is capable of doing. God has blessed Joseph with a great gift and with tremendous insight; when he focuses that gift on what God can do he and the people around him are blessed. In this case Joseph notes that it is not he who is able to interpret the dream, but it is God.

There are many times in my life when I have taken credit for what God is doing. As a pastor it easy to look at weekly attendance as a scorecard of how well you are doing. Obviously if attendance goes up it’s because I am awesome, or if attendance goes down it’s because people don’t understand me. However, that is a poor way to look at what God is doing. I am not capable of leading a church, but God is capable. Throughout life we need to recognize on a daily basis that we are dependent upon God. If we ever think we are doing it ourselves God will teach us that we are wrong. God taught Joseph to depend on Him by subjecting him to slavery and two years of imprisonment. Hopefully we will learn our lessons a little sooner.

Filed Under Bible Study | Leave a Comment 

to Genesis 34 – Our call defend the weak

Genesis 34 is a fascinating story of brothers defending the honor of their sister. Dinah is raped and her rapist asks to marry her. Jacob’s sons say that if the entire city is circumcised then the man can marry their sister Dinah. The town is circumcised and two days later while their wounds are still fresh Jacob’s sons go through the camp and slaughter the men.

The character of Jacob is brought further into question in this passage. He is far more concerned of how the region will now view him and his household than in defending his daughter. His plan had been to keep quite and pretend the whole rape thing never happened. Jacob is not a great guy. Jacob’s sons give a good response to their father by asking, “Should he be allowed to treat our sister as a harlot?”

There is a theme of justice in this passage. Jacob was unwilling to seek justice on behalf of the weak in his community (his own daughter). Jacob’s sons sought out justice for the weak sister who was harmed by the powerful neighbor. In our context we are not called to kill rapists but we are called to focus on justice and we must work to protect those who are in a weaker position.

Filed Under Bible Study | Leave a Comment 

Sanctity of Human Life Day

The following is a copy of an opinion piece I wrote for my local paper.  It was run on Thursday, January 15, 2009.

This Sunday, January 18, 2009 will be named, by executive proclamation, “National Sanctity of Human Life Day”. This day is set aside to recognize that each life has inherent dignity and matchless value. As a nation we are called to defend the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society. All Americans are called to commit to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being.

This Sunday many individuals and congregations will take time to honor “National Sanctity of Human Life Day”. Many churches will preach sermons and pray prayers recognizing that life is sacred. If you participate in this day, I applaud you for celebrating that life is a sacred gift. However, I beg you to remember that the sanctity of life does not end at birth.

Filed Under Church, Politics, Religion | Leave a Comment 

Genesis 8 – When disaster strikes

“But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark”

In the flood narrative Noah is on the ark for a long time; aimlessly drifting with no land in sight. There is no where to go. There is nothing anyone or anything on the ark can do except wait and trust that God will provide for them. “But God remembered Noah”. God did not forget those on the ark, but that does not mean that God gave them an instant escape. God had provided the ark to begin with, then God provided for them and kept them safe while they were on the ark, then God provided for them until they could depart from the ark.

If we listen to God, God will provide for us in advance of the disasters that strike our lives. If we trust in God , God will give us strength, endurance and patience to weather the disasters that strike our lives. If we give thanks to God, we will keep near to God after the disasters that strike our lives.

Filed Under Bible Study | Leave a Comment 

Tolerance and Liberty of Conscience in the Early American Colonies

Sometimes it seems as though life is an endless series of traditions. Every nation, culture, tribe and family engages in a wide variety of traditional and ritualistic behavior. These traditions are passed from generation to generation. Often the original meaning of the tradition is lost and the ritual may change over time, but there is something about repeating a familiar act that is comforting to each of us.

When I was a boy growing up, one of my family’s thanksgiving traditions was to sit around the television on thanksgiving eve and watch “The Mouse and the Mayflower.” This short cartoon told the story of the pilgrim’s crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the ship Mayflower all through the eyes of a small mouse. I am not going to argue the historical accuracy of the cartoon, but I mention it because approximately one third of the way into the movie the pilgrims sing a song called, “Elbow Room.” This song spoke specifically about the cramped quarters on the ship, but it also spoke metaphorically about the pilgrim’s hope to find a space in the New World where they could be free to follow their spiritual leadings. As we study how religion was imported into the American colonies in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, it becomes apparent that many people and people groups came to the colonies in search of “elbow room.”

Filed Under Christianity, Church, Religion | Leave a Comment 

Social Justice in John’s Gospel

I grew up in a Christian tradition that has been strong in social justice but somewhat weak in evangelism. Friends churches have a long history of promoting equality, community, peace, integrity, and simplicity. To this end, Friends have worked to end slavery and human trafficking. Friends have worked to end war and the various roots of war. Friends have worked to build up strong communities dependant upon God. Because of this background, one of the themes I tend to notice as I read the gospels is the theme of social justice. For this paper I will be focusing on various scenes in the gospel of John that seem to reveal what Christian social justice should be.

Social justice is a very broad term. As one begins to explore this concept it becomes readily apparent that there are many different views of what makes up a “just society.” Even if we confine ourselves to Christian ideas of social justice it becomes apparent that there are a myriad of opinions of what is just. Unfortunately, while Jesus says many different things about what a just society should be, it does not appear that Jesus provides an overarching philosophy of how all people at all times should live justly together. Jesus does provide many examples of how a 1st century Palestinian Jew should live within his or her society. But, how does one exegete beyond this setting to our present day and age?

This paper will focus on several instances when Jesus seems to clearly explain how a first century Palestinian Jew should live justly, and we will explore how this understanding of social justice translates to the author of this paper’s time and culture.

Filed Under Bible Study, Christianity, Religion | Leave a Comment