Category: Kim’s Blog

Are you an atheist? Just the word “atheist” conjures up certain impressions and assumptions. Maybe we think of an atheist as a nihilist. Or an anarchist. Or a communist. Or just someone contrary and negative. It’s not a very positive image to many. We may think of atheists as trouble makers, loners, undermining the cohesion of society, etc. An agnostic, well, that’s a doubter. But an atheist? That’s someone who’s against God. Someone who believes there is no God.

So, are you an atheist? Most of us reading this devotion on a church website would say, “no.” We may have many diverse ways of defining, explaining, and experiencing “God,” but we tend to think that our lives are oriented around something that we name as God.

I recently learned that in the early church, in the Roman Empire, Christians were known as atheists. Yes, Christians were thought of as atheists. And, it seems that many of the same kinds of negative connotations that are associated with the term atheist today were associated with Christians in the ancient world.

Now how could Christians who busied themselves with worshipping God and praying to God and serving God and devoting themselves to God’s son, could be thought of as godless atheists?

The people of the Roman Empire were devout. They had many temples and worshipped a variety of gods including the emperor. They offered sacrifices. They oriented their lives around the veneration of the gods and the duties of religious observance. They were very serious about their religion. Worship and sacrifice to the gods kept things orderly and running smoothly. Religion maintained the structure of society . Keeping the gods happy kept the Empire prosperous and peaceful. To neglect that worship could lead to trouble and the breakdown of the society.

But the Christians would not worship the Roman gods. So they were perceived as undermining the stability and well-being of society. By not worshipping the Roman gods they were inviting trouble. They were a threat to peace and prosperity. Sound familiar? Many Christians think just that of atheists today.

Today, we don’t have worship of the Romans gods, but there is worship of other gods, given the time, money, and ritual that is devoted to some things in our culture. There is worship of celebrities and fame. There is worship of sports teams and leading athletes. There is worship of wealth, money, and power. There is worship of the body and physical appearance. There is plenty of worshipping going on in our society today, but much of it is not happening in churches or faith communities.

I am imagining Christians today being seen as atheists because we don’t worship money, or greed, or power, or notoriety, or individualism, or the ideology of American exclusivism and superiority. We could definitely be seen as undermining the status quo of society: the hierarchy, the stratification, and the injustice.

Lectionary readings for today:
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Jeremiah 33:10-16
Mark 10:32-34, 46-52

Prayer: May we give our full devotion to the realm of God as we have come to know it in the ministry of Jesus. Amen.

This week we have learned that the co-pilot of the plane that crashed in southern France took the plane down intentionally killing all 150 people aboard. We also heard about a 13 year old who shot two of his brothers, killing one and wounding the other, and then killing himself. These events are shocking. Numbing. How can people do such things? Is it evil? Is it sickness? Is it something else insidious?

This past weekend I attended a fundraising event for Clearwater Central Catholic High School. There was an auction. Everyone was given a card with a number for bidding. But the live bidding with the placards was not to buy anything. That was done as a silent auction on line and with texting. The interactive auction was for donations. The emcee called for 5 donations of $5,000 to match a donation of $25,000. The cards flew up and $70,000 was donated in just over 2 minutes. Many of the people donating were parents who are already paying the pricey tuition for their children to attend the school. It was very impressive. Not that they had the money so much as that they were so readily willing to donate. No coaxing, arm twisting, teeth pulling. It was very heartening to see such generosity of money and spirit. I was shocked but in a good way.

Everyday we see the extremes of the human spirit displayed before us. We see the spectrum of our choices. We see our capability for beautiful generosity and goodness. And we see our capability for ugliness and death. We see these extremes in the story of the life of Jesus especially in the events of the last week of his life: The woman anointing Jesus’ feet with oil. The crowds crying, “Crucify him!” May we cultivate the goodness, compassion, mercy and generosity that is within us.

Lectionary readings for today:

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Jeremiah 33:1-9
Philippians 2:12-18

Prayer: May we have the courage to express the goodness within us as Jesus did. Amen.

“People do what they can.” Someone said this to me recently. And I thought about it. I don’t really agree. For the most part, I don’t think that people do what they can. We do what they want to. And there can be many motivations for what we do, and the motivations are often self serving.

If we did what we can, what we are capable of, this world would be a far different place. We can feed every person on the planet. But we don’t. We can significantly stop the progress of global climate change. But we don’t. We can create an economy that is far more equitable and accessible. But we don’t. We can eradicate prejudice and oppression. But we don’t. We can do a lot of things. But we don’t. So, I can’t agree with the generalization, “People do what they can.” Basically, people do what they choose to do. Sometimes those choices are severely limited, but for most of us, we do what we choose to do.

And our choices make a difference. They can be very significant.

Here’s a mundane example. I had to go to Lowe’s Home Improvement store this week. There are two of them near me. I went to the first. What I was interested in was too far up to reach. In addition, I wanted it in a different color. So, when a salesperson came by and asked if I needed help, I said yes. I wanted to see the item closer. He could not get it down. I was not allowed up the ladder. Did it come in the other color? I was told to go on the website and find out. It was basically, “No, I can’t help you.”

Then I went to the other Lowe’s. The salesperson told me the item could not be gotten down. Could I go up the ladder? “I don’t know anything about it,” he said and walked away. So, I went up the ladder. Was there another color? He checked on it for me. When I made my selection, there was only one left, and it was missing a screw so he gave it to me. No paying for it. Then he ordered what I needed and told me when I could pick them up. It was basically, “Yes, I can help you.” The first salesperson could have done the same thing, but didn’t.

We do what we choose to do. We have the ability to help, to serve, to care, to invest ourselves in the community and the needs of others. We also have the ability to be self absorbed, do what is easiest, protect our interests, and live for ourselves.

Will we do what we can do? For the life of the world?

Lectionary readings for today:

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Deuteronomy 16:1-8
Philippians 2:1-11

Prayer: May we affirm our amazing power and potential by living for the good of the world. Amen.

Do you believe in God? We are told that a majority of the population of the US believes in God. If someone asks you, “Do you believe in God?” how do you answer?

When surveys are done, the questions are simple and straightforward so that the results are clear. In religious surveys, people are asked, “Do you believe in God?” The answer options are usually “yes”, “no”, or “don’t know.” Frankly, if I was called in a phone survey and asked this question, I would find myself in a quandary. Do I believe in God? Well, that depends on how you define or understand “God.” I don’t believe in the God that many people who say they believe in God believe in. So, that might lead me to answer, “no.” If the assumption when asking the question is that every person has her/his unique, evolving, and incomplete understanding of God, then I could say “yes.” As a pastor, I think the expectation is that I would say “yes” I believe in God. And I do believe in God when described in certain ways.

When someone tells me about her experience of God, that she are praying to God, that God has told her to do something, that she believes in God, what I hear someone talking about the God that she knows. Or God as she understands God. I do not assume that she is talking about God as I understand or know or experience God. I think the problems come when we universalize our definition of God and impose it on others or assume that when they are thinking about God they are thinking about our God.

There may be one God, but there are as many understandings of that God as there are people. Maybe what really matters is not so much what a person believes but how they behave.

Lectionary readings for today:

Psalm 119:9-16
Haggai 2:1-9, 20-23
John 12:34-50

Prayer: May we embrace the mystery of God and the ethical teachings of Jesus. Amen.

Yesterday, we mentioned getting credit for doing good as a motivation for some people to do the right thing. Another twist on that is refraining from doing something bad only if you think you’ll get caught. If you don’t think anyone will find out, then why restrain from doing something wrong or immoral? If you won’t get caught, why worry?

In the imagery of baptism, the person goes under the water, dying to the old self, and comes out of the water being born as a new self. A Christian is a new creation. Embracing the Christian life has to do with our whole being. It is not just like passing the bar exam which qualifies you to practice law. Or getting a license so that you can drive a car. These commitments involve specific activities but not necessarily the entire self. The Christian life is about who we are, all the time, in every circumstance, in every thought, in every action, from the core of our being. There is no being Christian in this situation but not in that situation. There is no living the Christian life five days a week and taking the weekend off.

The Christian path determines the very core of who we are: heart, soul, body, and mind. Our journey of faith involves letting this commitment, this lifestyle, infuse us in greater and greater measure. It is a journey of becoming pure of heart; devoted first and foremost to the kind of loving of self, others, and God, that we see in Jesus.

Do we get lost on the way? Yes! Are there detours? Of course. Do we sometimes veer off the road entirely. Sure. Do we backtrack? Sometimes. But somehow, we find ourselves still seeking our home in God. We find our highest good in serving love. When we do something bad or wrong or immoral and think it doesn’t matter because we will never be caught, it does matter because we are harming ourselves. We are pulling ourselves away from our well-being and wholeness and health. And so we come back to the late basketball coach, Dean Smith’s words: “You should never be proud of doing the right thing. You should just do the right thing.” No matter who is or isn’t looking.

Lectionary readings for today:

Psalm 119:9-16
Isaiah 44:1-8
Acts 2:14-24

Prayer: May we be honest especially with ourselves. Amen.