non-metaphysical stephen

Next month our church has a couple of activities centered around the life and ministry of St. Francis,one of the greatest figures in church history. I thought it would be nice to include in the church newsletter one of the best known stories about him–the Wolf of Gubbio. What follows is my paraphrase of the story, which is found in chapter 21 of The Little Flowers of St. Francis by Brother Ugolino. (more…)

Wow — today’s reading from Nehemiah and Luke follows up on the issues I discussed in my “Jesus v? Ezra” post a few days back….

Nehemiah continues Ezra’s focus on ethnic purity:

On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.

This is a painful passage for those of us who seek to follow the Mosaic command to welcome the stranger. But in these verses, we are told… (more…)

Today’s sermon was on the Epistle reading: Ephesians 4.25-5.2:

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Lots of food for thought in the passage (and in the sermon!), but (our pastor) Bob’s discussion of one verse in particular really jumped out at me: (more…)

For several years now, I’ve tried to counter people’s notions that holiness means “purity” in the sense of (moral) cleanness. The Hebrew and Greek words don’t connote cleanness, but rather separateness: things that are holy are “set apart.” So in the scriptural discussions of temple utensils, they are set apart for worship and not to be “defiled” by being used for other purposes. They still get dirty, but they get dirty only in service of the Living God.

So my usual analogy is your parents’ holiday china–the plates, glasses and silverware that only came out for special occasions. This china is “set apart” for particular use. You’re not going to use it for that microwave dinner you’re going to scarf down before jetting out the door; you have “ordinary” dishware for that. No, this china is reserved for special uses.

And so are we: we are set apart for God’s uses, and not for the common usage of the world.

But I’ve been wondering how to describe what that worldly usage is. Here’s a quick example of what I’ve come up with:

• The world seeks a combination of power, wealth, luxury, pleasure, etc.
• The world gets these things through deceit, manipulation, violence, etc.

So to say that we are set apart from the world–set apart for God’s service–means that we are called to avoid those worldly goals and those wordly methods. That is what it will look like when we live lives of holiness.

And may we be truly set apart from the world for the service of God, through the Spirit of Christ Jesus,

Amen.