pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: Christ


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God’s Ways

Reading: 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31

God’s ways and the world’s ways are often at odds.  In our daily lives we are constantly pulled in both directions.  God calls us to be loving and kind while the world fills our screens and airwaves with shows and songs that show selfishness and having fun at the expense of others.  God calls us to be generous and giving while the world touts the latest gadget, the newest car, the next best thing.  God calls us to live as servants to others while the world says do what it takes to get to the top.  These are but a few of the many ways that God’s ways and the world’s ways are at odds.

When Paul writes, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing”, we have many examples.  When we take the message of the cross out into the world, when we love and serve people radically, as Jesus did, people often do not understand.  They wonder, ‘Why would you do this for me’?  ‘Why would you come here and bring food, water, blankets’?  ‘Why would you…’?  When we respond with “Because God loves you”, it sounds like foolishness to those who are perishing.

Paul also writes of how when we “preach Christ crucified”, it is a stumbling block, it seems foolish.  In our culture, it is a stumbling block to ask someone to love God more than they love themselves.  It is a stumbling block to ask someone to genuinely love all of their neighbors.  It becomes foolishness when we explain what it really means to love others as Jesus first loved us.  Why would Jesus do that?  And then there is the ‘cost’ of following Jesus that is a big stumbling block to many.  Sacrifice seems foolish.  Until they themselves have felt God’s radical love, it does seem a foolish step for a non-believer to take.

For those who believe and call on Jesus Christ as Lord, Christ is the power and the wisdom of God.  In Christ our weakness is great strength, our foolishness is much wisdom.  “Christ Jesus… our righteousness, holiness and redemption”.  Christ alone can save.  He is no stumbling block but is the rock upon which we stand.  Christ Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life worth living.  May the Lord our God bless our living in His ways this day, always sharing the way to life eternal with a world that is perishing.


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Light

Reading: Isaiah 9: 1-4

Today Isaiah brings a joyful pronouncement.  Although there was much darkness and oppression when Isaiah spoke this prophecy, it brought hope.  Yet the darkness and oppression remained.  When Jesus was born, the prophecy was fulfilled.  Out of Bethlehem, from out of the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, came Jesus, the Savior and light of the world.  Jesus was and is the great light of the world.  Yet still the darkness and oppression remained.  These forces of evil remain to this day.  So too does the light of the world.  The Lord Jesus Christ still reigns, still seeks to win people’s hearts, still works to shine light into the darkness.

In His day, Jesus walked the earth and taught and healed and brought hope.  Jesus Christ worked to bring the kingdom of God to the earth.  In doing so, Jesus offered hope and mercy and forgiveness and relationship to all He met.  His offer is the same today.  But for people to meet Jesus today, they must meet Him in the Word of God and in us.  One can begin with the Word, but I believe people learn best by seeing and experiencing.  The most effective way we have of sharing Jesus is not by giving someone a Bible, but by sharing what it looks like to live out the Bible by how we live our lives.

Jesus began a great work by defeating the power of sin and death.  Through the cross and the tomb, Jesus freed us from these chains.  He did this so that we who are imperfect could follow the example of He who was perfect.  It is our task, as loved and redeemed people, to help others to come to live as loved and redeemed people.  We do so by continuing the work of Jesus.  We go forth and shine light into the dark places; we work to end oppression and to bring justice; and, we live on people just as Jesus loves on us.

A light has dawned… we have seen a great light.  May we go forth, eager to share the light of Christ as we seek to bring the good news to the ends of the earth.


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Belong

Reading: 1 Corinthians 1: 10-16

Think about the groups you belong to.  Some are social, some are work-based, some are faith-based, some are by interest or hobby.  Now, think about why you are a part of each group.  Membership and participation are choices, so why do you belong to these groups?

All humans have a need to belong.  If we do not feel welcomed or included when we first try something out, we are very unlikely to go again or to remain a part of that group.  Once in a while we will give a group a second chance if we see real value or significance in belonging to that group.  Our sense of belonging is very important.

Belonging gives a sense of worth, a sense of support, a sense of strength or togetherness.  Belonging brings with it a sense of security and a feeling of being loved and cared for.  I would guess these are reasons we all belong to groups or the reasons we long to be a part of a group.

In our passage today Paul is addressing a group.  But this group is experiencing some disunity and discord.  The church in Corinth in identifying with different leaders and this is causing division.  Paul is calling them back to the only true leader of the church: Jesus Christ.  In reality, Jesus is the only head of the church.  All else is secondary to Jesus and His love.

At times, we today allow things to divide us.  By “we” I mean the church universal.  Christ is what still binds us all together.  All Christians believe in one God and in Jesus resurrected and alive.  Unity in the church universal is needed more today than at almost any time in our history.  May we as part of the global church follow Paul’s advice and go forth hand in hand with all brothers and sisters in Christ, seeking to make God and His love known in all places.

This must of course begin in each of our own churches.  We must be groups that anyone can be a part of.  And by ‘anyone’ I do mean anyone.  So I ask, can anyone from your community walk into your church and feel welcomed, included, loved?  Anyone?  If our answer is not an honest and robust “YES!” then we have work to do.  Jesus began the church based on love and acceptance of all.  May we be Christ-like in this practice too.


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Heaven Is Near

Reading: Matthew 4: 12-23

Isaiah declared “a light has dawned” in a prophecy he wrote hundreds of years before Jesus lived.  It has been read and looked for ever since.  Matthew proclaims the prophecy fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.  The light of Christ that began to shine about two thousand years ago continues to shine to this day and will shine forever.  The light of Christ dispels darkness, reveals our sins, and guides our way.  The light also brings warmth and love to our days and healing and hope to our hearts.

Jesus declared, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near”.  In the light there can be no darkness, so we must repent.  The kingdom is here, so we must repent , we must change our sinful ways, we must walk as a child of the light.

To repent can be difficult.  To repent can be hard.  To repent can be work.  When we choose to repent, we can be in for a long battle.  Part of repentance means looking deep within ourselves and truly seeing who we are.  Part is also learning to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit that brings conviction when we are tempted and when we sin.  Part of repentance is being in the Word, so we fully understand what the call to be a Christian entails and expects of us.  We are blessed when we repent.  The blessings of repentance are a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ and a better version of ourselves.  When we repent and change our ways, we are being transformed and are becoming more like Christ.

Christ calls us to repentance, but He does not stop there.  His call is also an invitation to walk with Him.  He calls us to repent of our greed, our lust, our judging… and offers us peace, contentment, joy through our relationship with Him. The great healer will take our greed and replace it with generosity.  Our lust will be overcome with love of God and love of neighbor.  Jesus will transform our need to judge into a need to offer understanding, compassion, and justice.  It does not stop with these few things.  Jesus desires to transform all of us to be just like all of Him.

This day, may we search within and repent of all that is dark, seeking to walk fully in the light of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.


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Heart Faith

Reading: 1 Corinthians 1: 17-18

Paul understood the role that Christ called him to: to preach the gospel.  It was a call he received directly from Jesus himself on the road to Damascus.  This would become Paul’s life work: preaching the gospel.  In proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, Paul spoke from the hesrt, not from the head.  Paul knew that fancy words, the wisdom of the world, even impassioned rhetoric, would never convince someone of faith.  He knew these approaches “emptied the power of the cross” because one cannot be argued into believing.  One cannot be led through a linear progression to arrive at faith.  Paul knew his witness and testimony must come from the heart and not the head.

This is because the cross defies logic and understanding from the human perspective.  Paul writes, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing”.  That a loving father would allow his son to die for the mistakes of others is illogical.  That Jesus came for the very purpose of going to the cross for our sins is hard to understand.  Why would someone do that?  If one approaches the cross and the message of the gospel trying to make sense of it all, then it does appear as foolishness.  Faith comes from the heart, not the head.

Jesus spoke to Paul and gave him directions to follow.  In Paul’s mind this encounter had to seem crazy, really impossible.  “Did that just happen?” would have been foremost in his mind.  But Jesus wasn’t working in Paul’s mind, He was working in his heart.  Ananias was sent to Paul and, in the name of Jesus, healed his blindness and Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit.  Paul was baptized and soon began preaching in the synagogues.  Paul opened his heart to Jesus and the Holy Spirit came flooding in.  From then on, Paul was dedicated to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with all he met.  The story was always from the heart, because that is where Jesus lived inside of Paul.

Our task is the same: “go and make disciples of all nations”.  Some of us will do that by telling others the good news of Jesus Christ and what He has done in our lives.  Some of us will show Jesus in our heart by how we live our life.  Some of us will let the love of Christ tell the story as it spills out of our hearts and into the lives of those affected by our actions.  There are many ways to proclaim the good news.  May we open our hearts today, allowing the gospel of Christ to radiate out in our words, actions, and deeds.


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Light, Salvation, Stronghold

Reading: Psalm 27: 1 and 4-6

The Psalm opens with three great descriptors of God: light, salvation, stronghold.  God is all of these things to the psalmist and to us.  The writer, in response to this realization, asks, “whom shall I fear?” and “of whom shall I be afraid”?  When we are living with God as our light, salvation, and stronghold, the same is true for us: we have nothing to fear and no one to be afraid of.

God is our light.  The lights casts away darkness.  In God’s presence, evil and the powers of darkness flee.  Light also reveals.  God’s light reveals things we need to change and areas where we need to grow.  Light shows us the way.  God’s light guides us on the path that He desires we walk in life.

God is our salvation.  Out of God’s love for us, Jesus put on flesh and dwelled among us.  In doing so, Jesus revealed more of God’s nature to us and also set an example for how we are to love God and to love neighbor.  All of this is wonderful, but still falls short of salvation.  We must confess our sins and profess that Jesus is Lord of our lives.  Until we declare this, Jesus is just a nice guy who lived a really nice life.  Once we submit to Jesus’ reign in our lives, then we are saved and know salvation.  In order to make this possible, Jesus chose the cross.  Jesus sacrificed Himself for the forgiveness of our sins.  It is only through this forgiveness that we are cleansed and made righteous again before God.  It is through this loving act that we can repent of and confess our sins every time we fail.  Then we are made right and can again enter into a pure and holy relationship with our God.  We are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and saved for salvation through Jesus Christ.

God is our stronghold.  Once we walk in the light and know the mercy and love of God, then nothing can defeat us – not temptation, not sin, not disease, not even death.  God’s power and presence are our stronghold no matter what the world or Satan throws against us.  There will be trials and struggles and temptations, but God’s light shines through them, giving us strength and hope and promise.  Knowing our eternity is secure in God, the things of this world are not so terrible or frightening.  God will have the last word.  All of this helps when we are in the valleys.  It is here that our greatest help comes from God.  God walks with us in the valleys, even carrying us when that is what we need.  It is when we need God most that God takes us into His arms and becomes our stronghold.

God is our light, salvation, and stronghold.  Thanks be to God.


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Come and See

Reading: John 1: 35-42

Andrew was alerted to Jesus by the one he followed: John the Baptist.  John saw Jesus and declared, “Look, the Lamb of God”.  Andrew and a friend follow this Jesus, seeking to discover just who He is.  Jesus notices them tagging along and asks, “What do you want”?  They reply with a question, “Where are you staying”?  In other words, they were asking if they could go there and spend some time with Jesus.  They wanted to know who this “Lamb of God” really was.  Jesus invites them, saying, “Come and you will see”.

To spend time with Jesus, Andrew had to be aware of the opportunity.  He could have simply nodded in acknowledgement, and maybe glanced up, when John stated who was passing by.  In our day to day lives we often do this.  We give someone or something a tip of the head or a wave of the hand, but too often we do not really give that person or situation our full attention.  I wonder how many opportunities are missed each day.  But Andrew does not miss this one.  They tag along and spend some time with Jesus.  After spending the day with Jesus, Andrew is convinced of who He is and goes to find his brother, Simon Peter.  Andrew declares, “We have found the Messiah!” and brings his brother to meet Jesus.

Andrew’s actions are great models for us to follow.  His first action was to be mindful of God’s presence in his life.  Andrew latched onto the chance to spend some time with Jesus and it was a transformative experience for him.  Spending time with Jesus will do the same for us.  His second action was to share Jesus, to bring others to Christ.  In this case, he brought his brother.  Once Andrew spent time with and knew who Jesus was, he sought to introduce others to Jesus.  This too is our call: to make new disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

May we each be aware of God’s presence in our lives – both within us personally and also in the world and people around us – so that we can know Jesus and can seek to help others to ‘come and see’ Jesus as well.


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Called

1 Corinthians 1: 1-9

There is a definite focus on “call” in today’s passage.  Paul opens with his call “to be an apostle of Jesus Christ”.  He then reminds the church in Corinth of their “call to be holy”, right along with all others who “call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”.  This culture of call is one that is present throughout the Bible and is alive and well today.

Before Paul there is a long list of those called in the Bible.  Noah was called to build an arc.  Jonah was called to save Nineveh.  Moses was called to lead his people.  Job was called to endure much while remaining faithful.  Joshua was called to lead into the Promised Land.  Rahab was called to risk her life for God’s spies.  Fast forward and we find simple fisherman and unpopular tax collectors alike called by Jesus.  Almost all of the people that God called are much like us – normal, ordinary people.  Some were even outcasts and others were hated by their siblings.  Some served for just short periods and others served for years.  Some were even like Paul, who as Saul killed many Christians in his attempts to stamp out the new church.  The long and short of it is that God can and will continue to call any and all for service in the kingdom.

In addition to calling us, God also equips us.  Paul reminds us that in Christ we have been “enriched in every way” and that we “do not lack any spiritual gift”, that God has already given us what we need for the tasks at hand.  Paul then shares a promise: “He will keep you strong to the end”.  And lastly, Paul shares, “He has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord”.  Pretty good company as we answer God’s call on our lives.

We are each called and equipped by God to go forth into the world with Jesus Christ.  May we faithfully answer the call this day.


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Shine

Reading: Isaiah 60: 1-6

Today is Epiphany!  Just as the wise men appeared to reveal and celebrate the birth of Jesus, so too do we arrive today, celebrating the gift of Jesus in our lives.  Like the wise men, we too are called to reveal Jesus to the world.  The star led the way for the wise men.  Today, the light of the Son of Man leads the way for you and me.  The light of Christ guides our path and illumines our decisions.  We need the light.  So too does a world living in darkness.

Verse one begins, “Arise, shine, for your light has come”.  Yes indeed!  Jesus Christ has come and His light is in our hearts.  Verse two continues, “the Lord rises upon you, and His glory appears over you”.  God is present in us, His glory waiting to be revealed through us.  Our call as disciples of Jesus Christ is to take the light of Christ out into the world with us.  This verse reminds us that God is present with each of us and that His glory will appear over us as we live out our faith in the world.

The world can be a dark place.  Many people struggle with darkness in our world and in all of our communities.  For some, the struggle is with homelessness or poverty or prejudice or abuse or discrimination or injustice or addiction.  For others the struggle is with pride or control or possessions or position or ego or self-centeredness.  The world can be a dark place when we struggle with these issues.  There is great need in our world for the light of Christ.

We are each that light.  We each carry Christ in our hearts.  Can you see that light within you shining out into a dark world?  Can you see yourself being the light for just one person in need of God’s love?  We are called to arise and shine!  This day, this day of Epiphany, may we each shine God’s light into the world, bringing honor to Christ the Lord!


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Preach and Testify

Reading: Acts 10: 34-43

Peter opens today’s passage with an important statement, with one of the significant learning and understanding shifts in the early, early church: “God does not show favoritism”.  It is a shift away from a small, select ‘chosen people’.  Instead, Peter tells us, God is willing to accept all who fear God and who do what is right.  When the church came to understand that God is for all, the whole world became the mission field.  It was not just throughout Judea that they were called to bring the good news, but out into the entire world.  People of all races, ethnicities, cultures, nationalities, religions, ecenomic classes, social classes… must hear the good news.  This philosophy of accepting and welcoming all is the essence of Jesus’ ministry and is foundational to many of our churches today.

Peter then goes on to give a brief summary of Jesus’ ministry: bapitzed by John, anointed with the Holy Spirit, did good and healed, died on a cross, rose from the dead.  After the resurrection, Jesus returned and commanded “us” to preach the good news and to testify that all who call on Jesus as Lord will receive forgiveness of sins.  Again, Peter chooses words like ‘everyone’ and ‘all’ – anyone is welcome to hear the good news, to profess Jesus as Lord of their lives, and to receive forgiveness of their sins.

In the last few verses of chapter eleven, the people Peter was preaching to are overcome by the Holy Spirit, speak in tongues, and are baptized in the name of Jesus.  The power of God entered that situation and welcomed some new members into the family.  The command to preach and Testify is our command as well.  To tell the good news and to share the story of what Jesus has done in our lives is our great commission as well.  We accomplish this call with words, actions, deeds – whatever it takes for others to come to know Jesus Christ.

Today, may all of us who call on Jesus as Lord share the good news of Jesus Christ with any and all we meet.