As I consider the life and ministry of Martin Luther King Jr., I am drawn to the last verses of Romans 12:
Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:17-21 (NRSV)
I am drawn to Jesus’ words in “The Sermon on the Mount”.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.”
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:38-48 (NRSV)
King called it “Non-violent Resistance”. He would lead those who had been oppressed to demand justice from the oppressor without doing harm or evil to the oppressors.
Some called it “Passive non-resistance” but there was nothing passive about it. It was powerfully aggressive in the demand for justice. But King taught his disciples the lessons that Jesus tried to teach, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”, and the lesson from Paul to the Roman church, “Overcome evil with good.”
Under King’s leadership, it was the principle that transformed American culture. As a principle for personal living, it transforms the soul….which may transform the family and community….which may change a state or nation….which….who knows what might happen?
Monday, January 21, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Moral Quandaries
Let me speak in the abstract – never much fun to read but sometimes helpful, especially where there are people you love and refuse to embarrass.
Here is a decision to be made. You’ve just read Thomas Kelly and you are listening for the Inner Voice of the Holy One. You are trying, with every ounce of your rational being, to think clearly about the issue. And, oh, how you pray -- with every ounce of your spiritual fiber you pray.
First, you try to stand in one place and ask all of the pertinent questions and from that space, an answer, a response seems to be right.
Then you mentally move to another position and ask the questions again and, oh no, a different answer, even the opposite answer, seems to be right.
The first answer seems to be helpful to some and perhaps harmful to others and then stand in another place and a second answer seems to help and hurt entirely different people. Different answers create different consequences -- all of the consequences a sad mixture of good and bad. There is no response that avoids hurting everybody.
Look around and discover that there is no way to make everybody happy. No matter what you do, or if you do nothing, somebody will be disappointed and perhaps angry.
Read the scriptures carefully and discover that all of the biblical precedents are grounded in cultures very different from our own applying the rules about loving others inevitably looks different than it did in the Bible
What to do?
There can only be one response and I wish that there were others. After doing all of the research that can be done and after praying all you can pray and thinking your best thoughts and listening for that Ultimate Inner Voice, in the end you simply do the best that you can and pray God’s forgiveness if you are wrong. You take a chance on the best that you know and trust that God’s mercy is grander than his judgment.
Don’t you just envy those who never seem to face ambiguity, who are blessed to live in an “either-or” universe, who enjoy a world of purest black and white, who live in a community that needs ask no questons? Aren’t they fortunate to never wonder about another point of view or to struggle with partial answers. Aren't they fortunate to never need to throw themselves on the grace of God because they finally could do only the best they knew? Aren't they fortunate?
Probably not!
Here is a decision to be made. You’ve just read Thomas Kelly and you are listening for the Inner Voice of the Holy One. You are trying, with every ounce of your rational being, to think clearly about the issue. And, oh, how you pray -- with every ounce of your spiritual fiber you pray.
First, you try to stand in one place and ask all of the pertinent questions and from that space, an answer, a response seems to be right.
Then you mentally move to another position and ask the questions again and, oh no, a different answer, even the opposite answer, seems to be right.
The first answer seems to be helpful to some and perhaps harmful to others and then stand in another place and a second answer seems to help and hurt entirely different people. Different answers create different consequences -- all of the consequences a sad mixture of good and bad. There is no response that avoids hurting everybody.
Look around and discover that there is no way to make everybody happy. No matter what you do, or if you do nothing, somebody will be disappointed and perhaps angry.
Read the scriptures carefully and discover that all of the biblical precedents are grounded in cultures very different from our own applying the rules about loving others inevitably looks different than it did in the Bible
What to do?
There can only be one response and I wish that there were others. After doing all of the research that can be done and after praying all you can pray and thinking your best thoughts and listening for that Ultimate Inner Voice, in the end you simply do the best that you can and pray God’s forgiveness if you are wrong. You take a chance on the best that you know and trust that God’s mercy is grander than his judgment.
Don’t you just envy those who never seem to face ambiguity, who are blessed to live in an “either-or” universe, who enjoy a world of purest black and white, who live in a community that needs ask no questons? Aren’t they fortunate to never wonder about another point of view or to struggle with partial answers. Aren't they fortunate to never need to throw themselves on the grace of God because they finally could do only the best they knew? Aren't they fortunate?
Probably not!
Friday, January 11, 2008
The Holy; Thomas Kelly and "The Speaking Voice"
As we consider the notions of “the sanctified” and “the holy”, consider the following.
Thomas R. Kelly begins his devotional essay “The Light Within” (A Testament of Devotion, p.3) with these words.
Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto Itself. Yielding to these persuasions, gladly committing ourselves in body and soul, utterly and completely, to the Light Within is the beginning of true life. It is a dynamic center, a creative Life that presses to birth within us. It is a Light Within which illumines the face of God and casts new shadows and new glories upon the face of men. It is a seed stirring to life if we do not choke it. It is the Shekinah of the soul, the Presence in the midst. Here is the Slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened, to become the soul we clothe in earthly form and action. And He is within us all.
Questions: Is the “inner sanctuary” real? Does it or can it exist? Is there a “speaking Voice”? And if so, what is its relationship to “the sanctified” or to “the holy”?
I think that Kelly is referring to Jesus’ promise of “The Paraclete”, The Holy Spirit.
More to come.
Thomas R. Kelly begins his devotional essay “The Light Within” (A Testament of Devotion, p.3) with these words.
Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto Itself. Yielding to these persuasions, gladly committing ourselves in body and soul, utterly and completely, to the Light Within is the beginning of true life. It is a dynamic center, a creative Life that presses to birth within us. It is a Light Within which illumines the face of God and casts new shadows and new glories upon the face of men. It is a seed stirring to life if we do not choke it. It is the Shekinah of the soul, the Presence in the midst. Here is the Slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened, to become the soul we clothe in earthly form and action. And He is within us all.
Questions: Is the “inner sanctuary” real? Does it or can it exist? Is there a “speaking Voice”? And if so, what is its relationship to “the sanctified” or to “the holy”?
I think that Kelly is referring to Jesus’ promise of “The Paraclete”, The Holy Spirit.
More to come.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Does it Translate?
The Apostle Paul addressed the ancient church in Corinth in this way:
“To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours….” 1 Corinthians 1:2 (NIV)
Look at two words, “sanctified” and “holy”. My question: Are these words so thoroughly antiquated, so out of touch with contemporary realities, so foreign to the modern mind-set that they must be neglected or discarded from the realms of contemporary conversation? Where do the words “sanctified” and “holy” fit into the modern idiom? What kind of responses do they provoke? What emotions are sparked? Is it possible to say “holy” without saying “than thou”?
If I visit the coffee house down the street and take a cup of mocha latte and conversation at the next table happens, is there any possibility that under any circumstance that the word “holy” might be used?
Is there a yawn coming on? Who in the world might care? Holy – ancient and quaint and, quite possibly, relegated to the pages of religious history.
And…maybe not!
This is my deepest suspicion. In losing an awareness of the holy, we have lost the single most significant group of experiences that God has to offer in this world. To fail to experience the holy is to fail to experience God! And, in losing the call “to be holy” we lose the source of all that is good and true and beautiful and moral and ethical.
More to come
“To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours….” 1 Corinthians 1:2 (NIV)
Look at two words, “sanctified” and “holy”. My question: Are these words so thoroughly antiquated, so out of touch with contemporary realities, so foreign to the modern mind-set that they must be neglected or discarded from the realms of contemporary conversation? Where do the words “sanctified” and “holy” fit into the modern idiom? What kind of responses do they provoke? What emotions are sparked? Is it possible to say “holy” without saying “than thou”?
If I visit the coffee house down the street and take a cup of mocha latte and conversation at the next table happens, is there any possibility that under any circumstance that the word “holy” might be used?
Is there a yawn coming on? Who in the world might care? Holy – ancient and quaint and, quite possibly, relegated to the pages of religious history.
And…maybe not!
This is my deepest suspicion. In losing an awareness of the holy, we have lost the single most significant group of experiences that God has to offer in this world. To fail to experience the holy is to fail to experience God! And, in losing the call “to be holy” we lose the source of all that is good and true and beautiful and moral and ethical.
More to come
Thursday, January 3, 2008
New Years Prayer
Prayer For the New Year
Dear Lord,
Happy New Year!
Only You can know the sorrows and celebrations of 2007 and I pray that for You this will be a happier year than the last.
The changing calendar reveals again the mystery that is time; a past that is beyond comprehension and a future that is beyond imagination.
History, pre-history, Big-Bang, “And God said….And God saw that it was good….”
The future; today, tomorrow, death, resurrection, the end of the world, Jesus….
It is entirely too big, too much, my soul can’t take it in.
We stand in awe – feeling so small.
Already we know a time and place, not too far away, that cannot be seen from this side of “The Great Divide.”
Mystery and Majesty and Miracle are words not big enough for time and eternity and The Maker thereof.
Standing in awe before You, I pray:
For an end to the war
For all who would do us harm
For the integrity of our own nation
For honesty and wisdom, for moral and ethical behavior
For liberty and justice for all
I pray:
For the ill and the dying
For the whole and the living
For the broken hearted and those in the ecstasy of love
For the relocated and the dislocated and for all who are experiencing dramatic and traumatic change
For those who marry and give birth and for the divorced and those who lose their children
And all whose relationships are stressed, distressed and broken and for all who enjoy happy friendships and loving families
For the working and the leisured
For the employed and unemployed and under-employed
For all who are beginning careers and those who are approaching retirement and all who must slug-it-out in daily labor
I pray for family, especially my own;
For my wife and daughters and sons
For my brother and sister, my nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles
I give thanks for Mom and Dad and grandparents and all who have nurtured my life
I am grateful for all, known and unknown, whose generosity made maturation and education possible.
I pray for our church;
For this remarkable community of faith – Thank You
For the resolve to do that which is right and good and faithful
That we might be faithful to the call given us in “The Great Commission” to make and teach disciples
That each person will live out his or her membership with integrity, faithful to the whole as “The Body of Christ” even as each pursues his or her personal spiritual journey
Accept my gratitude for this magnificent body of souls who are faithful and full of love and live with a spirit that is open to You and others
And I pray that you will heal us in the broken places.
I give myself to you in prayer:
Asking that you will lead me to be faithful steward of the blessings that You have entrusted into my care.
Make me attentive to the health of my body
Attentive to the relationships through which I am so fully blessed
Attentive to the life of the mind and the power of thoughtful ideas
Mostly, attentive to You and Your Christ and the presence of Your Spirit.
Give me wisdom for faithful ministry
And I ask that you will grant a generous portion of joy and love, hope and peace in the days to come and a firm confidence in the life that is yet to come
For the ineffable experience of life and the wonder of love and the joy of beautiful things accept my gratitude
In the name of Christ
Amen
Dear Lord,
Happy New Year!
Only You can know the sorrows and celebrations of 2007 and I pray that for You this will be a happier year than the last.
The changing calendar reveals again the mystery that is time; a past that is beyond comprehension and a future that is beyond imagination.
History, pre-history, Big-Bang, “And God said….And God saw that it was good….”
The future; today, tomorrow, death, resurrection, the end of the world, Jesus….
It is entirely too big, too much, my soul can’t take it in.
We stand in awe – feeling so small.
Already we know a time and place, not too far away, that cannot be seen from this side of “The Great Divide.”
Mystery and Majesty and Miracle are words not big enough for time and eternity and The Maker thereof.
Standing in awe before You, I pray:
For an end to the war
For all who would do us harm
For the integrity of our own nation
For honesty and wisdom, for moral and ethical behavior
For liberty and justice for all
I pray:
For the ill and the dying
For the whole and the living
For the broken hearted and those in the ecstasy of love
For the relocated and the dislocated and for all who are experiencing dramatic and traumatic change
For those who marry and give birth and for the divorced and those who lose their children
And all whose relationships are stressed, distressed and broken and for all who enjoy happy friendships and loving families
For the working and the leisured
For the employed and unemployed and under-employed
For all who are beginning careers and those who are approaching retirement and all who must slug-it-out in daily labor
I pray for family, especially my own;
For my wife and daughters and sons
For my brother and sister, my nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles
I give thanks for Mom and Dad and grandparents and all who have nurtured my life
I am grateful for all, known and unknown, whose generosity made maturation and education possible.
I pray for our church;
For this remarkable community of faith – Thank You
For the resolve to do that which is right and good and faithful
That we might be faithful to the call given us in “The Great Commission” to make and teach disciples
That each person will live out his or her membership with integrity, faithful to the whole as “The Body of Christ” even as each pursues his or her personal spiritual journey
Accept my gratitude for this magnificent body of souls who are faithful and full of love and live with a spirit that is open to You and others
And I pray that you will heal us in the broken places.
I give myself to you in prayer:
Asking that you will lead me to be faithful steward of the blessings that You have entrusted into my care.
Make me attentive to the health of my body
Attentive to the relationships through which I am so fully blessed
Attentive to the life of the mind and the power of thoughtful ideas
Mostly, attentive to You and Your Christ and the presence of Your Spirit.
Give me wisdom for faithful ministry
And I ask that you will grant a generous portion of joy and love, hope and peace in the days to come and a firm confidence in the life that is yet to come
For the ineffable experience of life and the wonder of love and the joy of beautiful things accept my gratitude
In the name of Christ
Amen
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