A New Letter from Paul

Philemon 1:1-21 (NRSV)
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother

To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.

For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.  I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self.  Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ.  Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

 Luke 14:25-33 (NRSV)
“The Cost of Discipleship”
Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’  Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?  If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

“A NEW LETTER FROM PAUL”
Robin E. Lostetter
Western Presbyterian Church
September 4, 2016 (Labor Day Weekend)
Scripture: Philemon 1:1-21, Luke 14: 25-33

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus,

To the Saints at Western Presbyterian Church, and to those Children of God in your community:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brothers and sisters.

For this reason, although I am bold enough in Christ to command you, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for all the children of God, for whom I feel responsibility during my imprisonment.

Perhaps this is the reason I have been separated from you for a while, so that I might see your enslavement from a distance.  I want to have you back forever, no longer as  slaves but as beloved brothers and sisters.

So if you consider yourselves partners with Christ, welcome the Spirit’s guidance as you would welcome mine.  Any debts have been charged off your accounts; Christ has taken them all.  I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I confirm that he has paid it.

So do not live as slaves.  On this, your observance of Labor Day, look at your work.  Some of you work in balance with family and play, often seeing work as your calling.  And some are enslaved by circumstances to work in drudgery, patching together more than one job. But some of you are enslaved by ambition and you work for that which does not feed the soul.  Others are enslaved by an inner need to succeed to meet emotional or outside needs.

Have you not heard the words of Isaiah?  “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? … Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.”  (55:2a,3a)

Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me and does not detach themselves from the things of this world, even from family cannot be my disciple.”  Before you can become my disciple, you must be able to count the cost: will you be able to share out of your poverty, not just out of your excess?  Will you be able to follow me, even when friends and family go their own way?  Will you be able to leave a high-paying job when it is sucking the life out of you or going against my teachings?  Will you be able to hear my words in the voting booth?  Are you able to leave the cell phone aside for Sabbath time?  Will you take a day, a Sabbath of days, a Sabbatical, to refresh your life with me, with those covenanted to you?  Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”  Will you seek justice for yourself and other workers if there are unfair work practices?  Will you pay your workers a fair wage and care for the widow, the orphan, and resident alien in your towns?* Will you leave the edges of your fields and your vineyard for gleaning? Will you remember me, above your church building and your sacred idols?  “Whoever comes to me and does not detach themselves, from the things of this world, and even value me over life itself, cannot be my disciple.”

So, my friends, let me, your brother Paul, have this benefit from you in the Lord!  Refresh my heart in Christ.  Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.  I pray for you to enjoy the freedom that is yours, only when you resist slavery to all else but the love of Christ our Lord.

One thing more—prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be restored to you.

Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

———-
*Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Malachi; various verses

© 2016   R.Lostetter

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FEAR AND SECURITY

Listening to the GOP debates tonight . . .

I’m so tired of the repeated propagation of fear . . . fear of bad government, fear of social program bankruptcy, fear of ISIS, fear, fear, fear.  This was most obvious in the 5:00 pm debate among the 7 candidates who didn’t “make the cut” for the main event, and I wondered if that had something to do with it.  Were their campaigns based more on this model than those of the ten who would appear later?

At 7 pm, I do believe I heard more solution-oriented comments — in fact, I was actually hoping that some of the various ideas would find their way into the policies of whomever is elected to succeed Barack Obama.  Oh, heck — why wait? If they’re good ideas, why not take them under consideration now?  There were cogent approaches to taxation, immigration, even international relations that could possibly be refined and incorporated . . . even by Democrats!

And all this fear talk reminded me of a time when I was about 22, with an infant daughter, and having a conversation with my dad while on vacation.  He was a Republican, and generally fiscally conservative, and I had been raised in a comfortably protected bubble.  Now I was struggling financially.  My M.A. in music was economically useless, and I made $15 a week as a choir soloist.  My husband, still in grad school, had started his own business, so his income was unpredictable.  I got into a fairly emotional (post-partum?) discussion with my dad over security.  And security is the flip side of fear.

“What do I need to do — how much do I need to make — to be secure?” I begged. “But there is no such thing as security,” he tried to tell me, which just increased my anxieties.  My dad, the epitome of security, says there is no such thing?

It was the first time that I, as a protected white kid from an upper middle class family had ever faced what both my parents had grown up with, and which the 99% have always known.

And yet, politicians, aided by the media, continue to hawk fear, while the populace demands security.  Still, there is and never will be such a thing as security in this life.  One of the video questions asked tonight by a citizen was (approximately), “When will I no longer feel afraid in my own country?”  Well, sweetheart, if you never felt afraid before, you really shouldn’t feel afraid now.  The number of deaths from terrorists are miniscule compared to highway deaths, heart attacks, etc.  It’s one thing to be vigilant and quite another to be afraid to walk outside.

Now, if you’re African-American (which she was not), it’s a different situation. You have probably always felt afraid . . . afraid of being profiled, afraid of being accused, afraid of being turned down for a job, afraid of losing a child to a drive-by shooting.  So when will you no longer feel afraid in this country?  Perhaps there’s hope that that day might come, when you or your children might feel more secure, if not totally unafraid.  The time has come in the United States for re-training of all police and state troopers, all military-esque forces, so that we might hope for such a day.  The time has come so that hiring and land purchases and school acceptance might become more transparent, so that we might hope for such a day.

These are the things that have gone through my mind, watching the debates tonight.  I expected a comedy routine, and at 5 p.m., I have to admit, I got what I expected for the most part.  But I am gratified that there was more substance at 7 p.m.  I am gratified that I am not as fearful of the conservative GOP candidates as I expected to be.  I have one qualifier:  I will never vote for any candidate who intends to impose his or her religious views (i.e. views on marriage or women’s medical care or abortion – those hot-button “moral” issues that cloud the conservative Christians’ views from the issues of the living, starving, poverty-stricken humans, the tortured human and non-human animals, and the groaning earth) on the citizenry of this country.  It is not simply an issue of church and state, it is an issue of not forcing one’s religious views on others who might hold to different sacred beliefs and practices — or none.

It’s late, and I might not be making sense any more.  But it was high time I added to this blog.  Next I will post some sermons.  For now, as Jon Stewart suggested, I’ll leave the ongoing conversation.

Musings from the Warren

Theology and Social Justice

Welcome to the Warren.  I’ve chosen this image because “The Robin’s Nest” was already taken, but also because my 12 years of having house rabbits (bunnehs, as they’re known in bunny circles) have just ended.  I’ve learned from the bunnies, just as I and others often learn from animals.

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you;
    the birds of the air, and they will tell you;”  Job 12:7

I have been in benign advocacy for many years.  I gave many years to efforts on behalf of those who live with a disability.  My primary vehicle for this advocacy was Presbyterians for Disability Concerns.*  In addition, I’ve been outspoken on issues of sexism, racism, and homophobia.**   Currently, I’m participating in the Amos 5:4 Ministry Team of Pittsburgh Presbytery, a group which seeks to educate and transform racism within the presbytery.***

But my passion is the Earth and its inhabitants.  Most posts in this blog will have to do with the environment — climate change, species extinction, fossil fuels, etc. I’m involved with Presbyterians for Earth Care’s advocacy committee, and I will promote PEC’s work.****  My perspective will be theological and biblically based.

My particular concern is that the most overlooked aspect of environmental degradation is the effect of industrialized animal farming – CAFOs or factory farming.  Of course, the most obvious issue that comes to mind is the brutality that these farmed animals endure, because they’re viewed as commodities, not living beings.  But once our compassion leads us to investigate factory farms, we find that

• they contribute significantly to water, air, and soil pollution, and
• their operation intersects with issues of immigration, politics, the economics of small family farmers, and so forth.

So, I invite you to join me in digging underneath the surface of animal welfare concerns and simplistic solutions to our environmental crisis.

Stay tuned.

Robin

* https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/phewa/presbyterians-disability-concerns/

**  Homophobia is, in my opinion, a misnomer.  It is usually applied to those who are prejudiced, judgemental and/or hateful toward the LGBTQ community. A phobia, in contrast, is defined in Wikipedia as “In clinical psychology, a phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational. In the event the phobia cannot be avoided entirely, the sufferer will endure the situation or object with marked distress and significant interference in social or occupational activities. (Bourne, Edmund J. (2011). The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook 5th ed. New Harbinger Publications. pp. 50–51)

***  The mission of Amos 5:24  is to 1) lead the Presbytery into a greater understanding of the effects of racism; 2) to facilitate repentance for our corporate complicity in systemic injustice; and 3) set in motion training, dialogue, and active engagement in church and community events.  See our Facebook page: Amos 5:24 Ministry Team.  (But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. – Amos 5:24, NRSV)

**** http://www.presbyearthcare.org/