Thursday, June 15, 2017

Everyday Spirituality: Speech

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Scripture for Sunday, June 18:  James 3:1-12
Additional Scripture:  James 1:19-27John 1:1-15, noticing the character of Jesus here














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"The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell....  [N]o human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."  James 3:6-8

The starkness of James' warning about the destructive power of speech is enough to make this creation-affirming, redemption-believing pastor cringe a little.  Really, James--enough with the hyperbole.  Aren't you overstating the dangers of our words?  Where's the potential for God's good purposes to come through?

Yet the power of James' warning piques my curiosity:  What effects of flaming speech did James witness and deplore within the first communities of scattered Jesus-followers?  Which rumors had reduced reputations to ashes?  What false teaching had undercut the gospel?  What relationships had been burned? 

Get a handle on your tongues, James warns.  They create a world of hurt.

It's helpful to gain some perspective on James' view of the power of speech through the opening verses of his letter.  There he reminds the readers of their identity--that God "chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created."  (James 1:18). 

Just as God's creative word called the universe into being, his redemptive word in Christ calls a people into being  These people are given life, called to represent God truthfully in their life and in their speech.  And because they have been invested with a God-given capacity to create, and because they reflect God, the words of God's people matter.

Words create worlds.  We know this instinctively when we have crucial conversations.  When we have disagreements with people we love, we weigh every word.  We are "quick to listen."  We are careful in our tone and in our word choice.  We seek to be people who follow a Lord of "grace and truth" when we are silent, and when we speak.  We recognize that once verbalize our thoughts, we can't take the words back.

So, as we receive James' warning this week, we pay attention to the ponderings of our hearts and the words of our mouths--"for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of"  (Luke 6:45). 

Lord, fill us with the mind and words of Christ.

For Reflection:

1.  What contexts call out the best in you in terms of words used wisely?  What contexts make it harder to control your tongue?

2.  Truthful and gracious words can hurt and still lead to restoration and growth in relationships.  Sometimes words harm--cutting a person down to the core of who they are. 
If you have been harmed by someone else's words, ask God to enter that pain and work in it with you.  And if your words have been the cause of harm that hasn't healed, prayerfully consider what the Spirit may ask of you in the work of restoration.


Thursday, June 8, 2017

Everyday Spirituality: Clothing

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Scripture for Sunday, June 11:  Numbers 15:37-41, Psalm 104:1-4
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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I don't necessarily think of getting dressed in the morning as a spiritual task.  But a couple of my friends' lives have challenged my thinking on this.

One of my friends is a chaplain.  Her usual habit is to pray as she chooses her jewelry each day, knowing that her earrings or watch may start a conversation that helps her begin a relationship with someone who doesn't know Jesus.

Another friend is a mother of four young children.  She and her husband buy most of their children's clothes at secondhand stores--not for affordability, but for creation care reasons.  "If we can keep usable clothes from ending up in landfills, we feel like we should do that," my friend says.

Truth be told, many mornings I'm relieved simply to have something clean and dry to wear.  But my friends' awareness of the potential significance of their small choices, and their conscious desire to cooperate with God through those choices, inspire me.

In Numbers 15, God teaches the Israelites to sew tassels on the corners of their clothes.  Since wearing clothes is an inescapable reality of life post-fall, the tassels reminded the people of their lives with God everywhere they went.  It was way of calling to mind God's commands and promises at every turn--a visual reminder to every Israelite and to those they encountered that they were set apart as God's people.  

This Sunday, Rev. Jonker will consider the everyday spirituality of clothing.  We'll think together about how clothes can communicate belonging or separateness from others; how they communicate beauty (God himself "wraps himself in light, as with a garment" and clothes the lilies of the field in unspeakable splendor); and how clothes impact our spirits. 

What kinds of clothes attract you (for yourself, or for others)?  What kinds of clothes do you find off-putting?  Why?

Do you think of choosing your clothes as a kind of spiritual discipline?  How could choosing your clothes become a moment of connection with God?