Daily Devotions

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Matthew 5:31-32

Given that roughly 50% of all marriages end in divorce, a statistic that hasn’t moved much over the years, this is always a tough Bible text to read. There are people – I know because they have told me – that purposefully skip worship when they know that this will be the assigned text for the week. I get that.

As I noted yesterday, “People, and their quality of life, obviously matter to Jesus. Again and again here in the Sermon on the Mount that is the key to understanding what Jesus is teaching.” That is also the case with Jesus’ words on divorce. I want to notice three things.

First, deeper than the dissolution of a marriage, Jesus is attacking the way that women had been victimized by the ease with which men threw them to the curb, justifying themselves by use of the religious ritual laws. Consider Deuteronomy 24:1-4, “Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house and goes off to become another man’s wife. Then suppose the second man dislikes her, writes her a bill of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house (or the second man who married her dies); her first husband, who sent her away, is not permitted to take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that would be abhorrent to the Lord, and you shall not bring guilt on the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession.”

I included all four verses to demonstrate how easily a man could throw a woman away,”he finds something objectionable about her”. And do note that the entire point of this is protecting a man’s ritual purity. The woman is no more important than the tent out of which she was thrown. This, Jesus absolutely denounces and rightfully so.

Second, consider Jesus’ words from Mark 10:2-12, “Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Did you notice here that Mark – a copy of which I believe the writer of Matthew had right in front of him as he wrote – says nothing about “unchastity” as justifiable grounds for divorce. Even Matthew, in quoting Jesus attacking the divorce loophole in Deuteronomy, adds a new loophole that isn’t there in Mark. That is what we do to the law and Jesus knows that the powerless usually end up with the short end of the stick.

Believe me, I know how painful divorce can be, not only to the marriage partners but to their children, their extended families, their friendship networks. I also know that marriage partners are not property to be dispensed with when they have outlived their usefulness or novelty. But sometimes marriages end. Sometimes they need to end. Sometimes the pain and damage of staying together is worse than the pain and damage of divorcing. We are not called to judge but to love and few need the comfort and support of community more than those who suffer through the emotional and practical pain of ending a marriage. There is life after divorce.

Finally, when Jesus quotes Genesis in this reading from Mark the deeper point that he is making is not about the gender of the marriage partners but about how the partnership of marriage is rooted, not merely in human tradition or property rights, but in God’s will for how life works. Marriage isn’t for everyone but for those who choose to share their lives with another person, marriage is intended to be about trust, safety, love, mutual respect, and wholeness.

Let us pray: Dear Lord, thank you for the gift of marriage and the deep joy that comes from shared lives. We pray today for continued healing within those who have suffered the losses on both sides of a divorce, both the before and that after. We pray today for humility and honesty, that we might be encouraged to do all it takes to protect and nurture marriages. We pray for forgiveness, for peace, for insight, and for hope. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.” Matthew 5:27-30

I was surprised yesterday by an article in the New York Times that the federal education authorities are looking at the stringent efforts by the Obama administration to crack down on sexual assaults on college campuses. I’m not an expert on this subject but Kelley and I do have two college students, a son at the University of Houston and a daughter at Baylor University. I’m personally in favor of taking as hard a line as necessary to insure the physical safety of students and to hold accountable those responsible for sexual assault.

If you have followed any of the news out of Baylor the past couple of years, you know that hasn’t always been the case. The rug has been mighty bumpy given all that has been swept under it along the way and that isn’t right.

Jimmy Carter because infamous for admitting in a Playboy interview that he was guilty of having looked at women with “lust in his heart” on more than one occasion. Given that he and Rosaylnn will be celebrating their 71^st year of marriage this year, it seems safe to say that their marriage survived. My, how times have changed.

There is no question that pornography has been a driving force behind the ubiquity of the Internet. Online credit card transactions, streaming video, tracking devices, increases in available bandwidth all were conceived, developed, and improved because of the role of pornography. Why? There is a huge and insatiable demand. The consequences for human beings are devastating. It will only get worse.

People, and their quality of life, obviously matter to Jesus. Again and again in the Sermon on the Mount that is the key to understanding what Jesus is teaching. Where there is a law there is a loophole and Jesus sees right back through that hole to the intention of the law (safeguarding life and human personhood) and the danger of the loophole.

Healthy expressions of our sexuality belong within the safety of relationships that respect mutual personhood, that don’t treat bodies like property, that are free from violence, manipulation, and coercion, and where the partners are prepared to accept the consequences of their behaviors. The Christian church has not been an “old fashioned, judgmental, fuddy duddy” community by elevating the importance of sexuality within committed, monogamous, non-coercive relationships, it has simply been speaking the truth in love about the way that life really works. And the church has also come a long way from the old days – at least I hope so – where marriage meant “anything goes” and women were shamed if they spoke up against spousal abuse, violence, or forced sexual activity. Adultery is never just fooling around. Marriage is never a license to rape.

The graphic language Jesus uses ought to help us see that he takes this issue seriously. And well he should. We should too.

Let us pray: Gracious Lord, we are so quick to abuse the gifts of your creation, including our own bodies and the bodies of others, polluting our thought world and damaging our relationships. Give us the capacity to resist temptation, resources where people can get help if they need it, and a renewed appreciation for healthy boundaries around our sexuality. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

“So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” Matthew 5:23-26

People get crosswise with one another all the time. People disagree with one another all the time. People have different opinions, different personalities, different life philosophies, different perspectives. Just about everyone wants to win. And everyone has a measure of self centeredness in all of this.

None of this ought surprise us.

Lately I have begun to realize that I am experiencing some shifts in my thinking about the Christian faith. I’m growing suspicious about how quick we are to define the faith solely in terms of forgiveness. You know the drill: “We are sinners, God is merciful and forgives us.” “God forgives us if we ask for forgiveness. All is right with the world.” “Jesus died for us so we can be forgiven.”

I think what is so troubling about that to me these days is how superficial it all is. When we reduce the fullness of the faith to a “happy exchange” (Jesus takes my sin stained clothing upon himself and gives me back a garment now white as snow) the trajectory of the faith has thereby shifted to a heavenly transaction, a holy accounting adjustment, with earthly implications that are decidedly optional. That simply does not fit with Jesus as I read the gospels.

Look at these verses today from the sermon on the mount! There is absolutely no question that Jesus puts the priority on earthly reconciliation rather than on imploring God for forgiveness. When we actually follow through with his words – seeking first to be reconciled to our neighbor and only then coming to the altar in worship – then worship becomes less about “getting right with God” and more about expressing our heart-felt gratitude that there really is a power built in to confession to our neighbor, forgiveness of our neighbor, seeking a new common ground, reestablishing a deeper relationship, that turns worship into an expression of gratitude and praise rather than a groveling for mercy that leads nowhere.

Of course the world reacts against this! There is a lot of money to be made and power to be gained by stoking controversy and division. My wife is a lawyer! She would be out of business overnight if people actually put a priority on reconciliation rather than recrimination. It would seem revolutionary if politicians suddenly shifted their focus to finding common ground rather than just seeking higher ground from which to attack one another.

This is why, for me at least, the church is at its best when it functions as a laboratory of love, a community willing to surrender itself to testing Jesus’ theories. Divisions and disagreements are inevitable, and every one of them is an invitation to go deeper into where love leads.

Let us pray: Dear Lord, we know that feeling that arises deep within us when we feel offended or slighted or mistreated. Guide us then in our next steps. May we have the courage and the humility to speak up, to listen well, to tell the truth, to be humble enough to know where we have crossed the line and willing then to let go. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.” Matthew 5:21-22

“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me.” So we sang so foolishly as children on the playground. Little did we know just how damaging mere words could be…

I have found it personally painful to hear so many people nearly spit out the words “political correctness.” As if returning to some golden age of acceptable racial slurs, assigning some to the birth rite of second class citizenry, and verbal cruelty would actually improve our lives. Words matter. Words matter greatly.

Euphemisms often conceal. What is so often criticized as “politically correct speech” on the other hand, most often reveals what we would much rather leave concealed. Words matter.

At first blush we are taken back by the strength of Jesus’ words regarding anger and insults. “He can’t be serious here” we think. Maybe we focus in on the words “brother or sister” and minimize his meaning by saying “this only applies within our personal families or our closest community.” But I think we all know the universal character of Jesus’ use of familial terms like brother and sister. His words apply to everyone.

Words matter. Labels matter. Names matter. How we treat one another matters. It has far less to do with being nice than it does with being humane.

There WAS a time when public speech was courteous and respectful. It still happens. But we live in an age of shock jocks, un-reality TV, and the debasement of public discourse. In such a world, Jesus’ concern for the hurtful nature of anger and insult seems quaint and out of touch.

Consider this….

Imagine you are a parent and you are given secret access to the life of one of your children. You are able to read her thoughts, to see wherever she goes, to personally witness (without being seen yourself) all that happens to her through a day at school. You hear a teacher criticize her efforts as she struggles with a subject in class. You hear other little girls tease her about what she is wearing. You hear little boys tease her about her body, or her hair, or how she walks. You hear her tears, you hear her destructive self-talk. You feel her pain as her self-image erodes within her.

How would you feel?

Imagine now that your feelings have just drawn you all that much closer to your heavenly parent who loves you with the deepest love imaginable. Maybe that’s why Jesus teaches us that words can do just as much damage as sticks and stones.

Let us pray: Dear Lord, forgive us for the hateful and harmful words we have said along the way, the wounds we have inflicted on others, or they have inflicted on us. May the love of neighbor that you call us to guide us to consider deeply the impact of how we use our words, how we treat one another, and how we speak of others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-20

“There oughta be a law!” My sense is that the vast majority of rules and regulations that seek to govern our lives was hatched in the mind of someone who wanted to see things in the world get better. Their wishes became ideas became motions became legislation became laws, rules, and regulations.

Yesterday at church we heard a presentation from Kathy Patrick, a member of our congregation who recently participated in an international gathering of Lutheran women in Wittenberg, Germany. She shared the stories of two female leaders from the church in Brazil who are fighting to make domestic violence a crime. There, and in many other places in the world, there is no law protecting women from being beaten by their husbands. Clearly, there oughta be a law!

At the same time, the US Senate will likely approve a nominee who will head up President Trump’s initiative to reduce and remove as many federal regulations as possible that he believes hamstring American businesses in unnecessary and unhelpful ways. Someone somewhere is fighting back – there ought not be THAT law!

Dr. Martin Luther King famously said, “I can’t make a man love me but I can certainly use the law to prevent him from lynching me.”

And there you go. One person’s helpful law is another person’s infringement on their freedom. How do we make our way through this?

I bristle whenever I sense the Christian faith reduced to a definable set of religious and moral rules and regulations. I cheer every time Jesus points out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and others (usually quietly because his same barbs apply equally to me) as they twist the intent of the law toward their own advantage. Such moves turn Christians into caricatures of those grumpy old men sitting high in the wings above the Muppet Show. They suggest that we can save ourselves via compliance with rigorously applied standards of so-called Christian behavior. No, we can’t. Such efforts just make everything worse.

But having said all of that, we are still left with Jesus here vigorously defending the law and the prophets. There is a vital and necessary place for the law in our lives – for the Ten Commandments, for the commandment to love God and to love our neighbors. But notice how careful Jesus is in his words. He says he has come, not to abolish the law but to FULFILL it. That is important. Not to COMPLY with the law (that is, grudgingly doing what is expected) but to FULFILL the law (to realize the God-given purpose of the law which always reaches toward love of God and love of neighbor.) Let this be our life goal as well!

Let us pray: Gracious Lord, help us to see the holy and loving purpose behind the rules and regulations on our behaviors. And in this, keep us mindful of the many ways that we are tempted to twist and manipulate things to our own advantage. Let our behaviors be rooted always in love, with a deep concern for justice, and a willingness to accept the consequences when we violate boundaries that ought not be so violated. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16

Back in the old days, when I was in middle school, we would have special “50’s Days.” We would wear our jeans with the bottoms rolled up, white t-shirts, and use far more Brylcreem than we needed to grease back our hair. Remember that stuff? Remember the promise that “A Little Dab Will Do Ya!”?

Jesus says the same about salt and light.

The thing about both salt and light is that both are extraordinarily important to our lives but neither exists purely for its own sake. They serve life by enhancing what is already there. A little salt makes food taste better, helps in the healing process, cures and preserves meat. But no one sits down to a meal of salt. Light exposes the world, but no one spends a day gazing into a light bulb or staring at the sun.

Yet even the darkest cave cannot stand before the light of a dimly lit candle. Jesus was a master at word pictures!

And notice as well that Jesus isn’t saying that those who follow him “ought to be” the salt of the earth and light of the world – he declares that they already are! And yet….salt can lose its saltiness and light can be covered up and therefore deny its purpose.

We reach back into these words of Jesus every time someone is baptized – Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Again, notice the words. You ARE the light. That means you are a tool, you are an instrument, not to shine for the sake of shining but to enhance the lives of others. Not so that you get the credit or the glory but so that you help the world to see God in action. In the flesh. In the real world. Even through you.

It kind of changes everything, doesn’t it?

Let us pray: Dear Lord, you declare us to be both salt and light. Use us today that we not waste the opportunities that come our way to make life better for others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:10-12

This is a dangerous passage. It is far easier to misunderstand and misuse this teaching than to take it to heart as the word of encouragement it is intended to be.

We misunderstand the passage if we abuse the word “persecute”. I realize there are strident voices in the Christian world in our culture who constantly point out instances where they see “the Christian faith under attack.” From the color of Starbucks coffee cups to selling a wedding cake to a gay couple to what health insurance covers to how astronomy and archeology are taught in schools, these voices claim they are being “persecuted for their faith.”

That ain’t persecution.

Persecution is what happens when you are a Christian in a corner of the world where you risk being killed for your faith. Where your faith means you forfeit opportunities for an education or advancing in your job. That happens. Every day. And to such people come these words of Jesus. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Similarly, just because you believe that people “revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you” doesn’t mean that you are right and they are wrong. Those next words matter, “falsely on my account.” Humility means that, should we come across people who treat us in such a manner, that we take a moment to wonder whether or not they have a point.

It has become a cliché because it is so true – life is hard and nowhere does Jesus promise to make life easy for those who surrender their lives to his will and rest in his promises.

Jesus realizes that he stands in a long line of people who have been rejected and abused because of their singular focus on what it means to live in God’s will in the face of a world bent on doing its own thing. In this passage, he welcomes us into that long line with the promise that the built in reward is not earthly success or popularity but the simple promise of God’s presence. We’re in good company.

Let us pray: Dear Lord, keep us mindful of what it means for us, on a daily basis, to stand up for what we believe to be true, loving, helpful, and just – even in the face of criticism, rejection, or cruelty. Guard us against thinking ourselves victims by giving us the humility to recognize where we might be wrong. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:6-9

This year has been a very strange year in my life. Last Thanksgiving several things came together to finally convince me to pay attention to the food that I eat and the exercise that I don’t do. So I looked for help and made some changes. It really has been a bit of a miracle. This past week I accomplished my goal. I have lost a little over 120 lbs. That’s a lot.

The key has been limiting my food universe by focusing on eating just a few things. Chicken, beef, fish, green vegetables, apples, oranges, grapefruit, potatoes, Melba toast, eggs, and Special K protein cereal. And lots of water. The miracle is that somehow something happened in my mind so that I have never felt like I have been depriving myself of anything. I just look forward eagerly to my next meal. And I let go of the expectation that my food would taste good (kale and cucumbers?) – but that has resulted in everything having its own unique and delicious taste. Weird but it works.

Could that be what Jesus is talking about in hungering and thirsting for righteousness?

My sense is that “righteousness” is less about being a “good little boy or girl” and more about being the people that God created us to be, content in our own skin, doing life in a way that adds to the life of others, depending upon God, and interdependent upon others. Righteousness is about living in the will of God rather than being driven by self will.

Such a life would be bathed in mercy for showing mercy is the only way that broken people can truly love one another. Being pure in heart begins with the humility that clearly sees our own need for mercy. And peacemaking is the only path to walk once we realize that violence and over powering others diminishes everyone.

We won’t get there today but we can take steps in the right direction. I didn’t lose 120 lbs. overnight. But it happened, one meal at a time, one day at a time. And I’m very aware that it would be far easier for me to go back to the 380 lbs. I used to be than to surrender to what it will take for me to stay where I am now. Jesus understands this about us. It is why he encourages us to live our spiritual lives one day at a time. “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Let us pray: Dear Lord, gift us with the hunger and the thirst to know your will and to surrender to it in our lives today. In big ways and small ways, use us as recipients and ambassadors of your righteousness, your mercy, and your love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth…” Matthew 5:1-5

My son and I just returned from a motorcycle trip out amongst the western mountains. When you live in flat country there is something magical, powerful, about mountains. It becomes clear why native peoples find them holy, often rooting stories of creation to particular peaks.

Anyone who knows the history of Israel immediately recognizes the significance of mountains. Abraham and Isaac. Moses and the burning bush. Moses receiving the tables of the law. Jesus didn’t go up the mountainside because he was on vacation – he began his teaching ministry there as a sign of his power and authority. He is the New Moses.

But then he turns the world upside down.

Reading these verses reminds me of that old television commercial where children say they aspire to a humdrum future of mediocre employment. It worked because that isn’t how our dreams tend to work. We imagine the best, not getting stuck with the rest. We imagine success, not barely struggling to get by. But Jesus turns everything around.

To be dis-spirited is depressing. To mourn is heart-breaking. To be meek is to let others walk all over us. And yet Jesus attaches blessing and promise to each of these.

Perhaps Jesus knows something about us. Perhaps he realizes that life isn’t something to be controlled but to be experienced. Perhaps he realizes that there is a worldly value system designed to disconnect us from a vital connection to our Creator. A worldly value system rooted, not in reality, but in rebellion. Created, not by God, but by those of us who will always prefer to be gods unto ourselves.

But then life happens and we find ourselves upside down. Among the depressed. The mourning. The meek. We are stripped of our illusions. The fog lifts and we can clearly see. The very circumstances which felt like worldly failure have driven us back to a place of radical dependence on God. And suddenly we find ourselves at home again.

Let us pray: Dear Jesus, be our teacher and our guide. Take us with you to that place where you help us see ourselves and our lives more clearly. In Jesus’ name. Amen.