What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?  Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.                                                                                                               James 2:14-17 (NIV)

The title of this blog can maybe feel a little, I don’t know, theological? To simplify (or oversimplify), orthodoxy is good belief, and orthopraxy is good conduct. I am not a theologian, rest assured. Yet, we all need to dig into our faith to make it real for us. We need to wrestle with it so that we are being honest with ourselves and others. As I get older and see the effects of Christian witness, I see that the history has been, let us say, controversial.

What I mean is, people who have called themselves Christians have not always acted out that way of life well toward others. James, in his little epistle called people out on their faith. He said to them, essentially, if people cannot see your faith by your loving actions, it is no faith at all.

There has been, over many generations in Christianity, a growing emphasis of belief over actions. Believe the right things and all is well some would say. I understand that Martin Luther actually wanted the book of James deleted from the Bible. He felt that it minimized the role of faith in salvation since it called people to live out that saving faith in their good work toward others.  Indeed, one of the “solas” of the Reformation was “sola Fide” – by faith alone. Luther feared that the Catholic Church had put too much emphasis on “works”, and that became a flash point of the Reformation.

Without getting into the weeds too much with this today, let me say that, as James said, “let me see your faith by your actions”. Is your faith real? If so, there will be actions that verify it. Our faith is the starting point for a life that displays love toward others.

Prayer: Lord, give us faith that is so real that it plays out in action, Amen  

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” Matthew 7:7                                      

When thinking about this verse, and how to interpret it, I imagine being lost and asking for directions. Yes, it is true, I am a guy, and I do not readily ask for directions when lost. I would rather somehow intuit how to find my way, but that is a reflection for another day!

So, when lost and asking for directions, we need to be trusting of the direction giver, and then we need to follow the directions. I think that Jesus is inviting us to trust him in giving the directions for living a whole and healthy life. He also expects that we would follow those directions if we really want to get where we ultimately want to go. This act of trust is rewarded with his promise that the “ask will be granted, the journey will be successful, and the final destination will be accommodating”.

So, first we get the courage to ask- an act of humility. Meaning, my best efforts to date have gotten me totally lost! I better get some help!

Having gotten the directions, we set out, seeking the destination- an act of faith. If we are good at following the directions, it is often a pretty direct route- one we had not realized before that moment.

Finally, when we get to the destination, we have not quite completed the task. We need to go up to the door and knock to gain entry- an act of courage. After all, it could be the wrong house, or perhaps even the right address, but we could be turned away.

So, to complete the journey, we need to have humility, faith and courage. Jesus calls on us to have all of those traits to live the completed life.

Prayer: Thank you for the simple plan of asking for help, and following your directions for success, Amen

“What is the price of five sparrows? A couple of pennies? Not much more than that. Yet God does not forget a single one of them.                                                                              Luke 12:6 (Living Bible)

We have a little goldfinch who visits our bird feeder every day. We are pretty sure it is a male because he has a twinge of yellow. Male goldfinches lose much of their yellow color during the winter, only to slowly regain it in the spring and then become dazzling in the summer.

He comes every day, alone, and he sits in the feeder, leisurely munching at times. He comes alone and will stay for up to thirty minutes at a time. This is very rare, since all the other birds come as a flock, feed for less than a minute, and skitter off at the slightest movement around them.

We have developed several narratives about this little guy. We at first thought that he sat in the feeder, as opposed to perching on the feeder’s rail, because he was wounded and needed shelter and security. We wondered if he lost his mate, or if he were somehow shunned by the rest of the flock for unknown reasons. We have no idea about the story of this little guy, so we have made up a narrative about his back story.

We tend to make up narratives- projections if you will- when we have incomplete information on something. That is what makes psychological projection tests like the Rorschach Test, or the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) so interesting. Those tests give incomplete and vague information to allow the viewer to make up a story around it. In so doing, the subject reveals much about themselves.

We humans need to have some type of closure on situations. We need to try to make sense of situations where there is ambiguity. We need to have the satisfaction of knowing “the rest of the story”.  

God has made us to be curious beings, made in His image, and seeking understanding and clarity. Yet, there is often no total understanding of situations, and sometimes we are left with simply trusting that “God has it and we don’t”.

We don’t know the true story of that little goldfinch, and we likely never will. But it has given us the satisfaction of giving the little guy a history and a meaning.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the ability to imagine, to wonder, and to seek meaning, Amen

 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.                        Philippians 3:14

One of the analogies I use with clients who are struggling with getting through an issue from the past, such as a divorce, infidelity, financial loss- whatever- is the one of driving a car. I suggest that they need to spend the majority of the time looking through the windshield rather than the rearview mirror. In other words, we need to spend most of our time looking ahead rather than where we have been.

There is indeed value in looking behind- the rearview mirror is important for our safety. However, we need to keep our eyes ahead on the road to navigate in the best way possible. Yes, we must look at the past for perspective, how we got to where we are. But we need to concentrate on the road ahead, the future, to maintain hope and direction.

It is a small and practical little analogy, but sometimes it helps people to stay focused on where the future lies, rather than past pain which can cripple us on the journey before us.

Prayer: Lord, give us healing from the past and hope for the future, Amen

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.                                                                                                                                        I Corinthians 13:12

I had a discussion with a client the other day about the roads we did not take in life. We all have decisions that we make every day, and some are more impactful than others. Truthfully, all are important. We talked about decisions he had made- roads traveled- that have brought him into this place in his life.

We both began to wonder, “what about those roads we did not take?” Indeed, there were some paths that we chose somewhat unwittingly. Some, where clearly God had laid out for us directions of which we could not possibly have known the ultimate impact.

Sometimes we call it luck, and the truth is, chance does play a part sometimes. Often, we have been led on paths where we simply took the next step, and God went ahead and paved the road for us. Sometimes, one little step in the wrong direction may have derailed our whole life. Simple decisions- that is they seemed simple at the time- may have changed the course of our entire life.

It is good to reflect back on how God intervened in places where we could not have known the ultimate outcome. My belief is that if we look back closely, we can see an invisible hand that guides us even when we don’t know it is there.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for directing my path, even when I did not see your hand in it, Amen

 “I think it is one of the tragedies –– one of the shameful tragedies –– that 11 o’clock on Sunday morning is one of the most segregated hours, if not the most segregated hour, in Christian America…”                                                                                                                          Martin Luther King Jr.

 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus                       Galatians 3:26-28

I can only imagine what the impact of these words were as believers gathered to hear Paul’s letter read aloud. Paul was stating that Jews and Gentiles stood on equal ground in Christ. That slaves were not inferior to their masters. That women were not subservient to men. All status is equal at the cross. In Christ, there is equal standing, and this is ordained by God’s own command.

Yet, interestingly enough, in the world today, there are still marked racial divides. Women did not even get the right to vote in America until 1920. In some cultures, and religions, there are still clear, and at times violent, repressions that are carried out due to the beliefs that all humans are not equally of value.

Imagine receiving such a letter as Paul’s some 2000 years ago in a culture that had never heard of such a thing! Is it any wonder that Paul died a martyr’s death? That Christians, who proclaimed the good news of loving all neighbors whatever their gender or status, also often suffered martyrdom?

We as Christians have the mission to deliver that same message as Paul. All people are loved and valued by God.

Can we as human beings do any less than what God expects?

Prayer: Lord, give us the vision and passion to live the word that God loves all people, Amen

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope

Romans 5:3-4

Unearned suffering is redemptive. That is one of the many great quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As we approach the day that is annually set aside to honor him, I have been looking at some of those quotes.

Our pastor today referenced the phrase wounded healer, a phrase I have usually associated with the book of the same name by the late Henri Nouwen. The idea of a wounded healer speaks to the idea of redemptive suffering. That is, when one has experienced suffering, it must somehow be redeemed for the good of self and others in order to be bearable. This is especially true of unearned suffering, which flaunts our idea of moral justice. Dr. King experienced the suffering brought about by racism and oppression. He was able to redeem that, in a non-violent way, by fighting for justice for all people.

Each of us has experienced some type of suffering, perhaps unearned. The question always before us is “What do we do with that pain?” Do we lash out toward others? Do we curse God as being unjust? Do we simply shrink into ourselves in pity or anger? There are many options for us. The best and healthiest option is to redeem that pain into gain for others.

An example might be parents who have lost a child to some illness setting up a foundation to help others suffering with the same illness.  Whatever the source of suffering, there can be a way to redeem it to the benefit of others.

In so doing, we have given meaning to the suffering which otherwise cannot be explained.

Prayer: Lord, suffering is universal. Help us to redeem it into good for others, Amen

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works…                                                                                    Psalm 139:14

I recently had the opportunity to speak with a client who is dealing with a dying relative. The relative has a degenerative brain disease, and she now has very little short-term memory. Therefore, she is constantly contacting my client, asking the same questions over and over several times per day. It is, of course, very wearing on my client, and he has become irritable to those around him. He is depressed and unmotivated, but clearly angry in general.

As we discussed this, I pointed out that he was likely experiencing anticipatory grief. He is already grieving the loss of his loved one. He knows that her illness is terminal, and he feels sad and frustrated. Indeed, sadness often comes out like anger and irritability in such situations.

Just being heard and supported can be helpful for this client, but also, the explanation of his situation being anticipatory grief helps give a label to the pain he is experiencing. It is not uncommon, of course, for feelings to come out in unintended ways. Sometimes fear or sadness comes out looking like anger or irritability.

We are complex beings, and God has designed us so marvelously. We struggle with human emotions, and sometimes we simply do not understand them. Just having another person experience those feelings with us can be healing in and of itself.

Prayer: Lord, be with those who are suffering an expected loss, Amen

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.    James 1:19-20

I was speaking with a client the other day about his anger responses, which have been a problem for him for many years. Often when people are angry, they have had a sense that somehow,  justice was violated, or they feel that they have been denied something that they deserve to have. We can all think of times that we became angry when our personal sense of justice has been violated.

Perhaps we feel that we have been deprived of something that we deserved to have, something even as small as a few spaces up on the highway when another driver cuts us off (in our opinion). I am not saying that such things aren’t annoying and upsetting at times- they are. But such feelings can also trigger in us a sense of entitlement which may or may not be real. It may simply be our rationalization for higher levels of anger.

We don’t like to think that we are “entitled people”. Yet at times, we act exactly that way as a rationalization to engage in gratifying behaviors that give us some momentary pleasure or relief.

When I discussed this with my client, he paused, and agreed that this was likely true for him and it had gotten him into trouble in the past.

We can rationalize so many things in our mind, often without really thinking about it. We can give ourselves reasons for behaviors that are not healthy for us, or those around us. As I said to my client, we all have capacity to do things that we are not happy with ourselves about. Owning them, and looking at ourselves in fearless honesty is a great remedy for change.

Indeed, the truth sets us free!

Prayer: Lord, give us the courage to look into ourselves and see the places that we fail, Amen

“But let justice roll out like waters, And righteousness like an ever-flowing      stream.                                    

   Amos 5:24 (NASB)

We are all familiar with Dr. Martin Luther King’s work in the civil rights arena for trying to end segregation, and to improve voting rights for African-Americans. He helped to shine a light on the violent threats that Blacks faced in the Deep South, and indeed, he survived those same threats himself until his assassination in 1968.  

Less remembered is his strong witness against the war in Vietnam, and his work on the Poor People’s March, which was a diverse effort to point out the effects of poverty in America. While Dr. King met with and influenced President Lyndon Johnson, he did not hesitate to confront the President when he believed that Johnson must do more from his position of power. King was the model of speaking truth to power. Dr. King believed that he must live out his witness to Jesus Christ even though it meant unpopularity, and even more threats against him. Power was not his goal- justice was his goal.

Prophets have a responsibility to be a witness for justice. The goal of Christians should not be pursuit of power, but rather pursuit of justice. Dr. King embodied that goal, and that is why we celebrate his legacy later this month.

Prayer: Lord, give us the courage to always work for justice, not power, Amen