MONDAY MATTERS
Reflections to start the week
Monday, August 25, 2014

Guided by the Daily Lectionary found in the back of the Book of Common Prayer, I’m reading my way through the Book of Job, that book of the Bible which addresses a mystery we all know too well, the perplexing question posed by Rabbi Kushner: Why do bad things happen to good people (or any people, for that matter)? The ancient book, a poem in many respects, wins the kind of attention suggested in the quotes in the side column. Its artistry is distinctive, for sure. It also continues to win attention because every one of us knows at least a little bit about what it is like to feel like Job. Maybe you identify with him this morning, or know and love someone who does. In my own ministry, I’ve often commented to people in all kinds of predicaments: You must be feeling like Job. Biblical literacy may be waning in our culture, but people know right away what I’m talking about.

As I’m reading, I’m struck by the ways that Job navigates the challenges he faces. When urged to curse God, prompted by family and friends, he says things like this: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

That response has prompted this question this morning: How do we navigate those experiences? I’m impressed not only with the way Job navigates the suffering. It has also brought to mind the ways that modern equivalents handle suffering faithfully.

I have in mind the witness of Jim Foley who while held as captive in Libya turned to prayer. He told a group of students: “I began to pray the rosary. It was what my mother and grandmother would have prayed. I said 10 Hail Marys between each Our Father. It took a long time, almost an hour to count 100 Hail Marys off on knuckles and it helped to keep my mind focused.” It is the witness of his family, captured in comments offered by Jim’s mother: “Faith has been part of family life, but this has deepened my faith because there is our hope. Our hope is that God will take care of Jim.”

I have in mind the witness of people in Ferguson, Missouri, who gathered a week ago Sunday afternoon for a service of prayer, offered in the midst of their pain over the death of Michael Brown in their community, and all it revealed about our broken communities. Amidst the prayer prompted by pain, there was praise.

I have in mind the pain of Brandi Murry, mother of Antonio, a 9 year old shot in Chicago. She said: “He just didn’t make it. I’m praying for the whole city right now. I don’t want no other parent to every go through this. I feel your pain. It’s bad, and it hurts so much.”

I have in mind a friend, a fine preacher, who suffered a stroke that among other things affected his ability to speak, an inexplicable loss for an eloquent and compelling preacher of the gospel. He offered a reflection on his experience called “The upside of being knocked on your backside”. How do people focus on that upside?

I have in mind the witness of St. Paul, who contended with his own inexplicable, unidentified “thorn in the flesh”, and wrote in Romans 8:18: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.”

The record of scripture is clear. Suffering comes to each one of us. Maybe it’s acutely felt by you this morning. How do we navigate these passages? A mentor told me that when we can’t understand, we withstand. When we can’t explain, we proclaim, offering praise and thanks, expressing hope even when that seems senseless. It’s not easy. I don’t know if I can do it. But we are, by grace, surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who show the way.

– Jay Sidebotham 

Contact:

Rev. Jay Sidebotham
jsidebotham@renewalworks.org
RenewalWorks is a ministry of Forward Movement.
www.renewalworks.org

MONDAY MATTERS
Reflections to start the week
Monday, August 18, 2014

Faith at work

I was privileged to attend a Leadership Summit last week, sponsored by Willow Creek. The event was held in Chicagoland, but I watched the gathering on a big old screen, live stream to a church a few miles from here, much easier commute, though I hated to disappoint US Airways. (They’ll get over it.) It was one of the many sites around the globe and the topic of leadership addressed issues that this email tries to explore each week. Questions like this: How do we put faith to work in the world, Monday through Friday, wherever God has placed us in the world? The Summit offered a fine line up of speakers, as I sipped from the firehose of their presentations, offered in quick succession. We heard from the CEO of GE. We heard from Susan Cain, author of Quiet, about the power of introverts in the world. (I savored her presentation as I sat by myself in the back row, empty seats around me, right on the aisle for easy exit if needed.) Tyler Perry, of movie fame, spoke. One session in particular focused on putting faith to work in the workplace, acknowledging the mystery of how to do that.

Mr. Don Flow spoke about how he faithfully tries to lead many thriving car dealerships that he leads in North Carolina and Virginia. How would you go about bringing values of faith into a setting like that? Using language we often throw around in religious circles, he spoke of covenant with customers, community with employees, commitment to common good. (These guys like alliteration. They also like acronyms.) He came up with one that spelled the word “serve”: Show respect; Earn trust; Reach for perfection; Value input; Energize others. He noted that a key element was the time he spends each morning in prayer, committing the day with its work to God’s guidance and provision. If you think it’s tough to put faith to work in a business like selling cars, consider the next speaker.

Ms. Allen Catherine Kagina is Commission General of the Uganda Revenue Authority, the IRS of Uganda. With a background in social work, she was by her own admission, unprepared for work in government bureaucracy. She courageously took on radical reform of a corrupt and inefficient system. She led in transformation of a system that came to be marked by giving and sharing of resources. She entered thinking it would be an impossible task. So she invited God into the process. If you think it’s tough to put faith to work in a government bureaucracy marked by inefficiency and corruption, consider the next speaker.

The Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus, Senior Pastor of the New Life Covenant Church in Chicago, was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2013. He began a church with 120 people. Now it has 17,000 members. He built a church that not only addressed the needs of the homeless, of prostitutes, drug addicts and gang members, but folded them into the life of the community. A seemingly impossible environment to build a church, probably the environment where God can really go to work.

Three different speakers. Three different stories. Each one faced huge obstacles in putting faith to work in their lives. But they did it. A consistent theme from each of the speakers was that prayer is integral. I don’t know if you have ever had the experience that I have had. I set about to accomplish something, plan something, and I get all anxious as I get into it and think it can’t be done. Then I realize somewhere along the line that I haven’t considered that just maybe perhaps I don’t need to freak out about getting it all done. Maybe I can try inviting God into it. Maybe I can “take it to the Lord in prayer.” Maybe I can even relax a little.

As you think about your life this Monday morning, with all that lies before you this week, identify one situation or relationship, one obstacle or opportunity, that seems like intractable, immoveable, impossible. Think of a place that seems highly unlikely as a place where God can go to work with healing, saving power (Examples might include; a car dealership, a bloated bureaucracy, a poverty stricken urban community, a comfortable main line congregation, a contented main line Christian, a broken relationship, a health crisis, a battle with depression, the northern mountains of Iraq, the eastern border of the Ukraine, a St. Louis suburb, Sierra Leone, the southern border of our nation, the list unfortunately goes on). Invite God into that place. See what happens. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

– Jay Sidebotham

Contact:

Rev. Jay Sidebotham
jsidebotham@renewalworks.org
RenewalWorks is a ministry of Forward Movement.
www.renewalworks.org

MONDAY MATTERS
Reflections to start the week
Monday, August 11, 2014

Singing a song of the saints of God.

For a number of years, during this particular week in August, my family and I would travel on a mission trip in Honduras, a powerful partnership with people in that now very troubled part of the world. It goes without saying that we received more than we gave. We’d go for a week, and each morning on our mission trip we would gather for Morning Prayer. We would use readings for the saints of the day. It’s one of the few weeks in the year when there is a saint for each day, and it’s quite a collection. By holy coincidence, the saints of this week each have something to teach us about the journey of faith, and especially about service.

Today, we observe the feast of Clare, Abbess of Assisi, who joined St. Francis in his ministry in the 12th century. She reminds us that an integral part of our faith is attending to the needs of the poor, as an instrument of God’s peace. On this day, what might you do to serve those in need, nearby or far away?

Tomorrow, we observe the feast of Florence Nightingale. Did you know she was a saint? A social reformer, a person of deep faith, and founder of modern nursing in the 19th century, she reminds us that an integral part of our faith is being a healer, and that God uses people in a variety of ways for healing ministry. On Tuesday, what might you do to be an instrument of God’s healing power?

On Wednesday, we observe the feast of Jeremy Taylor, a church leader from the 17th century, noted for his skill as spiritual writer, so much so that he was called the “Shakespeare of the Divines”. He wrote a manual for Christian practice called The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living, a guide that is still in use. He reminds us that an integral part of our faith is that thing called practice. What will you do on this day to exercise your faith?

On Thursday, we observe a saint from our own day, Jonathan Myrick Daniels. As a seminarian in the early 1960’s, he participated in the civil rights movement in the south, and was shot and killed in Alabama, when he stepped between a young black woman and a man aiming a gun at her. He reminds us that Christ calls us to work sacrificially for justice and peace. This Thursday, what will you do to work for justice and peace?

And on Friday, we observe the feast of St. Mary the virgin, the mother of our Lord, who challenges us to consider what in means to magnify the Lord. She models discipleship in the way she responds to the angel’s announcement by saying “Here am I.” What will you do to say yes to God’s intentions for you?

This Monday morning, I’m mindful that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who guide us, who help us see what it means to have faith. We give thanks for the life, ministry and witness of Clare, Florience, Jeremy, Jonathan and Mary. Take some time and think about how they call you to grow in your own life of faith this week. Give thanks for their witness and for all the saints in your life. Remember that you can be one too. By grace, you already are.

– Jay Sidebotham 

(You can find tons of information about each of these saints online, but you know that. If you want to know which scripture readings have been selected for these saints, I suggest www.lectionarypage.net)

Contact:

Rev. Jay Sidebotham
jsidebotham@renewalworks.org
RenewalWorks is a ministry of Forward Movement.
www.renewalworks.org

MONDAY MATTERS
Reflections to start the week
Monday, August 4, 2014

Compassion

In our gospel reading yesterday, we heard Matthew’s version of the feeding of the five thousand, a miracle about so much more than catering. Jesus goes out into the desert for some down time. He had just heard that his cousin and colleague, John the Baptist, had been executed, basically as entertainment at one of Herod’s parties. Whatever Jesus was seeking when he went out to that quiet place, solace or safety, he was intentional about the trip. Sounds like he needed it. Maybe he even had an agenda. But life happened instead of what Jesus planned and when he crosses the lake in his boat, he finds that crowds had made their way around the lake on foot to meet him, crowds filled with people in need of healing. Jesus could have said “This is my day off.” or “I need some down time.” Or “Could you call somebody else?” But Matthew’s gospel tells us that when Jesus saw the great crowd, he had compassion for them. Mark’s gospel says more. Jesus saw the great crowd and had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

I’m thinking about that word “compassion” this Monday morning. Its etymology suggests “suffering with” or “co-suffering”. While many definitions suggest it is about helping people in need, it is different from philanthropy or pity or charity. It is a movement of the heart that somehow recognizes we’re all in this together. I see it in a recently released photo of an Israeli parent and a Palestinian parent hugging, holding each other up when each of them had lost a child in the current conflict. Compassion as “suffering with.” I see it in Jesus’ story, his heart broken open by the horrific end of John the Baptist’s life, a heart now open to the hunger of this crowd. I see compassion in his arms stretched out on hard wood of the cross to draw us into his saving embrace.

Karen Armstrong, the brilliant religious historian who has been so helpful, so insightful in writing about how the world’s great religions can move forward together, has identified compassion as the great common virtue, the great common aspiration in these traditions. She is not naïve about the ways that the great religions fall short of the call to compassion. She wrote: “Religious people often prefer to be right rather than compassionate. Often, they don’t want to give up their egotism. They want their religion to endorse their ego, their identity.” I’m wondering if you have ever met any religious people like that. I sometimes see that person in the mirror. She sees compassion at the heart of Jesus’ ministry. She wrote: “Jesus did not spend a great deal of time discoursing about the trinity or original sin or the incarnation, which have preoccupied later Christians. He went around doing good and being compassionate.” And she is quite realistic that compassion is a spiritual practice, which means not only that we need to make it practical, but also that we might just get better at it the more we do it. She wrote: “Compassion is a practically acquired knowledge, like dancing. You must do it and practice diligently day by day.” (Apparently, Karen Armstrong practices what she preaches. When she won a $100,000 TED prize, she dedicated those resources to developing a Charter of Compassion seeking a global movement focused on the principle of compassion. There’s lots of information online if you’re interested.)

Give thanks this morning that Jesus regards you and me with compassion. He knew suffering. He knows ours. Pray this morning that God will show you a way to practice compassion to others. You may not have $100,000 prize money to apply to that practice. But like the tiny offering of five loaves and two fishes that fed 5,000, there’s something you and I can offer today. We can practice compassion on Monday, August 4.

– Jay Sidebotham

Contact:

Rev. Jay Sidebotham
jsidebotham@renewalworks.org
RenewalWorks is a ministry of Forward Movement.
www.renewalworks.org