spiritual deficit disorder

James 1:17-27

For Sunday, August 30, 2009

Proper 17

I remember one of my seminary professors Scot McKnight saying that when one reads James at first glance you think the guy must have had attention deficit disorder, because he seems to jump from topic to topic so quickly.

This passage is a good example. First James notes that every good and perfect gift is from above (v. 17). Then he says that God gave us birth through the word of truth (v. 18). Wonderful James, but what does that have to do with what you were just talking about?! James then seems to answer this very question with yet another nugget of truth: "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." Well, James, you sure seem to know something about moving quickly!

Yet might these topics be related after all? Here is a possible explanation for how the above three thoughts are connected. Every good and perfect gift is from above (v. 17). One of the most prominent good and perfect gifts is we Christians ourselves (v. 18). This truth then ought to move our concern from the pettiness of our immediate affairs to the pursuit of a righteous life (v. 19).

Could it then be that the problem is not that James has attention deficit disorder but that we have spiritual deficit disorder? Maybe James was merely tweeting before there was Twitter. May "the Father of the heavenly lights" show us the way to wisdom and blessing.

focal points

Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18

For Sunday, August 23, 2009

Proper 16

Where are the places where the three most significant events of your life happened? For me, one would be my birth in Milwaukee, WI. Another would be my marriage proposal in Wauwatosa, WI. Another would be Irkutsk, Siberia where we served for 10 years as church planters and trainers.

There were significant places in the life of God's people as well. One of these was Shechem. It is not by accident that Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at this particular place. It was at Shechem that Moses first pitched his tent and built an altar in honor of God's covenant promise to him and his descendants. It was here that Jacob settled with his family and built a well. In modern times, it was here that Yasser Arafat had his headquarters.

There is something interesting about the geography of this place that seems to parallel what Joshua is doing rhetorically. The entrance to Shechem was only 500 yards wide, bound on the left by Mt. Gerizim, and on the right by Mt. Ebal (Gerizim is listed on the map above, Ebal is the blue square at the far right). Just as the land was brought to a focal point at this particular location, so was Israel's future: "Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. . . But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve."

This is a call for each of us to ask, "Who am I serving, really?" Am I serving Christ, or my career? Am I serving my family, or myself? Am I a fully devoted follower of Christ, or just dabbling? Joshua was very clear about his own commitment: "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

There is a special call here for men to rise up and lead their families and households. Men, it starts with us. For the sake of our loved ones and of Christ, let us not fail them.

an invitation to wisdom

Paolo Veronese, "Allegory of Wisdom and Strength",

c. 1580, Frick Collection, New York

Proverbs 9:1-6

For Sunday, August 16, 2009

Proper 15

Have you ever stopped for a moment to ask yourself, "How do I want to live my life . . . really?" Do I want my priority to be climbing the corporate ladder? Or achieving some great personal goal? Or entertaining myself to death? This passage, advancing a key theme of the entire book of Proverbs, offers an invitation to a different kind of life: a life of wisdom.

What is wisdom? The New Bible Commentary defines it this way: "Thinking and living in accordance with how things really are." The Bible gives us a very clear picture of how things really are. There is a Creator who loved his creation deeply, and was broken-hearted when his creation rebelled against him. Yet so deep was his love that he sacrificed his one and only Son to win his creation back, and in the process he won his Son back too. We therefore live in a time in which all things are in the process of being reconciled back to this Creator, who is named God. What is good and pure and lovely will endure, and what is evil, perverted and ugly will not.

This passage describes the Christian life as an invitation from the nicest house of the city which of course is located on the city's highest point. The finest foods and wines are awaiting us. Who would be so foolish as to refuse?

living in the truth of Christ

Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2

For Sunday, August 19, 2009

Proper 14

The gospel calls us to move away from the way we used to live: in the futility of our thinking (v. 17), indulging in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more (v. 19). We are to move toward living out the truth found in Christ (v. 21). In writing to the church at Ephesus Paul now makes some very practical applications.

First, in our relationships with one another we are to "put off falsehood and speak truthfully to our neighbors" (v. 25). Note that this instruction is given to believers. Believers wouldn't ever lie to one another would they? Paul knew that they would and did. Take an inventory of the conversations you have had over the last three days. Are there any in which you have not been truthful? If so, for the sake of your own soul, your relationship with your brother or sister, and for the sake of the church in the world, take a few minutes today to set things right.

Second, "Do not let the sun go down on your anger" (v. 26). How often do we simply suppress or deny the anger we feel toward our fellow Christians, only by so doing to give the devil a foothold from which he can literally destroy relationships. How are you feeling today about your pastor, about your colleague, about your spouse? If you are truthful, are you angry? Then ask God to give you the wisdom and grace to bring redemptive change to the situation.

If you are worried about how to do this, look no farther than the next verse: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up" (v. 29). Healthy conflict does not destroy relationships, but rather strengthens them, blessing all involved.

In sum, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you" (v. 32).