pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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What if?

Reading: Psalm 8:5-9

Psalm 8:5 – “You’ve made them [humanity] only slightly less than divine, crowning them with glory and grandeur.”

Yesterday as we read the first verses of Psalm 8, we were reminded of humanity’s smallness relative to God’s power and majesty. This realization is humbling, maybe even sobering. Then, in verse 5 we read, “You’ve made them only slightly less than divine, crowning them with glory and grandeur.” Reading these words can shatter that humility. In our competitive world, nobody really likes to be #2. Our fleshy part can take the reality that God is indeed almighty and all-powerful and… then say to ourselves, ‘Well, no one can be like God, so it’s almost like we’re #1!’ From that perspective, we’ll be utter failures with the role God gives us in the next verses in Psalm 8.

David writes of one of God’s biggest expectations of humanity in verses 6-8. Created in God’s image, “slightly” less than God, we’ve been tasked to “rule over your [God’s] handiwork” – that which was “very good.” Other translations use words like ‘dominion’ and ‘in charge of.’ In newer translations we begin to read words like ‘steward’ and ‘care for.’ These words better reflect the “created in God’s image” part of our story.

A few years ago, the WWJD bracelets… drew our minds and hearts to make Jesus’ life and example more a part of our daily life and decisions and actions. Those little “What Would Jesus Do?” silicone bands… caused us to pause before speaking, acting, or doing. What if we wrapped our care of creation – both the natural world and all of humanity – in WWGD thinking? What if?

Prayer: Lord God, yes, what if we treated the world and one another as you do? What if we loved it all as you love it all? The earth would not cry out. People would not be oppressed nor suffer violence. Nations would not wage war and quarrel. What if we ruled over this world as you would, O God? It is a beautiful and glorious thought. So Lord, use us, your children, to live and be in the world as you call us to live and be in the world. Amen.


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All the Glory

Reading: John 17:1-5

John 17:3 – “This is eternal life: to know you [God], the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent.”

Photo credit: Uta Scholl

John 17:1-11 is this week’s gospel reading. Today we read verses 1-5 and tomorrow we read verses 6-11. Today’s reading is about glorifying God and Jesus Christ. Jesus begins by acknowledging “the time has come.” His time on earth is soon to end. In John’s gospel, Jesus is arrested in chapter 18, beginning the short journey to the cross. Jesus asks God that this would be a time of glorification for God and himself. God will be glorified through Jesus’ grace and obedience lived out in these final moments. Christ will then be glorified in the resurrection. After rising from the grave, Jesus will return to the place of glory in heaven that he has shared with God since “before the world was created.”

We too will one day experience this “glorification.” Jesus thanks God for those given to him – all believers – and for their gift of eternal life. It is interesting how Jesus defines eternal life: “to know you [God], the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent.” To know God is to love and obey God’s will and way. Jesus modeled this throughout his ministry – especially on the cross. This example of love and obedience is what Jesus is talking about in verse 4 when he says he finished “the work you gave me to do.” Jesus came to reveal God to us.

My friends, this is our work too. Our task (or work) as Christians is to reveal God (and therefore Jesus) to the world. Through our example, through our witness, through our words and actions, we are called to show our love of and obedience to God. Living this out, we will in turn love our neighbors as Christ first loved us. Doing so, we bring God in Christ all the glory. May it be so for you and for me today and every day.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for choosing us. Thank you for drawing us into your family and into an eternal relationship with you. Lord, help us to realize our call and our “work’ and to live into both each day. In our words, in our actions, and in our presence, may others experience your love, grace, forgiveness… In these ways, use us to bring all the glory to you. Amen.


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Some Kind of Love

Reading: Romans 5:6-11

Romans 5:8 – “God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

Turning to the second half of our Romans 5 passage for this week, we are first reminded that “Christ died for ungodly people.” Paul is talking about himself, about me, about you. He reinforces what this means by musing about someone maybe dying for a good person. But for an ungodly one? Certainly not. Yet, “God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” That is some kind of love.

God’s love reached out and continues to reach out to us all of the time. When we’re at our best, God loves us. When we’re at our worst, God loves us. When we’re weak and when we’re strong, God loves us. This love – this steady, unwavering love – is a love that shed the only son’s blood for our sake. Through Jesus’ blood we can be reconciled and saved. Our sins are already covered, our life in eternity already ransomed. Because of God’s actions, we simply are recipients of grace, mercy, forgiveness, peace, joy, and salvation. This is some kind of love.

God is the one who initiated, sustains, and continues to offer reconciliation through Jesus Christ. Even when we were and while we are “enemies,” God sought and seeks to reconcile us, restoring our relationship with the Lord our God. We fall short, we sin, we separate. God lifts us up, forgives us, and restores us. This gracious, abundant, generous love – it is some kind of love.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for loving us no matter what. We tend to be far more selective in how, when, and with whom we love. Break this human tendency and create in us a heart like your heart. Through the power of your love at work in our lives, O God, lead us to love all people with your kind of love – gracious, abundant, generous, steady, unwavering. Amen.


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Make Some Noise

Reading: Habakkuk 1:1-4

Habakkuk 1:2 – “Lord, how long will I call for help and you not listen?”

We begin the week with two days in Habakkuk. Today we begin in chapter 1, where the prophet brings his complaint before God. In verse 2 we read, “Lord, how long will I call for help and you not listen?” The wicked Babylonians are growing in power and are moving in Judah’s direction. The prophet sees the injustice and idolatry prevalent in Judah. The prophet questions the collision course that seems to have been set in motion by God. In light of all this, the prophet asks the “How long…?” question.

Living in the last years of Judah’s existence before defeat and exile, Habakkuk sees a lot of injustice in the land. The wealthy and powerful have turned from God and the Law. They are causing harm to God’s faithful, to those trying to live righteously. This creates the violence, strife, and anguish that the prophet names. To Habakkuk, this warping of justice us not right. God must act.

Habakkuk offers us a model, a way to address injustice in our time. In our world today there is surely injustice. As just one example, some children are living in war zones and others are living in places of great poverty. Both lack the basics needed for daily life as God intends it to be: food, shelter, water, health care, education. Often those in power dismiss the injustices done to these suffering innocents as collateral damage or as the price to pay for some “greater good.” Habakkuk saw the injustice in his land and he cried out to God, getting God’s attention, asking God to do something about the injustices. May we too make some noise today, joining a long line of saints who have stood for what is right and just. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, we do not have to look far or for too long to see injustice in our world. Lord, yes, move our hearts and lips to action, calling on you to act, calling out those who cause injustice. And, God, move our hands and feet to action when we can be a part of the answer to our prayers and cries against injustice. Amen.


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Live Out These Words

Reading: Matthew 6:9-11

Matthew 6:11 – “Give us the bread we need for today.”

Today’s reading brings us a portion of “The Lord’s Prayer.” It is just three short verses but, as it was with much of what Jesus said, there is a lot to these words. There are three requests of God in these verses. And there are actions and responses required of us.

Verse 9 reads, in part, “uphold the holiness of your name.” Jesus is asking God to keep God’s holiness ever on our hearts and minds. To uphold this requires much of us. First and foremost we recall the charge to be holy as God is holy. Moment by moment we are charged with being like Christ was in the world: holy, yes, but also compassionate, forgiving, generous, empathetic, present.

Verse 10 asks God to “bring in your kingdom.” This asks God to make earth like heaven, to have God’s will done here on earth. This, of course, requires our cooperation and help. It calls us to love and care for “the least of these” and to stand against injustice, oppression, violence… These evils have no place in God’s kingdom – in heaven or here on earth.

Lastly, “Give us the bread we need for today.” This asks God to provide our daily bread – our physical sustenance – and to provide for our other needs too. This is a charge to trust in God. It is not a prayer for God to help us get what we think we need or to empower us so that we can be self-sufficient. No, it is a prayer of surrender, leaning into God’s care and trusting that this will be more than sufficient.

In all ways may we strive to live out these words.

Prayer: Lord God, guide us today to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, hearing your voice, feeling your nudges. Lead us to be in the world as Christ was in the world – loving others more than self, serving humbly and gently. Deepen our trust and faith in you as we experience your power working in us and through us, transforming us and your world. Amen.


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Not Far

Reading: Mark 12:28-34

Mark 12:34 – “He said to him, ‘You aren’t far from God’s kingdom.”

The Pharisees and Sadducees have just taken turns trying to trap Jesus using questions based on the Law. Jesus has answered these questions that seemingly has no correct answer with answers that left these religious leaders stumped. Entering today’s passage we find a legal expert, impressed with Jesus’ previous answers, also asking Jesus a question. Based on the interaction that Jesus with the man, this seems like a legitimate question.

The religious expert wants Jesus’ opinion on the most important command. There are a lot of potential answers to this question but only one truly correct answer. I wonder, if someone asked this question of us and then examined our lives to find evidence for our answer, would the results match Jesus’ words? Observing our daily living for a few days, would our love of God and our love of neighbor be the guiding forces in our lives?

Jesus answers with the two great commands from Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19. For all devout practicing Jews, this was the only answer: to live God with all that you are and to love neighbor as yourself. This should be our lives’ answer too. The legal expert appreciates and adds to Jesus’ answer. In response Jesus says, “You aren’t far from God’s kingdom.” May the evidence of our lives reveal the same.

Prayer: Lord God, your call is to love – to love you completely and then to allow this love to flow into the relationships we have with others. Love is to guide our decisions and actions, our words and our thoughts. Empower us this day and every day to be love lived out in the world. Amen.


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I Am… or Maybe?

Reading: Mark 14:61-62, Matthew 26:63-64

Mark 14:61 – “Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed one?”

Our two readings come from the same place in Jesus’ story. He has been arrested at night and stands trial before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. This group leads under the power of the Romans. While this arrangement limits their power, the religious leaders still have a great amount of influence over the Jewish people.

For the first part of his trial, Jesus remains silent. He will not respond to false accusations. When the high priest, Caiaphas, asks, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed one?” Jesus answers. The question is worded differently in Matthew’s gospel, but the intent is the same. The hope is for Jesus to incriminate himself.

In Mark’s gospel Jesus responds, “I am.” It is a definitive answer. This aligns with the direct nature of Mark’s gospel and with his focus on encouraging the church to be thr church. Mark would like the church to respond to this type of question definitively. In word and action, Mark would like to see the church talk and act in ways that are easily identifiable as “Christian.”

In Matthew’s gospel the response is almost a non-response: “You said it.” Maybe. In both gospels Jesus adds that they’ll see the “Human One” sitting at God’s right hand and then coming on the clouds. In Matthew this feels like a “one day” statement: “One day you’ll know that I am the Messiah.”

As I read and ponder these two accounts, I wonder what kind of a follower I am. And I wonder what kind of a church we are. In my/our words and actions, do I/we state that I/we follow Christ as Lord and Savior? Or does our example say, “Maybe?”

Prayer: Lord God, encourage and empower me and my brothers and sisters in Christ to declare our faith in you in all ways. In the kindness, mercy, grace, love, care, compassion, generosity… that we live out, may the world know that you are Lord and Savior. Amen.


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Together

Readings: James 5:13-18 and Galatians 6:1-2

James 5:16b – “The prayer of the righteous person is powerful in what it can achieve.”

As we wrestle with the practice of prayer this week, today we receive guidance on how, when, and why. In James we read of when to pray: when suffering, when sick, when struggling with sin. This list is, of course, not all-inclusive but illustrative. There are many other situations that call for the power of prayer.

James encourages us to be a part of our prayers too. We are to pray together. We are to gather with other believers and to anoint the sick with the oil of blessing. We are to confess our sins to one another, and then to pray for each other. This adds both support and accountability to our walk of faith. For James, prayer should lead us to action when possible because prayer should move our heart. In the last part of verse 16 he writes, “The prayer of the righteous person is powerful in what it can achieve.” This is because prayer works both in the life of the one prayer for and in the life of the one who is praying.

In Galatians 6 Paul also addresses the call to hold one another accountable when we fall short. Paul tasks the faithful with restoring one another. A spirit of gentleness should guide our actions. After a reminder to be cautious of the temptation that comes from being near sin, Paul encourages us to carry each other’s burdens. Doing so we “fulfill the law of Christ.” We carry and fulfill through both action and prayer, physically and spiritually strengthening our brothers and sisters in Christ. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, community is so important to our faith. Yes, we can walk in relationship with you by ourselves. But it is so much richer, so much easier, to walk with others in faith. Together we are stronger. Together we receive and give to one another, encouraging, supporting, lifting, sharing. O Lord, guide us to live our faith together in community. Amen.


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Live in Love

Reading: 2nd John

2nd John 1:6 – “This is love: that we live according to his commands. This is the command that you heard from the beginning: live in love.”

2nd John is a short letter from “the elder” (likely John the apostle) to the “chosen gentlewoman” (likely a personification of a local house church.) The letter begins by expressing joy over some that are “living in the truth.” These believers are being faithfully obedient, living an active faith out in the world. This joy then becomes an invitation as the elder invites all in this community of faith to be love in action. In verse 6 we read, “This is love: that we live according to his commands. This is the command that you heard from the beginning: live in love.” This community of faith is being called to demonstrate God’s love for them to others – to those both inside and outside the church. This continues to be the call for all Christian communities of faith.

The elder also addresses false teaching. These false teachers, later known as Docetists, were teaching that Jesus did not come in a real body. They taught that Jesus just “appeared” to have a body. Imagine what this teaching would mean to the incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and to recent readings about Jesus emptying himself, laying aside equality with God to walk with us. The elder warns the faith community about receiving or welcoming these teachers into their homes. To bring a false teacher into the place that the community of faith met would be to affirm their teachings.

The letter closes by stating that there is much more to say. The elder hopes to visit, to see this faith community face to face. Being present to one another is the best way to “live in love.” May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, lead us today to be love lived out loud in the world. In all ways, may we seek to love you through loving neighbor and stranger alike. Guide us to walk in your truths. Protect us from falsehoods and the ways of the world. Amen.


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Light and Love to the World

Reading: 1st John 1-3

1st John 3:9 – “Those born from God don’t practice sin because God’s DNA remains in them.”

The opening of 1st John echoes the words and feel of John’s gospel: from the beginning, life was revealed, fellowship with the Father and Son. There is also his firsthand testimony to Jesus’ life. “We” have seen him, heard him, touched him.

John then launches into “living in the light.” Jesus is the light and in him there is no darkness. Living in the light we have fellowship with Jesus and with one another. Living in the light we find forgiveness of sins. John adds, “The one who claims to remain in him ought to live like him.” We should strive to emulate Jesus’ example. As we read on, John equates living in the light to two things: loving God/others and keeping God’s commands. If we love our brothers and sisters, then we remain in the light. But if we hate our brothers and sisters, then we are living in darkness (or sin.) Similarly, if we love the things of this world instead, then we are of the world, living in darkness.

1st John briefly addresses the “antichrists” that have come from within the faith communities. These false teachers have distorted the good news, denying God. John reminds the believers of the Spirit’s anointing that keeps them in relationship with God. This relationship is rooted in love. It was love that makes us God’s children. It is love that keeps us from sinning. In 3:9 John connects these dots, writing, “Those born from God don’t practice sin because God’s DNA remains in them.” The Spirit of God, dwelling in our hearts, empowers us to live and to keep the commands. Echoing James’ words, John encourages us to lay self down for others, loving in action and truth. May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, as you have loved us, making us part of your family, may we love others, drawing them into the family. Empower us to love well as you guard our hearts against loving the things of this world. May we be light to the darkness of this world, love to the hate. Amen.