Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost: Betito

Sunday's Lectionary Passages

Worship that is only designed for our comfort and entertainment isn't worship at all. When we do the true work of worship and prayer together, it somehow opens up new windows into the heart of God. We find ourselves standing with our feet wet in a vast ocean before us. That ocean is the compassion and love of God. And we find that it is way too big for just each of us, for our own church, denomination, culture, race, or country. It doesn't just extend to Christians, but to people of all religions, and even to those who have no religion. In fact it is often those who we tend to think are at the margins of the water who are really the ones engulfed in the ocean. And those of us who ignore or look down upon those who we think could not possibly be anywhere near the water, are really the ones who are standing high and dry on the shore, stranded on an island of our own religious ideas and notions.

I hope that you are able to listen to the following audio clip about a boy named Betito. It is from the book Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. It is by Father Gregory Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries. Listen to this clip with this passage in the background.

⁹ Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. ¹⁰ Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. ¹¹ Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. ¹² Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. ¹³ When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. ¹⁵ Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

¹⁷ Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. ¹⁸ Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

¹⁹ Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,

“I will take revenge;
I will pay them back,”
says the Lord.

²⁰ Instead,

“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
burning coals of shame on their heads.”

²¹ Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good. Romans 12:9-21 (NLT)

Listen to the story of Betito as told by Father Boyle.

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost: Self-esteem or Christ-esteem?

Read this Sunday's Lectionary Passages

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. 4 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Romans 12:2-5 (NLT)

Paul exhorts us, as Christ’s followers, to be critical thinkers. We are not to simply swallow the conventional wisdom of the day but are to examine it carefully. I think the idea of self-esteem is something we need to put under a microscope.

Isn’t self-esteem something that we are constantly told to esteem highly? Schools spend a tremendous amount of time, trying to promote self-esteem in children. Parents are paranoid of damaging it in their little ones. Popular songs teach that, “Learning to love yourself, is the greatest love of all.”

But it seems the more we have focused on self-esteem, the more insecure we all have become. Could the reason be that we are not created to focus on self? Could it be that a foundation for esteem that is built on self, might be a shaky one? Perhaps the self-esteem focus is just one symptom our hyper-individualistic paradigm that puts each one of us at the center of our own universe. If you think about it, that is a scary place to be. No wonder we all tend to be so insecure!

As followers of Christ, our identity is to be found in Him, the real Master of the universe. If that is the case, we don’t have to go around thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought and trying to get everyone to agree with a high self-appraisal in order to maintain our self-worth. We are free to be realistic about who God created each of us to be. We don’t have to be it all and do it all.

We can then take our place within the Body of Christ. We have each been given gifts to share. ALL OF THEM are important! EACH ONE OF US is equally important no matter the gifts we have to share. When we think we are more important than someone else in the Body, we do it damage. We take on roles that are better done by others or we simply ignore the importance of “lesser” roles. On the other hand, if we think our gifts and roles are less important, the Body can be harmed as well. We can tend to drop out and simply stop contributing because we feel we are not needed anyway.

One reason why I think good church worship music is so important, is that it illustrates this concept of unity and diversity. Good worship music takes an ensemble approach. Those on stage are NOT performers, but are facilitators that recognize that the full ensemble includes each member of the congregation. We are to share our individual gifts and talents in ways that contribute to the whole and encourage others to contribute what they have as well. One person will skillfully play the drums, another the bass, another the guitar or keyboard each blending with the others. Singers won’t just sing what ever they want when they want, but listen to the others, carefully harmonizing and singing dynamically. The congregation is then encouraged to sing along joining with the team. The whole becomes much greater than the each individual part.

The Body of Christ, functions the same way. It is healthy and strong when each of us simply dedicates ourselves to sharing our gifts. When everyone is fully exercising their gifts, it is not any individual that is built up, but it is Christ who is made known. Christ is esteemed!

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost: Getting Out of the Boat

Lectionary Passages

The main theme this week: Jesus saves. He's got our back. We can move forward to do what God has called us to do. Yet, there are two main obstacles that work against faith. They are fear and doubt. Last week pastor Kevin talked about our spiritual vocation and challenged us to see the needs of this world with Jesus' eyes of compassion, to stop dwelling on our lack of resources for meeting the needs (and using that as an excuse for staying on the sidelines), and to hand over what we have to Jesus so that HE can bless it and give it back to us. He is the miracle worker. We are only the facilitators of the miracles once we step out and act in faith. Yet FEAR often keeps us back. And if we take the initiative to step out and get started then the next obstacle to overcome is DOUBT. The story of Peter walking on the water well illustrates this. That is probably why this story is so well loved. We can all relate to it!

In terms of our own roles in the worship ministry, I wonder if any of us ever struggle with doubt like I do? We obviously have all overcome the initial fear of getting up in front of people to make music together, but I wonder if we sometimes wonder why we, of all people, are up there doing what we are doing. I know that there are far more qualified people to do what I do. Most Sundays I feel spiritually inadequate as well. Inside I think, "Who am I to lead all of you?" When I am up in front it can be a struggle to keep my focus where it needs to be; on Jesus! When we get our eyes on ourselves and our own inadequacies, we often respond in two ways:

1. We try to maintain our pride. We hide our insecurities and inadequacies. For instance, if we screw up on our part of the song, we might feel we have to offer an excuse that says, "I'm really not that bad." We probably are not be that bad, but none of us are perfect either. But our pride tends to tell us that we have to make others think we are, at least nearly, perfect. So when we don't live up to perfect, we may feel we have to save face. At that point our focus is no longer on Jesus and what He can do with whatever we have to offer him that day. It is totally on me and what I am able to do.

2. We are too hard on ourselves. Of course excellence requires us to be constructively self-critical. We must be able to give ourselves an honest listen to see where we can improve and what we need to work at. However, healthy criticism is not overly harsh and demeaning. Sometimes our internal voices can be way more harsh on ourselves than we ever would be toward others. We don't give ourselves any grace. Healthy criticism is about being realistic and working on what can be improved. Harsh criticism simply says, "That's the way it will always be. You will never get it right! Why even try?"

To be an excellent worship team, we must be willing to jump out of the boat! We have got to hand it to Peter. Although, he doubted himself, got his eyes off of Jesus, and ultimately failed to keep walking on the water, he at least did way more than the other 11 scaredy cats back in the boat! We can't allow our insecurities and fears (and the pride and/or negativity that goes with them) to keep us back from stretching ourselves and taking risks. Will we fail at times? Absolutely? Will Jesus be there to give us a hand when we do? For sure! And can we be Jesus to each other by praying for, and encouraging one another in ways that pull us back up on our feet to do things we never thought possible? I pray that we will!

Finally notice the result of Peter getting out of the boat. The other disciples realized who Jesus was and worshiped him. If we are not willing to risk getting out of the boat, others who sit on the sidelines, may not see what Christ is able to do. It is comforting to know that WE don't have walk on water by ourselves. If we could, then people would worship us. As worship leaders, we must be willing to display that real off balance feeling we often get when we are leading. If we aren't feeling like we are walking on water up there, we are not risking enough and we are not depending on Jesus enough! And if we are not depending on Jesus enough, then He won't get the glory. So yes, let's work hard and be ready to give Jesus our best, but let's never depend on that alone. When a service begins, we must jump over the side of the boat and begin walking by faith.