A Fresh Perspective

The church secretary was reading the minutes of the previous church business meeting and she read: Forty voted yes, seven voted no, and one said, “Over my dead body.” I’m sure for those of   you who have been involved in church much of your lives you can recall a contentious business meeting or two. Maybe you heard about the little ditty that was found on the back of a church bulletin. It read: “To dwell above, with the saints we love: O that will be glory. But to dwell below, with the saints we know; well, that’s a different story.” Paul is well aware of the divisions that are tearing at the Corinthian church. He opens the letter by informing them that reports have reached him that there are divisions and factions among them. And from Paul’s point of view, regardless of the surface issues dividing them, Paul argues they such divisiveness is rooted in spiritual immaturity and selfishness. He says to them early in the letter, “I cannot speak to you as spiritual women and men, b...

To say that Jesus is Lord is to echo one the earliest and most basic Christian confessions. Lordship language came right out of the Roman culture: Caesar claimed for himself the titles “son of God” and “Lord.” To claim the Lordship of Jesus flew in the face of the powerful Roman Empire. No wonder Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians that “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3b). Of course, anyone might say it and not mean it, but in the context of the Roman empire why would you make such a claim and put your self, your family, and your faith community in danger unless you were serious? But even before the Roman emperor was called “Lord,” this was a title ascribed to God. The Greek word  kyrios  was employed in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures) as a substitute for the unspeakable name of God. The early Christians did not claim that Jesus was God, but they believed as the “Son of God” he acted as God’s med...

John, the Baptizer drew people from the villages and towns out into the desert. He believed a new order, a new reality was about to break forth and in preparation he called people out to the desert for repentance and renewal. According to Luke John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Now, here is Jesus going out into the desert and being baptized by John. Did Jesus feel the need for personal repentance and renewal or was he simply identifying collectively with his people? You can think about that later because I don’t intend to go down that road.   I want us today to think about baptism in our own experience and tradition. What does it signify for us? What’s in a baptism? Of course, it’s very possible we could have different perspectives on this, which is okay. Certainly Christians of different traditions have different ideas and not all Baptists believe the same things when it comes to baptism. So, here’s what I think. First of all, I th...

In light of the Christmas stories in Matthew and Luke, John’s prologue might not be something we get too excited about. Joseph and Mary, shepherds, magi, angels and prophets in the temple are much easier to imagine than words like light, glory, grace, and truth that are used here. John’s prologue employs the concept of word, the Greek term is logos, to talk about God’s revelation of God’s self in the world. The prologue functions as a kind of overture or outline of John’s gospel. Words like “light”, “life,” “glory,” and “truth” will be used throughout this Gospel. While all the Gospels are in essence theological presentations or proclamations of the Christ, it is a common assumption among scholars that John’s Gospel is less historical and more symbolic than the others. This Gospel often employs symbolical, mystical, and metaphorical language and it starts right here in the beginning with the Logos or Word in John’s introduction. The theological term often used for talking ...

From the earliest time I can remember I was in the church house on Sundays. It did not always go well for me on Sundays. I can vaguely remember one Sunday when my parents and my best friend’s parents let us sit together during Sunday worship by ourselves. We decided to take the foil wrapper of a piece of chewing gum and make a little paper football. We had a whole side pew to ourselves so Keith went to one side and I to the other. We made goal posts with our hands and thumbs and kicked field goals. One of my kicks deviated from its intended path and landed inside a curl of the lady sitting in the pew directly in front of us. She was hard of hearing so we didn’t worry too much, but my buddy got tickled and I got tickled. Well, that was the last time we got to sit together for a while. For the next several weeks we were back at the side of our parents.   I can also distinctly remember as a kid sitting in worship as the preacher droned on and on thinking what a terrible way to ma...

John Pierce, the executive editor of Baptist Today , shared a story his friend told him about a coworker who was enjoying a visit from her sister and her two young nieces. They began running and screaming more so than usual so their mother went into the guestroom to check on them. The excited little girls shouted that a bug was after them and they were afraid of being bitten. The false alarm was over a small moth, floating lazily around the room. Their mom assured them, “Moths don’t bite people, they only eat clothes.” The next morning the girls were found sleeping peacefully in their bed – and naked. Their clothes were piled together away in the corner.  Our fears obviously affect our attitudes and actions. And this is true of all of us, not just little kids. Isn’t it obvious today how much our fears shape our attitudes and actions? Fear is guiding a lot of political speech today and bringing out the worst in people. When the angel first appears to Mary the angel sa...

It seems like every day we listen to the news we learn about some act of violence somewhere. It may be the act of a terrorist group on the international scene or it may be some crazy kid with a gun on a college campus – an endless cycle of shootings and violent reactions. In our own network of people connections how often do we encounter someone who is angry with us or someone who for whatever reason no longer wants to be in a friendly relationship with us? Is peace possible in such a world? Is peace possible in our families, in our schools, in our places of employment, among churches and diverse religious communities, between races and groups that have different political and social agendas, among those with different educational attainment and economic status. Can we make a way for peace? Can we come together? This second Sunday of Advent highlights the longing and need for peace. Our Scripture text today has been traditionally called the Benedictus. It is Zechariah’s canticle o...