pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Ought To

Reading: 2nd Peter 3: 8-15a

Verse 11: “What kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives”.

As the years pass, some of the second generation believers begin to question if Jesus is really returning. This generation did not see and hear Jesus himself teach and heal. They worry that eternal life and salvation may not be a part of their lives. They begin to wander from the faith. The fear of an imminent return had kept the more “mature” believers on the narrow path that Jesus had taught them personally. We also have this tendency. When we first believed we were “on fire” and now many are but slightly smouldering. In life, we too often procrastinate and then try and pull it off as the deadline looms. Unless it has to do with others. We want them to have things done yesterday, we want that item we ordered to get here before we order it. And if that little circle on our computer or phone spins just a titch too long…

In today’s passage Peter calls us to the fine line of our faith – be patient always but it could happen at any moment. We are called to endure and persevere on our journey of faith, knowing that it could all end this hour. So Peter asks the tough question: “What kind of people ought you to be”? This reminds me of the question about what I hope people say at my funeral. Well, I hope they say I loved the Lord and my family, that I gave time to serving others, that I was a generous soul, that I was selfless. Both questions get at the same end. As Peter writes, “You ought to live holy and godly lives”. The big question for us is this: are we? Are we living holy and godly lives? Am I? Are you?

Taking time to reflect on our lives and to refocus on the goal is important, especially in this season of Advent. For many of us, this Sunday is a day when we celebrate Holy Communion, a time that calls us to consider the state of our souls, to confess and repent of our sins, to be made new again. For all of us, as we move closer to December 24, we prepare to meet the holy and godly one who came as a baby, who grew up to set the ultimate example for who and what we ought to be as we live out our lives and our faith. As we do so, may we heed this plea that we find today in verse fourteen: “make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him”. May it be so for us all.

Prayer: Lord God, you call me to a difficult thing: holy and godly. In my humanity I cannot be these things. Alone, I am lost and without hope. But with you, with the presence of your Holy Spirit, I can live day by day seeking to become more and more like Jesus, the perfector of the faith. So fill me with your Holy Spirit. Guide me to how I ought to live, bringing you all of the glory and the honor. Amen.


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Ought To

Reading: 2nd Peter 3: 8-15a

Verse 11: “What kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives”.

As the years pass, some of the second generation believers begin to question if Jesus is really returning. This generation did not see and hear Jesus himself teach and heal. They worry that eternal life and salvation may not be a part of their lives. They begin to wander from the faith. The fear of an imminent return had kept the more “mature” believers on the narrow path that Jesus had taught them personally. We also have this tendency. When we first believed we were “on fire” and now many are but slightly smouldering. In life, we too often procrastinate and then try and pull it off as the deadline looms. Unless it has to do with others. We want them to have things done yesterday, we want that item we ordered to get here before we order it. And if that little circle on our computer or phone spins just a titch too long…

In today’s passage Peter calls us to the fine line of our faith – be patient always but it could happen at any moment. We are called to endure and persevere on our journey of faith, knowing that it could all end this hour. So Peter asks the tough question: “What kind of people ought you to be”? This reminds me of the question about what I hope people say at my funeral. Well, I hope they say I loved the Lord and my family, that I gave time to serving others, that I was a generous soul, that I was selfless. Both questions get at the same end. As Peter writes, “You ought to live holy and godly lives”. The big question for us is this: are we? Are we living holy and godly lives? Am I? Are you?

Taking time to reflect on our lives and to refocus on the goal is important, especially in this season of Advent. For many of us, this Sunday is a day when we celebrate Holy Communion, a time that calls us to consider the state of our souls, to confess and repent of our sins, to be made new again. For all of us, as we move closer to December 24, we prepare to meet the holy and godly one who came as a baby, who grew up to set the ultimate example for who and what we ought to be as we live out our lives and our faith. As we do so, may we heed this plea that we find today in verse fourteen: “make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him”. May it be so for us all.

Prayer: Lord God, you call me to a difficult thing: holy and godly. In my humanity I cannot be these things. Alone, I am lost and without hope. But with you, with the presence of your Holy Spirit, I can live day by day seeking to become more and more like Jesus, the perfector of the faith. So fill me with your Holy Spirit. Guide me to how I ought to live, bringing you all of the glory and the honor. Amen.


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Patient

Reading: 2nd Peter 3: 8-15a

Verse 9: “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”.

2nd Peter focuses on reminding the believers that the second coming of Jesus Christ is still coming. As time has passed, some of the followers have started to doubt, to question the promised return. Our passage today begins with this truth: “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day”. God’s timing and sense of time are not our timing. Our 60, 80, or even 100 years is but a blip in God’s eternity. In our instant gratification, me-first culture we still identify with the struggle to wait with faith.

The reason we continue to wait for the second coming is identified in verse nine: “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”. God is patient. Out of the depths of his love for humanity – the least and the lost just as much as the saved and redeemed – God waits because God does not want to see anyone die without the opportunity to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In this way, God has a “just one more” mentality: just let the good news of Jesus Christ get into one more heart, into one more home, into one more community, into one more nation… People cannot and will not repent of their sins until they have a chance to know the saving grace offered by the Lord.

God is patient, but it is not a passive patience. It is an active patience that we are called to live out. The great commission is the call to make disciples of all peoples. Patience must be a part of how we collectively and individually live out this call. Reflect inward for a moment. Are there sins that you continue to struggle with? Do you want God to be patient with you? When I consider these questions, I recognize my struggle with pride and wanting to be in control. Yes, God could get a bit frustrated with me. God could say, ‘Its been 2,379,647,704 times that your pride has caused you to sin, John. I’m not sure about forgiving #2,379,647,705’, but he doesn’t. Instead God reminds me that pride sin 2,379,647,703 was cast as far as the east is from the west. It was forgotten by God the moment I confessed… We are called to that same patience as we seek to share the good news with unbelievers. One more conversation about faith, one more gesture or act that shows God’s love, one more…

As we seek to bear witness to our faith today, as we seek to bring one more person to Christ today, may we be patient, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”.

Prayer: God of love and mercy, remind me again and again how patient you are with me. Turn that reminder into a drive to see all enter into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. As you love me, may I love others. Amen.


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Hour by Hour, Day by Day

Reading: Mark 13: 30-37

Verse 34: “He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task”.

As this chapter in Mark about the signs of the end of the age comes to a close, Jesus reminds his disciples and followers that no one knows when he will return. Even Jesus himself does not know when. Therefore he says, “Be on guard! Be alert”! As is often the case when we wait and wait and wait, our focus or attention can lag or fade. If I, for example, were to plan to run a marathon in October 2022, I probably would not start training today. If were planning to enter the next race as soon as I were able to run 26.2 miles, then I would start training today. That is Jesus’ point in this section of Mark 13.

In verse 34 Jesus says, “He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task”. About 2,000 years ago Jesus left this temporary house on earth to spend eternity with his father in heaven. Jesus left us each with a task or a role to play. These are the gifts of the Spirit that we read about yesterday in 1st Corinthians 1. Some are pastors, some are teachers. Some are encouragers, some are prayer warriors. Some are missionaries, some are singers. Some are greeters, some are readers. Some are audio-visual folks, some are cooks and bakers. There are many roles to play in the family of God, in the church. When the owner of this house returns, will he find us sleeping? Or will we be actively living out our faith, serving God and one another, ready to meet him at any moment?

Hour by hour, day by day, life by life, may we be ready to serve the Lord, his church, and his world.

Prayer: Lord of all, help me to always be ready to do your will. As you have gifted me, so may I serve. Put me to doing, put me to all things, put me to nothing. Use me as you will, O Lord. Amen.


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Look Upon Us

Reading: Isaiah 64: 5b-9

Verse 8: “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter”.

As we continue in Isaiah 64 today, the second half of the passage begins in verse 5b with an admission: “When we continued to sin, you were angry”. Yes, God will come to the help of those who do right, but the sinners? Isaiah asks the correct question: “How then can we be saved”? As a people living in sin, the Israelites were taken into exile. God still loves them, but what can God do with his children who continue in their rebellion? The prophet laments that they have become “unclean” and that their faith has “shriveled up” like a dry leaf. In verse seven his words are honest: “No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you”. The situation, the condition of the people’s faith, is not good. Yet there is hope. There is always hope with God.

In verse eight Isaiah speaks of that hope: “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter”. Our God never gives up on us. Yes, we may choose to distance ourselves from God and from our relationships with one another. Our sin leads to separation. Even in the midst of our sin, even then we can cry out to God. Like a petulant child, we cry out only half-heartedly because we remain unclean. We want our way and we want God to do our will too. At that point God hears but does not respond. This is where almost all of Isaiah’s audience is at spiritually. Yet the one who speaks for God has hope. Isaiah knows that God can and will reshape the people. Through the process of defeat and exile, God will fashion Israel back into obedient children once again. Our passage ends with a humble plea: “Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are all your people”.

In this season, especially in this time of division and discord, in this time of online worship and personal distancing, in this time of illness and loss, Lord, look upon us. We pray for all of your people. Great potter, shape us into something new.

Prayer: Lord God, show us the way. Help me to work through this discord in my soul, through this time of unease. Bring healing to our land, O God. Not just physical healing but also spiritual and emotional and relational healing. Unite us, O Lord, in your love and grace and mercy. Amen.


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Thanksgiving and Prayer

Reading: Ephesians 1: 15-23

Verse 18: “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you”.

In my Bible the section that we are reading today is called “Thanksgiving and Prayer”. Paul is thankful for the faith in Jesus and for the love for “all the saints” that is evident in the church in Ephasus. As I think about the church that I am part of now, I too am thankful for these same things. This, of course, could be said of other churches that I have been blessed to be a part of. This truth also extends outside of Methodism to include many people that I know and have known. Faith in Jesus Christ and a love for our brothers and sisters are two of the hallmarks of faithful Christians. Thanks be to God when these are evident.

Paul prays that the Spirit will continue to give the church wisdom and revelation – for the purpose of knowing Jesus Christ better. This too is my prayer, both personally and for the community of faith where I pastor. Our faith is a journey, one of growth and maturation. From the day we first meet Jesus as Lord and Savior to the day we stand before him in glory, we are ever involved in the process of being made more like Christ. To that end Paul prays “that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you”. Hope is one of the bedrocks of our faith. Paul uses the word “know”. This is an invitation to a rock solid belief in who and what Jesus is in our lives. Paul continues, identifying “the riches of his glorious inheritance”. In this world, this inheritance is the power and strength we find in following Jesus. In Christ we find power to live out our faith and strength to resist the temptations of this world. As we grow and mature in faith, we too come to know that “all things” have been placed under Christ. We come to know that we are on that list.

As we reflect on how we are growing in Christ, may we give thanks for the journey so far. And as we consider the journey ahead, may we pray for enlightenment, power, and strength. God be with you!

Prayer: Lord God, I ask for strength for the day. Just for today, Lord. Give me discernment and wisdom for all that lies ahead. Give me courage and strength and power to walk humbly in your will as I seek to follow Christ. Amen.


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Hope in Exile

Reading: Ezekiel 34: 11-16

Verse 16: “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak”.

Ezekiel was one of God’s prophets. He ministered to Israel during their time in exile in Babylon. After being defeated by the Babylonians, many Israelites were dispersed throughout the kingdom of their conquerors. These words from God’s prophet would bring hope during a difficult time. These words of God would remind the people that their current experience will not be their reality forever. Both of these circumstances are true today. In our current pandemic, there is no doubt that this is a difficult time for almost everyone. Although it feels like it has been a really long time, we know that the virus and its effects will not last forever. Yet, in the midst of it, we are much like the Israelites in Babylon – isolated, feeling powerless, becoming a bit hopeless, grieving, separated.

Beginning in verse eleven God reveals his plan. In this verse God tells the people that he will “search for my sheep and look after them”. In the next verse God promises to “rescue them” from isolation, from exile, from “all the places where they were scattered”. Then God shares that he will bring them back home. In verse thirteen God states, “I will bring them into their own land”. God will search for his children; God will rescue them and gather them; and, God will bring them back home. Living in a time of defeat, in a time of exile, to hear that God is still God, that God loves and cares for them, that God will once again bring them all back together – these are words of healing and hope.

During these COVID times, just as was the case in exile, some people are coping or doing okay, some are not. Those who are naturally resilient, those who are disposed to optimism, those whose faith has grown in these times – these folks are going alright. There is a middle group who are mostly getting by. They have some of these positive characteristics, but life is now a delicate balance. And there are those who have depleted their reserves of these characteristics. They are struggling emotionally, physically, spiritually, relationally. This last group, especially, needs to hear verse sixteen’s promise: “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak”. God has a special love for those hurting the most. Jesus, his son, modeled this love. Jesus, our Lord, calls us to follow his lead. To those around us most feeling like they are in exile, may we share these words of hope and love. And, if we dare, may we be these words of hope and love. May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, lead and guide me to the list, to the strays, to the weak. Set my feet towards those hurting in my communities. Break my heart for what breaks yours. Fill my broken heart with your love and care. Use me to bring hope to those without. May it be so. 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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Live in the Light

Reading: 1st Thessalonians 5: 1-11

Verse 8: “Since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet”.

As the closing chapter to 1st Thessalonians begins, Paul reminds them who they are – and who they are not. Sadly, I still need this reminder too. After almost 35 years as a practicing Christian, at times I still struggle with the darkness. Paul begins by reminding the Thessalonians that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night”. This thought echoes the conclusion of last week’s parable from Matthew 25: be prepared!

In the next few verses Paul contrasts living in the light and living in the dark. For Paul’s audience there was a clear understanding that light is good and dark is evil. Paul first reminds them that they are “sons of light”. Each believer is a child of God, a brother or sister in Christ. He admonishes them not to be like those who are “asleep” but instead to be “alert and self-controlled”. Paul also reminds them that bad things happen at night. This remains largely true today. I recently moved from a small town. In a conversation with a police officer I commented that the town seemed like a safe, nice place. He commented that I should ride along one night. Then I would see a whole other side of the community.

The call to live in the light is a call to devout and holy living. The light exposes all that is evil, sinful, ungodly. At times we are tempted towards the things of the flesh. This is part of being human. If we are striving to live in the light, however, then our faith, our connection to Christ, will help us to deny these temptations. But it is such a fine line that we usually walk. It is easy enough to step into the dark, to give in, to think, “Here, no one will see me”. Paul knows this is a reality, a choice each believer faces. So, in verse eight, he urges them and us to be “self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet”. Let faith and love guard your heart, invite hope to dwell in your mind. With Jesus Christ, faithfully live in the light, shining brightly for all the world to see!

Prayer: Lord God, I hear the call clearly to be a child of the light. It is such a clear call. When I have walked in the light, life has always been better. Yet the dark still calls. The things of this world are attractive and pleasurable. In this battle, I need you! May the Holy Spirit speak loudly and clearly, reminding me that you are my God, my hope, my salvation. May it ever be so! Amen.


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One Day

Reading: Matthew 25: 1-13

Verse 12: “But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you'”.

The parable we read today is called “The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids”. The story is really about the bridegroom. We often see our faith this way too – sort of backwards. We think God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit – all here for us. Living in a consumeristic, instant gratification, me-first society, it is easy to fall into this mindset. In this approach, as bridesmaids we would ask why it takes so long for the bridegroom to arrive. We have waited SO LONG for the groom to arrive so that we can go into the celebration and festivities.

The folly of this inwardly focused faith is revealed in the foolish bridesmaids. First, instead of simply going and getting more oil – something they are evidently capable of – they ask for some from the wise ones. At times in our culture, it is easier to take from others instead of doing for ourselves. This creates a dangerous culture of dependence. Second, when our faith is focused on ourselves instead of on Jesus, the object of our faith, then we do not really get to know Jesus. We fail to hear his call to humble service. When our time comes to stand at the door, if our faith is selfish and shallow, we too will hear, “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you”.

We will all one day stand before the Lord. As we do so, will Jesus see one who lived for God and for others? Will he see a life spent in seeking to live love out loud day by day? That is the hope. To that end may we love God and others above self, being ready for the day or hour when we see Jesus face to face.

Prayer: Living God, it is so easy to be selfish, to want for earthly things. The influences of the world nudge us in this direction. Send the gentle whisper of the Holy Spirit to ever call me into the ways of love and service, in the ways of peace and hope. Amen.