Healing Rays of Righteousness

Agreeing to Walk Together

I am troubled by those who call themselves Christian, and yet hold to a view of community that is more totalitarian than biblical in its adherence to allowing little tolerance for disagreement.  I am speaking of an attitude and mentality that fixes its eyes on another with a cold look and says, “If you don’t agree with us, get out.  Go somewhere else.  You don’t belong here.” 

Regretfully, many Christians have been misled by the King James Version of Amos 3:3, which asks, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”  They understand the prophet to be saying that any disagreement is detrimental to healthy relationship and community and thus, “no agreement, no relationship.”  But that is not the meaning behind the original Hebrew.

The New International Version (NIV) better clarifies the original meaning as follows; “Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?  This more correctly suggests an agreement with another to walk together.  It is a commitment to a planned activity together because I accept and respect you regardless of any possible disagreements.

Behavioral studies show that much of human anxiety is caused by an egocentric, neurotic need to have others agree with us.  These same studies tell us that the dynamics of every healthy people grouping, whether it be church, community, or nation, includes lively disagreement. 

To presume that others need us to correct them, but that we do not need them to correct us is to assign to ourselves an omniscience that belongs only to Almighty God.  The “loyal opposition” is needed to keep us from getting too comfortable with our selfish, narrow, and off-times marred visions.  Dietrich Bonhoffer warned that “He who can no longer listen to his brother will soon no longer be listening to God, either.”

I am reminded of the young man who stopped at a farmhouse asking for work.  The farmer asked of his occupation, which was carpentry.  At first the farmer said he had no work.  Then, pointing across the road to the neighboring farm, he said, “That is where my brother lives and we have become bitter enemies.  He even took a bulldozer and cut a stream from the reservoir through the pasture between us.  I’ll hire you to take that lumber by the barn and build an eight-foot high solid fence between us, so that I don’t need to be looking at him.”

The farmer went to town for the day, and the young man went to work.  When the farmer returned, instead of a fence, he saw a beautiful bridge across the stream, with handrails and all.  At first, he was angry, but then he saw his brother walking down the hill to the bridge with his arms outstretched.  As he walked to meet him, his younger brother called out, “You are a special brother, to think that you would build a bridge so that we can get together!”

As the carpenter was walking away, the farmer called, “Hey, where are you going?”  The man answered, “I’m going to build other bridges!”

Bridges open us up to inviting and strengthening relationships with others.  Walls close down, shut out, and weaken relationships with others.  Bridges lead to new vistas, adventures, and unlimited possibilities.  Walls protect comfortable, non-disturbing sameness and limited possibilities.  

O church, community, and nation – we who call ourselves Christian – let us build bridges of loving acceptance, agreeing to walk together with all people.  Let us build bridges of respectful listening to the “loyal opposition” as we walk together toward seeking common ground and guidance in making a better world for all of us.

<><><><><><><> 

For We Are Strangers No More             (Hymnal: A Worship Book, #322)

Refrain:             For we are strangers no more, but members of one family; strangers no more, but part of one humanity; strangers no more, we’re neighbors to each other now; strangers no more, we’re sisters and we’re brothers now.

Come, walk with me, we’ll praise the Lord together, as we join song to song and prayer to prayer. Come, take my hand, and we will work together by lifting all the burdens we can share.

Where diff-ring cultures meet we’ll serve together; Where hatred rages we will strive for peace. Come, take my hand, and we will pray together that justice come and strife and warfare cease.

There is a love that binds the world together; a love that seeks the last, the lost, the least. One day that love will bring us all together in Christ from South and North, from West and East.

(Kenneth I. Morse, 1979)

<><><><><><><> 

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – 10/28/2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

God Works Through Us

I am hearing many people saying that our nation of democracy is being torn apart and in danger of being destroyed by divisive partisan and racist behaviors.  And many of them are asking “Where is God?  Why doesn’t he intervene and do something to elevate truth above the lies and right the wrongs that are being said and done?”

These are questions that should cause us to search the scriptures and be reminded that God is  the sovereign ruler of the world, and that he is at work in every place that individuals commit themselves to doing God’s work of reconciliation and peace between persons, races, creed, and nations.  This is God’s work and our purpose in the world.  But it can only be accomplished as we individually open ourselves to his Spirit enabling us to do the work.

In Nehemiah 3 we hear Nehemiah making it clear that rebuilding the wall in Jerusalem was God’s work.  It was God who stirred up Nehemiah in chapter 1 and enabled him to be sent to Jerusalem in chapter 2.

Nehemiah yielded to the Spirit of God and was enabled to accomplish the legal necessities, gather the needed building materials, effectively motivate the people, and organize all the people in rebuilding the city wall. 

It may seem boring, but there are good insights embedded in the listing of builders and their assignments.  The list is very inclusive.  The builders came from diverse regions of Judah, and from diverse professions “goldsmith, perfume makers, and merchants.”

Both sexes worked on the wall “Shallum and his daughters,” (v.12).  Even the leaders from Judah got their hands dirty, including “the high priest and his fellow priests” (v.1), “the Levites”(v.17), and many district leaders and rulers.

In fact, “The Dung Gate was repaired by Malkijah, the ruler of the district of Beth-Hakkerem.” (v.14)   This certainly was not prime territory to work in, being downwind from the city dump.  But someone of authority, who might have used his influence to gain a better assignment, was willing to complete this necessary but undesirable and stinky task.

When the wall was completed, Nehemiah recorded that “When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God” (6:16).

This story and many other biblical stories, as well as non-biblical stories in human history, clearly illustrate that God does accomplish his greater work of establishing peace and goodwill in the world, among every tribe, race, and nation through us, his Spirit-led and Spirit-enabled followers.

You may be agreeing with what I just said, but remain confused about what specifically is God’s business?  Amid such social conflict and upheaval, what is God’s work and our assignment?

To answer that question, I turn to Luke 4:18-19 where we read that Jesus, the hometown boy, went to the synagogue on the Sabbath.  With family and friends, he stood and read from Isaiah regarding the credentials and mission of the coming Messiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 

He then sat down and with everyone eyes intently fixed on him, he claimed this mission as his own, saying “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  (v.21).

These were the same credentials he gave to the disciples of John the Baptist when they asked, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”  And I believe these same credentials continue to be the authentic identification of God’s people. 

Most significantly, these credentials are about issues of social need and concern.  God wants us to understand that our attitudes and behaviors toward others is his business and our priority work in the world.

The Scriptures clearly indicate that God’s Spirit is at work when and where social concerns are demonstrated in response to the need of others.  To be God’s people means we must be always caring about the physical, social, and temporal needs of our neighbors in our community, nation, and world.

In our contemporary environment it is so easy for us to become focused on the wrong kinds of priorities.  There is certainly nothing wrong with interest and concern for the cultivation of mind, body, and soul through biblical study, meditation, and praise.  But if that becomes our primary end goal, there is something very wrong about our understanding of doing God’s business in the world.

God’s business is about loving and caring for the world through us.  God’s business is about bringing peace to our churches, our town, our nation, and all the world through us, his people who live “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8).

<><><><><><><> 

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – October 21, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Be Holy – Be Perfect

The listing of various laws in Leviticus 19 begins with God telling Moses, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.’”  

This command is followed by a lengthy, detailed listing of specific instructions regarding living together in community.  There’s instruction about harvesting, where the landowner is told not to glean the fields and vineyard bare, but to leave the gleanings for the poor.  Another instruction forbids stealing and lying.  Yet another warns against taking advantage of people who are deaf or blind.  Also, justice is to be administered impartially.  People should not slander one another, nor seek vengeance against one another. 

God sums up these instructions with the command “but love your neighbor as yourself” followed by “I am the LORD.”  (v.18).  I think this means that the command to love one’s neighbor as oneself is not given just because loving one’s neighbor is a good idea or because it makes the community run better.  Rather the command is to be observed because loving one’s neighbor is the essence of holiness. 

This immediately undermines the notion that to “be holy” means separating myself from others and living isolated as a hermit or monk.  Instead, being holy has everything to do with my behavior in community, that is, about how I relate and act toward others in my world.  God commands us to be holy because he wants us to stamp upon our society and community the God-like imprint of living together in community with sharing, caring love.

I understand Leviticus 19 to be about compassion for our neighbors, the poor, the travelers, and yes, immigrants.  We later hear Jesus summarizing these same teachings in his so-called “Golden Rule” recorded in Luke 6:31, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

When Jesus was asked by a Pharisee lawyer about which commandment was the greatest, Jesus answered by quoting two: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind,” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  The latter is a direct quote from Leviticus 19:18. Jesus said that upon these two commandments hang all the Hebrew Scriptures (Matt. 22:40).

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus extends or broadens this command of loving one’s neighbor to also include the enemy.  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (5:43-47).  

He then concludes that section by saying, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48).  I believe the word “perfect” which Jesus used, carries the same meaning and weight as the word “holy” used in Leviticus 19.  Both words, “holy” and “perfect” beg the question, what does being “holy” or “perfect” look like? 

If we listen carefully to God’s commands in Leviticus and the teachings of Jesus in Matthew, we discover that the words “holy” and “perfect” have much more to do with how we act rather than how we look.  In other words, our behavior toward one another is of much greater concern to God than our visible outward appearance.

The Scriptures consistently declare that to “be holy” or “perfect” cannot be reduced to a way of dressing or expressed by lugging a Bible with you everywhere you go.  Neither does regular church attendance or other religious activities make you a holy/perfect person. 

Rather, the imprint of “God-likeness” that God wants us to make on our society happens in our daily acts of loving and providing for others with kindness, justice, mercy, generosity.  These are things that we seldom think of as being expressions of holiness.  But from God’s perspective, this is the essence of being “holy” and “perfect.”

Today we live in a world divided by religious, political, economic, and racial biases.  It is easy for us to embrace Jesus command to “love your neighbor as yourself” in our faith statements but find it difficult when it comes to actual practice.  It is more difficult when that “neighbor” represents a social, cultural, or political bias that offends us.  And even more difficult when they become the “enemy.”

Nevertheless, God says to us today the same as he said to his people in Moses’ day, “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” or as Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” 

As his people, his followers, we should not settle for anything less than this in our life ambitions, attitudes, and everyday community behaviors.  Furthermore, I believe we should hold all our church and government leaders, who claim to be God-followers, to this high bar of unbiased, non-racist behaviors, and choose them accordingly.  Can you say “Amen”? 

<><><><><><><> 

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – October 14, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley