Faith Challenges: It Ain't All Comfort

It’s time to sit around and wait. Well, if the hurry, rush, and business of the holiday season gave us the option to sit around. Regardless, we are just entering a time of waiting. It is a time of preparation. It is a time of anticipating. It is a time to reflect on what is yet to come. We are not all that good at waiting. We like to fill in the time with things to do, people to see, and places to go. I tend to carry at least one book with me to occupy myself when I know there is a high chance that I will be waiting. Advent, however, is not quite the same as sitting around the doctor’s office in anticipation of my appointment, awaiting the doctor’s return after a review of my chart, of sitting in line awaiting blood work. Advent’s waiting has more to do with getting myself ready along the lines of training for a marathon, prepping for an exam, or preparing for the coming of a baby. We await our celebration of Jesus’ birth, yet we likewise live in the expectation of Christ’s...

We gather on Thanksgiving to reflect on all the blessings of God bestowed on us. We think back to stories we have heard of native peoples supplying the pilgrims with food to enable their survival through a bleak winter. We gather to celebrate harvest and rejoice in knowing that God has provided for us. We gather to join our hearts with one another, to remember that all good things come from God who sends wind, rain, and sunshine for the benefit of all. We gather to remind ourselves that we indeed depend upon God. Is it a formality, or are our lives truly built on the confidence declared in our practices of Thanksgiving? The psalmist begins his words with a declaration that Yahweh is indeed good, that steadfast love is God’s essential character. John Wesley would likely have used the term grace if writing this psalm. The concept is essentially the same. God is good, because God is gracious. God is gracious, because God is loving. God is loving, because God is gracious. God is grac...

As we move into Thanksgiving and toward the Christmas season, I find that some reflection on how we deal with concepts of generosity is helpful. How we think about the poor and needy around us is important, as it directs not only what we give, but how we go about it. Our society has come a long way from the era of the Great Depression. We have made many advancements in science, medicine, education, transportation, communications, and economics. We became the world’s superpower and hold a level of influence on the world stage that is unprecedented in human history. We have also shifted toward considering poverty as antithetical to being American. Indeed, we have begun to respond to poverty as more than a lack of access to resources. We have begun treating poverty as a moral failure. As a result, we blame the poor for their poverty and treat them with disdain because they dare not be rich. We don’t speak of it in quite those words, but that is the force of so many of our attitu...

2nd Kings 10:12-17 12 Then he set out and went to Samaria. On the way, when he was at Beth-eked of the Shepherds, 13 Jehu met relatives of King Ahaziah of Judah and said, “Who are you?” They answered, “We are kin of Ahaziah; we have come down to visit the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother.” 14 He said, “Take them alive.” They took them alive, and slaughtered them at the pit of Beth-eked, forty-two in all; he spared none of them. 15 When he left there, he met Jehonadab son of Rechab coming to meet him; he greeted him, and said to him, “Is your heart as true to mine as mine is to yours?” Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand. Jehu took him up with him into the chariot. 16 He said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD.” So he had him ride in his chariot. 17 When he came to Samaria, he killed all who were left to Ahab in Samaria, until he had wiped them out, according to the word of the LORD that he ...

"You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors." - James 2:8-9 Partiality here means treating some persons better than others. It means loving some neighbors and not loving others. It means allowing our prejudices to interfere with expressing God's love for all persons regardless of gender, race, orientation, language, accent, status, wealth, zip code, nationality, citizenship, education, employment, health, denomination, party, clothing, affiliation, or preferences. It means being just as accepting of the ones who sit in our pew, the ones who camp out on the sidewalk, the ones who signs our paycheck, the ones who cut us off in traffic, the ones who send us greeting cards, the ones who clean the bathroom, the ones we call our heroes, the ones who enforce the law, the ones who share our faith, the...

“When the two women ran from the tomb, they were confused and shaking all over. They were too afraid to tell anyone what had happened.” Mark 16:8 Fear is a powerful motivator. It so often controls our actions, even when we know there to be a better way of doing. Fear is often irrational, but at times it is the very rational aspect of fear that keeps us from living according to faith. Mark’s gospel originally ended with this verse. Apparently, the text was changed by editors and copyists to reflect the fact that the resurrection story did get told. They wanted the text to speak more of Jesus’ resurrection than as Mark had ended his narrative. It made for an uncomfortable ending, after all. The women go to the tomb, find Jesus, then slip away quietly in fear. Mark’s is a brilliant literary device. It is effective. It stirs our emotions. It makes us question the women, but also ourselves. Too often, however, we read the text as those early editors, seeking a reinforcement of the messa...

“I, Yahweh All-Powerful, have something to say to you priests. Children respect their fathers, and servants respect their masters. I am your father and your master, so why don't you respect me? You priests have insulted me, and now you ask, ‘How did we insult you?’ You embarrass me by offering worthless food on my altar. Then you ask, ‘How have we embarrassed you?’ You have done it by saying, ‘What’s so great about Yahweh’s altar?’ But isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are blind, crippled, or sick? Just try giving those animals to your governor. That certainly wouldn't please him or make him want to help you. I am Yahweh God All-Powerful, and you had better try to please me. You have sinned. Now see if I will have mercy on any of you.” Malachi 1:6-9 Malachi makes an interesting point about our treating God differently than we treat the government. In one sense, perhaps it is more accurate to say we treat them the same. We are loath to pay our taxes, yet we pay them to avoi...