“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”  Exodus 20:17 NRSV

I’ve often wondered where the line is on coveting.  I like things that other people have…and not just material things.  I’d like to have a better sense of style.  I’d like to have thinner hair.  I’d like to have more time so that I could play more golf.  And at times – I’m jealous of those who have those things I’d like.  Is that coveting?

I don’t think wanting certain things is in itself wrong; however, I think it’s what we do with our desires that turns wanting into coveting.  If I were to get angry at someone for having what I want – then maybe I’ve crossed the line.  If I were to let my desire become something that I obsessed about – then maybe I’ve gone too far.  If I were to compromise my integrity in order to get the things I want – then I’m definitely in the wrong.

As with most things,  I think moderation is the key.  It’s okay to want different things, but when the act of wanting occurs far more than the act of being grateful or content – then we have become gluttons of our desire.

May our desires for integrity and communion with God far outweigh our desires for temporal pleasures.

“You shall not steal.” Exodus 20:15 NRSV

Seems easy enough right?  We’re taught at a very early age not to take anything that’s not ours.

Why is it not so easy with church?  We live in an age where everyone’s got the best idea on how to do church.  It worked for them so they’re going to develop a conference, book, seminar, how-to-model, etc. so that you can do it just like they did.  Whoa…isn’t that stealing?

Okay, maybe to call that stealing is a little intense, but…don’t we have minds of our own?  Can’t we call upon the image of the creator inside of us to help us become creative?

So even though something is working for some other church out there, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be right for the community of believers I’m a part of.  Can I learn from other communities and churches?  Absolutely.  Is there a difference between learning and stealing?  Absolutely.  Did God create us to be creative, even in terms of how we do church?  For sure.

May we strive to reflect the image of the creator.

“Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12 NRSV

How early can you start teaching your children the ten commandments? 

Kinsey (1 yr) has begun using Kinsey-language to communicate with me.  Thus, our conversations normally sound like this:

Kinsey: (screaming) Ahhbaahda!

Me: (calmly) Really?

Kinsey: (even more emphatically now) Ahhbaahda!!

Me: (a little more frustrated) I’m not quite sure I understand sweetheart.

Kinsey: (bordering on crying, but really just yelling at me)  Ahhbaahda!!!

Me: (with much more tone)  Okay…what?  Just show me…What?!?

Kinsey: (calmly and pointing to the cheetos) Ta.

At one year old, Kinsey doesn’t quite understand “Honor you mother and father.”  Her tone with me borders on disrespect…if possible from a 1 year old.  Yet I don’t know how and when you start teaching the proper manner of communication.  She can only say 5 words!

I don’t remember this with Hallie.  She was always very calm and lived in her own little world, but not Kinsey.  Kinsey lives in everyone’s world and wants to interact in it right now in whatever fashion she chooses.

With Hallie (5 yrs) she understands respecting mom and dad.  She understands this because she knows what gets taken away when she doesn’t do it.  But teaching a 1 yr old is a little different.  What am I going to take away?  Her blanket? Any parent of a 1 yr old knows that is not a battle we’re willing to fight.

I wonder sometimes if we are the 1 yr old or the 5 yr old in respect to our parents as adults.  While cognitively I know that they have wisdom beyond my years and deserve my respect, sometimes it is hard to get past my own desire for the cheeto.

I have the same wonder about our relationships with God.  Again, I understand that God is much wiser and is worthy of my trust, but I just want the cheeto so badly.

So the commandment says those who honor their father and mother will live long in the land.  The land was the symbol of living in the blessing of the Lord and thus those who follow the commandment would be among those blessed.  I guess the same applies to my 1 yr and myself – honor our moms and dads and perhaps we’ll get to live in the blessing of having happy, rather than frustrated, parents.  And perhaps honoring God will equate to the same.

“Then God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:1-3 NRSV

The first commandment.  At times people have wondered if the existence of other gods is affirmed by this scripture and commandment thinking how could people have other gods before God unless there were other gods?

But such was not a question to the people whom first heard this commandment.  Though they may or may not have had personal experiences with other gods, they were well aware that other people all around them had experiences with other gods.  To question the existence of those other gods probably wasn’t an important question to them.  The most important thing was knowing that the God they worshiped was tops – no matter what.

The way they came to understand that their God (Yahweh) was the ultimate was through their experiences.  Thus, the first commandment is not just – you shall have no other gods before me.  Rather, the first commandment is – Remember all that I have done for you and thus have no other gods before me.

God earned the exclusiveness of their worship.  God had done amazing things for them and deserved their unswerving praise.

Today, when we think of “having no other gods before me,” we think more of earthly things that we may put in front of our relationship with God.  No matter if we are considering earthly or “non-earthly” gods, our remembrance should be what draws our unique devotion.

Today I will remember the God who has created me as a free entity capable of living, choosing, and being all of my own accord.  And out of my remembrance of freedom, I will choose to put no other gods before GOD.

“He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’” Mark 8:34 NRSV

I want to be a follower of Jesus – but  I’ve often contemplated what this call means for me.

What does it mean to deny myself?  Does it mean to deny my wishes and desires?  Does mean to deny myself the things I want?  Does it mean I should deny the essence of who I am?

And what is the cross that I am supposed to take up?  Is a tool for my destruction as it was for Jesus?  Is it referring to my burdens? I can’t imagine a burden I have that compares to Jesus’ cross, so it’s hard for me to equate my cross to my “burdens.”

I think the meaning of denying myself and taking up my cross is evolving and personal.  I don’t know that there is anyway for me to give a certain interpretation of this.  I can only meditate on it in my own life and try to discover what Jesus is asking of me.

The evolving meaning of the phrase speaks to me today that it is necessary for me to embrace struggle.  Though my struggles don’t compare to Jesus’, the journey of following Christ has never been intended to be easy…the journey may be rewarding, but it is by no means carefree.

So I deny my tendency to run from struggle and I embrace the difficulties that face me (however inconsequential they may seem to others).  I face following Christ with bravery, while still knowing that I have a God who cares about me even when the brave face is only a facade.

Open mouth, insert foot

“He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Mark 8:31-33

Do you ever wish you could go back in time?  How many times have I wished I could just go back 5 seconds and take back the incredibly irresponsible thing I said for which my foot found its way to my mouth?

Surely Peter felt this way on more than one occassion, but this one kind of took the cake.  I mean, seriously, rebuking Jesus?  I know he was just trying to be sure the obvious didn’t remain unsaid, but wow!  Jesus seems to call him Satan!

I know a certain someone who has a tendency to point out the elephant in any room – a Peter for sure.  But  I guess I can’t neglect the fact that Peter becomes the rock upon which Christ builds the church.  Peter is the leader, the visionary church planter who didn’t want to have anything left unsaid.

So while I do wish I would be more careful with my words so that I don’t have to remove my foot from my mouth so often, I guess I could learn a lesson from Peter and try to become the kind of leader that is an elephant spotter.

Genesis 17:1-7; 15-16

As I read through this account of the covenant between God and Abraham, I started thinking outside of the Abrahamic box.

This text of God’s promise to multiply and bless descendants of Abraham comes from the people of Abraham.  Years after this promise was made to Abraham, the people who had benefited from it looked back and wrote this account of the promise. 

But I’m drawn today to the people outside of the Abrahamic lineage.  Do they feel blessed by God?  Though they are not addressed in this passage directly the implication seems to be that if people of the Abrahamic lineage are blessed, then the people of non-Abrahamic lineage are not.  From the perspective of the blessed people, I’m sure it seems okay to leave the implied part out.

But I’m drawn to them today, the people on the other side.  Our texts present the positives about being who we are, and don’t necessarily address those who are not “in” our circle. 

I guess I just want to say to everyone today, those inside or outside, those in the middle or those on the margins, those in power and those existing under the reign of the powerful - “For God so loved THE WORLD!” There is hope and blessing for those on every side and I hope I never fail to let my worldview reflect a God who loves all people – not just those who are like me.

Always grace?

“For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.” Romans 4:13-14 (NRSV)

I think we often get the wrong idea about God’s grace.  We tend to think that grace is a relatively new concept to God.  We think that in the Old Testament God operated under a system of the law as a means for salvation and communion made possible with the creator.  But I think God has always been a God of grace.  Grace made possible the relationship between God and Abraham – there was no law.  And it was in that relationship that much of what we know as Christianity began.  It has been grace all along!

I think grace is something that has always separted Yahweh from other gods.  Yahweh is patient, loving, merciful and grieves over the indiscretions of his creation.  While justice and judgment cannot be relinquished from the character of an Almighty God – the balance held between justice and compassion is a defining feature of our God.

So since I almost messed up today and forgot to blog (my Lenten resolution), and since I know the forgetting will happen again one day, I’m glad to have a God who holds justice and compassion in balance.  I’m glad to worship who has always been characterized by grace.

The Flood

So I’m preparing my sermon for Sunday this afternoon, and I am lamenting the decision I proposed that we follow the Old Testament passages through Lent so that we can explore the theme of God’s covenants…because the first one is Noah and the flood.  This definitely is one of the stories in Scripture I try to avoid most because of the dark side of the story. 

I still haven’t figured out why they’ve made children’s wallpaper, bedding, and mobiles themed on Noah’s ark.  I don’t want to have to explain the idea that God wiped out everything because the people did bad things.  This is especially hard to explain to a 5 year old who gets in trouble often.  I can see how it would be easy for her to make the lead to – I get in trouble, I do things that are wrong…God’s going to kill me!  Then you have a child who’s scared of God, rather than a child who loves God – not exactly the sentiment we’re  trying to create.

But there really are a lot of similaries between my sweet 5-year old Hallie and the people who were wiped out in the flood.  The people then just didn’t get who they were.  They were doing things that usurped their position as created beings, they were trying to take the role of the creator.  As they did that, they dishonored God and neither the creator or the creation was able to truly be who they really were. 

Hallie sometimes forgets that she’s the kid and James and I are the parents.  At 5, she has opinions and thoughts and likes and dislikes – and she would like for her life to happen according to her wishes…not necessarily according to what mom and dad say.  She tries to control things and we wonder why she can’t just accept that we are her parents and we are just doing what is best for her.

So aren’t we glad that God said, “Never again!”  I know I often take the same attitude with God that Hallie takes with me.  So I sure am glad there was the promise of “Never again!”  I sure am glad that God seems to change in the story, that the grief God experiences changes the way he deals with humanity so that post-flood God offers limitless grace and the promise not to destroy.  And even though evil and destruction still exist in the world, we can know from God’s promise that those things are not caused by God’s anger or wrath.  Thank goodness we’ve changed from a system of retribution to a system of grace.  Thank goodness for “Never again!”

“O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare you praise.  For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give you a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a contrite and broken heart, o God, you will not despise.”  Ps. 51:15-17

Even the ancient Israelites got confused about how to worship God.  They had been instructed to burn sacrifices, offer grain, observe the Sabbath, and so forth.  When we have these kind of activities laid out before us, it’s so easy to get caught in the routine of doing this and that without ever giving it a meaningful thought. 

If we feel like we’re doing what we are supposed to be doing, then we often feel a sense of satisfaction.  But as the Psalmist describes here in Psalm 51, God is not simply satisfied when we only do what we think we ought.  While God does desire the devotion of our actions, more than that God desires hearts that are contrite and broken – hearts that know who they are in respect to who God is.

At the beginning of Lent, especially on Ash Wednesday, we are called to the rememberance of who we really are.  We are nothing but ashes and dust and because of the consequences of our sin it is to that which we will return one day…Ash Wednesday can be a little depressing.  It truly is a liturgical holiday meant to evoke the contrite and broken heart that the Psalmist describes. 

But I find hope in the last phrase – o God, you will not despise.  Even if we are going through a time of truly having a broken and contrite heart, realizing the depravity of who we are, and just not feeling very good about ourselves – God will not despise us.  Even if I’m in a moment when I’m coming close to saying I despise myself, God will not despise me.

So as I move through Lent – the activity, the doing of my faith – I do so with the broken and contrite heart of Ash Wednesday hoping that my sacrifice is acceptable to the Lord.  And I do that while still knowing that Easter is on its way and on that day we will celebrate the fact that the God who does not despise us did something that revolutionized the entire world…and my world as well.