Day One

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17 As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? ...  But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17 comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.

“We’ve never done it that way.” It’s a threat, or so it feels to many church leaders. Or not a threat so much as a warning. Or an incantation against change of any sort. Some have said they are the last words of the institutional church. We’ve never done it that way. 

Yet, it not hard to imagine that sentiment. The desire to cling to what has always been, there is security in sameness. There is comfort in familiarity. Indeed, there seems to be an inherent good in preservation. Paul tells the Thessalonians to “hold fast to the traditions.” That seems to be a call to resist change. To keep doing the same things over and over. We like our traditions, they define us. We’ve been doing them since day one, we say, since the very beginning. 

But what are those traditions to which Paul calls us to cling? Are they indeed the practices that we have been doing since day one? Are the traditions that Paul tells us to stand firm upon the behaviors and the actions, indeed even the words, the familiar words that we have spouted since we learned the faith? Well, maybe. In part. Ritual is important even in our day. Repeated actions can give us a sense of belonging, of connection and even of understanding. We partake of the holy meal again and again, and sometimes something shines through. 

Perhaps, however, what Paul is really trying to get the Thessalonians to consider is not so much the doing, but the foundation. The tradition is the love that fosters the behaviors. That’s what Paul wants them and us to stand firm on. Actions change by necessity. Words evolve new meanings and understandings. But the love that gives birth to words and action remains the same. Stand firm on that love. That’s what has been with you since day one. Hold fast to that.

Loving God, teach us to love, even when it is hard, even when it takes effort. Let us hold fast to what makes us your church. Amen.

That’s our prayer and our hope. That’s what has defined us since day one, that love. Love of God and love of neighbor, Jesus said that they are the same. You can’t have the one without the other. In Revelation, John the Evangelist tells the church of Ephesus that they may be doing some good things, they may have an understanding of the law and want to drive out evil-doers, but that their biggest problem is that they forgot their first love.

Revelation 2:1-4 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2 "I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be false. 3 I also know that you are enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name, and that you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

The letter goes on to say that unless they reclaim that love, unless they stand firm on that tradition, that their lampstand will be taken away. In other words they won’t be the church any more. If what you are doing as the church, if what drives you is not love, love of God and love of neighbor, then you aren’t the church anymore. You are something else, maybe doing something good, maybe causing more harm, but you aren’t the church. You aren’t the representative of God’s grace and glory in the world. Because that is what defines us. 

Make all the law based arguments you want. Go back and cherry pick exclusionary behaviors scattered throughout the scriptures. And there are plenty to choose from. But if you aren’t starting from a position of loving neighbor ... And don’t try that tough love thing, that hides a deep disgust and animosity toward those who are different. Don’t try that the most loving thing to do is to force them into obedience, condemn them into transformation. That simply hides an Ephesus-like loss of love. If you aren’t starting from a position of love, you aren’t the church. You aren’t a follower of Jesus Christ. Because that is the foundation of what we do, that is the tradition upon which we stand. Rituals won’t matter a lick if we aren’t doing them out of love, love of God and love of neighbor. Tradition won’t matter at all if we aren’t doing them out of love, love of God and love of neighbor. 

We’ve never done it that way before. Well, maybe that is our problem. It was G. K. Chesterton who said “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” Even though our foundation, our tradition from day one has been one of love, maybe we’ve never really tried it. Maybe it is time for a new day one.  

Shalom, 

Derek 

Dancing Day

Psalm 149:1-9 Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful. 2 Let Israel be glad in its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. 3 Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre. 4 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory. 5 Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches. 6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands, 7 to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, 8 to bind their kings with fetters and their nobles with chains of iron, 9 to execute on them the judgment decreed. This is glory for all his faithful ones. Praise the LORD!

For all the range of emotion that permeates the psalms, the collection ends on a crescendo of praise. In this penultimate song there is unbridled exuberance, from raucous music and dancing, to shouting from the couches, to those who are called to bring justice to the nations. We are to take joy in our living to the glory of God. God, too, takes pleasure in God’s people, the psalmist asserts. We are in a relationship of celebration and joy, even when we do the difficult task of seeking justice.

“Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day” is an English carol that presents the mission of Jesus to invite us all to join in the dance. In his own voice, and with his life, Jesus calls all to dance with joy this gift of life eternal. It could be argued that a saint is someone who says yes to that invitation. All Saints Day might be a stumbling block for some. While we all have those we might consider saintly, most of us would never consider ourselves to be so. Saint sounds like perfect, a word we know better than to apply to ourselves. 

If Psalm 149 can be believed, the beloved of God are those who accept the invitation to dance. A saint is one who knows something of the joy of living, even in the hardest moments of life. A saint is someone who knows something of the exuberance of praise, even when the tears fall like rain and sweat like great drops of blood. On All Saints Day we remember those whose dancing with their Lord has given us all hope. And we aspire to follow the music and dance.

“Tomorrow shall be my dancing day; / I would my true love did so chance / To see the legend of my play, / To call my true love to my dance; Sing, oh! my love, this have I done for my true love”

Yes, it seems odd to be writing about All Saints Day here in the middle of July. But what’s even stranger is that I’m writing about All Saints Day 2022! And then my next project for work is to plan for the Advent worship series for this year. Whew, it’s hard to keep it all straight. I feel somewhat disconnect from time. 

I used to work ahead, that’s true. I began a process of setting a preaching plan a year out, so yes I was thinking and working months out. But the intense work happened closer to the time. Now it all seems somewhat disjointed. Like I don’t really know what day it is, or month, or time. 

That’s the effect of the pandemic, too. I saw a meme with the declaration that “from now on the days of the week will be “this day” and “that day” and “the other day”!” Makes sense to me, I suppose. The days flow together, the rhythms are off.  We all want to get back to normal, even though we realize we never will.

But what if this is just an exercise in eternity? How will the days be marked in heaven? Will we know one from another? Maybe we don’t need to know. Maybe the object is simply to lose ourselves in the dance.  Maybe heaven will be marked not by time, but by opportunities to love, occasions to praise, moments of music and dancing. 

We already know a good movie by how we lose track of time when we’re watching it. We know a good party when we don’t even realize that it’s gotten so late. So, why don’t we start living in eternity now? Just say yes to the One who invites you to dance and lose yourself in loving.

And forget what day it is. Happy All Saints Day! And Advent season. And July 2020. All at the same time.

Shalom, 

Derek

On That Day

Luke 20:27-38 Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him 28 and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; 30 then the second 31 and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. 32 Finally the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her." 34 Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; 35 but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. 37 And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."

I remember that day. Over 42 years ago. That day I stood up there before God and everybody and made promises that were impossible to keep. Oh, I didn’t think so at the time. I was sure it was within my power to love and honor and cherish as long as we both should live. I was ready to take this leap, ready to remake my life around this other life, this woman I loved. It was exciting, I was happy, I was ready. Little did I know. Over 42 years I’ve learned how little I knew. 

I had to learn that this kind of love is beyond us as human beings. This kind of commitment is out of our reach. At least it is beyond us on our own. For this covenantal love to work it takes mutuality; two wills, two hearts working in tandem. It also needs a supportive community to surround the couple. Also the abiding presence of the Spirit, pouring out love and forgiveness in abundance. 

The Sadducees weren’t asking about this, of course. They were asking about eternity. Since eternity is understood to come through offspring who carry on the name, how does this eternity thing work in resurrection? Jesus side-stepped the whole question. Or rather he answered the question behind the question. Eternity works by different rules than you thought. It isn’t your effort that makes it work, it is God’s. It isn’t what you can do to ensure eternity, it’s what God does.

Who knows how Jesus would have answered if the question was different. If it was about intimacy and commitment and about love, and not about manipulating a place in eternity. Maybe it would have been an assurance that love and relationship is what makes us alive, and that does continue in the resurrection.

Covenant God, inspire our hearts to love like you taught us to love, like the love Jesus showed us. Every day. Amen.

I know, it says 42 years and it’s only 40. But the above is for the devotional that I’m writing and it will be for the year 2022. Published in 2021, but the Disciplines for 2022. There’s a part of me that says that’s a long way off and who knows what I’ll be thinking or doing, or what the reader will be thinking or doing by then. Things seem to be changing all the time these days. 

At the same time, I’m finding reservoirs of love and grace that I had forgotten were there in this time where it is mostly just me and her. And 57 cats and a dog. OK 2 cats, but some days it feels like more. We see other people, I zoom with other people, we text and video chat our kids all over the place. But most of the time, the day to day, it’s just me and her. 

Someone made a meme that says after the pandemic the ones making money will be hairdressers and divorce lawyers. Maybe that’s true for some. (And I did have to get a haircut recently, now that we are slowly opening things here in Tennessee.) But what I’m finding is that maybe that day I did something right. This person who has followed me all over the world, who has set up house in more places that I can even recall easily, who has taken our residence and made it home, that she really is a gift from God. And I’m eternally grateful. 

Eternally. No, we can’t capture eternity in our minds. It is beyond us. I’m troubled by Jesus statement. But I’ve learned to trust Him. So, I guess we’ll find out what He meant on another That day. I’ve been blessed by many loves in my life. But none like this one. And I can’t imagine it not being there. Even in the eternity we are promised. 

Life continues, Jesus says, love continues in eternity. So I think His response to the Sadducees was stop trying to figure out that time, and live eternity in this day. In this life. In this love. Because when you do, then you have an inkling as to what it might be like. On that day. 

Shalom, 

Derek