Personal Disciplines and Communal Practice (Video)
Recently, I had the chance to speak to some of the leadership of the church I serve about moving from a deciding body to a discerning body. In an effort to guide the group toward discernment, there are both personal disciplines and communal practices. This video was an effort to teach different disciplines and practices.
You may not care to watch this entire video, I do not blame you - I don’t like to listen to me, too. However, if you are interested in some of the disciplines and practices, I have put minute marks below for your reference.
I hope this teaching is helpful for you to either participate in these disciplines and practices or at the very least give you something to push against and discover your own Lenten disciplines and practices. (These minute marks and links are also in the comments of the video on Youtube.)
Don't be showy, unless it is ashes
The following is an abbreviated version of an Ash Wednesday reflection offered here.
Have you ever wondered why on the day when many Christians make a very public display of their religion is the same day that we read Jesus, who on the Sermon on the Mount says:
‘Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.*
‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
So what gives? Why not be showy unless it is Ash Wednesday?
Notice that Jesus speaks of three practices: fasting, praying and almsgiving. In each of these practices he speaks of a poor model and a better model. The poor model is that of the religious authorities while the better model is what he (Jesus) does. The invitation is not to abandon these practices but to model your practices from Jesus and not the hypocrites.
The invitation to model Jesus in our fasting, praying and giving is really just the beginning. And really among the easiest things to do as followers of Jesus.
Ashes on our heads on this day is not for show but the vow, promise, desire that we would model our lives after Jesus not just in the easy practices (fasting, praying and giving) but in the more difficult practice of Jesus: obedience.
As it is said of Jesus in Philippians 2:
who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.
The ashes on our heads are the hope that we too would imitate Christ not just in our fasting, praying and giving but in our divestment of power and control. In our obedience - even to the point of giving ourselves away. That we would take up the cross.
The ashes are the invitation to imitate Christ’s life, death and resurrection.
In this light, I less sure that ashes are very showy.
Why is God Jealous?
A few places in the Bible, God is described as a jealous God. Perhaps most well known in the book of Exodus when Moses is given the 10 commandments. Coming in at number two on the top ten is the following:
You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God…
It seems weird that God would ever be jealous of anything because, well, it is God we are talking about. Isn't God above being jealous? Maybe.
First it is worth noting that jealousy and envy are two different things, but we often confuse them. Many times we think of being jealous of someone who has something that we desire. For instance, if I see my neighbor have a cool house or new toy or physical physique I might say that I am jealous of my neighbors house, toy, body. And so when we encounter the ten commandments and read God is jealous, we wonder why would God ever be jealous? God does not need anything, and even if God did need something, God could create it! However this is not what jealousy is.
Desiring an object that your neighbor has is not jealousy, that is called envy. We envy things like homes, toys of physical characteristics. We might even envy our neighbor’s partner or our neighbor’s job. When we want what our neighbor has, we are envious not jealous.
Jealousy is not about desiring an object our neighbor has, but about desiring the relationship our neighbor has with that object. You may not desire your neighbor’s partner, but you desire the type of relationship your neighbor has with their partner. You may not desire the boat that your neighbor has, but you desire the joy your neighbor has when riding the boat. You may not want your neighbor’s physical body but you may want the attraction that your neighbor gets from others due to their physical characteristics.
God does not desire a thing, but God desires the relationship we have with things. God wants to be in relationship with you and when you are in relationship with something else (such as money or fame or success) God is jealous. God knows that your relationship with these other things (idols) are not good for you spirit or your community. God is not jealous because God is lacking in some way. Rather God is jealous because God desires so deeply to be in relationship with each one of us.
God is not envious, but God is jealous.
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.