no difference

Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders. So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers and sisters. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.” The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us, and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” The whole assembly kept silence and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “My brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first looked favorably on the gentiles, to take from among them a people for his name. This agrees with the words of the prophets, as it is written,
‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen;
    from its ruins I will rebuild it,
        and I will set it up,
so that all other peoples may seek the Lord—
    even all the gentiles over whom my name has been called.
Thus says the Lord, who has been making these things known from long ago.’
“Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those gentiles who are turning to God, but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from sexual immorality and from whatever has been strangled and from blood. For in every city, for generations past, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he has been read aloud every Sabbath in the synagogues.” (Acts 15:1-21, NRSVue)

When we say everyone must act like and do what we do to be a part of the body of Christ, we are putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the necks of people God never intended to be there.

We do not decide what needs to happen for people to be included; that is God’s decision. Circumcised or not, sin the same way you do or not, whatever the boundary you set that you follow and they do not, it does not matter.

God decides who is in and who is not, not you or me.

So love all and welcome all, because God loves all.

What did he say?

Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.” Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment. (Matthew 15:10-28, NRSVue)

I have always had issues with this text, and any way you smooth it over is taking away from the fact that Jesus called the woman a dog. Jesus plainly calls the woman a dog because she is not a part of the in people. And when you say it was not meant to be derogatory, that simply does not explain it away. Oh, Jesus did not mean that. So that just means any time I say something that offends someone, I can just say, “Oh, I did not mean it that way”, and that makes it all better. No, it does not.

Jesus called her a dog, and that is inexcusable.

Jesus did heal her after she snapped back at his derogatory comment because she was not having it. She spoke truth to power and showed that inclusion is what is needed.

Do not give Jesus a pass here. He just told the disciples it is what comes out of your mouth that defiles, and then he shows it in action. He defiles himself by succumbing to the ways of society and was put in his place.

Do better.

fringe

When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. After the people of that place recognized him, they sent word to that whole surrounding region, and people brought all who were sick to him and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed. (Matthew 14:34-36, NRSVue)

How is your faith?

These people had heard of Jesus and knew that if they were just able to touch the fringe of his cloak, they would be healed. Yes, they came because they wanted something, but they came knowing what had happened and had faith it would happen for them if they only touched the fringe of his cloak.

What would be healed if you touched the fringe?

Do you have faith for this to happen?

truth to power

But Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. Then they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city. The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch. There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, “It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.” And after they had appointed elders for them in each church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe. Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed. When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them and how he had opened a door of faith for the gentiles. And they stayed there with the disciples for some time. (Acts 14:19-28, NRSVue)

When we speak truth to power, we are not accepted and are worked against to stop us from helping others break the bonds of oppression. People hold others in a place of subjection so that they can maintain the power the systems have set up for them. The powers that be do not want to let go of their power, seeming to understand that life will be worse for them, when in actuality, life would be better for everyone.

When life is good for one, life will be better for all. When we are all included and given what we need, we will all be there and ready to assist others in their needs and make life more fulfilling for all.

Speak truth to power and work for all to be included and for systems of oppression to be destroyed.

Just and true

Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended. And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:
“Great and amazing are your deeds,
    Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
    King of the nations!
Lord, who will not fear
    and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
    All nations will come
    and worship before you,
for your judgments have been revealed.” (Revelation 15:1-4, NRSVue)

Only the Lord is holy and just and true.

All others pale in comparison.

Great is the majesty of the Lord.

The wonders of heaven will be eclipsed by the Lord.

And all of creation will worship and sing the praises of the Lord.

Nap in the storm

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A windstorm suddenly arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but he was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:23-27, NRSVue)

Jesus is napping in the boat during a storm. He was asleep. While the boat rocked on the water.

And yet the disciples were still afraid and woke him up. And when they woke him up, Jesus said, “dudes, I was sleeping and in the middle of a really cool dream. What’s your deal? Why are you afraid?”

If Jesus could nap, maybe the storm wasn’t that bad.

What storms are we waking Jesus up for when all we need to do is trust that God has this?

Who decides

What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
    and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
So it depends not on human will or exertion but on God who shows mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I may show my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses. You will say to me then, “Why then does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who indeed are you, a human, to argue with God? Will what is molded say to the one who molds it, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one object for special use and another for ordinary use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath that are made for destruction, and what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— including us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the gentiles? As he also says in Hosea,
“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
    and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ”
“And in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
    there they shall be called children of the living God.”
And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the children of Israel were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth quickly and decisively.” And as Isaiah predicted,
“If the Lord of hosts had not left descendants to us,
    we would have fared like Sodom
    and been made like Gomorrah.” (Romans 9:14-29, NRSVue)

A lot of the issues today with Christianity in the USA are that it seems like those in power are the ones who are deciding who is in and who is out. People say that the things they do not understand or find disgusting can not possibly be supported by God and use the power they have to keep people out or turn people away.

But we do not get to decide who gets mercy or how mercy is distributed.

God made us, all of us, as we are, and we do not get to decide that someone is changing who they were made to be because we were not made that way, or who is included because their lives do not check all our boxes.

And remember, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because they were unhospitable and exercised power over the stranger and the sojourner. It has nothing to do with sexuality.

God decides mercy; you have no say.

if God…

For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment; and if he did not spare the ancient world, even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly; and if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to destruction and made them an example of what is coming to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man greatly distressed by the debauchery of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by their lawless deeds that he saw and heard), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial and to keep the unrighteous until the day of judgment, when they will be punished —especially those who indulge their flesh in depraved lust and who despise authority. Bold and willful, they are not afraid to slander the glorious ones, (2 Peter 2:4-10, NRSVue)

I think the author of 2 Peter needs to do a deep dive into God’s love and understanding more over the saving of those who are righteous, because Noah, Lot, and the righteous from the scripture were not always righteous. They too crept into darkness and debauchery. None of us make it on our own and have no place to judge anyone because they “sin” differently than you.

If God. God can do whatever God wants, which includes saving those you deem unworthy. So keep your life in a place God wants you to be and do not worry about others.

Waver…

Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:22-33, NRSVue)

This is an interesting passage as it has at least two words that are translated either interestingly or are one of only two instances in the New Testament.

The first of these words is made. “Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat.” Jesus forced the disciples into the boat. This was not a suggestion or a mere offer for them to go. Jesus compelled them, forced them into the boat to go ahead of him.

And the other one is “Why did you doubt?” The word for doubt here is used only twice in all of the New Testament. The only other spot is in Matthew 28:17, “When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted.” Some of the translations, NRSV, included did not translate it as this for a very long time, because the disciples could not worship Jesus and doubt him, so the word some was added.

I will be honest and say my faith wavers all the time. I wonder about what I believe and just waver in my understanding of who I am and who I am in God.

And here is the comfort from the “bashing” of Peter: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” The little faith is not a cut down; it is a statement of truth. We have a little faith. We have just enough, and that enough should be able to keep us from wavering or doubting. Because Jesus called Peter out of the boat. And Peter was there walking on the water because his little faith was enough to do it. Until he realized what was happening, and he started to question and wonder.

Wonder in the awesomeness of God to allow us to do things we can not possibly imagine and live out your faith, and don’t waver in that faith. Trust in it.

You know…

The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Jesus they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away. (Matthew 16:1-4, NRSVue)

You think you can interpret the weather from the color of the sky, and yet you can not see clearly the signs given to you through Scripture and God working in and through people.

We ask for clear signs and indications for things that are already clear if we stop and see what is happening around us.

We think we know, but do we really?

Look at what God has given us and see what is right in front of our faces.