Romans 12:14-16 :: What does the music sound like?

Romans 12:14-16 in the TNIV and Message translations

First, I want to thank Brad for carrying all the load on the Intake blog and so many other things recently, as Elizabeth and I have been attending to family issues during her mother's illness.  We are especially thankful for our community in times like these.  Now, to the text...

"Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not think you are superior."

v. 16 TNIV

Now my first thought is to justify myself and say, "self, you're not stuck-up, and you don't think you are superior," which on one level may be true but robs God of the opportunity to teach me and grow me.  So I have to make a conscious decision to open myself up, let God broaden my vision.

This morning I gave the invocation for the YMCA partners campaign kickoff, and before I prayed I talked about two single parents who live nearby that I knew had personally benefitted from the partners fund when they needed help with their kids.  Later I met another single mother of four whose kids receive after school care through the partners fund.  I'm slow, but I'm starting to connect the dots.  I asked the Y director about the single parent connection, and he said, "about 40% of the kids in our after school programs are from single parent households."  That's at our local elementary schools, in our neighborhoods.  There are two single moms that I know of on my street, and I'm sure my street is probably normal; multiply that by the dozens and dozens of streets around here and you get the picture: hundreds of single parent households.  Let's add to that the lesbian or gay households.  And add to that the ethnic and international households.  And add to that the households where the inhabitants are rough around the edges, or seem to party too much or too hard, or the one where the cops seem to show up every so often.  The point is obvious: my neighborhood is not nearly as homogenous as my social circles are.  We don't have to be "stuck-up" as we perceive it to be actually stuck-up in practice; all we have to do is let social gravity pull us into the orbit of those like us.  We don't have to actively think we are superior; we only have to make no effort to overcome whatever social barrier exists between ourselves and others.

Now, when I go back to Paul's opening phrase in verse 16, "Live in harmony with one another," I see something different.  Harmony is a great word.  Musically, it is two or more voices singing the same tune, each in its own unique way, but each compliments and enhances the other.  Harmony is impossible among people who have no connection.  Multiple solos do not equal harmony.  There is no "live and let live" in harmony, no "good fences make good neighbors."  And the better people know each other, the tighter the harmony gets, the better the music.

I need to be passionate about making harmony where I live.  I can't be satisfied with only connecting to the other married couples with 2.5 kids, or only people with my same skin color, or only the people who make me comfortable, or whatever.  The best I may be able to hope for with that crowd is nice unison, single-note music.  But God is calling for harmony, for my voice linked to voices not like mine. That's beautiful music, and when it is sung the world stops to listen.

Mark Chapter 7

Jesus did more to impart value to people, and elevate the status of oppressed groups, than anyone who has ever lived. This chapter offers some classic examples.

The disciples were not criticized in verse 2 for eating with dirty hands. They were criticized for not upholding the Pharisees' racist views. Their tradition held that Jews, as well as any cups and dishes they used, were ceremonially defiled through contact with Gentiles (non-Jews), and therefore must be washed before coming in contact with food. Jewish ceremonial washings were institutionalized racism with religious reinforcement. They were a daily, public reminder that all non-Jews were dirt. Gentiles, women, people with diseases or deformities, and anyone who associated with such people (especially anyone who ate with them) were considered "unclean." Basically, if you weren't a healthy, religious Jewish male who obeyed all the rules, you were nobody.

So Jesus' next miracle healing is, of course, the daughter of a Greek woman. Check mate.

His conversation with her (which itself was forbidden) is fascinating. In keeping with first-century racism, Jesus refers to the Jews as "the children" in verse 27 and Greeks as "dogs." That's really offensive. I don't know that I understand all the reasons why he would address her in this way, but these are the words she would expect to hear from a Jewish man and Jesus chooses to mouth them to see how she will respond. She accepts the humiliation; she would accept anything for her daughter's sake, and she obviously believes Jesus can heal her. And Jesus' response, and the subsequent healing of her daughter, tells her in no uncertain terms that he doesn't consider her a second-class citizen.

Jesus is gaining a following outside the Jewish circle, and he is not turning them away. This had to take even the disciples by surprise, and this internal struggle escalates all the way into the life of the early church, when thousands of Gentiles begin embracing the Christian faith, forcing the Jewish Christians to re-evaluate their identity as God's chosen people.

At the same time, Jesus often seems to work inside the status quo, even as he shakes things up. He eats with "sinners" and talks to Greeks and women, but he doesn't attempt to immediately shatter all the societal barriers that suppress them. Some healing was immediate; some is still in process to this day, especially when we have a role to play. Lord, we long for the day when your plan is fulfulled, and "there is no slave nor free, Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus."

Mark Chapter 3

"Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus." v. 6

It's only chapter 3, and people are already trying to kill him. I don't think we see Jesus' life and ministry in this context often enough. Most of his 3 years of ministry were lived with a constant threat of death. It wasn't something that suddenly popped up in Jerusalem at the end. It would be appropriate to read the rest of Mark with the understanding that everywhere Jesus goes, he is being watched; everything he says is being studied, looking for any opportunity to take him out. He is a threat to the religious establishment and is seen by both the Roman and Jewish governments as an unnecessary disruption. Let that be a lesson to us all. Stakeholders in the status quo will always be threatened by the true Christ-life. We certainly want to live at peace with everyone and even be winsome to as many as possible, but everyone did not love Jesus and everyone will not love us if we follow Him.

Chapter 3 includes stories of opposition to Jesus, with the account of his appointment of the twelve disciples sandwiched in the middle. I don't think this is an accident. With so many against him, including his own family at times, Jesus withdrew and surrounded himself with an inner circle of followers who were for him (as much as human frailty allowed them to be). He built a team to accomplish his mission, but he also wanted a team because it is replenishing to the soul. "That they might be with him" in verse 14 is an important purpose statement. The disciples weren't just there for ministry training, they were there to be together and to be with Jesus. Especially in the hard times, that inner circle is essential.

Who is in your inner circle? When the world presses in, can you fall back on a safe group of close friends? There is no question whether you'll need each other.

I'll be teaching more on this at our Sunday gathering, so stay tuned. And since I'm preparing for that teaching, please give me your perspective on verses 13-19 or your own experiences with your inner circle of friends.

The rest of the story...maybe.

Yesterday, Cameron posted a great story on his blog about community life.  I heard the story from Pete this morning at breakfast and I wanted to share some observations.  We were discussing the priority of our Tables in the lives of those of us at The Springs.  For some, Table is not an option right now.  For others, it's a nice thing that they do sometimes.  But for some, it's the thing that is written in their calendars in permanent ink.  Everything else takes a back seat to their Table.  Yes there really are people like this!

On the way to Table, Blake's catalytic converter almost fell off.  My understanding is that this is a big deal and that his muffler and some other stuff was dragging the ground.  At that point Blake and Andi had two options.  They could have stopped and gone straight to a shop to try to get it fixed, or even turned around and gone home.  They would have then taken there van in and spent about $75 for someone to put a $10 part on and it would have been done.

But they didn't choose that option.  Because Table has a priority in their life, they weren't going to let a little thing like a catalytic converter dragging the asphalt keep them away.  As a result, they were able to make it to their Table and discover that the other guys in the group could fix it for a mere trip to the parts store and about $10.  But that's not all...

Blake and Andi would have missed the service provided them by their community.  Pete wouldn't have gotten to help a friend with the knowledge he had, Cameron wouldn't have gotten to use the tools in his garage.  They all would have missed the camaraderie that comes when guys fix cars.  That is the Tangible Kingdom of God...that is a study of Jesus' commitment to priority and service.  That is what it's all about.

Consistency is where this kind of community is built.  What kinds of things will you say "no" to because that's the night your Table meets?  By refusing to say "no" you just might be saying "no" to a lot more than you think.