pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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The Holy Spirit Descends

Reading: Matthew 3:13-17

Verse 16: “At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.”

Our gospel lesson this week is about baptism. In our reading, Jesus comes to John the Baptist as he is preparing the way, preaching repentance and baptizing out in the wilderness. John tried to deter Jesus initially – he recognizes that Jesus does not need to be baptized. Jesus insists, saying, “It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus is setting an example. He is preparing himself for a ministry that is about to begin. For each who is baptized, it is also an entry point into a life of faith.

Coming up out of the water, Jesus is changed. In verse 16 we read, “At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.” The Holy Spirit descends and becomes a part of the human Jesus’ life. In almost all Christian denominations this is part of our understanding of baptism too. Through the waters of baptism the Holy Spirit enters into that person’s life, beginning the lifelong transformation process. The change wrought in the individual’s life is not done by the power of the water that has been blessed or by the human words spoken in the baptism. The power is found in the Spirit that descends and indwells that person.

It is the power and presence of the Holy Spirit that then guides our lives, helping us to see and hear and live differently. It is the Holy Spirit that transforms us and opens us up to living as a witness to Jesus Christ’s love in the world. In living a life of faith, God also speaks the words of verse 17 over you and me: “This is my son, [this is my daughter], whom I love; with him [with her], I am well pleased.” May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God of the Holy Spirit, through the sacrament of baptism you draw us in and make us part of your family. Your Spirit becomes a part of who we are at the core. In birth we are created in your image. Through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit we come to reflect your image and being to the world. Help us to do this well. Use us in ways that reveal your saving love to our world. Amen.


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The Connection Point

Reading: Galatians 3:26-29

Verse 26: “You are all sons [and daughters] of God through faith in Jesus Christ.”

Photo credit: Hans Heiner Buhr

Transitioning in Galatians 3, Paul shifts from a focus on what it means to be freed from the Law and bound to Christ instead to a focus on what that means for the church and for those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. As was the case in yesterday’s devotional, this adoption as children of God is not a passive or one-time event. Our faith and our relationship with Jesus Christ must constantly challenge, inspire, and push us to be better followers and better human beings.

Paul begins our passage today with these words: “You are all sons [and daughters] of God through faith in Jesus Christ.” The main point of Paul’s thought here is unity. It begins with understanding that all of us – all people, not just Christians – are children of God. Some choose to recognize this and decide to move deeper into relationship, becoming a son or a daughter when we profess faith in Jesus Christ. This begins a relationship, a personal connection. The connection point is Jesus as the relationship is with him.

In verse 28 Paul illustrates what he means by “all.” He is intentional about the 3 pairs that he uses. The Jew/Greek, slave/free, and male/female labels are the ones most impacting the unity of the church at that time. A modern writing of this verse might not include all three or even any of these. Or it might. Paul’s point is, again, aimed at unity. He calls the church and those who make up the church to look beyond any and all labels except one: son or daughter of God. And, again, the common connection point in Jesus Christ. It is through Jesus that we are all “heirs” to all of the promises of God. What a gift this inheritance is! Thanks be to God!

Prayer: Lord of all, today I rejoice in the breadth of your love for all of humanity. Each of us, created both in your image and as you want each of us to be, are called even deeper, into a personal relationship. I ask that you would use me as you will, helping all to know the truth of your great love. Amen.


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Steadfast and Eternal

Reading: Mark 5: 35-43

Verse 36: “Don’t be afraid; just believe”.

Photo credit: Aron Visuals

Today we again pick up the story of Jairus and his daughter. The woman with the 12-year condition has been healed. It is now almost time to continue on so that Jesus can attend to Jairus’ daughter. But just as Jesus finishes speaking to the woman, men from Jairus’ house arrive to tell him, “Your daughter is dead”. In immediate response, “ignoring what they said”, Jesus says to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe”. We hear of no response or reaction from Jairus. He, Jesus, and Peter, James, and John leave everyone else behind and proceed to the house. Was Jairus still hopeful? Did he still believe in Jesus’ power? Was he just numbly walking along?

Arriving at the house, the mourning is already well under way. Preparations for death had been made. Clearing the house, Jesus takes Jairus and his wife plus Peter, James, and John to the little girl’s room. Taking her hand, Jesus calls her back to life. Immediately the daughter stands up and begins to walk around. Like the woman, she is completely healed, fully restored. Whatever had been killing the girl is totally gone. Jairus’ plea for help and all of the prayers lifted for this girl and her family are answered. Resisting fear and holding onto belief brings life to his little daughter.

The woman is healed. The daughter brought back to life. Does faith always lead to a good outcome? Does resisting fear always hold off grief or the time of trial? No, not always. Life will still happen – illness persists, death is final. Yet God is both of these too – steadfast and eternal. Trusting in God and believing that he is always in control is our strength in the storm. God can do the impossible. May we walk in faith, ever standing upon our steadfast and eternal God.

Prayer: Lord God, you are ever with me in the highs and lows plus all the places in between. May I be as true to you, O Lord. Amen.


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Daughter

Reading: Mark 5: 24b-34

Verse 28: “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed”.

Photo credit: Elia Pelligrini

A great crowd follows Jesus and Jairus as they make their way to the synagogue leader’s home. They are focused on Jairus’ dying daughter. In the crowd is a woman who has been bleeding for twelve years. The nonstop flow of blood has a huge impact on her. She has been living on the fringes of society – always ceremonially unclean. In the excitement of the moment she is able to slip into the crowd. She is among people again. But her focus is singular. Jesus is present. She is drawn to get to him. She thinks, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed”. Is it faith or hope or desperation that draws her to Jesus? Or is it some of all three?

Suddenly the great crowd grinds to a halt. The woman worked her way to Jesus and touches his cloak. She is immediately healed – fully, completely, totally. Jesus knows that someone has drawn power and healing from him. The woman approaches, trembling in fear, falling at his feet. She tells the truth of what has happened, all of it. How does this all-powerful and holy one react to being touched by an outcast, by an unclean woman? He says to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering”. Daughter, welcome home. Daughter, glad to finally meet you. Daughter, peace be with you.

Who do I know that lives on the fringes? Who is there that I don’t even know? Who are these for you? What son or daughter of God feels outside the family of faith? May we seek ways to connect them to the healer. Whether touching them with words, with an act of kindness, with an invitation, may we share our Jesus with them.

Prayer: Lord God, guide me today to share my Jesus with one who feels far from you. Use me however you will to connect them to the healer’s touch. Amen.


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Pleading Earnestly

Reading: Mark 5: 21-24

Verse 22: “Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him”.

Photo credit: Patrick Fore

Today we begin to enter into this week’s passage from Mark 5. Jesus returns to the Jewish side of the lake and is greeted by a large crowd. A man named Jairus is in the crowd. He is one of the leaders at the local synagogue. He has encountered Jesus before. Now he comes to speak with Jesus. In verse 22 we read, “Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him”. What causes us to fall at Jesus’ feet, to plead with Jesus?

For Jairus, his daughter is dying. That would cause any parent to plead earnestly. In the same situation we would pray and pray and pray. And then we would pray some more. We can assume that Jairus has tried everything else to save his daughter. Why else would a respected, well-known Jewish leader come to this Jesus? Jairus is desperate. Jesus is his last and only hope. At least a small part of him believes and hopes that Jesus can “put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live”.

When we get to this point – to the place of desperation – have we tried everything else but deep, intense prayer? Only then do we come to Jesus with belief and hope? Do we approach him, fall at his feet, and plead earnestly? Yes, at times our prayers do get ratcheted up to this level. Yet a faithful walk with Jesus is at its best at a steady, daily, regular pace. May this be the routine of our prayer life, building us up for those times of intimate, powerful, intense prayer. May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, may my daily time with you be strengthening and encouraging each day. In steady faith, may I grow in you and in my trust in you. In those moments of great need, may I really lean into you, kneeling upon my rock and my hope. Amen.


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Baptized to Minister

Reading: Mark 1: 9-11

Verse 11: “You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well-pleased”.

In our passage today Jesus comes to the desert to be baptized by John the Baptist. John was offering a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The actual baptism was proceeded by a confession of sins. The waters of baptism represented a cleansing – the old sins were washed away and the person emerged “new” or “born again”. They had repented of their old ways and emerged committed to live a life devoted to and obedient to God. There was an element of turning and walking in a new direction.

As Jesus came to be baptized there was no need for confession. He was without sin. So why come at all? For Jesus, it was a turning point. He was entering into ministry, revealing fully who and what he was. He was turning to something new, beginning to walk as the Son of God. Just as the Spirit hovered over the waters as God spoke in Genesis 1, so too is the Spirit present as God speaks, saying, “You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well-pleased”. With these words of affirmation Jesus begins his formal ministry. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus will teach and heal and restore many as he lives and ministers, being fully obedient to God.

Today, for some, I encourage you to remember your baptism. Remember you are filled with the Holy Spirit and go forth in ministry. For some, I encourage you to reclaim your baptism. Reclaim your place as a son or daughter, seek to draw close once again. Renew your faith commitment and go forth in ministry. And for some, you have never entered the waters of baptism. Reading this, you are at least a little bit drawn to God. I encourage you to become connected to a local community of faith or to talk with your pastor about baptism if you are connected someplace. Continue your journey!

As we each go forth into the world, may we all seek to walk closer to God, following Jesus’ example of love.

Prayer: Lord God, today I pray for all believers. Help each of us to live out our faith more fully, bearing witness to your love. Encourage us, strengthen us, empower us to walk faithfully as your son or daughter today. Amen.


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The Family

Reading: Ephesians 1: 3-14

Verse 13: “You also were included in Christ… Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit”.

The opening section of Ephesians is all about God’s plans to include us all in the family of God. Paul begins by declaring that God chose us to be in Christ “before the creation of the world”. It is in “accordance with his pleasure and will” that all people are “adopted as his sons [and daughters] through Jesus Christ”. God desires for all people to be a part of the community of faith.

Starting in verse seven Paul moves on to why and how God wants us in the family. First, only then do we receive redemption for our sins. Out of love God provided a way for us to be freed from the bonds of sin. Without Christ we remain trapped in the guilt and shame. Second, God lavishes us with wisdom and understanding. The ways of God are not the ways of the world. This gift allows believers to live and see and love the world differently. Created anew in Christ, we pursue the things and ways of God instead of the world. Third, in relationship with Christ we become a part of the fulfillment of all things. Living holy lives we are a part of bringing “all things in heaven and earth together under one head, Jesus Christ”. As part of the family, we seek to help bring others into the family of God.

About three years ago I was serving a church in a small rural community. The hospital called and asked if I would come visit an elderly woman who was nearing death. Soon after arriving I learned from her daughters that she wanted to be baptized. As I left to get the needed supplies, I asked if she wanted to receive communion after being baptized. She nodded “yes”. When I returned we had a short baptism service for a 93-year-old. She had come to know Jesus as Lord later in life but had never been baptized. She knew of Paul’s words: “you were marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit”. Feeling a new sense of belonging, this deposit “guaranteeing her inheritance” led to celebrating holy communion in a new way too.

Taken together, all of the signs and symbols, all the wisdom and knowledge, all the blessings and graces – they reassure us of our place in the community of faith. Thanks be to God for the love that is big enough to want all of us to be saved. To the praise of his glory, amen!

Prayer: Loving God, you so want to include all people in your family. Use me today to move someone a little closer to being a part of the great community of faith. Amen.


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Faithfulness

Reading: Exodus 2: 1-10

Verse 3: “When she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket… and put it among the reeds”.

With Pharaoh’s edict to throw all newborn Hebrew male babies into the Nike still fresh in our minds, Moses is born. He is not yet Moses though. He is born to a Levite family – the clan that will one day become the priests to all of Israel. His mother keeps him secretly for as long as she dares. Finally, at three months, she must give him up. In verse three we read, “When she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket… and put it among the reeds”. It reads so matter of fact. I cannot imagine the tears that flowed and the sorrow that gripped her heart as she did each step. What she felt must have come close to what Mary felt as she watched Jesus in his final hours.

Just as he was on the path to Calvary, God is faithful on the path to the river’s edge. Moses’ sister watches the basket from afar as his mother places the basket in the river and walks away – how could she stay? God’s hand guides the small basket to the very place that Pharaoh’s daughter comes to bathe. Her ears hear crying and her eyes are guided to the basket. Her heart is filled with compassion. Bravely Miriam steps forward and offers to get a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby “for you”. Somehow she knows this is but a temporary thing. Pharaoh’s daughter gives the baby to his mother, offering to pay her for caring for the child. Imagine the mother’s gratitude to God! Imagine how her faith grew that day. What sorrow had turned to joy!

How faithful is our God! When the baby is weaned he is returned to Pharaoh’s daughter. It is then that he is named Moses because she “drew him out of the water”. This letting go was much different for Moses’ mother. She was not giving him up to death but to life. Her son was stepping from slavery and a hard life into safety, security, and freedom. What had transpired was so much more than she could have ever envisioned that day she placed her son in the river. God is an amazing God.

On our days when life takes a twist or when it delivers up a hard pill to swallow, may we recall the faithfulness of both mother and God. In trust and faith may we too allow God to guide, walking forward in his love.

Prayer: God of all graces, thank you for the reminder today of your faithful love. Through the power of the Holy Spirit remind me of your love at all times, especially in the trials. Amen.


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Loving the Outsiders

Reading: Matthew 15: 21-28

Verse 22: “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me”.

Today’s passage is one with layers. A simpler version would tell of a woman who came to Jesus and received healing for her daughter. That is the basic story. But our story is layered with cultural prejudice and years of dislike and distrust. The story contains relatively few words between Jesus and the woman and the disciples. It does not get unpacked later in a private moment with the twelve.

By identifying her as a Canaanite woman Matthew is pointing out a barrier. In his world, you were either a Jew or you were not. If you were, you were in. If you were not you were an outsider, a heathen, unclean. Yet she identifies Jesus as “Lord” and as the “Son of David” – she recognizes him as the Messiah, as the Savior of the world. She begs for healing for her daughter. She at least knows that Jesus is a healer. Jesus does not answer her. She persists. What do we make of his silence? Maybe Jesus is testing her sincerity, her level of commitment, her faith. Perhaps he is struggling within with the cultural biases that he grew up with. Or maybe the time is allowed for the disciples’ benefit. The disciples buckle first, asking Jesus to “send her away”. Instead he replies, engaging her while putting her off. Jesus tells her that he came to the Jews only. He is reminding her that she is an outsider. Or… is he reminding the disciples? Or himself? Or us? She begs again.

Jesus adds insult to his next “no”, calling her a “dog”. This is cultural slang for all those below or outside of the pure Jewish religion. It is a degrading and demeaning term. This is not the Jesus we know and love, is it? So we must ask “why?” Is the human inside struggling? Is it to force the disciples to reconsider their own prejudices? They will soon enough be going out into the world of the Gentiles with the good news. Or is it to add emphasis to the healing of the other?

The Canaanite woman sticks to it, noting that “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table”. She again identifies Jesus as the One, as the Lord of all, as the master. She does not want to take Jesus from the ones he is sent to, she just wants a little of him too. Her great faith is applauded by Jesus and the daughter is healed.

This is a powerful and complex story of how Jesus loves even the outsider. How will our love reflect his love today?

Prayer: Loving God, thank you for this story that challenges and forces my love and welcome a bit wider. Continue to work in me and in my heart, removing all that hinders and limits how I love others. Amen.


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For me, for you, for us

Reading: Isaiah 52:13 – 53:13

Verse 53:5 – “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities… by his wounds we are healed”.

In these verses from the prophet Isaiah one can see and feel the connections to Jesus and to Good Friday that the very first Christians felt just after his death. The raising up and the exalting by God, the being despised and rejected by men, the taking up of our infirmities and the carrying of our sorrows – these verses all speak of Jesus and his last hours on this earth.

Today, on this day when Jesus goes to the cross, verse six stands out for me: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray”. Each of us turn our own way as we wander astray from Jesus. We do over and over. Yes, we do manage to die to some of our sins, but others seem to dog us all of our days: ego, pride, judging others, just to name a few of my struggles. Perhaps these are yours too or maybe you have a few of your own.

And then we come back around to verse five with me. Here we read, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities… by his wounds we are healed”. These words make both this day and my struggle with sin so much more real – pierced, crushed, wounds. Jesus paid a steep price just to get to the cross, to the place where he took on our sins. Then, there on the cross, Jesus paid for our sins with his blood and with his life. For me, a wandering sheep. For you, a wayward son or daughter. For us, the family of God. Thanks be to God. Again, thanks be to God.

Prayer: God, yes, God, thank you. Thank you Jesus for all you endured for me. Thank you God for allowing your son to walk that road for me. Thank you for doing what I could never do. Thank you for your love for me. Amen.