pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Be Faithful

Reading: Luke 18:1-8

Luke 18:7 – “Won’t God provide justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night?”

In today’s passage Jesus teaches about persistent prayer and staying encouraged. He uses the story of a widow who has suffered an injustice as the teaching tool. The widow has only herself. She is alone in her quest for justice. We too can feel this way at times.

The other character in the story is the unjust judge. This judge “neither feared God nor respected people.” Likely justice in his court came only after a nice bribe. The widow would be without this resource. Instead, she comes to him relentlessly, asking for justice. This is how we are to lift our needs and petitions to God.

Jesus then contrasts the unjust judge with our just God. The unjust judge finally decided to give the widow her justice because she keeps “bothering” him and is “embarrassing” him. Her persistence is the driving force. God is much different. In verse 7 Jesus points out, “Won’t God provide justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night?” God will not be slow to respond. God will grant justice quickly. (Word of caution: Jesus understands God’s time. It is not the same as our ‘slow’ and ‘quick.’ The lesson, after all, is about persistent prayer.)

Jesus closes with a question about finding faithfulness when he returns one day in glory. Will we be faithful to fighting for and persistently praying for justice? Or will we surrender to the unrelenting injustices of this world? You and I are the answers to these questions.

Prayer: Lord God, first, empower and strengthen our prayer life. Bring us always to our knees in your presence, persistently offering our petitions. Second, Lord, fill us with compassion and empathy for the marginalized, the oppressed, the abused, the downtrodden, and all others suffering injustice. May we ever pray for and stand in solidarity with such as these. Amen.


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God’s Design

Reading: 1st Thessalonians 5:11

Verse 11: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing”.

On our faith journeys, we can try and go it alone. We are embarrassed by or ashamed of our sins and failures. We go through the motions of faith and pretend we are doing okay when our faith feels dry or when a trial has beset us. We try and push through seasons of doubt because society tells us we just need to try harder. Our pride and ego refuses to ask for help. But God did not design faith to be this way. God designed faith to be a communal pursuit. Yet if we are to truly be a part of the community of faith, if we are going to have real and deep relationships, then we must be honest and transparent, authentic and vulnerable, committed and compassionate.

Our passage today is just one verse. Again, it reads: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing”. Because the world is challenging, because the dark and evil are ever present, Paul knows that the believers need to be surrounded by Christian community. Paul begins by telling us to encourage one another. To be able to encourage one another, we need to really know how we each are doing. This is where honesty… comes into play. We must be willing to share our burdens with one another. We must also be willing to carry another’s burdens at times. We must be willing to tell others when our faith feels thin, allowing them to pour into us and to fill us up. Similarly, we must be willing to give of ourselves, to pour into another as we are able. Paul also urges us to build one another up. We do this by sharing our faith. This can be actual teaching or it can be living the faith so others can see what it looks like. Pastors and teachers and small group leaders and mentors are all a part of this process. We also build one another up by being present. We celebrate successes and achievements, we rejoice when a baby is born, we bring food and love and presence in times of hardship and suffering and loss.

The church in Thessalonica was living as a community. It was how God designed the church. As we ponder these thoughts today, may we each consider how we could encourage and build up the body of Christ this week.

Prayer: Living God, lead me by the power of the Holy Spirit to be an encourager and a builder. Help me to see the ways that I can help the community of faith to be like a family, like the heavenly fellowship that we all await. Bind us together in your love. Amen.


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Majesty, Humility

Reading: Job 38: 1-7

Verse 1: “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge”?

Job has been through a lot. All of his possessions and almost all of his family are gone. He has suffered terribly physically as well. His wife and three friends have been discouraging and even critical. Job has a lot of questions for God. He has remained faithful, but after all that he has been through, he has some questions. Today, in our passage, God speaks to Job as God Almighty, from a place of power and majesty.

Today’s seven verses are just a taste of God’s response to Job. God’s response fills all of chapters 38, 39, 40, and 41. Job’s response is a mere six verses at the beginning of chapter 42. God’s opening words set the tone for the four chapters of response: “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge”? In essence, God is asking Job: who are you to speak?

We can probably think of many times in our lives when we thought we had all the answers, when we knew it all. We were an expert in all fields – just ask us. At some point, whether it was at 17 or 26 or 40, we come to that place where we realize that we do not know it all. It is always a humbling experience but it sometimes can be embarrassing or shameful as well. We gain a new understanding of our own limitations and we come to see the world differently after this moment. We better grasp our place in the world and we emerge with more empathy and more compassion for others. Our faith deepens. Such is the case with Job.

We can be asked the same question that Job was asked: “Were you there when I laid the earth’s foundation”? Through a series of similar questions, God establishes His supreme power, majesty, and greatness. In recognizing God’s place, like Job, we too are humbled by our smallness, by our powerlessness, by our dependence on God. Yes, we are humbled. But let us also praise and adore God for who He is and for what He has done and for what He continues to do in our lives. Hallelujah and amen!

God, help me to ever know my place in your world – a humble servant seeking to do your will. Speak into my heart, speak into my life. May your plan be worked out in my life each day. Amen.