Fragile - Handle with Care

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Fragile - Handle with Care

by David Sellnow

It was one of the first days that panic buying had begun. At a local store, the bread loaves were gone from the shelves. There were some higher-priced specialty items still available—dessert breads, breakfast bagels, spinach and herb wraps—but no regular bread. As I stood there, my mind went to the famous words Marie Antoinette never actually said: “Let them eat cake.” French law in the 18^th century required bakeries to sell fancy breads at regular bread prices if supplies of ordinary loaves ran out. But in the days leading up to the French Revolution, such a law made little difference. There was no bread of any kind available to the common people. Harvests had failed and famine conditions prevailed.

In our present moment, basic commodities are scarce in store aisles because of fears of what tomorrow may bring. The spread of disease, COVID-19, has crushed our confidence in the systems of government and healthcare and economics that we have set up. We are riddled with worries and questions. Will more businesses be forced to close? Will our own jobs and income be interrupted? Will we be told to shelter in place and avoid all interactions with others? Some locations have experienced such contractions and restrictions already. We’ve been shown that a microscopic virus has the power to intimidate a whole planet.

When all is well (or at least mostly so) in our own corner of the world, we easily forget how fragile life is. Perhaps if more of us experienced what the 500,000 homeless persons in this country deal with on a daily basis, we’d be less likely to think of food and drink (and toilet paper!) as things we can expect always to have on hand. We know what the Bible has taught us about the frailty and impermanence of this life—“how fleeting life is” (Psalm 39:4)—but we easily get comfortable and complacent. We expect prosperity and plenty to continue routinely. We forget the Word’s warning: 

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.”  Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes (James 4:13,14).

Now our routines and comfort level have been abruptly interrupted. So what hope do we have?  We need a bigger source of hope than a weekly paycheck. We need a bigger source of hope than a stable stock market portfolio. We need bigger hope than having health insurance and accident insurance and unemployment insurance and life insurance—all of which only insure financially, to a limited degree, against risks and losses in this life. Having health insurance doesn’t keep you healthy. Accident insurance doesn’t prevent accidents from happening. Unemployment insurance doesn’t guarantee jobs won’t be lost. Life insurance doesn’t keep people alive. 

We need a higher power. Our hope is in One who is bigger than earthly limits. David, poet and king of Israel (who knew firsthand about life’s ups and downs), wrote:

Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses,
    but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God.
They will collapse and fall,
    but we shall rise and stand upright (Psalm 20:7,8). 

That doesn’t mean we get through this life unscathed. David’s own history was scarred by problems and losses (cf. 2 Samuel chapters 11-12 and 15-18, for example).  But hope in God’s presence with us continues even through the worst of times.  At another point in the history of God’s people, when a foreign invasion was looming and everything looked bleak, Habakkuk expressed the kind of hope we hope to have: 

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
    and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
    and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
    and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
    I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign Lord is my strength!  (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

It’s hard to be hopeful and rejoice when the shelves are bare, when employment ends, when infection and illness are spreading, when there is uncertainty everywhere around us.  But perhaps at such times we are made more ready to trust in God rather than just what this world has to offer. Christ’s apostle, Paul, urged us: “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:19-20)—and that is what gives us hope. Peter echoed the same theme: “ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3,4).  Life with God is not primarily about trusting in someone who can put bread on our tables (or onto store shelves).  Jesus invites us to trust him not because we have eaten our fill of bread or fish or other earthly things (cf. John 6:26). “Do not work for the food that perishes,” Jesus said, “but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (John 6:27).

A friend of mine shared a bit of social media encouragement with me the other day.  It said, “Today I choose faith, trust, prayer, worship, hope and joy instead of worry.” Believers like David, Habbakuk, Peter and Paul offered similar sentiments.  Christ Jesus calls us to just such a hope.  Life is fragile, but our Savior handles our hearts with care—especially in life’s most challenging times.

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Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Politics divide; Jesus unites

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Politics divide; Jesus unites

by David Sellnow

At the outset of this year’s State of the Union Address, the President of the United States rejected a handshake from the Speaker of the House of Representatives. When his speech was over, the Speaker tore up her copy of the President’s speech. There is deep division between the parties leading our politics. 

There’s deep division among people too.  A few months ago, a poll by the Pew Research Center showed that between two-thirds and three-fourths of Americans think persons on the other side of the political aisle are closed-minded.  Half of the members of each party believe the members of the other party are immoral. More than a third of the members of each party are convinced that those who vote with the other party are lacking in intelligence.

The political landscape is so full of divisions that even when you listen to a debate by members of the same political party, much of the time is spent yelling at each other and talking over each other. With Super Tuesday primary elections approaching, there is little clarity about who should lead or what direction leadership should take.

We are not the first society to experience polarization in its politics. In first century Judea, the Roman Empire had taken over control. They occupied the region with a military presence and assorted governmental authorities. There were members of Jewish society who saw no point in trying to resist Rome. Some found it advantageous to go to work for Rome as tax collectors, gathering revenue for the empire (and for themselves) within their own communities. Tax collectors typically are not popular figures anywhere, but tax collectors were especially disliked in Jewish society. They were seen as aiding and abetting a foreign oppressor–and lining their own pockets in the process.  At the opposite extreme, far from the tax collectors who served the Roman empire, there were radicals committed to fighting back against Rome. By the middle of the first century, there would be an organized group known as the Zealots, dedicated to the cause of ending Roman rule. During Jesus’ ministry years a couple decades before that, the anti-Roman sentiment was growing among the Jewish people. As Kenneth Yates of the Grace Evangelical Society has noted about views that became associated with the Zealot movement, “They hated the fact that Rome was ruling over Israel. The Romans were pagans and idolaters. The Zealots saw the situation as one that dishonored God.” 

When Jesus called together his inner circle of disciples–those he would train to be his apostles–he did not discriminate on the basis of politics. One of the men Jesus called was Matthew, also called Levi, who was a tax collector for the Roman Empire (cf. Matthew 9:9-13, Luke 5:27-32).  Another of Jesus’ chosen leaders-in-training was a man named Simon, “who was called the Zealot” (Luke 6:15). We don’t know for sure if this Simon was aligned with the political radicals that would become the Zealot party, devoted to opposing the Romans. The implication is there, though. And quite certainly, a revenue-collector for the occupying armies (such as Matthew) wouldn’t be a popular political choice with any of the others among the Twelve when Jesus gathered them. But that didn’t deter Jesus from making his choices. Jesus called them all to walk together as brothers and to work together for a cause higher than just earthly, social, political concerns.  Jesus calls us all to walk together as his disciples, serving him and bringing his love to all persons in the world.

Too easily we make judgments about people who think differently than we do, whose ideas about society are at odds with our own views. Some like to think that Jesus is on their side and theirs alone, looking for the Lord to cast down their opponents and champion their personal crusades. Jesus is bigger than that. His kingdom is bigger than that. The company of his followers was large enough to include imperial tax collectors as well as anti-imperial Zealots. As the Christian church grew in the first century, it included Roman soldiers as well as persons from places that Roman armies occupied. Christ’s followers included people from the highest economic standing down to those of the lowest. Christ’s family bridged across social, political, and ethnic divides. There are no “barbarians” or “savages” or persons unworthy of Christ’s love. Christ’s kingdom is expansive enough and inclusive enough to welcome all persons. And that means persons of different backgrounds and different politics are called to put Christ and his love first in their lives.

Let me close these thoughts with words from one of Christ’s apostles. Before Jesus stopped him in his tracks and made him rethink everything, Saul of Tarsus (whom we know as Paul the apostle) had stridently persecuted persons who didn’t see the world in the same way he did. But after seeing the light in Jesus, here is how he spoke to the church:

• Get rid of … anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal[e] there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

• As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.

(Colossians 3:8-15 NRSV)

If you’re a Super Tuesday voter, feel free to vote for a “Medicare for all” candidate … or not.  Or to vote in one party’s primary … or the other. It’s not my place to tell you which political cause or platform you should support. Simply remember the words of God’s prophet that rulers (leaders) should be people who know justice, and that they should not be power-hungry types who “hate the good and love the evil,” who abuse and take advantage of the people over whom they have authority (cf. Micah chapter 3). And let us come together in the family of God, called together by Christ, and conduct ourselves with “compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” toward all others, as he calls us to do.

We Aim to Proclaim

If you are reading this on the old version of this blog, I invite you to visit the new site: TheElectricGospel.com.

You can read archived posts and new posts at the new website.

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“We Aim to Proclaim” was one of the original Electric Gospel devotions distributed by email in the late 1990s.  It was picked up and published in the June 1999 edition of The Northwestern Lutheran. Since the page on the new website about The Electric Gospel’s origins and purpose mentions a devotion about Tinky Winky, I thought I might share a version of that message with you here, twenty years down the road.

We Aim to Proclaim

by David Sellnow

In early 1999, the ministry of Rev. Jerry Falwell made news by protesting the program,Teletubbies. A Falwell ministry publication, National Liberty Journal, contained an article claiming that Tinky Winky (one of the Teletubbies) may be a subliminal gay role model because

• he’s purple;
• his antenna is shaped like a triangle;
• he carries a purse.

Falwell’s crusade against the Tinky Winky (who actually carried a “magic bag”) generated much controversy.  I had to agree with a Lubbock radio listener. When the controversy was being discussed on local radio, one mom commented: “Anybody who would get that from watching Teletubbies is too old to be watching the show!”  Elsewhere, Michael Linnemann, coordinator of Baltimore's Gay and Lesbian Community Center, said, “It's news to the gay community. We didn't realize we had a doll. Is Barney gay too, because he's purple?" (The Baltimore Sun, February 11, 1999).

I’m not writing about this because I feel it is my calling to be a defender of purple (or other-colored) children’s TV characters. To me, it’s simply another example of how too many religious leaders focus their efforts in the wrong direction. They speak against things more than they speak for the truth. They seek to enforce law more than they understand or offer gospel.

Christianity is not essentially about protesting against certain people or things. It is about proclaiming peace. What did Jesus say? “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). Jesus did not command us to go out and protest whatever we might think is wrong with our neighbors. Instead, he calls us to “conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge” (1 Peter 2:12). Our calling is to show forth the goodness and truth of God by our lives and by our witness. That’s a positive message of hope, not an exercise in negative finger-pointing. Our main mission is to proclaim Christ, who brings grace and healing to this world.

By the way, I am writing this during the season of Lent. The altar in our church is covered in purple. It’s a color that associated with royalty, as well as with the bruises and suffering of our Lord Jesus on our behalf. Thus, for us, it’s a penitential color; we recognize our need for redemption. Christ’s ordeal of suffering, known as The Passion, was endured for every one of us.  

So when one of the kids brings a Teletubby doll to church, we don’t cast the doll—or the child—out.

Encourage one another

With this post, I am launching the new and improved version of The Electric Gospel.  For Christmas, one of my daughters set up a new site (with expanded possibilities) for hosting this blog. I credit her with site design and with doing much of the work of moving over archives of past devotional writings. The Christmas gift, a labor of love, was my daughter’s way of encouraging me to keep writing, to keep working at offering spiritual encouragement to others. If you’re reading this on the original Electric Gospel blog page, I invite you to visit the new site and enter your email there to subscribe for receiving new posts. 

In launching the new site, I had thought about re-posting an updated version of something from the archives, such as a New Year’s post (from 2015) or a Martin Luther King Jr. Day post (from 2019).  But you can get at those posts in the archives (follow those links).

A better way to begin the new version of The Electric Gospel is to post something new.  Thinking of my daughter’s much-appreciated encouragement to me--as well as the intention of the blog--it seems appropriate to speak about encouraging one another in faith and hope. If you wish to post a reply at the new site, please do!

Encourage one another

by David Sellnow

When I was doing college teaching, I made a habit of offering encouragement to students individually. Sometimes it was about a spark of spiritual energy I saw evident in them. Some I urged onward in their writing or other forms of creative expression, because they had talents to be explored. In many cases, I encountered young adults who felt out of place, who had questions or doubts, who weren’t sure the answers they were being told were consistent and true. Perhaps they were willing to share their doubts and wonderings with me because I was one who wondered along with them, a fellow learner, not someone who seemed to know all already.

On one occasion, I sent an email to a freshman student who had been offering novel insights in a history course. I encouraged her to continue sharing her thoughts, which were elevating the level of discourse in our classroom. Not long after receiving the email, the student came to my office, in tears. She was overcome with emotion, she said, because this was the first time in her life that a teacher had praised her work. I thought perhaps she was exaggerating, but her story was compelling. She had been raised in church schools where errors were duly noted and corrections expected.  Perfect papers got praise. Her assignments mostly got marked up with red ink, pointing out every imperfection. She felt dismissed and disregarded by teachers, labeled as an underperformer. Her confidence and desire to do well diminished year by year due to the lack of positive attention.

We’d like to think of church settings as places where seldom is heard a discouraging word. Sadly, often much discouragement occurs.  This is at odds with God’s gospel imperative to provide ongoing spiritual support.  “Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing,” Paul wrote to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 5:11).  It’s good that the Christians at Thessalonica were in the habit of encouraging one another. We do well when we follow their lead.  In a similar vein, a writer to early Jewish believers urged them, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds … encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24,25).  Those Christians were enduring difficult times.  But they held onto each other in faith and looked ahead to Christ’s return.  The letter writer reminded them how they had “endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions” (Hebrews 10:32-34).

Mutual encouragement is especially important when enduring hard times, injustices, or oppression. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (April 1963), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., decried the lack of support from mainline churches for African Americans who were being deprived of their rights. How could this be, in a nation founded on the principle that all persons “are created equal … endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” (Declaration of Independence)?  King wrote:  “The contemporary church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch supporter of the status quo.  Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's often vocal sanction of things as they are.”  Establishment churches were good at supporting and encouraging themselves within the circle of privilege and prosperity. They were ignoring the disenfranchised, the downtrodden, the despised.  King pointed to the people on the front lines of the civil rights movement who supported one another faithfully as they struggled to achieve liberty and justice for all. One day the country will know, King said, “that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters they were in reality standing up for the best in the American dream and the most sacred values in our Judeo-Christian heritage.” 

If you are someone enduring struggles or suffering, I pray The Electric Gospel blog can become a source of encouragement to you. Fill out the “Contact Us” form if there’s a specific concern on your heart that might be addressed here.

If you know someone in need of spiritual encouragement, by all means, reach out, speak out, help out. Let that person know they have a friend on their side and by their side.  Don’t let anyone continue to be starved of needed praise and support in a world full of criticism and judgment.  We are called to be there for one another. As the proverb reminds us: “Two are better than one …. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). 

Dear God, help us to help one another and lift each other up, in Jesus’ name.

All Bible quotations from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.