pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Avoid, Yes… But…

Reading: 1st Timothy 3:1-5

1st Timothy 3:5 – “They will look like they are religious but deny God’s power. Avoid people like this.”

Chapter 3 of Paul’s first letter to Timothy begins with the heading, “Avoid people like this.” Reading that brought my mind back to my days of parenting and to my work with church youth. As a parent you too probably had at least an idea of who or what kind of a person you hoped your son or daughter did not hang out with. The sad truth, though, is that the same reason that we hoped this for our kids also applies to us as people. Who we choose to spend our time with greatly influences who we are.

Paul’s advice to Timothy echoes the feel of what we read yesterday in Galatians 5. Paul references the “last days” in verse 1. The early church believed that Jesus’ return was imminent. The reality is that Christians have been living in the last days ever since Jesus’ death. Those to avoid will be money-lovers. They will be selfish and prideful. They will be without self-control. They will choose love of pleasure over love of God. We all know people like this. But, in at least some of these ways, we were and can be people like this. Yes, truth be told, some of these ways of unholy living remain dangers to our walk of faith.

Because of this last part, because of our ongoing struggles with some sins, verse 5 hits home. Here Paul writes, “They will look like they are religious but deny God’s power. Avoid people like this.” While we’ve all sat and will sit in church while we’re wrestling with some sin, Paul is talking about folks who try really hard to appear all religious but are far from God and from holy living. We know and/or know of people like this. And, yes, we should avoid them in the general sense. But should we do more?

Prayer: Lord God, walk with us daily. Whisper your guidance, conviction, and correction into our hearts through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Move us to offer prophetic voice to speak against false religiosity. Use us to call it out, yes, but also use us to model true faith to the world. Amen.


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Love as Well

Reading: Romans 12:17-21

Romans 12:21 – “Don’t be defeated by evil, but defeat evil with good.”

Photo credit: Kate Remmer

Our five verses from the end of Romans 12 come from a section in which Paul is arguing that love is the primary command. In and over and through and around all things, first apply love. Paul is elevating here what Jesus lived out. If we, like Jesus, allow love to lead and guide all that we say, think, and do, then we will be continuing Christ’s work of building the kingdom of God here on earth.

In verse 17 Paul warns about repaying evil with evil. That’s our natural reaction, often our first thought, isn’t it? It’s what we see in the culture all around us. Be upside-down instead. Choose love. Choose the good. In this spirit we’re encouraged to “live at peace with all people.” Paul offers some realism here: “to the best of your ability.” Some folks want nothing to do with getting along with others. Their evil intents guide all of their actions.

Paul, however, doesn’t advise us to avoid such people. Leave all the revenge and paying back to God. Paul does advise us to look for our opportunities – our chances to be love. If the one who is our “enemy” is hungry then feed them. If they are thirsty then give them a drink. In loving on such as these, we are piling upon them our love, a way of sharing faith that could one day influence them too. In this way, we will be living out Paul’s wonderful admonition: “Don’t be defeated by evil, but defeat evil with good.”

While we may think that Paul is channeling his inner Jesus with all of this “love your enemy” talk, he is quoting from Proverbs 25. Love was at the core of who and what Jesus was, yes. But love is also at the core of the Old Testament. This should be no surprise. God is love. May we be so as well.

Prayer: Lord God, empower us today and every day to be love when the world expects hate. Guide us to ever choose the good, eschewing the temptation to do harm. Through our counter-cultural and upside-down life draw others towards Jesus Christ, our earthly model of love and peace. Amen.


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Good and Wise

Readings: Numbers 31:13-18 and Deuteronomy 20:16-18

Numbers 31:16 – “These women, on Balaam’s advice, made the Israelites break faith with the Lord.”

Leading into today’s reading from Numbers, God instructs Moses to “take just reparations” against the Midianites. In the battle the Israelites kill all the adult names and burn the cities. The soldiers take the women, children, animals, and valuable property as the spoils of war. These were the “normal” practices of war. Yet Moses is very angry. He asks why the leaders allowed the women to live, asking, “These women, on Balaam’s advice, made the Israelites break faith with the Lord.” Moses understands the danger of outside influences. These women caused sin to occur amongst the Israelites before. Only the young virgin girls are spared.

Turning to Deuteronomy 20, God instructs Moses in the “rules for warfare.” Our passage today applies specifically to the conquest of the Promised Land. Here we read, “You must not spare any living thing.” These cities fall under the ban. In this holy war all must be killed. Reading on we see why it must be so. All must die so that “they can’t teach you to do all the detestable things” that would lead to Israel “sinning against God.” Early on in their history the Israelites were not secure in who they were as God’s people. They were easily influenced by the people around them. It was necessary at this time to insulate them from the negative and harmful influences of the world. The solution was to remove all possible temptation.

While we do not annihilate those who could tempt us to sin, we do at times avoid them, especially as a young, immature Christian. In principle and when necessary, we ban things from our lives that can lead us into sin. This is a good and wise choice.

Prayer: Lord God, when our walk with you is at stake, help us to make wise and good choices. With your strength and will empower us to say no to the things, places, people, and emotions that can tempt us and lead us into sin. As we do, may we grow in our faith and in our relationship with you. Amen.


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Living as Immigrants and Strangers

Reading: 1st Peter 1-2

1st Peter 1:3 – “On account of his vast mercy, he has given us a new birth… born anew into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Written by the apostle Peter, 1st Peter was originally written to house churches scattered across the Roman empire. They were experiencing conflict and persecution because their faith often ran counter to the norms of the culture. Peter encourages the believers to persevere, even in their suffering. Luke Christ, through this they too will accomplish their mission to witness to God’s love and mercy.

Peter begins his letter with a wonderful statement of faith: “On account of his vast mercy, he has given us a new birth… born anew into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” This living hope is our inheritance, “kept safe in heaven.” He calls these in diaspora to rejoice in this hope, even if distressed now by these trials. Their “genuine faith” in the one they’ve never seen yet love and trust will result in their “praise, glory, and honor” one day. Instead of being conformed to their former desires, Peter declares, “You must be Holy in every aspect of your lives, just as the one who called you is holy.” Be like Jesus, the one who liberated you by his blood.

Peter calls the faithful to “set yourselves apart” because they’ve been given this new birth. According to John Wesley, this new birth was “the commitment to a daily journey of intentional, painful, and sacrificial work of character formation.” This echoes Christ’s call to die to self – again and again and again… This results in believers becoming “living stones… a royal priesthood.” Built upon the capstone that others stumble over, believers have become “God’s possession.” As such, living as “immigrants and strangers,” Peter urges them to avoid worldly desires and to live faithfully, even in suffering. Endure in faith, just like Christ. Be healed by his wounds and walk with “the shepherd and guardian of your lives.” May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for your love and mercy, that which calls us to your living hope, Jesus Christ. In the highs and lows, in the trials and in the joys, build up in us a genuine faith and an endurance that yields fruit for your kingdom. Empower us to be conformed into the image and example of Christ. Equip us to walk faithfully, inviting others to join us on the journey to salvation. Amen.


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One Problem

Readings: Job 1, Job 2, Job 3, Job 4, Job 5

Job 1:21 – “The LORD has given; the LORD has taken; bless the LORD’s name.”

Photo credit: Marek Pospisil

We begin Job today. Whereas in Esther there was a threat of suffering that prompted action, in Job the suffering comes – in one huge jolt. Both Esther and Job “argue” against the universally held belief of the time: obey God and be blessed, disobey God and be punished.

As Job begins the narrator makes a very important statement for us to hold to as we read this book: Job is honest and full of integrity; he fears God and avoids evil. Job is so righteous, in fact, he makes sacrifices just in case his children have sinned. Because Job is righteous, in ancient thoughts, he should not suffer. But suffer he does! At the hands of the Adversary, Job loses all his livestock, his servants, and all 10 children. This would lead a lesser man to curse God. Not Job. He says, “The LORD has given; the LORD has taken; bless the LORD’s name.” Job too operates, at least for now, under the blessing and punishment paradigm.

To further test Job’s faith the Adversary receives permission to afflict Job’s health. Severe sores cover his whole body. Job’s wife – who has also experienced this rush of loss and who knows herself to be innocent of sin – encourages Job to just curse God and die. Why fight it? But Job responds much the same way: how can one accept good from God but not bad from God as well? Again the paradigm.

Job’s three friends arrive. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar sit with Job for seven days. They too look at Job in his present state and assume that he is a great sinner. Why else would this happen to him? Job speaks first, rueing the day he was born. In the religious thinking of the day, there was no concept yet of an afterlife. The greatest gift of God was life itself. Job wishes that he had never received this gift. This is an indication of Job’s struggle to understand what is happening to him.

Eliphaz responds. He sees Job as a sinner who needs to repent. This drives all that he says. If one “plows sin” then one “sows trouble.” He encourages Job to put his case to God. He reminds Job that God wants to forgive and will bind up and heal. One problem: Job is sinless. What case can he possibly bring before God?

Prayer: Lord God, what wrestling we begin today! Suffering and loss continue to be a part of our lives and our world. Questions continue to abound! As we walk with Job, his friends, with you, help us to gain understanding and insight into who you really are: not the cause but the one who walks with us. Amen.


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Rejoice and Be Glad

Reading: Matthew 5:10-12

Verse 11: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”

The closing verses of the Beatitudes bring home the reality that the practice of our faith can bring challenge and trial to our life. The demands that Christ places upon us to be love and grace and mercy lived out in the world – these practices will create tension and even angry responses at times. When our faith leads us to take a stand against an injustice or oppression or other evil actions of the world, the one(s) causing these evils will react against our presence and the words of truth that we speak. The reaction often takes the form of some type of persecution.

In verses 10 and 11 Jesus tells us “blessed are” you when we are persecuted. He unpacks what we may experience in verses 11: “when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” When we shine the light of truth into the darkness of the world, that darkness tries to snuff out the light. Darkness cannot stand being in the light. Darkness will try anything to avoid being in that light. Jesus tells us to “rejoice and be glad” when the darkness strikes against us. He can say this because he knows the same truth that we do: “great is your reward in heaven.” Living faithfully may we rejoice in this promise always.

Prayer: Lord God, give me the strength and courage to live faithfully at all times, especially in those situations that may bring challenge and hardship. I know you are with me at all times – good, bad, and in between. Use me to stand and speak for those without the power or ability to do so for themselves. Amen.


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Rejoice with Me!

Reading: Luke 15:1-10

Verse 9: “And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my list coin'”.

Today we return to the parables of the lost sheep and coin recorded in Luke 15. In both stories someone goes to great lengths to find that which was lost. These great efforts are given because the lost must be found. A great joy is shared when the lost are found and there is also a celebration in heaven over the one that is found. These two parables and the one that follows in Luke 15 are beautiful illustrations of how God seeks, searched, woos, and finds the lost, finishing it all off with a grand celebration.

Once upon a time there was such a party in heaven for you and for me. On the day that we committed to die to self, to repent of our sins, and to follow Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives, all of heaven celebrated extravagantly. The funny thing, though, is that we don’t get found just once. We wander over and over. We get lost in our sin again and again. God keeps seeking, searching, wooing… Confession and repentance are constant and ongoing. We are flawed creatures. Yet every time a sinner repents, a celebration is raised in heaven. Fire up the band!

These two parables and the awesome image of joyous celebration were told in response to some grumbling about who Jesus was associating with. Where do we fit in the story? Are we the grumbler or are we the joyous partier? If we tend to stay in the perimeter, judging or avoiding those who are ‘lost,’ then we are the Pharisees… If we are willing and seek to get our hands dirty, so to speak, to engage the sinners, wanderers, and others who are lost, then we experience the joy and celebrations that Jesus speaks of today. The joy and the celebrations are here and now and are one day in heaven when Jesus says to us, “Rejoice with me!”

Prayer: Lord God, help me to be one who engages all with a no-matter-what love. All are creations of your mighty hand. All are beloved fully by your gigantic love. Help me to mirror this so that everyone I meet will hear the invitation that you give to all. Amen.


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Pure and Steadfast

Reading: Psalm 51: 10-12

Verse 12: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me”.

We return to Psalm 51 today. The Psalm comes from the messiness that has just occurred in David’s life. This is something we all experience. We cannot totally avoid sin – we are human.

Sometimes I think I could be less sinful if I lived an isolated life. If I were a monk or hermit maybe I’d sin less. But then I realize that my humanity would creep in. I’d get jealous of that monk who was recognized. I’d be angry that this other monk didn’t do his fair share in the garden. I’d long to be the one asked to lead this or that. Even in that monastic lifestyle I’d still struggle with sin. There too I’d have times when I failed to act, when I chose not to offer kindness, when I’d keep my gifts and talents to myself. I’d not escape these sins either.

David’s prayer for God to “create in me a pure heart… a steadfast spirit within me” needs to be my prayer too. Being pure and steadfast are always things I struggle with. Our section of Psalm 51 closes with these words: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me”. This verse follows David’s plea to not be “cast” away. Yes, our sin is ever before us. But so is God. Out of our repentance God will ever be right there to redeem and restore us. Yes, Lord, give us a willing spirit; sustain us all in this journey of faith.

Prayer: Lord God, so often I fail and yet your mercy remains. So often I harm our relationship or my relationships with others, yet your grace always abounds. Your love is so great. Thank you for loving me beyond myself. Amen.


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The True Kingdom

Reading: John 10: 16-18

Verse 17: “The reason my father loves me is that I lay down my life”.

We turn to John 10 for a second day in a row. Yesterday we were drawn to consider the present reality of God’s kingdom here on earth and to consider how we are each working to include others in said kingdom. Today we focus in on the how and the who of our task to draw others into the kingdom of God.

For Jesus, the how was laying down his life. Jesus did this literally, going to the cross to defeat the power of sin and then to and out of the grave to defeat the power of death. This obedient, sacrificial action reflects both Jesus’ love for God and for us. In turn, it draws God’s love and our love too. While we may not go as far as Jesus did with our obedient and sacrificial actions, we can certainly expect to be called upon to pay a cost as we seek to share the love of God with others. It may be financial, physical, emotional, relational. The ‘how’ will almost always involve giving something for or to the other. While this is often difficult, the real ‘who’ is harder.

When we consider Jesus’ ‘who’, is general they were Jews. The people Jesus spoke with and ministered to were often much like Jesus himself. This too is our general mission field – those we work with, associate with, maybe go to school with. Jesus also welcomed and engaged those from the edges and fringes – those society and formal religion rejected or avoided. Herein lies our real challenge. We like the neat and ordered, the understandable and routine. Our churches like these things too. But for the kingdom of God to be fully revealed, it must reflect our actual communities, in all of their beautiful diversity. To realize this we must be willing to engage and welcome those outside of our normal circles. We must be willing to be uncomfortable and unsure of the places and people we seek to connect with – only in these thin spaces will we really rely on the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. Only then will the margins and fringes be wiped away by the love of God, opening our community of faith to reflect the true kingdom of God here on earth.

Prayer: Loving God, it’s easy to call upon or engage those like me, those inside the church. It is much harder to engage and love those who are not like me. Give me a willing spirit and a deeper trust in you. Go with me Holy Spirit. Amen.


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The Faithful Road

Reading: 1st Thessalonians 5: 16-24

Verses 21 and 22: “Test everything. Hold onto the good. Avoid every kind of evil”.

In his closing Paul reminds the Thessalonians of some basics of the faith. In short order he gives them three: live with joy, pray always, and be thankful in all things. As we each consider this short list, we quickly recognize one or two, maybe three, as challenging. Living joyfully, for example, is pretty easy when things are good. But on a really bad day or during a season of loss, living with joy can be a real effort. Similarly, in difficult times it can be hard to give thanks. After we’ve prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed about someone or something, it can be trying to keep praying to a God who doesn’t seem to care enough to answer. Faith is not always easy. It was not meant to be easy. Jesus described the road as “narrow”. These are just some of the reasons we have company on the road.

In verse nineteen Paul warns us against putting out the fire of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has always been represented as fire since that first Pentecost Sunday when “what seemed to be tongues of fire” came upon the followers of Jesus (Acts 2:3). The Holy Spirit is our main divine companion for our journey of faith. The indwelling presence of Jesus Christ lives inside of us, leading and guiding, teaching and correcting. We also walk the road with our brothers and sisters in Christ. They help and encourage us, challenge and uplift us, teach and mentor us. And we do the same for others.

In verses 21 and 22 Paul tells us to “Test everything. Hold onto the good. Avoid every kind of evil”. We are to allow the Spirit to do its work, yes, but we too must be an active participant on our own journey of faith. We are called to test things and situations and people against the truths of God. When unsure on our own, we turn to prayer and to good Christian counsel. We must hold onto the good – keeping those things and practices and people that help us stay close to Jesus and on the path of following him, well, close to us. Paul also admonishes us to avoid evil – don’t go to those places, events, web sites… that cause temptation, don’t hang out with those folks who cause you to sin…

As he closes Paul prays that God would “sanctify” or make us holy and righteous, blameless on the day we stand before the risen Lord. It is the hope for us all. Our passage for today closes with these great words of encouragement: “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it”. God is faithful. He will sanctify the faithful. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for these great reminders today. In the Spirit, walk with me day by day, being present until I meet you face to face. Amen.